Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Clarifies the Meaning of “Accursed” (Ma’lūn) in Islamic Jurisprudence

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi Clarifies the Meaning of “Accursed” (Ma’lūn) in Islamic Jurisprudence
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The daily scholarly session of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq al-Husayni al-Shirazi was held on Sunday, the third of Jumada al-Awwal 1447 AH. During the session, His Eminence responded to various jurisprudential questions posed by those in attendance.

In addressing the concept of “curse” (la’n) as mentioned in the Holy Quran and narrations (hadith), Grand Ayatollah Shirazi offered a clarification on the term “accursed” (ma’lūn). He explained that the word “curse” has appeared even in relation to detested acts (makrūhāt).

The Supreme Marja cited examples from narrations, such as: “May God curse the one who eats his provisions alone” (لَعَنَ اَللَّهُ اَلْآكِلَ زَادَهُ وَحْدَهُ), and “Accursed is he who travels alone” (مَلْعُونٌ مَنْ سَافَرَ وَحْدَهُ).

He stressed that these examples refer to acts that are classified as makrūhāt (detested but not forbidden). Grand Ayatollah Shirazi stated that “ma’lūn” generally means “one who is far from the mercy of God.”

He further emphasized that this state of being far from God’s mercy occurs sometimes in cases of the forbidden (harām) and sometimes in cases of the detested (makrūh). In the context of detested acts, being makrūh represents a specific degree of being distant from the mercy of God.