My question is regarding mental health in the context of Shia Islam. My cousin battled depression and ailing mental health for the majority of his adult life and unfortunately took his own life through overdose. He was a pious Muslim and observed all necessary requirements of our faith, but unfortunately his poor mental health caused him to commit suicide. Since he was not in the right frame of thinking and was being treated by doctors for his condition, what is the Shia outlook on believers who take their life in sickness? I pray for his Maghfirat daily and my Aunt reads Quran for him daily, but some community members have inadvertently said incredibly hurtful things. I was told by a family friend that my cousin would not enter Jannah because of a Hadees from the Imams on those who take their own lives.

My cousin suffered from depression and was not in the right frame of mind when he took his own life. How or why would Allah SWT, the most merciful of mercifuls, punish my cousin for a sickness he didn’t choose? Is there anything I can do to help my cousin’s soul?

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That’s unfortunate. May Allah forgive him and give you all patience.

There are two types of people who commit suicide:

1- Those who lose faith and lose hope in God. This would be a form of disbelief, and while Allah can still forgive them if he wants to, but they may not be eligible to go to Jannah.

2- Those who are not in the right frame of mind, and due to the severe depression or mental health issue, they don’t really know what they are doing. So it’s not like the deliberately committed suicide and lost hope in God. They were under so much psychological pain such that they no longer were aware of what they were doing. Such people are eligible for forgiveness and are eligible to go to Jannah.