A parent’s curse and Allah’s justice

Question:
If a parent always damns their child and prays that Allah damn them and that he always be angry with them, so they never succeed in this dunya or in the hearafter Does Allah accept their duas?

Answer:
A parent’s supplication carries significance, and the Prophet ﷺ explicitly warned parents not to supplicate against their children. However, this does not mean that every curse or harmful prayer uttered by a parent is necessarily accepted by Allah, nor that a parent can determine their child’s worldly success or eternal fate through words of anger.

Allah is perfectly just and does not wrong anyone. He says, “Indeed, Allah does not wrong even the weight of an atom” (Qur’an 4:40). A parent’s status does not give them authority to make injustice into justice. If a parent repeatedly prays that Allah curse their child, deprive them of success, or remain angry with them, particularly without legitimate cause, such a supplication is not something the child should regard as a divine judgement or an inevitable decree.

Indeed, the Prophet ﷺ said: “Do not supplicate against yourselves, nor against your children, nor against your wealth, lest you coincide with an hour in which Allah grants whatever is asked.” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim). This hadith is a warning against the grave and destructive practice of cursing one’s own children. It does not establish that every such supplication will certainly be fulfilled; rather, it demonstrates that making such prayers is itself blameworthy and dangerous.

It is also essential to distinguish between a parent’s anger and Allah’s anger. A parent may be deeply displeased with their child, but their displeasure does not automatically mean that Allah is displeased with that child. Allah judges each person according to truth, justice and complete knowledge of their circumstances. The Qur’an states: “No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another” (6:164). Therefore, a child cannot be condemned before Allah simply because a parent has repeatedly pronounced condemnation upon them.

This does not diminish the enormous rights that parents possess in Islam. A child must examine their own conduct, repent if they have genuinely wronged their parents, and strive to treat them with kindness. Yet obedience to parents is not absolute, and a parent’s injustice does not become religiously binding merely because it comes from a parent. Even when parents command what is wrong, the Qur’an instructs the child not to obey them in that matter while nevertheless maintaining good conduct towards them (31:15).

Above all, a believer should never despair of Allah’s mercy because of another person’s words. If they have been unjustly cursed, they should turn to Allah rather than live in fear of the curse. They may ask Allah to forgive any wrong they themselves have committed, protect them from injustice, rectify their relationship with their parents, and grant them goodness in both worlds.

Thus, a parent’s curse is not a divine decree, and a parent’s anger is not synonymous with Allah’s anger. Allah alone determines a person’s fate, and His judgement is founded upon perfect knowledge and perfect justice. Whoever sincerely turns to Him, repents from wrongdoing and seeks His pleasure should never believe that another human being has the power to close the door of Allah’s mercy upon them.