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Fatwa CenterDistress does not justify discontentment
Question
Assalaamu ‘Alaykum,
When we were studying in India, some colleagues, may Allaah guide them, would say, “Even Hell is better than India!” whenever they faced any difficulty. Some of them even used to swear saying, “By Allaah, Hell is better than this torment!”
What is your opinion regarding these phrases and those who utter them?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
When some people face any kind of difficulty or become discontented with a place they may say, “Hell is better than such and such” or, “The Hell of such and such is better than the Paradise of such and such,” meaning that any other place, no matter how rough it is, would be better than this place, or that any other problem would be easier than the current situation.
This behavior is improper and impermissible, because whenever a believer faces difficulty, he should not ask Allaah The Almighty to replace it with another; rather, he should ask Him to remove it and to make things easy for him.
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , said:
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"None of you should wish for death because of a calamity befalling him; but if he has to wish (for death), he should say: “O Allaah, keep me alive as long as life is better for me, and make me die as long as death is better for me.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
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"Do not wish to meet your enemy. (Also), supplicate to Allaah to grant you safety (from all kinds of evil)…" [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Finally, if these people compare Hell to any worldly vexations or troubles, then this contradicts the truth and endangers the Muslim’s creed. This is because it implies belying what Allaah The Almighty has informed us of (regarding its horrors) and wishing for something that He prohibited and warned against.
The summary is that one should avoid such expressions regardless of the apparent causes or justifications.
Allaah Knows best.
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