How do you respond to those who cite the story of the boy of the trench as evidence for the permissibility of suicide?
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The questioner : Some people have cited the permissibility of killing oneself, or what they call suicide operations, based on a hadith mentioned by Muslim in his *Sahih*, the hadith of the story of the boy of the people of the trench. Is their citation correct?
The Shaykh : This is correct in its context. This is correct in its context, meaning if it is found that killing this person himself results in the faith of a group of people, then there is no harm. Because when this boy said to the king: "Take the arrow from my quiver and then say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of this boy, for you will hit me," and the king did so, what was the result for the people? They all believed. This is not a problem. But the suicide bombers today do not achieve anything from this; rather, it is the opposite. The first one to kill himself may kill one or two, or may not kill anyone. But what will be the enemy's retaliation? How many will they kill? They will kill twice as many or more, and neither faith nor cessation of killing is achieved. Do you understand? This is the response to them. We say: If a situation like this is found, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not narrate it to us so that we would hear it as if it were the legends of the ancients. He narrated it to us so that we would take a lesson. If such a situation is found, there is no harm.
Some of them cite the story of al-Bara' ibn Malik in the Battle of Yamamah, where they besieged the garden of Musaylimah, and the door was closed and they were unable to open it. So al-Bara' said: This is not evidence, why? Because his death was not certain. Therefore, he survived and opened the door for them. But the suicide bomber who ties himself to bullets and bombs, does he survive or not? Certainly, he does not survive. Therefore, if it were not for their good intentions, we would say: They are in the Fire, being punished with what they used to kill themselves with. Yes.
The Shaykh : This is correct in its context. This is correct in its context, meaning if it is found that killing this person himself results in the faith of a group of people, then there is no harm. Because when this boy said to the king: "Take the arrow from my quiver and then say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of this boy, for you will hit me," and the king did so, what was the result for the people? They all believed. This is not a problem. But the suicide bombers today do not achieve anything from this; rather, it is the opposite. The first one to kill himself may kill one or two, or may not kill anyone. But what will be the enemy's retaliation? How many will they kill? They will kill twice as many or more, and neither faith nor cessation of killing is achieved. Do you understand? This is the response to them. We say: If a situation like this is found, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not narrate it to us so that we would hear it as if it were the legends of the ancients. He narrated it to us so that we would take a lesson. If such a situation is found, there is no harm.
Some of them cite the story of al-Bara' ibn Malik in the Battle of Yamamah, where they besieged the garden of Musaylimah, and the door was closed and they were unable to open it. So al-Bara' said: