Did Prophet Muhammad Curse People? Refuting the Slander With Evidence

🕌 Refuting the Claim That the Prophet ﷺ Was a Cursor

📜 The Hadith in Question

Hadith — Aisha (رضي الله عنها) narrates Zuhair bin Harb told us, Jarir told us, on the authority of Al-A’mash, on the authority of Abu Al-Dhaha, on the authority of Masruq, on the authority of Aisha, who said:

Two men entered upon the Messenger of God ﷺ and spoke to him about something I do not know what it was, and they angered him, so he cursed them and slandered them. When they left, I said: O Messenger of God, who has attained any good that has befallen these two? He said: What is that? She said: I cursed them and slandered them.

He said: Do you not know what I stipulated with my Lord? I said: O God, I am only a human being, so if I curse or slander any Muslim, make it for him purification and reward.

Second Chain Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah and Abu Kurayb told us. They said: Abu Mu’awiyah told us. H and Ali bin Hajar told us. Al-Sa’di, Ishaq bin Ibrahim, and Ali bin Khashram, all on the authority of Isa bin Yunus, both on the authority of Al-A’mash, with this chain of transmission similar to the hadith of Jarir.

He said in the hadith of Isa: “So they were alone with him, so he cursed and reviled them and expelled them.”

✍️ Introduction

Preface After praising Allah and sending prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah:

We respond to this false slander from several aspects.

###- First Response — The Rarity of the Situation

Key Point The previous hadith mentions a rare and unique situation, and it was not reported from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he would ever curse and revile the believers…

Rather, he ﷺ was the kindest and most compassionate of people. Allah, the Most High, said about him:

Qur’anic Evidence “To the believers, you are kind and merciful.”

“It is part of the mercy of Allah that you are gentle with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from around you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].”

“And lower your wing to those who follow you among the believers.”

Testimony of Anas (رضي الله عنه) “I served the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for ten years, and by Allah, he never said to me about anything I did, ‘Why did you do it?’ or about something I did not do, ‘Why did you not do it?’ And he did not blame me, for if some of his family blamed me, he would say: Leave him, and what was destined will happen.”

Conclusion of This Point The books of biography have agreed that the Messenger of God ﷺ was the greatest of people in character — he was neither a cursor, nor obscene, nor vulgar.

It is clear injustice to attribute a description to the Messenger of God ﷺ based on a single position that has its correct interpretation. A description does not apply to the described unless it is an ingrained habit that he is known for — and this never happened. Rather, the Mother of the Believers Aisha narrates her fear and astonishment at what the two men did, which angered the Messenger of God ﷺ in this way!

###- Second Response — The Blame Falls on the Two Men

Responsibility Lies Elsewhere The blame in this situation does not fall on the Master of Creation and the Imam of Messengers, but rather on the two men who angered the Messenger of God ﷺ.

Allah Almighty said: “It is not for you to harm the Messenger of God.”

###- Third Response — The Misunderstanding of “Unjust Cursing”

The Objection The objector claims the Messenger of God ﷺ cursed the two men unjustly, pointing to his words: “So whoever among my nation curses you with a curse that he does not deserve, then make it a purification for him.”

The Refutation — Imam Al-Nawawi’s Explanation “The intended meaning is that he is not worthy of that in the sight of God Almighty, and in the inner meaning of the matter, but in appearance he is entitled to it. So it appears to him ﷺ that he is worthy of that by a legal sign, and in the inner meaning of the matter he is not worthy of that. And he ﷺ is commanded to judge by the outward appearance, and God is in charge of the secrets.”

This is supported by two matters:

Supporting Point (1) — The Condition With His Lord The Prophet ﷺ, as seen in the hadith, makes a condition with his Lord. This condition — with what it contains of high status, satisfaction, and closeness — cannot be imagined to occur in the case of a deliberate mistake on his noble person.

If he had harmed someone without right, the situation would have been one of repentance and seeking forgiveness, not one of condition, hope, and expectation.

Supporting Point (2) — Aisha’s Own Testimony The narrator of this hadith is Lady Aisha رضي الله عنها — and she herself testified that the Messenger of God ﷺ never wronged or was harsh with any of the believers without any right.

When asked about his character, she gave the greatest answer: “His character was the Qur’an.”

And in another hadith: “The Messenger of God ﷺ was never given a choice between two matters except that he took the easier of the two, as long as it was not a sin. If it was a sin, he was the furthest person from it. And the Messenger of God ﷺ never took revenge for himself unless God’s sanctity was violated, in which case he would take revenge for God.” — Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Virtues, Chapter on the Description of the Prophet ﷺ

Thus, the texts are understood in light of each other, God Almighty willing.

