Will you explain the meaning of the following hadith: "Fear the curse of the oppressed as there is no screen between his invocation and Allah"?

The Details of the Question

The following is stated in a hadith: "Fear the curse of the oppressed, the one who is wronged, as there is no screen between his invocation and Allah." Is the prayer of a wronged person accepted?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sent Hz. Muadh to Yemen. When he was about to go, he addressed Muadh as follows:  

"You are going to a people from the People of the Book. Invite them to worship Allah. If they accept Allah, tell them that Allah has ordained zakah upon their wealth, which is to be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor among them. If they accept it, take zakah from them. When you take zakah, do not take their valuable goods. Fear the curse of the oppressed as there is no screen between his invocation and Allah." [Bukhari, Zakah 1, 41, Sadaqa 1, 63, Mazalim 9, Maghazi 60, Tawhid 1; Muslim, Iman 31, (19); Tirmidhi, Zakah 6, (625); Abu Dawud, Zakah 4, (1584); Nasai, Zakah 46, (5, 55)]

The phrase "fear the curse of the oppressed" orders him to avoid oppression while taking zakah. The hadith is general and it means to avoid all kinds of oppression but that the phrase "fear the curse of the oppressed" is uttered after the advice related to collecting zakah and especially after the warning "do not take people’s valuable goods" attracts attention to the importance of especially collecting zakah. Then, the following meaning is deduced: "It is oppression to take valuable goods."

The phrase "there is no screen between the invocation of the oppressed and Allah" means there is no barrier that can prevent his invocation from reaching Allah; that is, "the invocation of the oppressed is acceptable". Other narrations indicate that the invocation of the oppressed is acceptable even if he is a rebel, sinner and poor. The following is stated in the narration of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal:

دَعْوَةُ الْمَظْلُومِ مُسْتَجَابَةٌ وَاِنْ كَانَ فَاجِراً فَفُجُورُهُ عَلى نَفْسِهِ "The invocation of the oppressed is acceptable even if he is a sinner because his sin interests him."

Ibnul-Arabi states the following:

"This hadith seems to be general (absolute) about the fact that the invocation of the oppressed will be answered but it is actually directly connected with another hadith:  That hadith is as follows:

"Those who pray Allah are divided into three: Their demands are answered at once, or their demands are put aside and something better is given or their sins are forgiven due to their prayers. As a matter of fact, the following verse describes Allah as follows: "He listens to the (soul) distressed when it calls on Him, and relieves its suffering." Another verse limits it with “His wish”: "And if it be His will, He would remove (the distress) which occasioned your call upon Him." (al-An'am, 6/41)" (see İbrahim Canan, Kütüb-i Sitte Tercüme ve Şerhi, h. no: 2010)

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