What is the ruling on wishing for non-existence due to extreme fear?
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The questioner : Is it permissible for a person to wish that he had not been created by Allah, better than the day He created him?
The Shaykh : Something like this was reported from some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). It is narrated from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, "I wish I were a tree that is not cut down," and "I wish my mother had not given birth to me." If fear takes hold of a person and he says words like this, it appears, and Allah knows best, that there is no harm in it. However, a person should praise Allah the Exalted for creating him and guiding him to faith, for by doing so he deserves Paradise and becomes the best of Allah's servants. The believers are the best of Allah's servants and the best of Allah's creations, just as the disbelievers are the worst of Allah's creations. The disbelievers are worse than their like among the pigs, the beasts of prey, and the livestock. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Anfal 8:55] And He said: [Al-Bayyinah 98:6] So the worst of Allah's creations is the one who disbelieves in Allah the Exalted, and the best of Allah's creations is the one who believes in Allah. This man who is overcome by fear should not despair [Yusuf 12:87] and he should turn to Allah and worship Allah the Exalted sincerely, following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and he should have a good opinion of his Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). It is established in the authentic collections that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that Allah said in the Qudsi Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 7405.
The Shaykh : Something like this was reported from some of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). It is narrated from 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said, "I wish I were a tree that is not cut down," and "I wish my mother had not given birth to me." If fear takes hold of a person and he says words like this, it appears, and Allah knows best, that there is no harm in it. However, a person should praise Allah the Exalted for creating him and guiding him to faith, for by doing so he deserves Paradise and becomes the best of Allah's servants. The believers are the best of Allah's servants and the best of Allah's creations, just as the disbelievers are the worst of Allah's creations. The disbelievers are worse than their like among the pigs, the beasts of prey, and the livestock. Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are those who have disbelieved, and they will not [ever] believe -
إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِندَ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَIndeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ وَالْمُشْرِكِينَ فِي نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أُولَٰئِكَ هُمْ شَرُّ الْبَرِيَّةِof relief from Allah. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people."
مِن رَّوْحِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِن رَّوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَI am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they
أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي وَأَنَا مَعَهُ إِذَا ذَكَرَنِي فَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي نَفْسِهِ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي نَفْسِي وَإِنْ ذَكَرَنِي فِي مَلأٍ ذَكَرْتُهُ فِي مَلأٍ خَيْرٍ مِنْهُمْ
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1402هـ - 8 — binothaimeen.net (59:47)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.