What is the ruling on cutting off a finger to avoid military academies?

The questioner : This is another question. He says: Honorable Shaykh, a committed young man cut off his thumb in order not to enter the military academies. What is the ruling on that, and what must he do to please Allah?

The Shaykh : Why didn't he cut off his head? May Allah guide you, may Allah guide you. Yes, this act he performed, which is cutting off his finger so that he would not enter the military academy, is forbidden without a doubt.
Because it is not permissible for anyone to cut off any of his limbs except what the Lawgiver has commanded, such as circumcision, where the skin is cut from the body; this is commanded. Other than that, it is not permissible for a person to cut off any of his limbs under any circumstances, except in two cases: if it is a treatment, meaning a cure, or if it is to remove a defect. Note: if it is a treatment or to remove a defect. An example of treatment: if leprosy appears in his finger, and leprosy is a disease that spreads in the body and kills its owner. Leprosy resembles cancer in some respects. If cancer appears in his finger, it is permissible for him to cut it off if it cannot be treated without cutting it.
Why? Because this cutting is a repair, just as al-Khidr breached the ship. Musa objected to him and said, "Did you breach it to drown its people?" Then al-Khidr explained to him afterward that the ship belonged to two orphan boys in the city, yes, to poor people. It belonged to poor people who worked at sea. So he wanted to defect it so that the oppressive king, who takes every sound ship by force, would not take it. So the breach was a defect, but for a benefit. Removing the limb in which the disease spreading to the body is considered a repair.
The second issue is removing a defect, such as if a person has six fingers on his hand or foot, then there is no blame on him for cutting off the extra finger, because the extra finger is considered a defect, since people's fingers are five, five. Now, if people's fingers were six, would the sixth be a defect or not a defect? And if they were three, the fourth would be a defect. So cutting off a limb to remove a defect is permissible and there is no blame, but on the condition that the one cutting it is a skilled doctor. Not that he goes to just anyone and says, "Cut off my finger," for example, because if he does this, the blood might flow and he might die.
Based on this, we say to the brother who cut off his finger so that he would not enter the academy: we say that he did a forbidden act and transgressed against himself, and he must repent. Then, I do not think that in the military academy there is compulsion such that avoiding this compulsion requires this method. Conscription is compulsory in some countries, my brother. What is the question? What does the question say? What does the question say? Read it.

The questioner : The military academies did not say, did not say conscription.

The Shaykh : In any case, whether it is conscription or an academy, it is not permissible for him to cut off his finger for this. Even if he is forced to enter the military, there may be good in that; he will be a soldier among the soldiers of Islam in the future. And if we were to lag behind the military academies, we who are committed, only the open sinner would remain in the academies. And in that case, it would be a danger to the ummah (the Muslim community) and to Islam as well. So the avoidance by some of the committed of entering the military academies is undoubtedly a short-sighted view. If they force you to shave your beard, tell them, "No obedience and no listening." Say, "No obedience and no listening." Yes, if he is imprisoned for life, that is for the sake of Allah. And I believe that if a large group gathered and insisted on not shaving their beards, the state that forces the shaving of the beard would have another view, even though the state that forces the shaving of beards is a sinful state, disobedient to Allah and His Messenger.