A woman who committed adultery and is contemplating suicide
Question:
A married woman commits
adultery, then she repented but the guilt of the act is haunting her. She is now
thinking about suicide. What should be done and what is your advice?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allaah be
pleased with him) said: “The believer sees his sin as a mountain beneath which
he is sitting and which he fears may fall down upon him. The rebellious person
sees his sin as a fly which passes in front of his nose and he swats it
away…” (Reported by
This woman’s overwhelming sense
of the burden of her sin is a sign of faith. We offer her the following advice:
1. She should examine her divorce
from her first husband to make sure that it is sound according to sharee‘ah
(Islamic law), whether it took the form of talaaq (male-instigated
divorce) or khul’ (female-instigated divorce).
2. She should make sure that her
marriage contract to the second man is also sound, because a marriage between
two people guilty of adultery is not valid unless they have repented; if the
contract is found not to be valid, it must be repeated.
3. If this woman is sincere in
her repentance towards Allaah, regrets what she did and is determined never to
do it again, Allaah will forgive all her sins, no matter how great they were, so
she should not despair of the mercy of Allaah, for no one despairs of Allaah’s
Mercy, except the people who disbelieve, and who despairs of the mercy of his
Lord except those who are astray?
4. She should hasten to do many
good deeds, to expiate for her sin, as Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): “And perform al-salaat (the prayer) at the two ends of the
day and in some hours of the night. Verily, the good deeds remove the evil
deeds…” [Hud 11:114]
5. She should resume a pure Islamic life, based on
purity and chastity. Suicide is not a solution at all, as it is one of the most
grievous of major sins, and will only increase the punishment of the one who
does it. The Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:
"Whoever throws himself down from a high mountain and kills himself will be
throwing himself down from a mountain in the Fire of Hell for all eternity.
Whoever takes poison and kills himself will be taking poison in the Fire of Hell
for all eternity. Whoever kills himself with a weapon
(literally, iron) will be holding it in his hand and stabbing himself in the
stomach in the Fire of Hell for all eternity. (Reported by al-Bukhaari, 5778)
We ask Allaah to help this woman
to repent sincerely, to forgive her sins and to include her in His Mercy, for He
is the All-hearing Who answers prayers.