Prophet cursed people or not?
Mu' meneen Brothers
and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear brother, Asalaam-O-Alikum. I was reading some
of the previous questions that were asked from you and while reading Question #
22: Waaz, I came upon a paragraph in which you said: "And if the 'waaz' is
conducted for a specific reason like
wailing and doing 'matam' for the martyrs of Kerbela, it must definitely
be avoided, because the Messenger of Allah (saws) cursed the people who
wailed and physically beat themselves." I want to tell you brother that
the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) NEVER cursed anyone, eventhough there have been
times that people even threw stones at him to the point where he was bleeding
all over his body. That was one of his greatest attributes, he was ALWAYS
a well-wisher and it is incomprehensible to even think that he could curse
anyone. I also want to take this opportunity to tell you that I think that in
your effort to make yourself a better Muslim (and there seems to be no doubt
that you have become a better Muslim) you have also become (as most Sunnis do)
very baised against the Shiite beliefs. I have noticed that many Sunnis
hold animosity towards their Shiite brethren because of small issues such as
Matam and such. The matam is used by many to discredit Shiites and to
create a barrier between the Muslims. I don't feel that the matam or
listening to waaz (not particularly the Bohra waaz) pertaining to the shahids
at Karbala is a bad thing. I have always thought of matam as a cultural
aspect (correct me if I am wrong). To conlcude, I just want to tell you brother
that you should avoid being one-sided and be fair to both
school of thoughts. Making the comments such as the ones that I have
pointed out above and adding false attributes to the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) is,
needless to say, not a good thing. I think that if you feel the need to
say incorrect things (eventhough it is purely accidental) to prove a certain
point, than you should really re-evaluate those points. I think that if
you pondered hard enough, you would find that it wasn't the Prophet Mohammed
(SAW) who said bad things about Matam but there are others who curse their
brothers who do Matam. I also want to say that when you are researching
and reading information on Islam, you should read everything with the same eye
and judge everything by its context and not by the author and what school of
thought he came from. If I have made any false statements or said anythings
that was offensive, please excuse and forgive me.
Your brother and
fellow well-wisher in Islam.
(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Prophet cursed people or not?
In the name of
Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah
guides none can misguide, and who-ever He allows to fall astray, none can guide
them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no
grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone,
and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of
His Messengers.
May Allah reward you for posing
this question to us, and demanding your right as our brother in Islam, that we
clarify our views. A muslim should
never be ashamed to demand evidence from the Quran and Sunnah! Brother, we would just like to add here,
that there is absolutely nothing that one should be ashamed to ask in the
matter of the deen, and thus there is absolutely no need to ask for any
forgiveness or excuse, when seeking the knowledge of Truth in Islam. May Allah reward you with the best and May
Allah increase yours and our knowledge and love, for this beautiful deen of
Islam.
What you have said about the
high character of our beloved Prophet (saws) is indeed true. No matter what his, and the enemies of
Allah, said or did to him, he never cursed anyone. He was sent as a Mercy to mankind and lived his life as a
well-wisher and mercy to mankind. The
kuffars abused him, called him names, cursed him, threw stones at him, hurt
him, and even waged war against him, but the noble Messenger (saws) never once
cursed or abused them, but rather bore everything with immense patience and
trust in Allah Subhanah. He was ever a
well-wisher, even for his staunchest enemies.
On the occasion when the Prophet
(saws) went to the people of Taif with his adopted son, Hadrat Zaid (r.a.), and
the people of Taif abused him and threw stones at him until he bled; and Allah
sent Hadrat Jibrael (a.s.), who offered to destroy the town of Taif between the
two mountains…. The Noble Messenger of
Allah (saws) declined the offer and prayed that maybe from amongst the
descendants of the people of Taif, who abused him and hurt him, would be those
who would worship the One Lord Alone!
Such was the clemency and patience of our beloved Messenger (saws).
But there are many reported
traditions, whereby the Prophet (saws) invoked the curse of Allah on the people
who would break the laws of Allah; not because he had anything personal against
them, but to educate the believers of the severity of the sin, so that they
might be able to avoid it.
