thus, should he curse them—Allah’s refuge is sought—he becomes himself deserving of the curse. The Prophet ﷺ said, “May Allah curse the one who curses his parents.” Consequently, it is permissible to say, “O Allah, curse whoever curses his parents.” The same applies to image-makers: one may say, “O Allah, curse every image-maker,” because the Prophet ﷺ cursed the image-makers. All the reports cited by the author follow this pattern, for they distinguish between what is general and what is specific: a general curse targets no one in particular, whereas a specific curse singles out an individual. To direct a curse at a named person is forbidden; stated in general terms, however, it is unobjectionable. Allah willing, the remaining hadiths that the author set forth will be discussed later. Allah knows best.

It is authentically established that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “May Allah curse the wāṣilah and the mustawṣilah,” and that he said, “May Allah curse the one who consumes ribā (usury),” and that he cursed the image-makers.

Explanation

The hadiths the author—may Allah have mercy on him—has gathered here show the permissibility of cursing sinners in the aggregate, while the previous chapter clarified that cursing a specific individual is not allowed, even if he is an unbeliever. When the person is not identified—one simply curses whoever embodies a certain trait—there is no harm in doing so. Indeed, it is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ cursed the wāṣilah and the mustawṣilah. The wāṣilah is the woman who attaches hair to her own, and the mustawṣilah is the one who asks that this be done for her. In other words, a woman whose hair is short or sparse adds hair to her head so that, when people see it, it appears long and thick; the Prophet ﷺ cursed anyone who does this. Some narrations indicate that it remains unlawful even when her own hair is exceedingly thin. Included under this ruling is what is known as the wig, for a number of our meticulous scholars have said that wearing