A total of 468 suicide cases were reported in Malaysia for the past five months in 2021 alone. People are now tired not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected their lives for over than a year now, but also with the Movement Control Orders imposed on them again and again that consequently forced thousands of people suddenly too loose jobs or continuous sources of income. On top of that, the perceived immaturity and selfishness of certain leaders construed rightly or wrongly to be “power crazy” are also seen to be insensitive to the helplessness and well-being of the people. This has further rubbed salt into the wound. All parties, be they politicians from both sides of the divide, NGOs, religious leaders and everyone should work hand in hand and closely together to ease the burden of the community from their emotional and or financial sufferings by all means.
Islam, being a religion of mercy revealed to the Prophet of Mercy (rahmatan lil-alamin) enjoins that Muslims must love others as much as they love themselves. The great jurist of Shafi’i school of Islamic jurisprudence, Imam Nawawi (d.1278) had mentioned in his famous work on “The Forty Hadiths” of an important Prophetic tradition (hadith). Hadith number 13 in the work was narrated by Anas bin Malik, who reported the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “None of you [truly] believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” This hadith wass reported by Imam al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban and numerous other narrators. The hadith clearly provides a golden principle that can be applied in all walks of life and create a harmonious society especially during this critical situation. The first generation of the Muslim Ummah as reflected in the Madinan community during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is undoubtedly the best generation as proclaimed by the Prophet himself in one of his sayings. It is an exemplary society in the history of mankind in terms of altruism, compassion, generosity and other virtues. To have a complete faith according to the hadith, one must love one’s brother what one loves for oneself. The companions of the Prophet have demonstrated “the love of others” or altruism and selflessness during their life time as recorded in history. But, perhaps the best exemplars of altruism and self-sacrifice of the first generation of Muslims took place in 636—more than 1,500 years ago—with three Muslim warriors (mujahidin) who favoured the lives of others over their own. Huzaifah al-‘Adawi recalled his personal encounter on that day when he went looking for his cousin. He relates:
I went searching for my cousin on the battlefield of al-Yarmuk (Jordan). I brought with me some water and said to myself, ‘If he is still alive, I will give him some water to drink.’ I found him alive and wanted to give him water, but then we heard someone gasp, so he signalled to me to take the water to that man, who was Hisham ibn Al-‘As. When I wanted to give the water to him (Hisham), we heard another man cry out, and Hisham made a sign to me, telling me to go to that man. When I went to him, I found that he had already died. When I returned to Hisham, I discovered he, too, had passed away; and when I returned to my cousin, I saw that he had died as well, may Allah have mercy on all of them!
Indeed, this is altruism (Arabic: ithar) of the highest order when one prefers saving others more than one’s own.
Altruism means putting others over oneself. It is simply to think beyond yourself, beyond your ego, and instead sacrifice your own needs and welfare for the sake of others. Undoubtedly,it is the highest form of virtue which in today’s materialistic and egoistic societies, is scarce and rarely to be found. The famous British historian, Arnold Toynbee (d.1975), used to observe that civilisations fell because they failed to respond to the ethical challenge of altruism versus egoism. Indeed, altruism is an indispensable moral value to establish a civilisation.
Our religion, Islam— a religion of mercy—holds such a noble virtue in high esteem. It is a sign of perfect faith to God. Unfortunately, this voluntarily ethical virtue of altruism has gradually disappeared in our society. Thus, a society based on socio-economic justice and humanitarianism would be out of reach. There are numerous verses of the Qur’an and Prophetic hadiths which commend altruistic believers, and revealed in conjunction with certain incidents. Everyone should be taught and trained to have such a virtuous quality instilled in their hearts and live with it in their daily lives. And it begins with their own neighbours. It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas who informed Ibn Zubayr, “I heard the Prophet (pbuh) says: ‘He is not a believer whose stomach is filled while his neighbour goes hungry.” (Adab al-Mufrad, al-Bukhari). If everyone in our society takes care of their own neighbours’ welfares and be altruistic, we wonder whether there would still be a need for campaigns to raise white flags for help. Indirectly, we can also help minimise suicide cases in the society.