What is the ruling on cursing or insulting circumstances?

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade reviling time (al-dahr) because Arabs used to revile it during calamities, believing that it was the doer, whereas Allah Almighty is the Doer of all things. Reviling time leads to one of two dangerous outcomes: either believing that time possesses the power to benefit or harm on its own, which is polytheism (shirk) against Allah; or, since time and what occurs within it are by Allah's decree, the one who reviles time is in effect reviling Allah Almighty.

This prohibition extends to reviling circumstances and situations, because they are also by Allah's decree and do not possess the power to benefit or harm on their own. Reviling them is either polytheism by believing in their self-efficacy, or it is blaming Allah for His actions.

During calamities, a Muslim must be patient and say: "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return" (إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون) or "Allah has decreed and what He willed He has done" (قدر الله وما شاء فعل), instead of reviling time or circumstances.