###- Fourth Response — The Mirror: What About Jesus in the Gospels?

Context The Christians object to one position in the biography of the Messenger of God ﷺ — which was transmitted in its entirety — while forgetting how many positions are proven in their books about Jesus in which he cursed, swore, and used obscene language.

Moreover, these Gospels only dealt with a very short period of his life (ranging between a year and a half and three years), and even this was covered very briefly. Yet we still find the following:

⚠️ Jesus Curses All of God’s Prophets

John 7:10 “I am the door of the sheep, and all who came before me were thieves and robbers!”

⚠️ Jesus Curses the Believing Jews (the Apostles)

Matthew 16:23 He said to Peter, the chief of the apostles: “Satan”

Luke 24:25 “O fools and slow of heart to believe!”

Luke 11:39 — Cursing His Host at Dinner “A Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So Jesus went in and reclined… So the Lord said to him: Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup clean, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness, you fools! Woe to you, Pharisees!…”

“Then one of the lawyers answered and said to him: Teacher, when you say this, you curse us also. And he said: Woe to you, lawyers!”

⚠️ Jesus Curses the Non-Jewish Believers

Matthew 15:21–28 — The Canaanite Woman “And a Canaanite woman from that country came to him, and cried out, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David: my daughter is demon-possessed… But Jesus answered her not a word… God sent me only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel… It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

The woman said to him: “Yes, Lord! Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

Note This Canaanite woman believed that Christ was the promised son of David and had the power to help her. Despite this, Christ:

Turned away from her
Said he was only sent to the Jews
Called her a dog of the Gentiles

Only after she abandoned her dignity and called herself a dog did Jesus accept her request.

Opening Note Before objecting to a single incident in the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, one must first examine the level of cursing, obscenity, and harsh language that fills the very book they hold sacred.

📜 Cursing in the Old Testament

Genesis 5:29 “And he called his name Noah, saying, ‘This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.’”

Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

📜 Deuteronomy — The Book of Curses

Note The Book of Deuteronomy is more accurately described as the Book of Curses. Chapter 27 alone contains the following:

Deuteronomy 27 — A Selection of Curses 15 Cursed is the man who makes a graven or molten image… and sets it up in a secret place. And all the people shall say, Amen.

16 Cursed is he who despises his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

17 Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s mark. And all the people shall say, Amen.

18 Cursed is he who leads the blind astray from the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

19 Cursed is he who perverts the justice of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.

20 Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife. And all the people shall say, Amen.

21 Cursed is he who lies with any beast. And all the people shall say, Amen.

22 Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen.

23 Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, Amen.

24 Cursed is he who kills his neighbor in secret. And all the people shall say, Amen.

25 Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

26 Cursed is he who does not establish the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 28:15–19 — Curses Upon Disobedience “But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God… then all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground… Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

The LORD will send upon you a curse, confusion, and rebuke in all that your hand sets out to do, until you perish…”*

John 7:49 “But this people who do not understand the law are cursed.”

⚠️ Even the Fig Tree Was Not Spared

Mark 11:21 “Then Peter remembered and said to him, ‘Lord, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered away.’”

⚠️ Even Jesus Himself Was Not Spared

Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

⚠️ The Character Attributed to Jesus in the Gospels

How the Gospels Describe Jesus This book described Jesus with the following:

Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber!’”

Note This description — drunkard and glutton — appears in their own scripture. And yet this same figure is said to be harsh in speech, cursing even his own disciples. None of them were spared.

⚠️ Jesus Curses His Disciples and Teachers

Matthew 3:7 — Cursing the Teachers of the Law “You brood of vipers”

Matthew 23:17 — Another Curse “You blind fools”

Matthew 16:23 — To Peter, Chief of the Disciples “Satan”

Luke 24:25 — To Other Disciples “O fools and slow of heart to believe!”

Contradiction Note that he himself said to these same disciples: “It has been given to you to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God!” — Luke 8:10

⚠️ Jesus Curses the One Who Hosted Him for Lunch — In His Own House

Luke 11:37–52 — Cursing at the Dining Table 37 A Pharisee asked him to have lunch with him, and he went in and reclined.

38 But when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before lunch.

39 Then the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but your inside is full of extortion and wickedness. You fools!”

42 “But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.”

43 “Woe to you, Pharisees, for you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.”

44 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves…”

45 Then one of the lawyers answered: “Teacher, when you say this, you are insulting us also.”

46 But he said: “Woe to you, lawyers! For you burden men with burdens that are hard to bear…”

47 “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed.”

52 “Woe to you, lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and those who were entering in you have hindered.”

Is This Tolerance? Is this “Love your enemies”?

