disobeys Allah by committing a sin in Madinah, this threat does not apply to him. It is true that a sin committed in the City is graver than the same sin elsewhere, yet its doer is not liable to the curse. The curse is reserved for the one who brings about either of two things there: a religious innovation or a fitnah. Such a person incurs the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people.

Third: “O Allah, curse Riʿl, Dhakwān, and ʿUṣayya; they disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.” These were Arab tribes that transgressed against the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, so the Messenger invoked a curse upon them: “O Allah, curse them.” He did not single out any individual; he cursed the tribe as a whole—meaning those among them who committed that aggression against the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I do not think that anyone who played no part in it is included in this curse, for Allah says, “No bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another.” Allah is the One who grants success.

He also said, “May Allah curse the Jews; they took the graves of their prophets as places of worship,” and he cursed men who imitate women and women who imitate men. All these wordings are sound: some are recorded in both Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Muslim, others in one of the two. I have merely referred to them here in brief and will cite most of them in their proper chapters later in this book, if Allah wills.