NAIROBI – As the cases of reported suicides and suicide attempts shoot up in Kenya, Muslim religious leaders in the country have decided to take a step forward to share the solutions that Islam offers to address the worrying trend among different sectors of the society, especially youth.
“It is not by accident that in Kenya, it is difficult or almost impossible to find a practicing Muslim who has taken his life because of depression or to escape the pressures of life,” Sheikh Abdullatif Abdulkarim, Coordinator of Family Resource Centre, which provides counseling services to Muslim families in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi, told OnIslam.net.
“It is all about faith in God which they fall back on to maintain their hope in life,” he added.
The renowned scholar added that individuals who resort to suicide often lack the strong "shock absorbers" that true faith in God provides.
Sheikh Abdullatif added that suicide cases have shot up among non-Muslim Kenyans due to breakdown in family and community links which left individuals vulnerable to being overwhelmed by pressures of fast-paced modern life.
"If somebody is troubled and has no one to share their fears and experiences, they are more likely to feel overwhelmed. But if large networks of family and friends are around, they will assist him or her make the burden lighter," he said.
“That is why Islam places great emphasis on maintaining family and community links because of its many social, economic and spiritual benefits. Maybe it is time this precept is revived among Kenyans as part of the strategy to reduce cases of suicide,” he says
The scholar’s move to speak out followed the recent death of US film actor andcomedian Robin Williams which dominated conversations among many Kenyans and refocused attention on the subject of suicide.
Wider concern spread after the cases of Kenyans taking their lives have become too common in the recent past, with hardly a few days ever passing before such a tragedy is reported in the local media.
According to Kenya's Ministry of Health official estimates, as many as 7% of young Kenyan males and 10% of females have reported suicide attempts. In addition, at least 10% of young males and 7% of young females have reported being depressed, with depression being the highest risk factor for suicides.
Estimates show that about 3,000 Kenyans in every 100,000 commit suicide or attempt to do so, with the World Health Rankings putting Kenya at position 65 out of 192 counties in terms of suicide prevalence.
Police records indicate that there were 199 suicide cases last year, 205 the previous year and 99 in 2012. But the actual cases could be much higher with many cases left unreported or not classified as suicide.
Islamic Solutions
On his part, Sheikh Abu Qatada, a religious scholar and preacher in the coastal city of Mombasa, says that regular prayers, and remembrance of God helps Muslims find abiding peace in their hearts and makes them resilient to the stresses of life.
“Every true Muslim knows that prayer and remembrance of God are what makes them retain their sanity in this stressful modern life while other people rush to consume drugs and alcohol in a vain attempt to drown their problems," he told OnIslam.net.
To back his statement, he cites the Qur’anic verse saying: "O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient." 2:153. He also cites 13:28 which goes: "Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!"
"So the solution here is to cultivate a close relationship with the Almighty through regular prayers, which strengthen and calm the heart and mind. Drugs and alcohol are only temporary and futile tools of escaping from the reality," he recommends.
The scholar also points out that true Muslims approach the challenges of life from a positive angle by seeing them as divine tests that are meant to make him or her a better person, as compared to non-religious persons who may view challenges differently.
"It is possible that in Kenya or around the world, there are some Muslims who have committed suicide for one reason or another. But if you investigate, you realize that such people often didn't have a good knowledge or understanding of Islam," he asserted.
Sheikh Abdulmalik Kipsang, the Head of Tawhid Mosque in the Western Kenya town of Bungoma, noted that the fact that suicide is seen by true Muslims as a terrible sin in the sight of the Almighty has served to banish the act from the Muslim community.
"Suicide is just unthinkable to Muslims since it is severely condemned by the religion and those who take their lives are considered fit for divine wrath," he said.
He says that the Qur'an specifically forbids taking one's life, citing chapter 4, verse 29 of the book which goes: "And kill not yourselves, for surely God has been to you Most Merciful."
Author Abou-Allaban in the Handbook of Spirituality and Worldview in Clinical Practice (2004) writes that many Muslims are fearful that hell will be the consequence for suicidal behavior and this belief therefore acts as a good deterrent.
A global research by US firm Pew last year on the attitude of Muslims to suicide revealed an overwhelming majority (98% ) of Muslims in Kenya viewed it as immoral.
Sheikh Abdulmalik also explains that most Muslims are less likely to fall into suicide since their religion keeps them from certain lifestyles that may potentially lead them to suicidal actions such as drug and alcohol abuse, and gambling among others.
"However, there are many Muslim youths who have gotten into drug abuseespecially in the Coastal parts of the country. More efforts are needed to rehabilitate them back to their faith to protect them from such ills as suicide," he says.
Sheikh Abdulmalik recommends to Kenyans to nurture their spirituality and faith in Allah as a strategy to increase their emotional resilience and reduce the vulnerability to suicide or suicidal thoughts. He termed that strategy as the sustainable way of addressing the rising cases of suicides.
"It is time Muslims actively share the values of their religion with others because it has a lot of solutions to offer to many challenges facing humanity,” he said.
“Let us not be selfish with the good things that our religion offers humanity.”
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