As for why it is deemed a mark of intellectual foolishness, it is because, so long as a person remains alive, he is either a doer of good and can add to his good deeds, or a sinner who may seek Allah’s pardon. Once he dies, however, he has no certainty about his end; he might depart this world with the worst possible conclusion—may Allah protect us. For that reason we say: do not do it, for wishing for death is sheer folly of mind.

Its being a deviation in religion stems from the fact that it involves committing what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explicitly forbade. He said, “None of you should wish for death,” and the prohibition here indicates that the act is unlawful, because wishing for death contains an element of displeasure with Allah’s decree. A believer must be patient: when hardship strikes, he endures it. By showing patience in the face of hardship he gains two great benefits:

1. Expiation of sins: nothing afflicts a person—worry, grief, harm, or anything else—without wiping away some of his sins, even the prick of a thorn; when a thorn pricks him it atones for him.

2. A reward from Allah if he seeks it and bears the hardship for His sake, for Allah the Exalted says, “Indeed, those who endure with patience will be given their reward in full without measure” (al-Zumar 10).

When someone wishes for death, therefore, it shows that he is neither patient with nor content about what Allah has decreed. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that a person is either righteous and, by remaining alive, can increase in righteous deeds—

and it is well known that a single utterance of tasbīḥ (subḥān-Allāh) recorded in one’s ledger is better than the whole world and everything in it, for the world and all it contains will perish, whereas tasbīḥ and righteous deeds endure. Allah the Exalted says, “Wealth and children are but adornment of the worldly life, whereas the enduring good deeds …” (al-Kahf 46).