Hadith on the Curse: For Both Men and Women

📖Sahih Muslim 2128
“Two are the types of the denizens of Hell whom I did not see: people having flogs like the tails of the ox with them and they would be beating people, and the women who would be dressed but appear to be naked, who would be inclined to evil and make their husbands incline towards it. Their heads would be like the humps of the bukht camel inclined to one side. They will not enter Paradise and they would not smell its fragrance, though its fragrance can be perceived from a great distance.”

• The first part – “people having flogs like the tails of the ox with them and they would be beating people”- refers to men who engage in severe wrongdoing and oppression.
• The second part describes women who are disobedient, immoral, and lead their husbands astray.

This description is not about true, believing Muslim men or women – because a true Muslim obeys Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. It refers to non-Muslim or apostate men and women who follow Shayṭān, reject Allah’s laws, and openly live in such ways without repentance, The warning of never entering Paradise applies to those who die in that state of disbelief, not to Muslims who may sin but later sincerely repent.

📖Sahih al-Bukhari 5933
“Allah has cursed the lady who artificially lengthens her hair and the one who gets her hair lengthened, and the one who tattoos herself or someone else, and the one who gets herself tattooed.”

• This ruling applies to both Muslim and non-Muslim women (and men).
• For Muslims, it is a major sin that brings Allah’s curse while the act is being done knowingly.
• The curse is not permanent – it is lifted if the person sincerely repents before death.
• For non-Muslims, the act is part of their general disobedience to Allah, adding to their sins if they die without accepting faith.

Key Points to Remember

• Both hadith are warnings – not automatic eternal damnation for any Muslim who ever fell into these acts.
• The first hadith’s Hell description is aimed at those outside Islam.
• The second hadith is for everyone; the curse applies when the act is done knowingly and without repentance until death.
• Allah’s mercy is always open for those who turn back before their final moment.

📖Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2784
“Ibn ‘Abbas narrated: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cursed the women who imitate men and the men who imitate women.”

• This hadith (Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2784) prohibits men from adopting feminine dress, hairstyles, or behaviors, which includes certain hair designs and styles meant to imitate women. The same actions mentioned as cursed for women in Sahih al-Bukhari 5933 0 such as artificially lengthening hair and tattooing – are similarly forbidden for men when done for vanity or imitation, So, what is cursed for women in Sahih al-Bukhari 5933 is also applicable to men according to the general Islamic ruling and the hadith forbidding men from imitating women. Both men and women are responsible for maintaining the natural creation Allah gave them, avoiding changes done purely for beautification or imitation.
• It applies equally to men and women – a man imitating women in clothing, behavior, or voice, and a woman imitating men in appearance, speech, or actions.
• The curse is action-based, meaning it applies only while committing the forbidden act knowingly and without repentance. If a person repents sincerely, the curse is lifted.
• Such imitation often stems from rejecting Allah’s natural creation and following ways that oppose Islamic guidance.

Why These Are Not Allowed in Islam

1. Changing Allah’s creation for vanity: Tattooing, artificial hair extensions, or excessive beauty alterations are forbidden when done purely for beautification, not for medical necessity (Qur’an 4:119 –  Shaytan said he will make people change Allah’s creation).
2. Promoting immorality: Wearing revealing clothes or seducing others encourages zina (fornication) and corrupts society.
3. Imitating immoral cultures: These actions often imitate pagan, idolatrous, or immoral practices.
4. Harm to body: Tattoos involve permanent injury to the skin, risk of infection, and pain – harming oneself is forbidden (Qur’an 2:195 – “Do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands”).
5. Arrogance & showing-off: Islam forbids acts done for pride, attention-seeking, or to provoke desire in others.

📖Surah At-Tawbah (9:71)
“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, establish prayer, give zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.

• These verses make it clear that the curse and punishment mentioned for sins in hadith apply only to those who knowingly disobey and die without repentance, Therefore, prophetic curses do not apply to true Muslims or someone who commit mistakes out of ignorance or forgetfulness and then repent sincerely.

Qur’an Context

📖Qur’an 4:119
I will certainly mislead them and delude them with empty hopes. Also, I will order them and they will slit the ears of cattle¹ and alter Allah’s creation.” And whoever takes Satan as a guardian instead of Allah has certainly suffered a tremendous loss.

