"This statement contradicts the perfection of monotheism and the perfection of faith in predestination. Predestination does not play, and time does not jest. Everything that happens in this life is by Allah’s decree and knowledge. Allah, the Exalted, is the one who controls the night and day, and He is the one who determines happiness and misery according to His wisdom, which may be hidden from people because their knowledge is limited and their minds are incapable of comprehending that divine wisdom. Everything in existence is created by Allah, created by His will and power. Whatever He wills happens, and whatever He does not will does not happen. He is the one who gives and withholds, lowers and raises, honors and humiliates, enriches and impoverishes, misguides and guides, makes happy and makes miserable, grants kingship to whom He wills, and takes it away from whom He wills. He has perfected everything He created, and all the actions of the Creator, His commands, and prohibitions have profound wisdom and praiseworthy purposes for which He is thanked, even if humans do not understand them due to their limited comprehension.
It is narrated in Sahih Bukhari and other collections that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said (in what he narrates from his Lord): ‘The son of Adam offends Me by cursing time, and I am time; in My hand is the command; I turn the night and day.’ In another narration: ‘Do not curse time, for I am time.’ In another narration: ‘The son of Adam should not say: “Woe to time,” for I am time; I send the night and day, and if I wish, I can seize them.’ The Arabs in the pre-Islamic period used to attribute the calamities and hardships they faced to time, saying: ‘The blows of time have struck them,’ and ‘Time has destroyed them.’ When they attributed the hardships they faced to time, they cursed the one who caused them, and thus their cursing reverted to Allah, the Exalted, as He is the true doer of the matters they described. Therefore, they were forbidden from cursing time. This interpretation of the hadith has been transmitted by Al-Shafi’i, Abu Ubaid, Ibn Jarir, Al-Baghawi, and others.
As for the meaning of His saying: ‘I turn the night and day,’ it means that what happens in them of good and evil is by Allah’s will, management, knowledge, and wisdom. No one shares in this with Him. Whatever He wills happens, and whatever He does not will does not happen. Therefore, it is obligatory to praise Him in both situations, have good thoughts about Him, and turn to Him in repentance and submission. Allah says: {And We test you with evil and with good as a trial; and to Us you will be returned} [Al-Anbiya: 35].
Imam Muhammad ibn Abdul-Wahhab, may Allah have mercy on him, included a chapter in his book ‘Kitab al-Tawhid’ titled: ‘Chapter: Whoever curses time has offended Allah.’ He mentioned this hadith and explained that it includes several issues."
1Prohibition of Cursing Time 2Calling it an Offense to Allah 3Reflecting on the Statement: “For Allah is Time” 4That One May Be Cursing Even Without Intending It in Their Heart
Based on this, the writer—may Allah forgive her—made a mistake when she attributed cruelty to time in the title of her story. This is because fate, as previously mentioned, does not act on its own; rather, Allah, the Exalted, is the one who decrees things with profound wisdom. Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, is not described as cruel; rather, He is merciful to His servants. He is more merciful to them than a mother to her child, as mentioned in the authentic hadith: “Allah is more merciful to His servants than a mother to her child.”
Therefore, we must keep our pens from falling into such pitfalls, in obedience to Allah and His Messenger, and to complete monotheism, avoiding anything that contradicts it or its perfection. The media, as is well known, is widely spread and has a great influence on people. Repeating such words frequently spreads them among people and makes them lenient in using them, especially the youth, despite the dangers of using them.
We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path and to protect us from the slips of the pen and tongue. Indeed, He is All-Hearing, All-Responding. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.
