Short answer
Islam teaches the believer to meet death with patience and hope in God's (﷾) mercy, and never to end his own life. Sallekhana is the Jain practice of a gradual fast, taken by vow, at the end of life. Jains say it is not suicide, because no passion drives it. It is taken calmly, with a teacher's vow. Islam weighs it by a different measure: God's (﷾) command. A life is a trust from God (﷾), not ours to end. The Qur'an says, "Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves" (4:29). The Prophet (ﷺ) told believers not to wish for death, even in hardship. Each extra day may let a good person add good, and a wrongdoer repent. He also forbade worship that harms the body. So a Muslim leaves his end to God (﷾). He waits for it with patience, and dies thinking well of God (﷾).
Full explanation
What sallekhana is, in Jain teaching
Sallekhana means "properly thinning out" the passions and the body. Both Jain traditions, the Digambara (sky-clad) and the Svetambara (white-clad), teach it. Svetambara Jains today call it santhara. It is a gradual fast in the last days of life, so that a person dies fully aware, with the vows kept. A Digambara manual for lay followers allows it in four situations. They are a calamity that cannot be escaped, a famine, old age, and an illness that cannot be cured. The Jain scholar P. S. Jaini says it is almost always old age or a terminal illness. A lay person receives the vow from a teacher, with the family's consent, and openly. The vow is not properly kept if it is tainted by any wish to live longer, to die sooner, or to gain heaven. Jain teachers condemn every other way of ending one's own life.
Jaini calls sallekhana the holy death: the decision to meet one's natural death calmly by fasting and meditation in the last days of life. It is strongly recommended for monks and nuns and is a goal for many lay Jains, in both traditions. The aim is to die fully aware, with the vows kept, and the word means properly thinning out the passions and the body. The lawbooks allow it in four situations: unavoidable calamity, great famine, old age that makes falling away from the vows likely, and an illness that cannot be cured. It is almost always old age or terminal illness. Jain teachers condemn other ways of ending one's life as wrong, and say they lead to rebirth in hell. A lay person receives the vow from a teacher, the family consents, and the community knows; Jains contrast this with a suicide done in secret. The vow is not properly kept if it is tainted by any wish to live longer, to die quickly, or to gain heaven. The dying person repeats or hears the namaskara mantra, the Jain prayer of homage to the holy beings.
The Ratnakaranda Shravakachara, a Digambara manual for lay followers, defines sallekhana as giving up the body for the sake of dharma (religious duty) in four situations: a calamity that cannot be escaped, a famine, old age, and an illness that cannot be cured.
Dundas says sallekhana is also called samthara (santhara), meaning "death-bed", which is its name among Svetambaras today.
Why Jains say it is not suicide
Jain teachers draw a careful line. The Tattvartha Sutra, a text both traditions accept, defines harm as taking life out of passion. A Digambara commentary on its sutra about sallekhana answers the charge of self-killing from that definition. Self-killing, it says, is the act of one overcome by attachment, aversion or delusion. One who has taken the vow of sallekhana is free of these, so he does not kill himself. That is the Jain teaching, stated in its own terms.
In the Digambara numbering, Tattvartha Sutra 7.22 says that the lay follower willingly takes up sallekhana, the final fast, as death approaches. Pujyapada's Digambara commentary, the Sarvarthasiddhi (§705), answers the charge that this is self-killing. Harm, as the Tattvartha Sutra defines it (7.13), is taking life out of passion. One who has taken the vow of sallekhana is free of attachment and aversion, so, the commentary says, he is not guilty of self-killing. Self-killing is the act of one overcome by attachment, aversion or delusion.
Jaini calls sallekhana the holy death: the decision to meet one's natural death calmly by fasting and meditation in the last days of life. It is strongly recommended for monks and nuns and is a goal for many lay Jains, in both traditions. The aim is to die fully aware, with the vows kept, and the word means properly thinning out the passions and the body. The lawbooks allow it in four situations: unavoidable calamity, great famine, old age that makes falling away from the vows likely, and an illness that cannot be cured. It is almost always old age or terminal illness. Jain teachers condemn other ways of ending one's life as wrong, and say they lead to rebirth in hell. A lay person receives the vow from a teacher, the family consents, and the community knows; Jains contrast this with a suicide done in secret. The vow is not properly kept if it is tainted by any wish to live longer, to die quickly, or to gain heaven. The dying person repeats or hears the namaskara mantra, the Jain prayer of homage to the holy beings.