This refers to Shayṭān’s plan to mislead people into altering Allah’s creation and disobeying Him – which includes practices like tattooing for adornment.

📖Qur’an 33:36
“It is not for a believing man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice in it.”

This verse clarifies that rejecting the Prophet’s rulings is not an option for believers – so persisting in defiance is a sign of disbelief.

📖Qur’an 24:31
“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except what is apparent thereof…”

• A direct command for modesty, opposite of the “dressed but naked” description in the hadith.

Why Prophetic Curses Don’t Mean We Can Curse People

📖Sunan al-Tirmidhi 1977
“The believer is not one who curses, taunts, or speaks indecently.

1) What Allah’s / the Prophet’s “curse” means

• When the Qur’an or the Prophet ﷺ speaks of a curse on an action, it is a legal / divine warning: it signals Allah’s displeasure and the spiritual consequence for those who knowingly persist in that action and die without sincere repentance.
• This is about accountability, not casual insult.

2) Why intention & knowledge matter

• Islam judges deeds by intention: “Actions are judged by intentions.” (authentic Prophetic principle).
• If someone did something by mistake or out of ignorance and then repents, the legal/deliberate charge does not apply in the same way. That’s why the curse targets those who do it knowingly and remain in it.

3) Scriptural support
📖 Quran 4:110
“And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but then seeks Allah’s forgiveness will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful.”

Shows repentance removes the evil and opens Allah’s mercy.

📖Quran 39:53
“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah…’”

Allah’s door is open to sincere return; He stores and forgives.

(And the Prophet warned about cursed deeds – that warning is real, but it applies in the judicial/spiritual sense to persistent, willful wrongdoing.)

📖Quran 16:119
“Then, indeed your Lord — for those who do wrong out of ignorance and then repent after that and correct themselves — indeed, your Lord thereafter is Forgiving, Merciful.”

Allah forgives sins committed unknowingly when a person repents and reforms, If someone knowingly commits a sin but sincerely repents before death, Allah may forgive them. However, some sins like rape, murder, and adultery are major crimes with fixed punishments in Shariah and cannot be excused as “mistakes.”

📖Sahih al-Bukhari 2766
“Avoid the seven destructive sins…” – Among them: shirk, murder, and unlawful sexual intercourse.

For a Muslim who knowingly commits such major sins, there is no guarantee they will enter Paradise without first facing Allah’s punishment, possibly including Hellfire, unless Allah forgives them out of His mercy.

4) Human cursing – forbidden, and different

• The Prophet ﷺ forbade personal cursing and bad language: “The believer is not one who curses…” (Sunan al-Tirmidhī).
• He also said a believer should not be cursed: “Cursing a believer is like killing him.” (Saḥīḥ).
• You are not permitted to curse others. Saying “I curse you” is sinful, harmful, and socially destructive – but your words do not replace Allah’s judgment. Only Allah’s decree is final.

📖Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4905
Abu Darda reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, when a servant curses something, the curse rises to the heaven and the gates of heaven close upon it. It turns right and left, and if it does not find a place to go, it will return to that which was cursed, only if it deserved to be cursed. Otherwise, the curse will return upon the one who made it.

5) Repentance removes the curse

• If a person sincerely repents before death, Allah forgives – the prophetic warnings (and any curse attached to the act) no longer apply to that person. In short: curse = warning; repentance = removal.

6) Practical rules / summary:

• Divine/prophetic curse = declaration about an unlawful act; applies when someone does it knowingly and dies unrepentant.
• Human cursing = forbidden; don’t do it – it harms people and is itself sinful.
• If someone sinned by mistake or repented, the curse/penalty does not validly apply to them.
• Don’t rush to label people apostates: takfīr is serious and requires clear proof; otherwise we risk injustice.

Additional information

The curses in hadith are not personal insults, but divine declarations from Allah and His Messenger ﷺ against actions that lead people away from Islam. They apply to those who knowingly persist in sin until death without repentance. For mistakes or sins done unknowingly, Allah has promised forgiveness upon repentance. This balance protects us from hastily cursing individuals, while affirming the severity of major sins in Allah’s law.