Al-Anfaal (The Spoils of War)

32. “And (remember) when they said: ‘O Allah! if this (Quran) is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment’.”

Such prayers of curses were either because of intense zeal and obstinacy that they considered their own way as a right way and the way of Islam wrong, or it was a kind of demagogy. They cursed themselves in order that some simple- hearted people might feel that Islam was wrong.

When the Prophet (S) under the command of Allah in Ghadir Khumm, appointed Ali (as) for Imamate, Nu'man- ibn-Harith, one of the hypocrites, came to the Prophet (S) and said:

“You ordered us to Unity, prophethood, Holy Struggle, Hajj, fasting, prayer and alms giving, and we accepted them all. Now have you appointed this lad as Imam over us?”

The Prophet (S) said:

“It was the command of Allah.”

Then Nu'man, the hypocrite, cursed- himself, and in his curse he imitated this very verse.¹

Therefore, an enemy may also expose himself to a curse in order to show himself true. The verse says:

“And (remember) when they said: “O Allah! if this (Qur'an) is the truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the sky, or bring us a painful punishment’.”