of Allah and in conformity with the Sunnah.(1)
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked, “A man fights out of bravery, another fights out of tribal zeal, and another fights to show off—which of these is fighting in the path of Allah?” He replied, “Whoever fights so that the word of Allah may be supreme is in the path of Allah.”
Likewise, the inclusion of a person under the texts of threat is conditional upon his not having acted on a mistaken interpretation, for Allah has pardoned this community for error and forgetfulness.
Many of the interpretations adopted by earlier scholars—and by those who follow them—contain ambiguities that cater to whims and desires; thus people commit what they do on account of some doubt or some passion.
The sins committed by evildoers are erased through repentance; they may also be wiped away by good deeds that efface them or by expiatory afflictions. They may further be removed by the Muslims’ funeral prayer over the person and by the Prophet’s intercession on the Day of Resurrection for those guilty of major sins.(2)
For this reason, the scholars chose—regarding anyone known for tyranny and the like, yet who is a Muslim outwardly engaged in righteous deeds, such as al-Ḥajjāj and others like him—not to curse any specific individual. Instead, they say as Allah has said: “Behold, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.”(3) Thus they invoke a general curse upon those whom Allah and His Messenger have cursed, as in his statement (peace and blessings be upon him): “Allah has cursed wine, its presser, the one who has it pressed, its seller, its buyer, its server, its drinker, its carrier and the one to whom it is carried, and the one who consumes its price.” Yet they do not curse a particular person.
It is established in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and elsewhere that a man—nicknamed Ḥimār—used to drink wine, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would flog him. On one occasion he was brought before the Prophet, and a man cursed him. The Prophet said, “Do not curse him, for he loves Allah and His Messenger.”
This is because cursing falls under the rubric of threat, and a general threat may be lifted in the case of