Knowledge Without Realisation

KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT REALISATION name of jihad, for which they have had to face onesided devastation. And now, in line with a defeatist mentality, some of them are even resorting to suicide bombing. They strap bombs around their bodies and enter the areas of their supposed enemies and, exploding the bombs, knowingly kill themselves and others too. This is clearly a case of suicide, and suicide has been declared to be haraam (forbidden) in Islam. However, some Muslim scholars, giving this the name of istishhaad (desire for martyrdom), have declared it ja‘iz (permissible). In this regard, they seek to back their claim by drawing on some incidents in the age of the Prophet’s Companions. For instance, these people cite an incident from the time of the Caliphate of the first Caliph, Abu Bakr Siddiq (d. 634 C.E.), and wrongly claim that it is proof in support of their ideology. This incident is about a Companion of the Prophet named Al-Bara ibn Malik (d. 20 A.H.), which took place during the battle against Musaylimah, the false claimant to Prophethood (d.632 C.E.). In the period of the Caliphate of Abu Bakr Siddiq, a battle took place between the Muslims, led by Hazrat Khalid, and Musaylimah and his supporters from among the people of Yamama. In the last stage of this battle, a group of rebels entered a walled garden and shut its sturdy door from the inside. At that time, AlBara ibn Malik was among the Companions of the