Back to search

What is the ruling on one who says, "May everything be cursed"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is forbidden to curse anything that does not deserve to be cursed, because if a curse does not find its target, it returns to its utterer. The proof for this is the saying of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "Indeed, when a servant curses something, the curse ascends to the heavens, and the gates of the heavens are closed before it. Then it descends to the earth, and its gates are closed before it. Then it turns right and left, and if it finds no passage, it returns to that which was cursed. If that thing is deserving of it, then fine; otherwise, it returns to its utterer."

And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that a man cursed the wind, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Do not curse it, for it is commanded. And indeed, whoever curses something that is not deserving of it, the curse returns to him." Cursing all animals and inanimate objects is reprehensible. And a Muslim should keep away from cursing and reviling, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was neither obscene, nor a curser, nor an abuser. And he said: "A believer is not a curser."

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

Read the full answer on Ftawy