Envy
The definition of the envy?
10 steps Ibn Al-Qayim mentioned to avoid the evil of the envy?
More practical steps to avoid the evil of the envy?
How does a Muslim avoid being an envious person?
How should a Muslim act if he was harmed by envy?
Is there permissible envy, or Halal envy in Islam?
The definition of envy?
Envy simply means to feel jealousy and intense hatred for someone for possessing something that you do not have and at the same time wishing that this person lose this thing. this is one of the things which were mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Therefore, every Muslim knows that envy exists and that it is harmful.it was mentioned in the Qur’an and the Sunnah what the Muslim pushes away from the evil of envy on himself and his family.
10 things that Ibn Al-Qayyim mentioned to prevent envy:
1 – Seek refuge with Allah and recite Al-Moawithatayn ( the two Sooras: Al-Falaq and Annas), you have to do every morning and night.
2 – Be pious by obeying his commands and avoiding his prohibitions.
3 – Patience with the envious.
4 – Trust that everything happens with Allah’s will.
5 – Don’t think about envy.
6 – preoccupying the heart with the love and satisfaction of God.
7 – Repent to God from sins.
8 – Charity has a strange effect in lifting calamity and the harm of the envy.
9 – Avoid the evil of the envious with kindness to him.
10 – The certainty that benefit and harm are in the hands of Allah alone.
More practical steps to avoid the evil of the envy?
1 – Don t tell about your future plans.
2 – Do not irritate others with what you have of the possessions or blessings that Allah has bestowed upon you, for example, do not tell a hungry person how full you are and what you ate today of good food, or tell a poor person how much you spent today on trips, food and drinks, do not tell a sick person about your health ability and your sports activity, … and so on.
3 – It is enough to say: (Al-Hamdu Lillah) when someone asks you about any thing you have done or you have got.
4 – Don’t overspend when you invite others to your home.
5 – Be moderate in spending and showing feelings about everything.
6 – Do not make fun of the feelings of others or their possessions, because this stirs in their hearts feelings of anger, hatred, and then envy.
How does a Muslim avoid being an envious person?
1 – Supplicate a lot to Allah that he purify you from feelings of envy.
2 – Strong belief that sustenance is in the hands of Allah alone, and that a person’s sustenance is predestined before he is created.
3 – Certainty that goodness and happiness lies in Satisfaction with what Allah has given to man of sustenance, and that every person has what he lacks, so we should not look at each other in our livelihood because this is the reason for the decrease in the blessing of the sustenance of each of us.
4 – believe that envy is a great sin, and it was the 1st sin on the earth, so if any one wish to please Allah he should avoid such bad feelings (envy) because Allah does not love the person who is envious.
قال تعالى:( أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَى مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ فَقَدْ آتَيْنَا آلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَآتَيْنَاهُمْ مُلْكًا عَظِيمًا * فَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ آمَنَ بِهِ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ صَدَّ عَنْهُ وَكَفَى بِجَهَنَّمَ سَعِيرًا) [النساء:54-55., وقال تعالى: (وَمِنْ شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ) [الفلق:5]
وروى البخاري ومسلم عن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه أن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: (لا تباغضوا، ولا تحاسدوا، ولا تدابروا، ولا تقاطعوا، وكونوا عباد الله إخوانا، ولا يحل لمسلم أن يهجر أخاه فوق ثلاث.
How should a Muslim act if he was harmed by envy?
1 – If he knows the envious, he asks from this envious to take a shower or at least wash his hands and face, the the one who has been envied takes the water of this shower of the envious or the water of his ablution, then was his body by it.
2 – He should keep saying the authentic supplication that the the prophet used to say them.
3 – If he does not know the envious person he should pray to Allah a lot and keep saying the supplications which the prophet used to say, and reciting the Sooras Al-Falaq, Annas, and Al-Ekhlas daily.
Is there Halal envy in Islam?
(عن عبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: (لَا حَسَدَ إِلَّا فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَالًا فَسُلِّطَ عَلَى هَلَكَتِهِ فِي الْحَقِّ وَرَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْحِكْمَةَ فَهُوَ يَقْضِي بِهَا وَيُعَلِّمُهَا
صحيح البخارى و مسلم
yes, Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud reported: (The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There is no envy but in two cases: a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it rightly, and a man whom Allah has given wisdom and he judges and teaches with it.”
Sahih Al-Bukhary and Muslim
written by / T. Shadia Eid