Wishing for Death
Question: Is it permissible to wish for death or to pray for death?
Answer: No.
Wishing for death or praying for death due to the difficulties and sorrows one is going through is absolutely forbidden. However, prayers related to the manner and form of one's death do not fall under this prohibition.
Let's explain:
Is wishing for death permissible?
It is inconceivable for a person who is emotionally, mentally, and physically active to wish for death. Therefore, such a thought can only be the whisper of Satan or the murmuring of some of the evil inclinations within oneself. No one should allow the dark feelings and thoughts they have fallen into to affect major consequences.
The greatest blessing a person has is to exist; and the greatest manifestation of this blessing is being alive. Wishing for death is blindness to the value of this great blessing and ingratitude towards the Giver of this blessing. It is both negligence towards the blessings and opportunities one has and betrayal towards the blessing of living entrusted to us. Furthermore, it is ignorance to underestimate death and to think of it as just an eternal sleep.
Hadiths that prohibit wishing for death:
"None of you should wish for death. If he is righteous, perhaps he may add to (his) good works, and if he is a sinner, possibly he may repent (in case he is given a longer life)." (1)
None amongst you should make a request for death, and do not call for it before it comes, for when any one of you dies, he ceases (to do good) deeds and the life of a believer is not prolonged but for goodness." (2)
"Narrated Qais: We went to pay a visit to Khabbab bin Al-Art and he had got himself branded at seven spots over his body. He said, “If Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) had not forbidden us to invoke Allah for death, I would have invoked for it.” (3)
So, what should we do if we cannot overcome the depression that leads us to wish for death? Let's talk a little about that:
If a person is in such an emotional state that they cannot overcome the desire for death despite these hadiths and contemplation; the Prophet (peace be upon him) showed compassion and understanding even to this condition and taught a prayer:
"None of you should wish for death because of a calamity befalling him; but if he has to wish for death, he should say: 'O Allah! Keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and let me die if death is better for me.' "(4)
This prayer is a wonderful prayer in terms of its psychological effects. Because even a person who is so distressed that they won't take heed can accept such a prayer. Because even though it includes the condition "if death is better for me," it also includes the phrase "take my life," which means, from one perspective, that person is wishing for death. But at the same time, this prayer teaches the person who is focused on those negative feelings that there might be something better in living.
Yes, you cannot explain the concept of "living is better" to a person drowned in complaints about their life, but you can suggest the possibility that "maybe there is something good in my living."
And a person who believes in Allah and confirms the Prophet, by making this prayer from the authentic hadith and not immediately dying, will think, "Then, at least for today, it must have been better for me to live," and this thought will be the first step to a more productive and positive life.
Requests similar to wishing for death but permissible:
Some prayers contain things similar to wishing for death, but these:
1-) Actually belong to the nature of death, which will happen in any case,
2-) Are due to translation deficiencies from Arabic,
3-) Are prayers that are permissible when a person is dying.
For example:
Characteristic of death:
A prayer like "O Allah, make me a martyr" is permissible and it is not a wish for death, but a desire to become a martyr when the time comes.
The prayer of Prophet Yusuf "…Take my soul as a Muslim while I am in a state of submission [to You] and join me with the righteous." (5) is a permissible and beautiful prayer regarding the desire to meet Allah in a certain state.
Difference in expression:
The prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a hadith, "When You decide to test Your servants with a great fitna, keep me safe from being involved in it until I die," is not a wish for death; it is a desire not to be involved in the fitna until death.
The prayer of Umar ibn al-Khattab when performing the duty of caliphate, in his old age, "O my Lord! I have grown old, my strength has weakened, and the number of people under my rule has increased... (6) Therefore, take my life before I make mistakes, and do not let me deviate from the right path, do not let me commit tyranny or oppression," is not a prayer to die; it is a request to not make a mistake or commit oppression as a caliph. So, this prayer should be read as "Do not let me make mistakes or deviate from the right path until I die," for that is the purpose.
At the moment of death:
The prayer of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he realized he was going to die, "O Allah, take me by your side, I want to be with the highest company," is an example of this.
Similarly, it is narrated from the Companions that they prayed, in the agonies of death, "O Allah, let me die with ease."
Within this framework, for example, if a patient for whom doctors see no hope of recovery prays, "O Allah, if there is no cure, do not let me suffer in this state," it is permissible. However, it would be a better prayer to say, “O Allah, grant me one of two remedies from You: either cure me of this illness or grant me a quick and peaceful death to enter Your paradise.”
(1) https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:584
(2) https://sunnah.com/muslim:2682
(3) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7234
(4) https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5671
(5) Surah Yusuf, 12/101
(6) Muwatta Malik » Hudud - 41; https://sunnah.com/urn/515110