What is the ruling on parents cursing their children in a moment of anger?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
In our region in the south, it is widespread that, for example, when a father gets angry at his son, or a person gets angry at another, he curses him. This curse takes the form of saying, "Take him," "Rise up against him," "Snatch him away," or similar phrases seeking the aid of the jinn. We ask Allah for safety and forgiveness. These phrases have become prominent on people's tongues, and the children pass them on from their fathers without intending to. What is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh:
This has existed in the south for a long time. It has been present for a long period. We have written several letters about it and sent them to the south, and they were seen through the channels of the preachers and the judges. All of us, including Shaykh Abdullah ibn Sa'id, wrote about it long ago, thirty or forty years ago.
The questioner:
I gave it to the Shaykh; he is the one who comments on it between me and him. Yes.
The Shaykh:
The one who addresses the jinn says, "Take him," or "Break his head," or "O jinn, do such and such," or "Do such and such." This is major shirk (associating partners with Allah). This is major shirk; we seek refuge in Allah. We have warned them about it, and the shaykhs there in the south have warned about it. "Take him," "Slaughter him," "Drive him away," "Break his head," "Pour out his blood"—all of this is supplication to the jinn. Therefore, some of the people in the south have been harmed by this, and all of this is wrong and not permissible. Yes, in fact, it is shirk.
As for a curse like, "May Satan take you," or "May Satan snatch you," or "May Satan destroy you," or "May you perish," this is a curse upon him. It is not shirk. It is from supplication, from injustice.
The questioner:
I mean, if a person dies while he is cursing his children with this kind of curse?
The Shaykh:
It is major shirk if he says, "Take him, help him against him, break his head, O jinn, help him against him with such and such." This is a call to them. This is supplication to the people of the jinn. But if he curses him by saying that he will be afflicted, saying, "May Allah send the jinn upon you," "May Allah destroy you with the jinn," or "May the jinn snatch you," or "May they break his head," this is not him calling upon them.
In our region in the south, it is widespread that, for example, when a father gets angry at his son, or a person gets angry at another, he curses him. This curse takes the form of saying, "Take him," "Rise up against him," "Snatch him away," or similar phrases seeking the aid of the jinn. We ask Allah for safety and forgiveness. These phrases have become prominent on people's tongues, and the children pass them on from their fathers without intending to. What is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh:
This has existed in the south for a long time. It has been present for a long period. We have written several letters about it and sent them to the south, and they were seen through the channels of the preachers and the judges. All of us, including Shaykh Abdullah ibn Sa'id, wrote about it long ago, thirty or forty years ago.
The questioner:
I gave it to the Shaykh; he is the one who comments on it between me and him. Yes.
The Shaykh:
The one who addresses the jinn says, "Take him," or "Break his head," or "O jinn, do such and such," or "Do such and such." This is major shirk (associating partners with Allah). This is major shirk; we seek refuge in Allah. We have warned them about it, and the shaykhs there in the south have warned about it. "Take him," "Slaughter him," "Drive him away," "Break his head," "Pour out his blood"—all of this is supplication to the jinn. Therefore, some of the people in the south have been harmed by this, and all of this is wrong and not permissible. Yes, in fact, it is shirk.
As for a curse like, "May Satan take you," or "May Satan snatch you," or "May Satan destroy you," or "May you perish," this is a curse upon him. It is not shirk. It is from supplication, from injustice.
The questioner:
I mean, if a person dies while he is cursing his children with this kind of curse?
The Shaykh:
It is major shirk if he says, "Take him, help him against him, break his head, O jinn, help him against him with such and such." This is a call to them. This is supplication to the people of the jinn. But if he curses him by saying that he will be afflicted, saying, "May Allah send the jinn upon you," "May Allah destroy you with the jinn," or "May the jinn snatch you," or "May they break his head," this is not him calling upon them.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، 24 ما حكم دعاء الآباء على الأبناء في ساعة الغضب؟ للإمام ابن باز — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.