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Fatwa CenterCreated beings may annoy Allaah but do not harm Him
Question
As-salaamu 3laikum, In one fatwa about the merits of the Sahaaba (radia Allahu 3anhum) you quoted a hadith where the Messenger of Allah (salla Allahu 3laihi wa salam) said: 'He who hurts them, has hurt me, and he who hurts me, has hurt Allaah, he who hurts Allaah, Allaah will punish him' Kindly explain what is meant here by hurting Allah. Jazaakum Allahu khairan
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
There are many Islamic texts which prove that created beings annoy/hurt Allaah The Almighty; Allaah says (what means): {Indeed, those who hurt Allaah and His Messenger – Allaah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment.} [Quran 33:57]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Who is ready to kill Ka‘b ibn Al-Ashraf who has indeed annoyed Allaah and His Messenger?” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said in a Hadeeth Qudsi: “Allaah says: The son of Aadam insults me when he curses (the vicissitudes of) time, as I am time; all the matters are in My Hands, and I cause the alternation of day and night.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Besides, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “There is no one who is more patient with the insults he hears than Allaah; they claim that He had a son, then He gives them health and feeds them.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said about the man who spat in the direction of the Qiblah: “You have hurt Allaah.” [Ahmad and Abu Daawood, and Ibn Hibbaan classified it as Saheeh (sound)]
The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said: “Take care of my Companions; do not harm them after me, as whoever loves them, it is because he loves me, and whoever hates them, it is because he hates me, and whoever hurts them, he has indeed hurt me, and he who hurts me has indeed hurt Allaah, and whoever hurts Allaah, Allaah will soon take revenge of him.” [At-Tirmithi and Ahmad]
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim 
said in As-Sawaa‘iq Al-Mursalah: “Hurting Him, Exalted is He, is not like hurting the creation, just as His Wrath, His Anger, and His Hatred are not like those of the creation.” [End of quote]
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said in his book Al-Qawl Al-Mufeed regarding the words, "… has indeed hurt Allaah":
“To annoy is not necessarily to cause harm. A person may be annoyed by listening to something obscene or by seeing it, but he is not harmed by it, and he is annoyed by the smell of onion and garlic but he is not harmed by it; it is for this reason that Allaah has affirmed (the quality of) being annoyed in the Quran; Allaah says (what means): {Indeed, those who annoy Allaah and His Messenger – Allaah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment.} [Quran 33:57] A Qudsi Hadeeth reads: “The son of Aadam insults Me when he curses (the vicissitudes of) time, as I am time; all the matters are in My Hands, and I cause the alternation of day and night.”Allaah negated that anyone could harm Him; Allaah says (what means): {Indeed, they will never harm Allaah at all.} [Quran 3:176] A Qudsi Hadeeth reads: "O My servants, you will not attain My harm so as to harm Me." [Muslim]” [End of quote]
It is therefore clear that hurting/annoying/insulting Allaah is confirmed but harming Him is negated, and that hurt can be caused by words, like insulting time, and by action, like spitting in the direction of the Qiblah, and that we have to affirm this meaning since Allaah affirmed it about Himself, and we do not know more about Allaah than Allaah about Himself, but it is not like hurting a created thing; the evidence is the words of Allaah (which mean): {There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.} [Quran 42:11]
Allaah Knows best.
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