The Curse of Aiding the Oppressors

In his legal compendium al-Aḥkām (The Legal Rulings), Imām Yaḥyā al-Hādī (d. 298 AH) includes a powerful narration under the Chapter: Concerning Helping the Oppressors.

Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) said:

“Whoever helps an oppressor—even by giving him a pen to write with, or providing him with something small—comes on the Day of Resurrection with a sign on his forehead that reads: ‘In despair of Allah’s mercy.’ He will not be honored by Allah on that Day, nor purified, and he will have a painful punishment. Everyone who is exposed before Him that day is disgraced, and whoever Allah disgraces, his Fire and punishment become inevitable.”

Imām Yaḥyā al-Hādī explains that this warning does not apply to someone who merely rents his house to a oppressor or interacts with him in ordinary, lawful ways. Rather, it refers to those who directly assist a oppressor in his injustice—those whose help, material or moral, enables oppression to take place.

He further adds:

“As for someone who is from the family of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), or otherwise—anyone who helps a wrongdoer is cursed, and every wrongdoer is cursed.”

This passage highlights the gravity of even the smallest act of support toward injustice. To aid a wrongdoer, even indirectly, is to share in the burden of his oppression. True faith demands not only refraining from wrongdoing but also refusing to empower it in any form.