The Meaning of Cursing and Its Ruling

The Shaykh : And the meaning of cursing, as I think you all know, is to distance the cursed one from the mercy of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), that is, to supplicate against him that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) distance him from His mercy completely and totally. No one deserves such a curse or such a supplication except one who is a disbeliever in Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). The scholars even differed on the permissibility of cursing a disbeliever, let alone a sinful believer. They differed on cursing a specific person; the majority held that it is not permissible for a Muslim to curse a specific person for his own sake. They explained this by saying that no one knows the final outcome of that specific person’s affair. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Therefore, it is not permissible to curse a specific person for his own sake, except if he has died and we know with certainty that he died upon disbelief. In that case, it is permissible to curse that specific person. However, some scholars hold that even in this case, it is not good to curse him. This is not because the cursed one does not deserve the curse, having died a disbeliever in Allah, but rather so that the Muslim does not habituate his tongue to cursing. From this angle only, they said regarding the disbeliever whose death upon disbelief is certain that it is not recommended to curse him, in order to discipline his tongue. They differed even more strongly on cursing a specific Muslim by his person if one intends a matter for which he deserves to be cursed. The majority of them also said that it is not permissible. But in reality, we see in the Sunnah what testifies to the permissibility of cursing the oppressor by name to discipline him and deter him from his oppression. I think this has passed by us in a book, either in the book itself or as a commentary on some of the hadiths of that story which contains one of the gentle methods of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in educating the rebel and the oppressor. In it, some of the Companions used the word "curse" regarding that unjust oppressor, and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) approved them for doing so. In reality, the result of this method of reviling and cursing the oppressor was that he desisted from his oppression. The summary of that story is that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) complaining about his neighbor. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to be patient, so he was patient, then his patience ran out and he returned to complain to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and so on. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) knew that this neighbor was wronged and harmed, he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): So he did it. Without a doubt, this throwing out, meaning one takes out his household goods and places them on the road, is a matter that attracts people’s attention and draws their eyes, making them ask: "What is the matter with you, so-and-so?" And what happens is that he says: "So-and-so is my neighbor and he has wronged me." And what happens is that they say: "May Allah kill him, may Allah curse him." So they began to supplicate: "May Allah kill him, may Allah curse him," and the neighbor heard with his own ears. So he hastened to the Prophet repentant, desiring that his neighbor’s goods be returned to his house. Such an incident indicates to us that cursing the oppressor by name to discipline him specifically is permissible. But this is only with this purpose and this intention. The discussion of this chapter remains clear, meaning its ruling is valid in the Shari'ah. It is not befitting for a believer to be a curser, meaning that the word "curse" constantly comes from his mouth, and so on. Of course, all ugly and obscene words are similar to cursing, which is not permissible. What most resembles cursing, which is not permissible, is what prevails among many of the common people: reviling the religion, may Allah protect us from that. It is not permissible for one who believes in Allah and the Last Day to utter such words, for if the one uttering them intended their meaning, he would exit the religion of Allah just as a hair comes out of dough. The least that can be said about the one who utters these words of disbelief is that he exposes himself to just punishment if there were an Islamic ruling... Therefore, the hadith came establishing a principle and an Islamic etiquette, saying: