Don’t stigmatise suicide as mental illness – Perak deputy mufti

IPOH: The stigma placed on those who commit suicide that they are mentally ill is a preconception and it should not be viewed as normal, says Perak deputy mufti Datuk Zamri Hashim.

He said members of the public should be careful in giving their opinions based on the hadith (sayings) of Prophet Muhammad, so that it would not be misunderstood that suicide is permitted in Islam.

“We take the fundamental (teachings) of Islam in which suicide is one of the major sins. If there is evidence to show that a suicide was committed with the conviction that committing it was ‘halal’ (permissible), the death would be considered as the death of a ‘kafir’ (disbeliever) for making halal something that is prohibited by Allah.

“But if the suicide shows no evidence of such, the death is still considered as the death of a Muslim and must be managed as a Muslim,” he said during an online conference on integrity via the Perak State Secretary’s Office Facebook page, in which Zamri was one of the panellists.

The other panellists were Perak National Security Council director Khairul Ridzuan Mat Said, state police chief Datuk Mior Faridalatrash Wahid and the State Health Department’s public health medical specialist Dr Mohd Zamri Md Ali.

Meanwhile, Zamri urged society to be more concerned and attentive towards family members, neighbours, friends and anyone, so that they would not feel alone and detached from help and people.

He said pleas and information for assistance could be channelled to any parties or agencies in the state if individuals could not afford to help those in need.

Zamri noted that suicide cases were on the rise of late, at a time when the government was enforcing movement control to curb the spread of Covid-19.

He said among the causes of suicide were the death of a family member due to Covid-19, job loss, giving up hope, and home-based teaching and learning problems.

It was reported that based on the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM)’s statistics, there were 266 suicide cases from March 18 to Oct 30 last year, during the implementation of MCO 1.0, and the number was increasing.

On June 16 this year, three suicide cases were reported, another case two days later and yesterday, the body of a 56-year-old man was found hanging in Balakong, Selangor, believed to be a suicide case. — Bernama