Why does Allah bedamn and curse in the Quran? Does Allah bedamn in the chapter of al-Lahab?

Why does Allah bedamn and curse in the Quran? Does Allah bedamn in the chapter of al-Lahab?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The damnations and curses in the Quran are toward the people with certain attributes. The Quran addresses attributes and ideas rather than people. Consequently, some people attain Allah's mercy and grants in the hereafter and go to Paradise. Others attract His damnation and move away from His mercy; they go to Hell, which is the place of His wrath and torture.

Allah's statements like that in the Quran are in fact warnings uttered in mercy. For, how can a person who does not know what evil is move away from it? What kind of a way is it to guide people to good deeds?

Besides, the harsh statements like that in the Quran address the deniers. Unbelief and denial mean challenging Allah's one thousand and one names and attributes. It means to reject the witnessing of the universe with thousands of documents and evidence about the existence of the truth and God. It means denying thousands of miracles of hundreds of thousands of prophets and millions of discoveries and karamahs of millions of saints. 

To sum up, unbelief and denial mean refusing the endless manifestations of Allah's names and attributes, denying the boundless witnessing of the universe and disrespecting their rights; therefore, it is appropriate to warn them using harsh statements.

As for the damnation in the chapter of al-Lahab:

In the general meaning of this verse, the situation of Abu Lahab and all of the people like him that will come to the world up to the Day of Judgment and the people who are contrary to Islam is explained. Abu Lahab is only one of them. Therefore, what is emphasized in this chapter is not narrating the mistakes of an ephemeral and mortal person but warning people against these kinds of mistakes using his case as an example.

In addition, Allah speaks in the Quran in a style that His slaves will be able to understand, which is called "divine condescension". People use expressions of condemnation like damning and cursing among themselves. Allah uses similar harsh expressions in accordance with the degree of the mistake in a way that His slaves will be able to understand in order to emphasize a mistake made by a slave and to inform His other slaves about it. Thus, He warns His slaves against these mistakes. Besides, the chapter indicates that a person who is against Islam will not be favored even if he is an uncle of the Prophet (pbuh).

Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır writes the following regarding the issue:

"Abu Lahab is a nickname indicating a person but it lexically means 'the father of flame'. Therefore, he is a representative of the unbelievers who wanted to burn Islam and the Prophet but who were thrown into fire (Hell); his destruction represents the destruction of all of them, which indicates the message of the following verse:

"Fain would they extinguish Allah's light with their mouths but Allah will not allow but that His light should be perfected, even though the unbelievers may detest (it)." (at-Tawba, 9/32)

Nicknames are proper nouns but they also indicate attributes like the generosity of Hatim Tai and the knowledge of Abu Hanifa; since Abu Lahab means 'the father of flame', it is used as a famous example indicating that he is a person of 'Hell'. Besides, allusions do not prevent the reality; so, the meaning mentioned above is very important here. That is, the aim here is not mentioning Abu Lahab but indicating those who have the same attributes as him and who resemble him in terms of their attributes." (H.Yazır, Hak Dini Kur'an Dili)

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