Explanation of the Hadith: Faith has seventy-odd branches, and the ruling on cursing time, the beast, and Iblis
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The questioner:
I move on to another questioner who says: I am a student of knowledge, and I would like to hear an explanation of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)Sahih Muslim 35b, which is agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
The Shaykh:
The hadith makes it clear that faith is broad and encompasses all good deeds, comprising seventy-odd or sixty-odd branches. Faith has characteristics and deeds, and many of the good deeds that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has prescribed or His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has commanded.
And faith in divine decree and destiny is one of the six pillars of faith. Whoever denies divine decree and destiny is not a Muslim. And whoever curses time because of the hardships that befall him is actually cursing Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), for time is merely a created thing under command, and the One who holds command is Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). In His hand is the good, and in His hand are the punishments and evils for those who deserve them.
And He forgives much (Glorified and Exalted is He). So all of this returns to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, do not curse time, for Allah is "al-Dahr" in the sense that He is the One who manages affairs, not the time itself that manages affairs; rather, it is Allah. For this reason, He said, "In My hand is command." They turn the night and the day. This is the meaning of His saying, "And I am al-Dahr," because He turns the night and the day. It is not the night and the day that cause events and hardships.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Does this include cursing the beast, or cursing Iblis, or others?
The Shaykh:
Cursing the beast is not permissible. For this reason, when a woman was traveling on her mount with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on one of his journeys, she cursed it, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So they took what was on her and left her. The narrator said: "It is as if I am looking at her traveling with the group, and no one pays attention to her, because he said, 'She will not accompany us.'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This indicates the prohibition of that. It is not permissible for a person to curse these creatures: to curse the house, to curse the beast, to curse the car. All of these are created for your benefit and are among Allah's blessings upon you. So you must praise Allah and thank Him, and you must improve your deeds until you meet that and its effects of good with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. And cursing Iblis? He says: It is cursing Iblis, cursing Iblis.
The Shaykh:
Iblis is cursed and reviled, so it is obligatory for you to beware of him and to disobey him. As for cursing him, it only increases his evil and he rejoices in it; he says, "I have angered the son of Adam." Yes, indeed.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
I move on to another questioner who says: I am a student of knowledge, and I would like to hear an explanation of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)
Faith has over seventy branches or over sixty branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no god but Allah, and the humblest of which is the, removal of what is injurious from the path: and modesty is a branch of faith.
الإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسَبْعُونَ أَوْ بِضْعٌ وَسِتُّونَ شُعْبَةً فَأَفْضَلُهَا قَوْلُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَدْنَاهَا إِمَاطَةُ الأَذَى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الإِيمَانِThe Shaykh:
The hadith makes it clear that faith is broad and encompasses all good deeds, comprising seventy-odd or sixty-odd branches. Faith has characteristics and deeds, and many of the good deeds that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has prescribed or His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has commanded.
And faith in divine decree and destiny is one of the six pillars of faith. Whoever denies divine decree and destiny is not a Muslim. And whoever curses time because of the hardships that befall him is actually cursing Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He), for time is merely a created thing under command, and the One who holds command is Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). In His hand is the good, and in His hand are the punishments and evils for those who deserve them.
And He forgives much (Glorified and Exalted is He). So all of this returns to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, do not curse time, for Allah is "al-Dahr" in the sense that He is the One who manages affairs, not the time itself that manages affairs; rather, it is Allah. For this reason, He said, "In My hand is command." They turn the night and the day. This is the meaning of His saying, "And I am al-Dahr," because He turns the night and the day. It is not the night and the day that cause events and hardships.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. Does this include cursing the beast, or cursing Iblis, or others?
The Shaykh:
Cursing the beast is not permissible. For this reason, when a woman was traveling on her mount with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on one of his journeys, she cursed it, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Take what is on her, meaning on the beast, and leave her.
خذوا ما عليها يعني على الدابة واتركوهاA cursed beast does not accompany us
لا تصحبنا دابة ملعونةThe questioner:
May Allah reward you. And cursing Iblis? He says: It is cursing Iblis, cursing Iblis.
The Shaykh:
Iblis is cursed and reviled, so it is obligatory for you to beware of him and to disobey him. As for cursing him, it only increases his evil and he rejoices in it; he says, "I have angered the son of Adam." Yes, indeed.
The presenter:
May Allah bless you.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، برنامج (فتاوى) (184) لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان بتاريخ [1440-06-09] - كبار العلماء — youtube.com (11:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.