What is the ruling in Islam regarding cursing scholars, whether living or dead?

The questioner : Among the questions is: What is the ruling in Islam regarding cursing the imams and scholars, whether living or dead?

The Shaykh : He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ; meaning it is not permissible to curse a Muslim, even if his Islam is being criticized; because there is no benefit in this criticism after he has passed to the judgment of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So it is even more so, and even more so, that it is not permissible to curse righteous Muslims. Then it is even more so, and even more so, and even more so, that it is not permissible to curse the imams; because they combine with their righteousness knowledge, serving the religion, transmitting hadiths, clarifying them, detailing the rulings of the Shari'ah, and other known matters. And I am surprised by such a question, because we do not believe that among the Muslims, even in the lowest degree of Islam...

The questioner : ...sometimes some scholars may understand it as cursing; so is this of the nature of cursing?

The Shaykh : If this is what is intended, then woe to what was intended; because correcting a person's error is an obligatory matter in Islam, and correcting an error does not mean criticism, nor does it mean disparagement; let alone that it means abuse and cursing, but rather it is clarifying the truth. And therefore he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic hadith in al-Bukhari: . What is it that comes to his mind that when the Messenger speaks about a certain judge, a certain ruler, that he erred, that he is disparaging him and cursing him, while he is making him have one reward?
The Shaykh: Likewise in the story narrated by al-Bukhari - also - regarding the interpretation of a dream that Abu Bakr interpreted in the presence of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); so he said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): ; so does it come to the mind of a person who understands what is being said that the Messenger cursed his companion in the cave, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, when he said to him: ?!
The Shaykh: But this is due to the Muslims' lagging in their Islamic culture and their distance from the legal language. The truth is that the later scholars, even among the jurists, or perhaps it is more correct to say the students of jurisprudence, avoid such an expression; because they themselves have been turned against this reality; so they may imagine - and the common people follow them in that - that if it is said: So-and-so erred; then this is a hint, a taunt, and a disparagement of this person who erred. And the matter, as you have heard, is not so, and this matter does not need much explanation, and this extent is sufficient for us.