killed himself;

For this reason, when Samurah ibn Jundab was told that his son had become ill from overeating, he said of him: “Had he died, I would not have offered the funeral prayer for him.”

The believer should therefore distinguish between what Allah has forbidden—intentionally killing oneself or bringing about one’s own death—and what Allah has prescribed: believers selling their lives and wealth to Him. As the Most High says:

“Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange for Paradise.”

He also says:

“And among the people is he who sells himself, seeking Allah’s pleasure.”

That is, he sells his own self. The criterion in this is what the Quran and Sunnah teach, not what a person finds appealing, feels, or considers right among matters that contradict the Quran and Sunnah. Rather, such a person may fit the description given by ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz:

“Whoever worships Allah in ignorance causes more harm than good.”

It should also be understood that Allah’s pleasure and love do not lie in merely tormenting oneself and imposing hardships upon oneself, such that the harder a deed is, the better it must be. Many ignorant people suppose that, in every matter, reward is proportional to hardship. No; rather, reward is proportional to the benefit a deed brings, the good it serves, and its usefulness,