Analysis and Examination of the Narrations of the Infallibles' (Peace be upon them) Wish for Death

Document Type : پژوهشی

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Quran Science and Hadith, Hazrat-e Masoumeh University, Qom, Iran

2 Fatemeh zhian, Assistant Professor of Department of Quran Science and Hadith. Faculty member of Hazrat-e Maʼsoumeh University. Qom. Iran

Abstract

According to religious teachings, the enduring and continuous remembrance of death is a desirable matter for humans. However, sometimes the onset of hardships and difficulties in life causes individuals to become impatient, leading them to pray for death instead of seeking refuge in God. The concept expressed in several narrations, which include prayers and wishes for death, is inconsistent with other teachings attributed to the Infallibles (Peace be upon them). If the wish for death arises from an inability to cope with worldly problems, it not only lacks permission from them but also contradicts the trials faced by the Infallibles, as such a stance would result in helplessness, which is inconsistent with the status of infallibility. This article, adopting an analytical-critical approach, aims to scrutinize the sources and documents of these narrations according to the evidence from both Shia and Sunni perspectives and seeks to evaluate them by exploring other sources and identifying their frequency and types of narrations and historical context. The aforementioned narrations, while conflicting with some accounts found in Shia literature and the Sunnah of the Infallibles, are subject to dispute regarding their scriptural, rational, and semantic clarity. Several narrations that include wishes for death lack credible chains of transmission and, in some cases, are metaphorical expressions of deep sorrow and regret over events that lead to the deviance of the Islamic community.

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