The ruling on cursing a specific disbeliever who died in a state of disbelief
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, is it permissible for us to say about a specific disbeliever who died in a state of disbelief that he is in the Fire and that Allah has cursed him? Because some people have forbidden this, saying, “Perhaps he became a Muslim and you did not know of it.” Is his statement correct? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah reward you.
Answer:
If you know that he died in a state of disbelief, then you testify to his disbelief. As for one whose state you do not know, you say, “Allah knows best.” But you may say, “May Allah curse the disbelievers.” Whoever dies in a state of disbelief is in the Fire, just as you say that whoever dies in a state of faith is among the people of Paradise. This is by the consensus of the Muslims: whoever dies in a state of faith is among the people of Paradise, and whoever dies in a state of disbelief is among the people of the Fire, as a general rule. As for one whose state you do not know, he may have repented, so you say, “Allah knows best.” His deeds were those of disbelief; what we know of him is that his deeds were those of disbelief. If he died upon them, then he is a disbeliever. If he repented, then Allah accepts his repentance. You do not assert a ruling about one whose state you do not know. For this reason, some who hesitate regarding certain individuals attributed with deeds of disbelief say, “How do we know whether they died upon them or not?” But they rule on their deeds: whoever insults Allah is a disbeliever, whoever abandons the prayer is a disbeliever, whoever worships idols, whoever attaches himself to graves, whoever calls upon the dead for aid, whoever calls upon the jinn for aid—he is a disbeliever. And if he repents, Allah knows best.
We say that Abu Jahl died upon disbelief; he was killed on the Day of Badr. Abu Jahl, Abu Bakr ibn Rabi'ah, and Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah: we know that they died upon disbelief. Abu Lahab died upon disbelief, and Abu Talib died upon disbelief. We testify to this based on the Sunnah that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the one whose state at death we do not know, Allah is the One who takes charge of his affair, (Glorified and Exalted is He). But generally, every believer is in Paradise and every disbeliever is in the Fire. And generally, may Allah have mercy on the believers and may Allah fight the disbelievers, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: [Hud 11:18] regarding the disbelievers [Al-A'raf 7:44] Generally, may Allah forgive the believers, may Allah have mercy on the believers, and may Allah be pleased with the believers.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
This questioner says: Your Eminence the Shaykh, is it permissible for us to say about a specific disbeliever who died in a state of disbelief that he is in the Fire and that Allah has cursed him? Because some people have forbidden this, saying, “Perhaps he became a Muslim and you did not know of it.” Is his statement correct? Please give us a ruling, and may Allah reward you.
Answer:
If you know that he died in a state of disbelief, then you testify to his disbelief. As for one whose state you do not know, you say, “Allah knows best.” But you may say, “May Allah curse the disbelievers.” Whoever dies in a state of disbelief is in the Fire, just as you say that whoever dies in a state of faith is among the people of Paradise. This is by the consensus of the Muslims: whoever dies in a state of faith is among the people of Paradise, and whoever dies in a state of disbelief is among the people of the Fire, as a general rule. As for one whose state you do not know, he may have repented, so you say, “Allah knows best.” His deeds were those of disbelief; what we know of him is that his deeds were those of disbelief. If he died upon them, then he is a disbeliever. If he repented, then Allah accepts his repentance. You do not assert a ruling about one whose state you do not know. For this reason, some who hesitate regarding certain individuals attributed with deeds of disbelief say, “How do we know whether they died upon them or not?” But they rule on their deeds: whoever insults Allah is a disbeliever, whoever abandons the prayer is a disbeliever, whoever worships idols, whoever attaches himself to graves, whoever calls upon the dead for aid, whoever calls upon the jinn for aid—he is a disbeliever. And if he repents, Allah knows best.
We say that Abu Jahl died upon disbelief; he was killed on the Day of Badr. Abu Jahl, Abu Bakr ibn Rabi'ah, and Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah: we know that they died upon disbelief. Abu Lahab died upon disbelief, and Abu Talib died upon disbelief. We testify to this based on the Sunnah that came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the one whose state at death we do not know, Allah is the One who takes charge of his affair, (Glorified and Exalted is He). But generally, every believer is in Paradise and every disbeliever is in the Fire. And generally, may Allah have mercy on the believers and may Allah fight the disbelievers, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
May Allah curse the Jews and the Christians who turned the graves of their prophets into mosques
لعن الله اليهود والنصارى دخلوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجدUnquestionably, the curse of Allah is
أَلَا لَعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَىThe curse of Allah shall be upon the wrongdoers."
لَّعْنَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَى الظَّالِمِينَThe presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
فتاوى المسجد الحرام (شعبان ١٤١٧ هـ) - ٢ — archive.org (42:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.