Is one who blows himself up among the enemy considered a suicide?
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The questioner : In modern warfare, there is something they call a commando or a suicide squad in modern war. That is, there may be enemy forces that are troubling the Muslims, so they carry out a commando operation or a suicide squad, placing bombs and entering, for example, the enemy's tanks or the like. What is the ruling on this? Is this considered suicide or something else?
The Shaykh : No. Suicide is when a person kills himself to escape from the miserable life he is living. But in the situation you are asking about, this is not suicide; rather, this is jihad in the path of Allah. However, there is a note here that must be heeded: this should not be an individual, personal act. Rather, it is to be done by the order of the army commander. Is that clear?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : ... So if the army commander does not need this commando and sees that in his loss there is a great gain from another perspective, namely the destruction of a large number of polytheists and disbelievers, then his opinion is the one that must be obeyed, even if this person is not pleased with it. He must obey him.
The questioner : So there is no harm in it?
The Shaykh : There is no harm; because we do not call this suicide. Suicide is one of the greatest prohibitions in Islam, because one does not do it except in anger at his Lord, denying His decree, may Allah protect us from that. But this person offers himself up, just as many of the righteous Salaf, from the Companions and those after them, would charge into a group of disbelievers with his sword, continuing to strike them with the sword until death comes to him while he is patient and content, because he believes that Paradise is before him. How vast is the difference between one who kills himself in this way of jihad, and one who commits suicide to escape from the worldly life he lives, or who acts on his own head and strives for himself. In that case, it falls under the category of throwing oneself into destruction. But if the army commander, who knows the battlefield, its positions, its requirements, its needs, its reality, and so on, sees that, then it is a permissible matter, indeed a matter that is desirable in the Shari'ah.
The Shaykh : No. Suicide is when a person kills himself to escape from the miserable life he is living. But in the situation you are asking about, this is not suicide; rather, this is jihad in the path of Allah. However, there is a note here that must be heeded: this should not be an individual, personal act. Rather, it is to be done by the order of the army commander. Is that clear?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : ... So if the army commander does not need this commando and sees that in his loss there is a great gain from another perspective, namely the destruction of a large number of polytheists and disbelievers, then his opinion is the one that must be obeyed, even if this person is not pleased with it. He must obey him.
The questioner : So there is no harm in it?
The Shaykh : There is no harm; because we do not call this suicide. Suicide is one of the greatest prohibitions in Islam, because one does not do it except in anger at his Lord, denying His decree, may Allah protect us from that. But this person offers himself up, just as many of the righteous Salaf, from the Companions and those after them, would charge into a group of disbelievers with his sword, continuing to strike them with the sword until death comes to him while he is patient and content, because he believes that Paradise is before him. How vast is the difference between one who kills himself in this way of jihad, and one who commits suicide to escape from the worldly life he lives, or who acts on his own head and strives for himself. In that case, it falls under the category of throwing oneself into destruction. But if the army commander, who knows the battlefield, its positions, its requirements, its needs, its reality, and so on, sees that, then it is a permissible matter, indeed a matter that is desirable in the Shari'ah.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.