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What is the ruling on including in novels the concept of "the curse" that causes unnatural events, such as a person contracting an illness upon entering a "cursed" forest?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The word "curse" should be replaced with other terms that convey its meaning, as it negatively impacts the recipient. It is not permissible to state that something is cursed except through a ruling from the Shariah, such as the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Behold, the world is cursed, and everything in it is cursed, except the remembrance of Allah and what follows it, and a scholar or a student." As for initiating a curse, it is not permissible, due to the prohibitions in the texts, such as his saying, peace be upon him: "The believer is not a slanderer, nor a curser, nor an obscene or foul-mouthed person," and his saying: "Those who curse will not be intercessors or witnesses on the Day of Resurrection." And if a curse is uttered and finds no target, it returns to its speaker.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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