Common ground, and where the ways part
Jains and Muslims agree that the end of a life matters, and that a person should meet it calm and turned to what is highest. The ways part on one question: may a person end his own life, however calm his mind? Jain teaching measures the act by the state of the mind. Islam measures it by God's (﷾) command. Allah (﷾) has fixed the term of every life, as by writing. And He commands, "Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves".
“Nor can a soul die except by Allah's leave, the term being fixed as by writing. If any do desire a reward in this life, We shall give it to him; and if any do desire a reward in the Hereafter, We shall give it to him. And swiftly shall We reward those that (serve us with) gratitude.”
“O ye who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: But let there be amongst you Traffic and trade by mutual good-will: Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful!”
A life is a trust, not ours to end
The Qur'an says Allah (﷾) created death and life to test which of us is best in deed. It is Allah (﷾) who takes the souls at death. So a life is held in trust, and its owner is God. The Qur'an tells believers, "Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves". Some commentators read the words as "do not kill one another". The Qur'an also says, "make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction". No calm of mind and no permission from another person makes a life ours to end. The Prophet (ﷺ) left no doubt that a person may not take his own life. He warned that whoever kills himself will suffer by the same means in the Fire of Hell. This is Allah's (﷾) law for the living. It is not a verdict on anyone who has died. We declare no one's fate; that belongs to Allah (﷾) alone. He punishes no one before a messenger has come, and He is never unjust in the least degree.
“He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;-”
“It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back (from returning to life), but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.”
“O ye who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: But let there be amongst you Traffic and trade by mutual good-will: Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful!”
“And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.”
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said whoever kills himself, whether by a fall, by poison or with a blade, will suffer the same in the Fire.
“Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent a messenger (to give warning).”
“Allah is never unjust in the least degree: If there is any good (done), He doubleth it, and giveth from His own presence a great reward.”
For anyone carrying a heavy burden
Some who read this page are ill, worn out, or grieving. Islam's word to them is mercy. Allah (﷾) says to His servants who have wronged themselves: "Despair not of the Mercy of Allah". With every difficulty there is relief. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that no tiredness, illness or sorrow reaches a Muslim without Allah (﷾) wiping away some of his sins by it. No pain is wasted. If you are thinking of ending your life, please speak today with someone you trust or a doctor, or call your local emergency number.
“Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.”
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Abu Hurayra report that the Prophet (ﷺ) said no tiredness, illness, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress reaches a Muslim, not even the prick of a thorn, without Allah wiping away some of his sins because of it.
Do not wish for death
The Prophet (ﷺ) told believers not to wish for death because of a harm that has struck them. If someone must say something, let him ask Allah (﷾) to keep him alive as long as life is better for him. Then let him ask to be taken when death is better for him. Both halves leave the choice with Allah (﷾), who alone knows which is better. He gave the reason too. A doer of good may add to his good, and a wrongdoer may turn back and repent. So in Islam the last days of a life are not empty time to be cut short. They are days of reward, of prayer, and of turning back to God (﷾).
Anas reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said none of you should wish for death because of a harm that has struck him. If he must wish, let him say: "O Allah, keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and take me when death is better for me."
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said none of you should wish for death. If he is a doer of good, he may add to his good. If he is a wrongdoer, he may turn back and repent.
Worship that harms the body is not asked
The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade his companions to fast day after day without breaking the fast at night. Aisha says he forbade it out of mercy to them. He told a companion who fasted every day and prayed all night to stop, because "your body has a right" over him. The Qur'an excuses the sick from fasting, and says Allah (﷾) wants ease for believers, not hardship. It says that Allah (﷾) places on no soul a burden greater than it can bear. In Islam, self-denial that wears the body away is not a higher form of worship.
Aisha reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade his companions al-wisal, fasting day after day without breaking the fast at night, out of mercy to them. When they said that he did it himself, he said he was not like them, for his Lord gave him food and drink.
Abdullah ibn Amr reports that the Prophet (ﷺ), told that he fasted every day and prayed all night, said: do not do that. Fast some days and leave some, pray and also sleep, for your body has a right over you, and so do your eyes, your wife and your guest. In old age Abdullah wished he had taken the easier way the Prophet (ﷺ) had offered him.
“(Fasting) for a fixed number of days; but if any of you is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed number (Should be made up) from days later. For those who can do it (With hardship), is a ransom, the feeding of one that is indigent. But he that will give more, of his own free will,- it is better for him. And it is better for you that ye fast, if ye only knew.”
“Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear (Signs) for guidance and judgment (Between right and wrong). So every one of you who is present (at his home) during that month should spend it in fasting, but if any one is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period (Should be made up) by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. (He wants you) to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.”
“On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."”
How a Muslim meets death
The Qur'an says that every soul shall taste death, and that the full reward comes on the Day of Judgement. Three days before he died, the Prophet (ﷺ) said that none should die except while thinking well of Allah (﷾). He told Muslims to prompt their dying to say "There is no god but Allah". The Qur'an speaks of the soul at rest that returns to its Lord, well pleased and well pleasing. So a Muslim meets death with patience and hope, and with God's (﷾) name on his lips. Questions about a particular illness or treatment belong with a qualified scholar and a doctor.
“Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.”
Jabir reports that three days before his death he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: let none of you die except while thinking well of Allah.
Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: prompt those of you who are dying to say "There is no god but Allah".
“(To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! "Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! "Enter thou, then, among My devotees! "Yea, enter thou My Heaven!”
Read the Book, and follow the last Prophet (ﷺ)
The Qur'an asks to be weighed with care. It says that had it been from other than Allah (﷾), much discrepancy would have been found in it. It was brought by Muhammad (ﷺ), who was sent to all mankind by the One who gives both life and death. Muslims invite every Jain reader to read it.
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
Five replies answered
Tattvartha Sutra 7.22 — chapter 7, sutra 22 (Digambara numbering)
In the Digambara numbering, Tattvartha Sutra 7.22 says that the lay follower willingly takes up sallekhana, the final fast, as death approaches. Pujyapada's Digambara commentary, the Sarvarthasiddhi (§705), answers the charge that this is self-killing. Harm, as the Tattvartha Sutra defines it (7.13), is taking life out of passion. One who has taken the vow of sallekhana is free of attachment and aversion, so, the commentary says, he is not guilty of self-killing. Self-killing is the act of one overcome by attachment, aversion or delusion.
Cited for
Sallekhana is not suicide. It is taken without passion, near the end of life, and with a teacher's permission. Suicide is an act of despair or anger.
The response
This page states that distinction as Jain teachers state it, and does not call sallekhana suicide. Islam simply measures by something else. Its question is not how calm the mind is, but what God (﷾) has commanded. Allah (﷾) fixes the term of every life (3:145). And He commands, "Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves" (4:29). In Islam's measure, a fast kept on purpose until death ends a life that is not ours to end, however calm the mind.
Where it lands — The Jain distinction is real within Jain teaching; Islam's measure is God's (﷾) command, not the state of the mind.
Ratnakaranda Shravakachara 122 — chapter 5, verse 1 (Digambara)
The Ratnakaranda Shravakachara, a Digambara manual for lay followers, defines sallekhana as giving up the body for the sake of dharma (religious duty) in four situations: a calamity that cannot be escaped, a famine, old age, and an illness that cannot be cured.
Cited for
It is only for those already near death, in old age or an illness that cannot be cured. It does not shorten a life worth living. It only meets death well.
The response
The Prophet (ﷺ) spoke to that very hardship. He said not to wish for death because of a harm that has struck you. He taught the prayer "keep me alive as long as life is better for me" (Bukhari 5671). That prayer asks Allah (﷾) to judge when death is better. It does not let a person decide it and act on it. He said that a good person may add to his good, and a wrongdoer may repent (Bukhari 7235). Even pain counts: no illness reaches a Muslim without Allah (﷾) wiping away some of his sins by it (Bukhari 5641). The last days are never worthless.
Where it lands — In Islam the final days still carry reward, so they are left to God (﷾).
Sahih al-Bukhari 1964 — Kitab al-Sawm (Fasting), hadith 1964
Aisha reports that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade his companions al-wisal, fasting day after day without breaking the fast at night, out of mercy to them. When they said that he did it himself, he said he was not like them, for his Lord gave him food and drink.
Cited for
Muslims fast too, for a whole month. Islam also praises self-denial.
The response
Islam's fast is from dawn to sunset, and it is broken every evening. The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade fasting without a break at night, "out of mercy" (Bukhari 1964). He told a companion that his body had a right over him (Bukhari 1975). The sick are excused from fasting (2:184), and Allah (﷾) wants ease, not hardship (2:185). Fasting in Islam is a discipline for the living, never a way to end a life.
Where it lands — Islamic fasting has limits set by mercy, and it never aims at death.
Qur'an 3:169 — Surat Al 'Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 169
“Think not of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead. Nay, they live, finding their sustenance in the presence of their Lord;”
Cited for
Islam praises martyrs, who also choose death. How is that different?
