Al-Ahzaab (The Clans)

57. “Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, and He has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.”

Annoying Allah means doing something against His desire and His consent that, instead of attracting His Mercy, one causes to bring His wrath and curse as a consequence.

And also the purpose of annoying Allah may be that His servants are annoyed, like the act of lending to a believer which is in fact lending to Allah. And the purpose of annoying His Messenger (S) is to reject him, to denigrate him, to treat impolitely with him (S), and hurting His Ahlul Bayt (progeny) (as).

As in a few traditions we recite that the Prophet (as) said:

“Fatimah is a part of me (my body); then whoever makes her angry, he has made me angry.”1

This holy verse in fact states something in the face of the content of the previous verse. It says:

“Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter, and He has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.”

Concerning the purpose of the Qur’anic phrase: ‘annoy Allah’, some commentators have said it is disbelief and atheism which causes the wrath of Allah, because annoyance in respect to Allah can not have any concept save causing Wrath.

This is also probable that ‘to annoy Allah’ is the same as to annoy the Prophet (S) and the believers, and the word ‘Allah’ mentioned here is for the importance and emphasis on the subject.

The annoyance of the Prophet has a vast meaning, and it envelops any action that hurts him, including: disbelief, atheism, and opposition with the commandments of Allah, and also undue attributions, accusations, or creating trouble when the Prophet (S) invited them into his own house, which was referred to in verse 53 of this very Surah, saying:

“…verily this annoys the Prophet…”

Or the matter which is mentioned in Surah At-Taubah, No. 9, verse 61 where they accused the Prophet (S).

This verse says:

“And there are among them those who hurt the Prophet and say: ‘He is an ear!’…”

Even from the narrations mentioned about the verse, it is understood that hurting the household of the Prophet (S), specially Ali (as) and Fatimah, the Prophet’s daughter (as), has also been involved in this very verse.

In part five of Sahih-i-Bukhari it is recorded:

“The Messenger of Allah said: ‘Fatimah is a part of my body, then whoever makes her angry, he has made me angry.”2

This very tradition is mentioned in Sahih-i-Muslim in this form:

“Verily Fatimah is a part of me (my body); whatever hurts her, it hurts me.”3

Similar to this meaning has been narrated about Ali (as) from the Prophet (S).¹

As it was said before, the word ‘curse’ mentioned in the above holy verse is in the sense of being far from the Mercy of Allah, and this is just the opposite point of Mercy and Salawat mentioned in the previous verse.

In fact, curse and being far of the Mercy from the side of the Lord Whose Mercy is vast and endless, is counted the worst kind of punishment, specially that it is both in the world and Hereafter, (as it is said in the verse under discussion).

Perhaps, it is for this reason that the word ‘curse’ has been mentioned in the above verse before the phrase ‘a humiliating punishment.’

The application of the Qur’anic term /’a‘adda/ (He has prepared) is an evidence upon the emphasis and importance of this punishment.