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Meaning of ‘cursing’ in hadeeth about abundance of women in hell

Question

What does it mean that the women go to hell because they curse a lot? Does it mean cursing people or saying bad words?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

It seems – and Allaah knows best – that what is meant by curse in the hadeeth is the exact meaning of cursing, which means to supplicate against someone that he be expelled from the mercy of Allaah. We have not come across any scholar who explained it with other than its literal meaning.

Al-Qaadhi Iyaadh said in his book Ikmaal Al-Mu’allim:

His [the Prophet’s] saying, 'They curse frequently and are ungrateful to their husbands;' cursing in the (Arabic) language means: being expelled and driven away. In Islamic terminology, it means expulsion from the mercy of Allaah.

The other evidence for this is what the scholars of Tafseer mentioned regarding the wisdom of mentioning the 'wrath of Allaah' instead of 'the curse of Allaah' regarding women in the verses of 'li'aan' in which Allaah says (what means): {And the fifth [oath will be] that the wrath of Allaah be upon her if he was of the truthful.} [Quran 24:9]

Ash-Shawkaani said in Fat-h al-Qadeer, 'Wrath was mentioned in regard to the woman ... because women curse frequently; so since they say it so frequently, it does not have a great effect on their hearts, contrary to (the word) wrath.'

Allaah knows best.

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