The response
In Islam a martyr does not take his own life. The martyr honoured in 3:169 is one slain in Allah's (﷾) way, at another's hand. The Prophet (ﷺ) also counted as martyrs those who die of plague or a disease of the stomach. So too those who drown, or die under a fallen building (Bukhari 2829). None of them chose to die. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that whoever sincerely asks Allah (﷾) for martyrdom will reach the martyrs' rank, even if he dies in his bed (Muslim 1909). Taking one's own life stays forbidden (4:29; Bukhari 5778). The Qur'an never honours a person who ends his own life.
Where it lands — A martyr never takes his own life; ending one's own life stays forbidden.
P. S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification (1979), p. 181 and pp. 227-232
Jaini calls sallekhana the holy death: the decision to meet one's natural death calmly by fasting and meditation in the last days of life. It is strongly recommended for monks and nuns and is a goal for many lay Jains, in both traditions. The aim is to die fully aware, with the vows kept, and the word means properly thinning out the passions and the body. The lawbooks allow it in four situations: unavoidable calamity, great famine, old age that makes falling away from the vows likely, and an illness that cannot be cured. It is almost always old age or terminal illness. Jain teachers condemn other ways of ending one's life as wrong, and say they lead to rebirth in hell. A lay person receives the vow from a teacher, the family consents, and the community knows; Jains contrast this with a suicide done in secret. The vow is not properly kept if it is tainted by any wish to live longer, to die quickly, or to gain heaven. The dying person repeats or hears the namaskara mantra, the Jain prayer of homage to the holy beings.
Cited for
Dying fully aware, with the mind on the holy ones, is the best death there is. Islam has nothing like it.
The response
Islam teaches its own way to meet death. The Prophet (ﷺ) told Muslims to prompt their dying to say "There is no god but Allah" (Muslim 916a). He said none should die except while thinking well of Allah (Muslim 2877a). The Qur'an speaks of the soul at rest that returns to its Lord, well pleased and well pleasing (89:27-30). All of this comes when God (﷾) sends death, not before.
Where it lands — Islam has a good death too: remembrance and hope, with its hour left to God (﷾).
Perspectives
Jain teaching on sallekhana
Sallekhana is the holy death: a gradual fast near the end of life, taken with a teacher's vow and free of any wish to die. Because no passion drives it, Jain teachers say it is not self-killing.
Taught in both traditions, Digambara and Svetambara
Sallekhana is not self-killing. Harm is taking life through passion, and one who has taken the vow is free of attachment and aversion.
Rebuttal
Islam's measure is not the calm of the mind but God's (﷾) command. Allah (﷾) fixes every term (3:145), and He commands, "Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves" (4:29).
It is allowed only in four situations. They are a calamity that cannot be escaped, famine, old age, or an illness that cannot be cured.
Rebuttal
The Prophet (ﷺ) said not to wish for death because of a harm that has struck you (Bukhari 5671). In Islam illness lightens duty: the sick are excused even from the obligatory fast (2:184). So a fast that ends a life is never asked.
It is taken openly, with a teacher's vow and the family's consent, unlike a suicide done in secret.
Rebuttal
Consent from others cannot hand over what belongs to God (﷾). Allah (﷾) created death and life (67:2) and takes the souls at death (39:42).
The best end a person can have is to die fully aware. The vows are kept, and the mind is on the holy ones.
Rebuttal
Islam asks for a good end too, but leaves its hour to God (﷾). Each extra day may let a good person add good, and a wrongdoer repent (Bukhari 7235).
The Islamic perspective
A life is a trust from God (﷾), not ours to end. Believers do not wish for death, even in hardship, and worship that harms the body is not asked of them. A Muslim meets death with patience, with "There is no god but Allah", and thinking well of God (﷾).
No soul dies except by Allah's (﷾) leave, at a term fixed as by writing.
The Qur'an forbids believers to kill themselves, and the Prophet (ﷺ) warned that whoever kills himself will suffer by the same means in the Fire. This is a warning to the living, not a verdict on anyone who has died.
The Prophet (ﷺ) told believers not to wish for death. A good person may add good, and a wrongdoer may repent.
Out of mercy, the Prophet (ﷺ) forbade fasting without a break. He said the body has a right over its owner.
The Qur'an excuses the sick from fasting and says Allah (﷾) wants ease, not hardship, for believers.
A Muslim meets death with "There is no god but Allah", thinking well of Allah (﷾). He leaves its hour to Him.