than the One who alone deserves it.
Second: anyone who calls down a curse upon his parents, insults them, or becomes the indirect cause of such a curse—for instance, by cursing another person’s parents so that the latter retaliates in kind.
Third: anyone who shields an offender liable for an Islamic legal penalty, preventing the penalty from being carried out, or who approves of a religious innovation and endorses it.
Fourth: anyone who tampers with the land boundary markers that apportion people’s rights, moving them forward or backward so that a portion of someone else’s property is unjustly taken.
Relevance of the hadith to this chapter: it serves as proof of the grave prohibition against slaughtering for anyone other than Allah, since the person who does so incurs Allah’s curse.
Lessons derived from the hadith
- Slaughtering for other than Allah is strictly forbidden; it is an act of idolatry and ranks among the most serious major sins.
- Slaughtering is an act of worship that must be devoted to Allah alone.
- It is forbidden to curse or revile one’s parents, whether directly or indirectly.
- It is forbidden to aid criminals, shield them from the application of the prescribed penalties, or be satisfied with innovations in religion.
- It is forbidden to alter land boundaries by advancing or retreating them.
- It is permissible to curse certain flagrantly immoral individuals as a means of deterring people from sin.