Is it justifiable for a man who lost his right hand, his wealth, wife and job in an accident to commit suicide?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The misfortunes that hit a man in this world are not justifiable reasons for him to commit suicide. Our example (model) regarding the issue is the Prophet Ayyub (Job).

Life is a chain of tests from beginning to end. Tests for man begin with childhood. Man purifies, becomes mature and strong enough to face great challenges in time. It is impossible to distinguish gold from stone and diamond from coal in a place where there is no test.

The hardness of the test is directly proportional to the personality of man. The most difficult tests are the tests of the prophets. God Almighty tested the Prophet Ayyub with a terrible disease that affected all parts of his body.

Ayyub was a righteous slave. Allah wanted to test him with his wealth, his family and his body. Once he was very rich but he lost all of his wealth and became poor. He soon lost his family and was left alone. Moreover, his body was writhing in pain and suffering. However, Hz. Ayyub never ceased to show patience despite everything; and he never ceased to worship and thank Allah. On the contrary, his devotion to his Lord increased as the misfortunes hit him more.

Yes, wealth had some responsibilities and burdens. Hz. Ayyub showed patience and passed the test. Then, it was time for the test of poverty. He passed that test too with the permission of Allah. He had a big and happy family. He also had to show patience related to them. He passed that test too. The Prophet Ayyub was alone after that. He was tested through loneliness and desolateness. He passed this test too.

Once, he had a healthy body. He was tested through his health. He passed the test by thanking for every boon he had. When all of his body was affected with an illness, he showed patience and even thanked Allah. He passed the test fully. In short, He always turned toward Allah. His illness never ended; poverty was unbearable; disloyalty of the people broke his heart. He spent his days with three friends: disease, poverty and loneliness. However, he produced an alternative triangle: patience, thanking and worshipping.  

Once, Satan encountered him and said,

- O Ayyub! I am the source of all of the pains you suffer. If you give up showing patience, you will recover. Rebel! Give up patience. Patience is of no good for you.

Hz. Ayyub dismissed Satan and shouted:

- Get out and never come again! I will never give up patience, thanking and worshipping...

When his wife advised Hz. Ayyub to pray to Allah to heal him, Ayyub, who was a hero of patience, answered her as follows:

- How long did we live in riches and boons?

- For eighty years.

- How long did we suffer illness and troubles?

- For seven years...

- I lived in riches for eighty years and in hardship for seven years. In that case I feel ashamed to call on Allah to remove the hardship.

He was determined to show patience no matter how worse his illness got. However, the wounds prevented him from worshipping and mentioning Allah one day. At that time, he groaned: 

- O Lord! The illness intervened between You and me. It is a great agony not to be able to mention your name with my tongue and heart. O Allah! You have endless mercy. Save me from anything that would keep me away from You!

Ayyub was both praying and crying. Suddenly a sound was heard. He was addressed as follows:  

- O Ayyub, Strike with thy foot: here is (water) wherein to wash, cool and refreshing, and (water) to drink.

The Prophet of patience hit the ground with his heel. Water gushed out of the ground suddenly. It was cool, pure and clear. It had tasted like the water of Paradise. Hz. Ayyub was drinking water and also washing his body with it. A little later, he felt that all of the wounds on his body recovered and he was full of life. His fatigue was replaced by a strange vitality. His fever went down. Obviously, the blessed water, healed all of his internal and external diseases.

Soon, his family returned. The divine mercy brought them back. The Prophet of mercy was no longer alone. His disease that lasted for years ended and he was healthy again. Hz. Ayyub thanked Allah more for it.  

Allah praised Hz Ayyub as follows in the Quran to reward his patience:

- Truly We found him full of patience and constancy. How excellent in Our service! Ever did he turn (to Us).

Yes, the Quran described him with the word "awwab". Awwab means a person who turns toward Allah with dhikr and patience all the time. Hz. Ayyub's patience enabled him to pass the test. After that day, his prayer was repeated by all ill people and people who suffered. Everybody who uttered that prayer remembered Hz. Ayyub's patience and showed patience. When they wanted to feel relieved, they groaned like him.

The Prophet of patience taught us what a great power patience was. In fact, he also taught us that spiritual diseases were more dangerous than material diseases because the material diseases damaged our short worldly lives whereas the spiritual diseases ruined our eternal lives. The cure for our spiritual illnesses is mentioning Allah all the time, remembering Him and fulfilling His commands all the time.  

Allah will give great rewards in the hereafter to His slave who shows patience in the face of diseases and misfortunes in this world. He will lead a perfect life in Paradise. As a matter of fact, our Prophet (pbuh) told us that when a Companion whose leg was lame was martyred went to Paradise, his foot was sound.

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