بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
All praises and thanks be for Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the One who has brought everything into creation, the Only One, and may He send salutations, peace and blessings upon our Master, Beloved, Moral Axiom, Muhammad ﷺ, and upon his Noble Companions and Pure Family.

The various ʾAḥādīṯ reported with this variation are as follows:

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ: “‏لاَ تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ‏. “

On the authority of ʾAbī Hurayraħ, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: “Do not curse time, for Allāh is Himself time (Ad-Dahr).”[1]

Al-Buḵārīyy, 846

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ: “لاَ يَقُلْ أَحَدُكُمْ يَا خَيْبَةَ الدَّهْرِ. فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ. “

On the authority of ʾAbī Hurayraħ, that the Emissary of Allāh ﷺ said: “One of you should not say “Oh Failure of Time!”, for Allāh is Himself time (Ad-Dahr).” [2]

(Mālik, 795)

وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: “قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى: يُؤْذِينِي ابْنُ آدَمَ يَسُبُّ الدَّهْرَ وَأَنَا الدَّهْرُ بِيَدِيَ الْأَمْرُ أُقَلِّبُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ.”

On the authority of ʾAbī Hurayraħ, the Emissary of Allāh ﷺ said: “Allāh, high be He, said: “The son of ʾĀdam harm me by cursing time, and I am time, in My Hand is the matter, I turn the night and day.””[3]

(Al-Ḵaṭīb At-Tabrīzīyy, 1248)

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ: “لاَ يَقُولَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ يَا خَيْبَةَ الدَّهْرِ‏.‏ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ.”

On the authority of ʾAbī Hurayraħ, that the Emissary of Allāh ﷺ said: “Verily, one of you should not say: “Oh Failure of Time!” for Allāh is Himself time.”[4]

(Muslim, 875)

قَالَ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: “قَالَ اللَّهُ يَسُبُّ بَنُو آدَمَ الدَّهْرَ، وَأَنَا الدَّهْرُ، بِيَدِي اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ.”

ʾAbū Hurayraħ said: the Emissary of Allāh ﷺ said: “Allāh said: “The children of ʾĀdam curse time, whilst I am time, in My Hand is the night and day.”[5]

(Al-Buḵārīyy, 846)

These are just some, but many of these reports may have one thinking: “How do we understand these ʾAḥādīṯ? Is Allāh time?” In this article, we will discuss this.

For some context, the cursing of time was a common practice of the Arabs in the period of Jāhilīyyaħ. Whenever they were afflicted with something disliked or anything of that sort, they would curse time. They would attribute these afflictions to time, hence the reasoning behind this prohibition (of cursing time) is because Allāh is the disposer of affairs, as is mentioned in the Ḥadīṯ: “…I turn the night and day”. This indicates that time is the passing of moments, these moments being contingent.

ʾImām Al-Ḵaṭābīyy said (regarding the meaning of “I am time”): “It is: “I am the Possessor of Time (Ṣāḥib Ad-Dahr) and the Organiser of Affairs that they [the Arabs] would attribute to time.” Ad-Dahr is the only time made for the occurrence of events. The practice of the Arabs would be that whenever something disliked afflicted them, they would assign it to time, so they would say: “Misery for time and curse for time!””[6]

(Al-Ḵaṭṭābīyy, 931)

Here, the reason for the statement “I am time” is explained to be the Power Allāh has over time and not Him being time. The Arabs would blame time for their misfortunes. This implies they had a belief that time was a force that wasn’t controlled, and that time is autonomous. This is similar to the verse in the Qurʾān:

وَقَالُوا۟ مَا هِىَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا ٱلدُّنْيَا نَمُوتُ وَنَحْيَا وَمَا يُهْلِكُنَآ إِلَّا ٱلدَّهْرُ ۚ وَمَا لَهُم بِذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ ۖ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ ٢٤
And they argue, “There is nothing beyond our worldly life. We die; others are born. And nothing destroys us but ˹the passage of˺ time.” Yet they have no knowledge ˹in support˺ of this ˹claim˺. They only speculate.

Sūraħ [45]Al-Jāṯiyaħ ʾĀyaħ 24

This verse displays the belief that the Arabs had, hence this prohibition was given.

