48. The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness
٤٨۔ كتاب الذكر والدعاء والتوبة والاستغفار
The best dua to wish for death in case of dire situations
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "None of you should long for death because of a calamity that had befallen him. But if he must long for death, then he should say:
allāhumma aḥyinī mā kānat al-ḥayātu khayran lī, wa-tawaffanī idhā kānat al-wafātu khayran lī
O Allah! Let me live as long as life is better for me, and take my life if death is better for me."
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: «لاَ يَتَمَنَّيَنَّ أَحَدٌ مِنْكُمُ الْمَوْتَ لِضُرٍّ نَزَلَ بِهِ۔ فَإِنْ كَانَ لاَ بُدَّ مُتَمَنِّيًا لِلْمَوْتِ فَلْيَقُلِ:
(اللَّهُمَّ أَحْيِنِي مَا كَانَتِ الْحَيَاةُ خَيْرًا لِي وَتَوَفَّنِي إِذَا كَانَتِ الْوَفَاةُ خَيْرًا لِي)».
I came to Khabbab who had been branded with seven brands over his ʿAbdomen, and I heard him saying, "If the Prophet: had not forbidden us to invoke (Allah) for death, I would have invoked Allah for it."
أَتَيْتُ خَبَّابًا وَقَدِ اكْتَوَى سَبْعًا فِي بَطْنِهِ فَسَمِعْتُهُ يَقُولُ لَوْلاَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ نَهَانَا أَنْ نَدْعُوَ بِالْمَوْتِ لَدَعَوْتُ بِهِ