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Suicide is a great evil, and one of the major sins.  A Muslim is not allowed to commit suicide.  Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, says (what means), "And do not kill yourselves!  Verily, Allaah is ever-merciful to you!" [Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:29] And the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) said in the authentic hadeeth (what means), "Whoever kills himself with something will be punished by it on the Day of Standing." So it is obligatory on Muslims to have patience and perserverance if they face some calamities or difficulties in their lives, [and] not to rush and kill themselves.  Rather, they must be warned of that, fear Allaah, be patient, and work through it by taking the necessary steps, and whoever fears Allaah, then Allaah will make a way out for him. If someone kills himself, he subjects himself to the Anger of Allaah and His Punishment, however, it will be up to Allaah (to punish him or not), since suicide is less than shirk, and Allaah, the Most High, has said (what means), "Verily Allaah does not forgive that partners be set up for Him, and He forgives what is less than that for whomever He wills." [Soorah an-Nisaa', 4:48]  Everything less than shirk is up to Allaah to forgive, and suicide is less than shirk.  Similarly is the case with fornication, stealing, and drinking alcohol - they are all forms of disobedience less than shirk, and the one who does them is under Allaah's Will, (meaning) if he dies upon that disobedience Allaah may forgive him if He wants, due to his good deeds and his Islaam.  And if Allaah wishes He may punish him in the Fire based on the severity of his sin.  Then, after he is purified he will be taken out of the Fire.  According to Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah he will not remain in the Fire eternally.  A sinful person does not remain forever in the Fire, not a murderer or anyone else stays in the Fire forever.  He shall be punished if Allaah wants to punish him, for however long Allaah wishes to punish him based on the severity of his disobedience, and then Allaah will have him removed and taken to a river called "the River of Life."  People will grow there (from whatever remains after burning in the Fire) as a seedling grows after being washed up by floodwaters. Once their restoration is completed, Allaah will allow them to enter Paradise because of their Islaam and their Eemaan that they died upon.  The only ones that shall remain in the Fire eternally are the disbelievers.  The only ones who shall remain in the Fire eternally are the polytheist disbelievers who disbelieved in Allaah and His Messengers, rejected His (other) Messengers, denied something that the Messengers came with, or did other things of this nature that expel one from Islaam.  Sins do not cause someone to remain in the Fire eternally according to Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah. This is in opposition to the Khawaarij and Mu'tazilah sects, two stray groups, who say: Sinful people who enter the Fire remain there forever, and this is a huge mistake. Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah, the Companions of the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), and those who followed in righteousness say: Sinful people do not have to remain in the Fire forever so long as they do not declare the act of disobedience to be permissible, while knowing it is disobedience.  If the Shaytaan tricked him into doing it then he is not to remain in the Fire forever, rather it is up to Allaah - He may choose to excuse him and allow him entrance to Paradise because of his Islaam and Eemaan, or He may choose to punish him based on the severity of his disobedience.  Then, once purified Allaah will make him exit the Fire and enter Paradise.   The hadeeths from the Messenger (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) about this have come by way of tawaatur (convincingly large numbers of chains), that some people who enter the Fire because of their sins will then be taken out of the Fire through (various) intercessions, or only by His Mercy without any other intercession, Glorified and Exalted.  All of this is authentically established from the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace).

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Someone who commits suicide - and Allaah's Refuge is sought - has killed himself intentionally without right.  His act of suicide was a manifestation of his foolishness, since he thought that by killing himself he could escape the trials and difficulties he was facing.  However, he has only moved on to more difficult, more severe trials.  He is like someone who wanted to get out of the heat, so he went into a Fire! It has been authentically established that the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank, and that of his family, and grant them peace) said that "Whoever kills himself with something will be punished by that thing in the Hellfire khaalidan mukhalladan abadan(*)." Refuge with Allaah is sought!  Whoever kills himself with a knife (or other metal object) will be in the Hellfire cutting himself with it.  Similarly, whoever dies by poisoning himself will poison himself in the Fire of Hell!  Whoever jumps off a mountain or a building will repeat that in the Fire of Hell khaalidan mukhalladan abadan!(*) So suicide is not a solution, nor does it provide any relief from sadness and distress!  It only makes the person's bad situation even worse. However, if a Muslim commits suicide, he is to be washed, shrouded, and prayed over.  But if the tribal leader, local judge, or elder - whoever makes important decisions - in the area decides not to pray over him, that is a good thing, since the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) refused to pray over a man who killed himself with a knife (or the metal head of a spear or arrow).  However, the other people pray over him and supplicate for him to receive Mercy.  This is because he was not an apostate due to his act of suicide, rather he commmitted a horrible major sin (less than apostacy).  We ask Allaah for good situations (free of strife)! In summary, people who commit suicide are to be washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried in the Muslims' graveyards, so long as they were Muslims.  And if the local leader decides not to pray over someone (who committed suicide) so that others would be take an admonition (about the severity of the crime), this is a good thing, following the example of the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and that of his family and grant them peace).

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It is obligatory to establish the janaazah (prayer) for every Muslim, even for someone who has committed suicide.  That is because his act of suicide was a major sin, yet it does not expel him from the religion.  Someone who has committed suicide is a sinner who has all the rights of the other Muslims, like being prayed over, forgiveness being sought for him, and being washed, shrouded, and buried in the Muslims' graveyards.

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Someone (from the Muslims) who commits suicide is to be washed, prayed over, and buried with the Muslims (in their graveyard), because he was disobedient, but not a disbeliever, since suicide is disobedience, not disbelief. When someone commits suicide - and Allaah's Refuge is sought - he is to be washed, shrouded, and prayed over.  However, it is befitting that the general leader or another distinguished personality should not perform the prayer over him, from the angle of censuring the act, so that some people would not think that he is pleased with his deed.  If the main imaam, authority, judge, local leader or ameer refuses that (to pray over someone who committed suicide), to openly censure this action, saying openly that it was wrong, then this is a good thing, while some of the people pray over him.

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Imagine someone with (at best) a very limited understanding of Arabic reading a book like Fat-hul-Baaree (a massive book with difficult passages for a beginning student of knowledge) for example with an Arabic-English dictionary, and then publicly annoucing his findings!