Envy in Islam
- Muslim Leaders of Tomorrow
- Aug 26, 2020
- 2 min read
By Ayaan Malik
Envy, also known as Hasad, is felt by many people all around the world. It consumes the bearer with hateful emotions towards someone who has something they want or has achieved something they wished they had. The emotions are stronger than anger however since the bearer wished for that person to lose it. This hateful emotion turns people against each other, and is completely against the basic principles of Islam. What are some things that cause this sin that we should watch out for? How do we heal from already bearing the feeling of envy?
Scholar Al-’Allamah al-Majilisi has mentioned seven different causes of envy. Those causes are:
Enmity: You can feel enmity towards a person, which could grow to become envy
The Sense of One’s Supremacy: You can feel as if you are better than someone, and if said person gains something you don’t have, you could feel envious
Kibr (pride) and Wonder: The envier may treat the envied individual with minimal respect. The envier may also wonder whether they will be given something great that the envied also enjoys.
Fear and Love of Authority: The envier may fear that another individual will possess the same as they do, and the envier loves when that is not the case
Viciousness of Nature: The envier can be vicious towards people, which can make them nastier once they hear an individual has something they want. These causes should be avoided at all costs. They can very easily grow into envy. From there, it could spiral out and control your every move and thought
Envy can take over your heart and consume your soul. If you are suffering from this terrible disease, there are a couple of things you can do to save yourself:
Force yourself to love the individual and appreciate that they have something that you don’t. Slowly, the feeling of envy will disappear, and the love won’t be forced.
Stop the comparisons. Those comparisons are a big factor in the envy spawning into your heart. Stop the comparisons, stop the disease.
Increase your knowledge on the individual. The gifts that you may think came out of nowhere, most likely came out of hard work and dedication
Know that your success isn’t lessened from theirs. Just because they have something you want, doesn’t mean you are, and have, nothing.
Don’t be envious of others’ gifts. Everyone is successful in different ways. You never truly know what others are going through because their materialistic gains may be nothing compared to emotional turmoil they may be going through. Allah (SWT) gifts in different ways, sometimes in this life and sometimes in the afterlife, so we have to be patient and understand that we will be rewarded for our efforts.
May Allah (SWT) protect us from such diseases and from building habits that can turn into envy. May Allah (SWT) always fill our hearts with kindness and compassion for others so that we may stay away from all sins of the heart. And May Allah (SWT) give us all the guidance to focus on building our Deen rather than gaining worldly achievements and materials.
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