Chapter: The Believer Is Not One Who Curses; The Hadith of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Chapter: The Believer Is Not One Who Curses." Then he narrated with a hasan chain from Salim ibn 'Abdullah, who said: "I never heard 'Abdullah curse anyone, not even once, except for one person." Salim used to say: "'Abdullah ibn 'Umar said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ."
Salim ibn 'Abdullah is Salim ibn 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar ibn al-Khattab. He is a Tabi'i, the son of a Companion, the son of a Companion. Both 'Abdullah and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab are Companions. So Salim, who is the son of 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, narrates from his father, or rather, about his father, and about his character and the purity of his tongue. He says: "I never heard 'Abdullah curse anyone in his entire life, except for one person, on one occasion when he made a mistake. His tongue got ahead of him and he cursed him." In some narrations outside the book of al-Bukhari, with the same chain of course, it is stated that the one he cursed was his servant—that is, a slave owned by him. It appears that he sent him on an urgent errand and he delayed, so he became very angry and could not control himself except to curse him. If it were up to me, I would wish that the narration reported by Imam al-Bayhaqi in his book *Shu'ab al-Iman* were authentic. I wish that this narration were sound, but there is a break in its chain. Why? Because it explains that he did not complete the word "cursed." Instead of "May Allah curse him," a narration came saying: "La'a"—the letter lam and the letter 'ayn—then he realized and stopped. This narration has a break in its chain. The authentic, explicit narration is that he did not curse anyone in his life except one person, once. The other narration, as we mentioned earlier, explained that the reason for the cursing was, or that this cursing was directed at a servant slave of his. But in an authentic narration—and this is in fact what indicates that such a noble Companion, when he makes a mistake, quickly reviews himself, acting in accordance with some Qur'anic verses and Prophetic hadiths that say: . What did 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar do? After he remembered that he had done something unbecoming for a Muslim, he hastened to free that slave for the sake of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So this was like an expiation. What an expiation for such a verbal mistake!
After Salim narrates this incident from his father 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, and that he did not curse a person except once, as we explained, he says: "'Abdullah ibn 'Umar used to narrate from the Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) that he used to say: ." This means that it is not permissible for a Muslim to practice and habituate his tongue to cursing anything, whether the thing he curses is a person, an animal, or an inanimate object. This is because all of that is from the creation of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). 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 cursing, or such a supplication, except one who is a disbeliever in Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).