The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 107 · Tongue
Laʿn · Cursing
The disease
اللَّعْن
Al-Laʿn
The story
The Prophet ﷺ was once asked to curse the disbelievers. He replied: 'I was not sent as a curser; I was sent as a mercy.' (Muslim 2599, Abū Hurayrah.) The structural Prophetic posture: even toward those who oppose, the Prophet's ﷺ response was duʿāʾ for guidance, not curse for expulsion.
Why it's named first
Laʿn (cursing) is calling for someone to be expelled from Allah's mercy. The Prophet ﷺ: 'The believer is not a curser (al-muʾmin laysa bi-laʿƭān).' (Tirmidhī 1977, hasan, Ibn Masʿūd.) Cursing is the inverse of the believer's structural orientation; the believer prays for guidance even for the wronging-party, not for their expulsion from mercy.
In the Qur'an
Q 33:57: 'Indeed, those who annoy Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed (laʿanahum Allāh) them in this world and in the Hereafter.' Cursing is Allah's prerogative, used by Him for those who oppose Him and His Messenger ﷺ. The believer's claim to curse on Allah's behalf is structurally presumptuous.
In the Sunnah
Tirmidhī 1977 (above). Cross-ref Muslim 2598 (Abū ad-Dardāʾ): the Prophet ﷺ: 'The cursers (laʿūnūn) will not be among the witnesses or intercessors on the Day of Resurrection.' Cross-ref Muslim 2595 (Abū Hurayrah): 'When a man curses something, the curse rises to heaven, and the gates of heaven are closed before it. Then it descends to earth and the gates of earth are closed before it. Then it goes right and left, and if it does not find a place to enter, it goes to the one who was cursed: if he deserves it, [it falls on him]; if not, it returns to the one who said it.'
The cure
1. Replace cursing with duʿāʾ for guidance. When tempted to curse someone (politician, abuser, opposing party), make duʿāʾ that Allah guide them. 2. Train the tongue to avoid cursing inanimate things (bad weather, traffic, hurt-causing objects: laʿn against any of these is forbidden). 3. Make tawbah for past cursing; the Prophetic discipline of not-cursing was structurally cultivated.
What is at stake
The Prophet ﷺ named: cursers are excluded from being witnesses or intercessors on the Day. Beyond this, the curse-bouncing hadith (Muslim 2595): the curse may return to the curser if the cursed does not deserve it. The diseased state thus has both akhirah and dunya consequences.
A du'a for this day
'Allāhumma ihdihim wa-aslihhum.' (O Allah, guide them and rectify them.) Substitute this for any cursing-temptation.
The door of mercy
The Prophet's ﷺ structural response: 'I was sent as a mercy, not as a curser.' The believer who internalizes the Prophet's ﷺ structural orientation finds curse-words simply absent from his vocabulary.
A reflection to carry
Laʿn is cursing: calling for someone's expulsion from Allah's mercy. The Prophet ﷺ: 'The believer is not a curser.' (Tirmidhī 1977.) Cursing is the inverse of the believer's structural orientation.
Read the longer reflection
Muslim 2598: 'The cursers (laʿūnūn) will not be among the witnesses or intercessors on the Day.' Muslim 2595: when a man curses something, the curse rises to heaven, gates closed; descends to earth, gates closed; goes right, left, returns to the curser. The Prophet ﷺ when asked to curse the disbelievers: 'I was not sent as a curser; I was sent as a mercy.' Cure: replace cursing with duʿāʾ for guidance ('Allāhumma ihdihim wa-aṣliḥhum'). Modern political and online discourse is saturated with cursing; the believer's discipline is structural non-participation.
Sources: Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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