ʾImām Aš-Šāfiʿīyy and ʾAbū ʿUbayd and others have said regarding this statement: “The Arabs in the period of Jāhilīyyaħ, whenever intensity, trials or a blameworthy occurrence afflicted them they would say : “Oh Failure of Time!” for they would rest those actions on time and attribute it whilst its doer is only Allāh, so hence, they only curse Allāh because He is the Doer of that in reality, therefore, He prohibited cursing time through this relation.”[7]

(ʾIbn Kaṯīr, 1358)

Here ʾImām Aš-Šāfiʿīyy and others explain that the relation of time and Allāh is to show that He is its Doer in reality and that He is not time itself, and to emphasise on the severity of cursing time.

ʾImām ʾIbn Al-Qayyim said: “The cursing of time is of three banes:
The first: cursing the one who is not worthy to be cursed: for time is a controlled creation from the creation of Allāh, led by His Command, humbled to His Control, so the curser of it [time] is more deserving of blame and curse than time itself.
The second: cursing time entails polytheism (Širk), for one only curses time based on his opinion that time can harm and benefit; that time is oppressive, harming those unworthy of harms, and gives to those unworthy of giving, raises those unworthy of raising, depriving those unworthy of deprivation, and that time, according to time’s villifiers, it is the most oppressive of oppressors. The poems of these treacherous oppressors in cursing time are many. Most of them are from the ignoramuses who explicitly curse it and criticise it.
The third: That the cursing from them only is directed against the one who has done these things, which if reality were to follow their desires, the heavens and the earth would be destroyed. When events align with their desires, they praise time and eulogise it. In reality of the matter, the Lord of Time alone is the Giver and Preventer, the Lowerer and Raiser, the Honourer and Dishonourer. Time itself doesn’t have a share in these matters, so their cursing time is cursing Allāh, therefore it is offensive to the Lord, like what is mentioned in the Ṣaḥīḥayn from the Ḥadīṯ of ʾAbī Hurayraħ, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: “Allāh, high be He, said: “The son of ʾĀdam harm me by cursing time, and I am time.”” As of this, the curser of time is revolving between two matters which are unavoidable: either he is cursing Allāh, or he is committing polytheism with Him. If he believes time is a doer alongside Allāh, then he is a polytheist, and if he believes Allāh alone is the One who does that whilst he curses the One who does that, then he has cursed Allāh.”[8]

(ʾIbn Al-Qayyim, 1350)

Here we get three points from ʾImām ʾIbn Al-Qayyim. All of these indicate that time and Allāh are separate entities and not at all the same. The first point alludes to the reliance that time has only Allāh and it being creation, hence it is not Him, for Allāh is not His creation.

The second point speaks about how cursing time is polytheism for you attribute to time what is meant for Allāh.

The final point brings about a scary thought that either one is a polytheist or a curser of Allāh if they curse time.

Now an argument from a logical perspective is as follows:

P1: Time changes
P2: Allāh doesn't change
C3: Allāh is not time

The fact that time changes can be observed in the very nature of the flow of time and time being just something referring to the occurrence of events (events being a moment). It renews itself, hence it changes. Allāh doesn’t change. This is the belief of ʾAhl As-Sunnaħ Wal-Jamāʿaħ. Anyone who believes otherwise affirms contingency for Allāh, which is impossible. As of this He doesn’t change. This simply means that Allāh is not time, despite what the Ḥadīṯ apparently says. We can understand the Ḥadīṯ without attribute to Allāh what isn’t befitting for him.

وما علينا إلا البلاغ المبين

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Bibliography

Al-Buḵārīyy. (846). Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Buḵārīyy.
Al-Ḵaṭīb At-Tabrīzīyy. (1248). Miškāħ Al-Maṣābīḥ.
Al-Ḵaṭṭābīyy. (931). Bayān Al-Murād.
ʾIbn Al-Qayyim. (1350). Zād Al-Maʿād.
ʾIbn Kaṯīr. (1358). Tafsīr ʾIbn Kaṯīr.
Mālik. (795). Muwaṭṭaʾ Al-ʾImām Mālik.
Muslim. (875). Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

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[1] ʾImām Al-Buḵārīyy. (846). Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Buḵārīyy.

[2] ʾImām Mālik. (795). Muwaṭṭaʾ Al-ʾImām Mālik.

[3] ʾImām Al-Ḵaṭīb At-Tabrīzīyy. (1248). Miškāħ Al-Maṣābīḥ.

[4] ʾImām Muslim. (875). Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.

[5] ʾImām Al-Buḵārīyy. (846). Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Buḵārīyy.

[6] ʾImām Al-Ḵaṭṭābīyy. (931). Bayān Al-Murād.

[7] ʾImām ʾIbn Kaṯīr. (1358). Tafsīr ʾIbn Kaṯīr.

[8] ʾIbn Al-Qayyim. (1350). Zād Al-Maʿād.