'Suicide' in Islam: Some Hadith

Suicide Bombing Damage, USS Cole

Permissible in Jihad?

(Image from Wikipedia)

In an attempt to get to understand clearly the Muslim position on suicide, and with the helpful assistance of Jeanie Oliver, I located five hadith in Muhammad Muhsin Khan's translation of Sahih al-Bukhari, which the Muslim Students' Association has generously supplied for everyone's benefit at their site hosted by the University of Southern California. Thank Golly for Islamic dawah, eh?

Anyway, here are the five hadith that I found (with suicide statements in red font):

Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 73:

Narrated Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak:

(who was one of the companions who gave the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet underneath the tree (Al-Hudaibiya)) Allah's Apostle said, "Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam (i.e. if somebody swears by saying that he is a non-Muslim e.g., a Jew or a Christian, etc.) in case he is telling a lie, he is really so if his oath is false, and a person is not bound to fulfill a vow about a thing which he does not possess. And if somebody commits suicide with anything in this world, he will be tortured with that very thing on the Day of Resurrection; And if somebody curses a believer, then his sin will be as if he murdered him; And whoever accuses a believer of Kufr (disbelief), then it is as if he killed him."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 78, Number 647:

Narrated Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak:

The Prophet said, "Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam, is, as he says; and whoever commits suicide with something, will be punished with the same thing in the (Hell) Fire; and cursing a believer is like murdering him; and whoever accuses a believer of disbelief, then it is as if he had killed him."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 73, Number 126:

Narrated Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak:

The Prophet said, "Whoever swears by a religion other than Islam (i.e. if he swears by saying that he is a non-Muslim in case he is telling a lie), then he is as he says if his oath is false and whoever commits suicide with something, will be punished with the same thing in the (Hell) fire, and cursing a believer is like murdering him, and whoever accuses a believer of disbelief, then it is as if he had killed him."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 445:

Narrated Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak:

The Prophet (p.b.u.h) said, "Whoever intentionally swears falsely by a religion other than Islam, then he is what he has said, (e.g. if he says, 'If such thing is not true then I am a Jew,' he is really a Jew). And whoever commits suicide with piece of iron will be punished with the same piece of iron in the Hell Fire." Narrated Jundab the Prophet said, "A man was inflicted with wounds and he committed suicide, and so Allah said: My slave has caused death on himself hurriedly, so I forbid Paradise for him."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 446:

Narrated Abu Huraira-:

The Prophet said, "He who commits suicide by throttling shall keep on throttling himself in the Hell Fire (forever) and he who commits suicide by stabbing himself shall keep on stabbing himself in the Hell-Fire."

Note that all but one of these hadith go back to Thabit bin Ad-Dahhak. Nevertheless, it seems quite clear that Islam forbids suicide -- assuming that this hadith is considered authentic, which seems reasonable since it's in Sahih al-Bukhari.

Yet, I here run up against my limits: I don't know Arabic, so I have no idea what the original text actually states. What Arabic word is being used for "suicide" here in these passages? Does it have a specific meaning? I'm guessing that there must be some ambiguity, just enough to enable 'scholars' such as the 'moderate' Yusuf al-Qaradawi to state:

Allah Almighty is just; through his infinite wisdom he has given the weak a weapon the strong do not have and and that is their ability to turn their bodies into bombs as Palestinians do. (Yusuf al-Qaradawi, "Controversial preacher with 'star status'," BBC News, July 7, 2004)

Read more on Qaradawi's views -- and the debate among Muslim scholars -- at MEMRI's website: "Debating the Religious, Political and Moral Legitimacy of Suicide Bombings Part 1: The Debate over Religious Legitimacy," MEMRI, Inquiry and Analysis Series, No. 53, May 31, 2001.

Incidentally, did everyone appreciate the 'portmanteau' word in my expression "Thank Golly for Islamic dawah"?