Response to Tabarra – Cursing the enemies of Ahlulbayt (as) is the Sunnah of Ibn Tamiyah Too.

The following is a response to the article on ShiaPen entitled: Cursing the Enemies of Ahlulbayt (as) is the Sunnah of Ibn Tamiyah Too, which can he found here.

Due to the shortness of the article, we’ll include the whole passage for the benefit of the readers:

One of the basic tools of Nasibi propaganda agasint the Shias  have always included that Shias pratcie Tabbarra against the enemies of Ahlulbayt (as) which shows how hateful they are! To such segment of Nawasib, we would like to cite the comments of their Imam Ibn Tamiyah who likewise did Tabarrah upon the enemies of Ahlulbayt (as) in the following manner: 

وأما من قتل الحسين أو أعان على ذلك أو رضي به فلعنة الله عليه والملائكة والناس أجمعين, لا يقبل الله منه صرفا ولا عدلا
 

“Whoever killed Hussain, or contributed or was pleased with it, may Allah’s, Angel’s and people’s curse be upon him, may Allah don’t accept his worship and acts.”
Majmoa al-Fatawa, Volume 4 page 487

We are in agreement with Ibn Taymiyyah in his words; however, we would like readers to be aware of the differences in application.

Firstly, we would like to include the full context of Ibn Taymiyyah’s view:

نحن إذا ذكر الظالمون كالحجاج بن يوسف وأمثاله : نقول كما قال الله في القرآن : ألا لعنة الله على الظالمين ولا نحب أن نلعن أحدا بعينه ؛ وقد لعنه قوم من العلماء ؛ وهذا مذهب يسوغ فيه الاجتهاد ؛ لكن ذلك القول أحب إلينا وأحسن .

“When oppressors like Al-Hajjaj bin Yusuf are mentioned, we say like what Allah says in the Qur’an: May Allah curse the oppressors! We do not like to curse individuals in specific, even though some scholars have cursed him, and this opinion is open to Ijtihad, but we prefer our opinion and it is better (than cursing individuals).”

In this light, Sunnis usually disagree with the Shias, since the Shias are fonder of cursing their enemies.

Moreover, we disagree on the identity of Ahlul Bait. Sunnis take the term literally, and include the relatives of the Prophet (salalahu alaihi wa salam) and their offspring and his wives, while the Shias limit the Ahlulbayt to fourteen individuals.

Ironically, some of the members of Ahlulbayt, even in our modern times, are enemies of the Shias. Egypt alone has around 7 million members of Aalul-Bayt according to the official statement of the head of Niqabat al-Ashraf, and the vast majority of the decedents of al-Hasan and al-Husayn and al-`Abbas and the household in general are in fact Sunni, even the humble editor of this article is paternally Hasani and maternally Husayni. In other words, If we apply the ShiaPen reasoning, are we then to say that all Shias are to be cursed for being an enemy to this or that member of Ahlulbayt?

Surely Not! Because Ahlul-Bayt includes the pure, the just, and those that are plain evil.

In other words, the statement of Ibn Taymiyyah is to be applied to Al-Hussain alone and those that killed him, and not to be taken out of context.