We will narrate a few such
traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws):
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
invoked Allah’s curse on the people who cursed (or abused) their parents.
The Messenger of Allah (saws) invoked
Allah’s curse on the people who offered a sacrifice on a deity other than
Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
invoked Allah’s curse on the Jews, who made the graves of their Prophets into
places of worship.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
invoked Allah’s curse on the men who behave like women, and the women who behave like men.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
invoked Allah’s curse on those who pay and receive bribes.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
invoked Allah’s curse on the people who wail over their dead.
The Messenger of Allah (saws)
never invoked Allah’s curse on someone who hurt him personally, but he did
invoke Allah’s curse on the people who would challenge the laws of Allah
Subhanah. He never did take retribution
from anyone who did anything against him personally, but if anyone broke any of
the laws of Allah, he (saws) exacted full retribution from such people.
Your Comment: You have also become (as most Sunnis do)
very baised against the Shiite beliefs. I have noticed that many Sunnis hold animosity towardstheir
Shiite brethren because of small issues such as Matam and such.
The matam is used by many todiscredit Shiites and to create a barrier between
the Muslims. I don't feel that the matam or listening to waaz (not
particularly the Bohra waaz) pertaining to the shahids at Karbala is a
bad thing. I have always thought of matam as a cultural aspect (correct
me if I am wrong).
Allah is our witness, we neither
propagate Shiaism, nor Sunnism, nor any other ‘ism’. We are all muslims, who are united in the worship of our One
Lord Alone. Allah has called us
muslims in the Quran, and we must be honored to be recognized as such.
Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 22 Surah Hajj verse 77-78: O you who have believed, do ‘rukooh’
(bow down) and do ‘sajdah’ (prostration), and worship your Lord Allah Alone,
and do righteous deeds: it may be that you attain true success! Exert your utmost for the cause of Allah, as
one should. He has chosen you for His
service, and has not laid on you any hardship in your religion. Therefore, be
steadfast in the religion of your father Abraham. Allah had named you ‘muslims’ before this, and has named you
(muslims) in this Quran also, so that the Messenger may be a witness in
regard to you, and you may be witnesses in regard to the rest of mankind.
And regarding culture, brother,
our culture should be Islam. If any of
the aspects of culture are against the teachings of Allah and His Messenger
(saws), we as believers, must reject them immediately. The Prophet (saws)
forbade wailing and beating oneself over the dead, thus we cannot use culture
as an excuse to disobey the Messenger of Allah (saws)! Many believers were martyred during the
lifetime of the Prophet (saws), including his own beloved uncle Hadrat Hamza
ibn Abdul Muttalib (r.a.). But never
did the Messenger (saws) gather the believers every year in congregation,
neither did he give fiery speeches over the dead, neither did he sing the
‘marseeyaas’, and neither did he wail nor allow the believers to wail over the
dead in Islam! Thus today, this
gathering every year and wailing and beating oneself over the martyrs of
Karbala, has nothing to do with Islam or the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah,
and must thus be avoided, if one indeed believes in Allah and His Messenger
(saws).
One of the duties of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) was to relieve the believers of the pagan rituals and
customs, which they had bound themselves with in the name of culture! Today, some muslims have fallen in the
exact same trap and use culture as an excuse to disobey the clear commandments
of Allah and His Messenger (saws).
Allah says in the Holy
Quran in Chapter 7 Surah Al-Ara’af verse 157: So, now Mercy has been assigned
to those who follow this Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whose mention they
shall find in the Torah and the Gospel.
He (Mohamed (saws)) enjoins them to do good and forbids them for
evil. He makes pure things ‘halaal’
for them and impure things ‘haraam’. He
relieves them of their burdens and frees them from the shackles that they bound
themselves with (of customs and pagan rituals).
May Allah guide you and us all
to come back to the deen as followed by the Messenger of Allah (saws), his
family and his companions.
Whatever written of Truth and
benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error
is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He
is the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and well wisher in
Islam
Burhan