43. Desire of Dying

The said Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said “The Hour will not be established till a man passes by a grave of somebody and says, ‘Would that I were in his place.’” [Bukhaari, 9/88/231]

In a hadith narrated by Muslim, the Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “A time will come when a man will pass next to a grave and put his face in it and say, ‘I wish I were in his place.” The Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said that this is not because of debt. People want to kill themselves if they are in serious debt.

Ibn Mas’ud said, “A time will come, when if death were sold, people would buy it.”

Al-Haafidh al-Iraaqi has an interesting commentary on this. He says that it is not unusual to find people desiring death in any time, but when people see death, and cemeteries and a grave, they don’t feel like dying anymore. When you see death in your face, we naturally hate death. Al-Iraaqi says that if they see death in front of their eyes and still desire death. That really tells you that they are going through miserable time. We ask Allah for security from this.

These trials and tribulations are either a test or a punishment for the people.