سبحان الله رب العالمين — Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

⚠️ Jesus Describes the Ignorant as Dogs and Pigs

Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear you apart.”

Matthew 15:26 Jesus answered and said, “It is not good for the men to be taken away and put it to the dogs.

One copy of the manuscripts of the Saint Catherine Abbey for the Egyptian Church:

“Maybe he who called her a dog will understand the purpose, because the Prophet called the infidels dogs”

https://sinaimanuscripts.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:%2F21198%2Fz1cn8nmt

did prophet muhammad curse people refuting the slander with evidence

⚠️ Jesus Curses the Teachers of the Law

Matthew 3:7 “You brood of vipers”

Matthew 23:17 “You blind fools”

Note on Paul Paul himself apologized when he cursed one of them and said: “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest. For the Scriptures say, ‘You shall not curse the ruler of your people.’” — Acts 23:5

So either Paul is ignorant of his God’s abrogation of his opinion, or his God contradicted his ruling.

📎 Appendix — The Slander Regarding Muadh Ibn Jabal

The Doubt The Christians claim that the Prophet ﷺ saying to Muadh ibn Jabal: “May your mother be bereaved of you, O Muadh” is a prayer for his destruction and death.

The Response — Imam Al-Nawawi “That what occurs from such prayers is not intended. Rather it is from what the Arabs have become accustomed to in connecting their words without intention — such as saying: ‘May your right hand be covered in dust,’ ‘May my throat be barren,’ ‘May you not grow old,’ and in the hadith of Muawiyah: ‘May Allah not fill your stomach.’ They do not intend any of that to be the true prayer.

…Rather this occurred from him in rare and unusual times, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was not obscene nor vulgar nor a cursor nor a vengeful person.

And it was previously said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Pray against the tribe of Daws, so he said: ‘O Allah, guide Daws.’ And he said: ‘O Allah, forgive my people for they do not know.’”

Principle Before making a judgment, it is necessary to understand the meaning of the word and its linguistic meaning in the original environment in which it was said.

📎 Appendix — Abu Bakr’s Statement About Al-Lat

The Doubt The Christians raise Abu Bakr’s statement to Urwah: “Suck the clitoris of Al-Lat” as evidence of vulgarity.

The Scholarly Response Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim said in Zaad Al-Ma’ad: “In the statement of Abu Bakr to Urwah is evidence of the permissibility of explicitly mentioning the name of the private parts if there is an interest required by that situation.”

Sheikh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “When the one being addressed is unjust, we are not commanded to respond to him in the best way.”

The Deeper Meaning Al-Lat is a stone idol that has no mind and no clitoris.

Saying “bite the clitoris of Al-Lat” is like saying “drink from the sea” — and even less than that, because the sea exists and the clitoris of Al-Lat is an illusion.

Abu Bakr did not say “bite the clitoris of your mother.” He placed Al-Lat — the idol Urwah worshipped — in that position, thereby:

Belittling the enemy
Exposing the corruption of worshipping stones
Highlighting that those who claimed Al-Lat was a daughter of Allah attributed female qualities to a stone

Both are an illusion: the clitoris is an illusion. And the worship is an illusion.

Qur’anic Principle Applied Allah the Most High said: {Allah does not like the public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged. And ever is Allah Hearing and Knowing.} — Surah Al-Nisa’ [4:148]

📌 Legal Principle — Combining the Hadiths

The Correct Islamic Methodology We must differentiate between legal controls and human convictions regarding what is permissible to say or not.

The legal controls are the basis and main reference for the Muslim person. If what was reported from the Messenger ﷺ is true, then it is necessary to believe in it and act on it — without introducing our personal convictions — because he ﷺ does not speak from his own desires.

Hadith — General Prohibition “A believer is not a slanderer, nor a cursor, nor a vulgar or obscene person.”

Hadith — Specific Permission in One Situation “Whoever offers condolences in the manner of the Age of Ignorance, then bite him with them, his father, and do not use euphemisms.”

By Combining the Two Hadiths This statement is restricted and can only be said in such a specific situation.

Islam cannot be taken from one part and left out — Islam is a single unit whose parts complete each other.

Closing Wisdom — The Principle of Audience Awareness The Prophet ﷺ said: “Tell people what they know. Do you like God and His Messenger to be called liars?”

And: “If you speak to people about their Lord, do not speak to them about what is difficult for them.”

If stating a word will lead to corruption and conflict because the person does not understand the intended meaning — explain it in another way that leads to the same meaning.

These doubts were put forth centuries ago, stripped of the understanding of the predecessors. They were responded to hundreds of times. The church preserved the doubts but concealed the responses.

والله أعلم — And Allah knows best.