Is It Sinful To Hope for Something Bad To Happen to Someone?
Answered by Shaykh Yusuf Weltch
Question
What is the ruling on hoping something terrible happens to someone? For example, if I am angry at someone and think, “I hope that you lose your job,”. If I don’t pray for it but simply hope something bad happens, does it count as cursing someone?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
The religion of Islam is based on the example of the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and give him peace).
The Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “None of you truly believes until they love for the brother what they love for themselves.” [Muslim]
He also said, “Religion is a sincere counsel.” [Bukhari]
Imam Harith al-Muhasibi (Allah be pleased with him) said about this narration that sincere counsel applies to everyone: friends, enemies, relatives, and strangers if one does not have earnest counsel for them they a deficient in the fulfillment of the highest levels of the religion. [Muhasibi, Adab al-Nufus]
How To Tell?
Imam Muhasibi states that one can assess their level of sincere counsel for everyone by thinking – if Allah made all world affairs go according to what is in your heart, will the state of all people be improved or worsened. [Ibid.]
Summary
As believers in Allah Most High and followers of the beloved Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace), we must dig deep into our souls, transcend our egos’ demands, and seek that which is suitable for all people.
This is the Prophetic example. When given the opportunity to bring down Allah’s wrath on people who have egregiously wronged him, he prayed for their guidance instead.
Hope this helps
Allah knows best
[Shaykh] Yusuf Weltch
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Yusuf Weltch teaches Arabic, Islamic law, and spirituality. After accepting Islam in 2008, he then completed four years at the Darul Uloom seminary in New York where he studied Arabic and the traditional sciences. He then traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he stayed for three years studying in Dar Al-Mustafa under some of the greatest scholars of our time, including Habib Umar Bin Hafiz, Habib Kadhim al-Saqqaf, and Shaykh Umar al-Khatib. In Tarim, Shaykh Yusuf completed the memorization of the Qur’an and studied beliefs, legal methodology, hadith methodology, Qur’anic exegesis, Islamic history, and a number of texts on spirituality. He joined the SeekersGuidance faculty in the summer of 2019.
