Jealousy in Islam

Jealousy
Jalal Aref
Among the many disease of the heart, jealousy is one of the most serious diseases in the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Jealousy is when one wants something that another person has and wants this blessing to be taken away from the person who is blessed and to get this blessing for himself/herself. Jealousy is very serious because the Prophet Mohammad (SAW) said that jealousy eats up a Muslim’s good deeds like the fire eats up all of the wood. Jealousy can be caused by worldly matters and also by some religious matters. It also causes many issues with Allah and issues with people in the society. Jealousy due to worldly matters comes in several forms. An example of jealousy due to worldly matters is when a poor person is jealous of a rich person who owns lots of money. This jealousy will not only affect the poor person in his morals and his punishment in the hereafter, but it may also affect the rich person by an extreme form of jealousy called Al-Hasad. When one person is jealous of another person, the one who is jealous will always be thinking about what he/she does not have rather than what he/she does have and this can lead to more diseases of the heart such as backbiting or even stealing in severe cases. The effect of jealousy on the person who has the bounties is sometimes worse than the effect of jealousy on the person who is jealous. These forms of jealousy are all about worldly matters and not about the matters of religion which can sometimes be very crucial and serious. Jealousy in matters of religion is different because people who are jealous about religion are not looking for materialistic things but they may be looking for something else. A great example of jealousy in matters of religion is the story of Habil and Qabil. When Habil and Qabil were told to make a sacrifice for good, and whoever was more sincere in his worship would have the right to marry the girl that they both wanted to marry. When Habil’s sacrifice was accepted and Qabil’s was not, jealousy caused Qabil to kill Habil. Although their main goal was a worldly matter, the woman, but it was through religious means. So this shows that Qabil was jealous that Habil’s sacrifice was accepted by Allah and his was not. Jealousy has many negative effects on the community as a whole and also on the individual who is jealous. Jealousy causes disunity between people and enmity rises between friendships and relationships. For example, if one is jealous of his/her friend they will always start to treat them in a different way and treat them negatively. This negative attitude is caused by jealousy. Another great effect that is very negative about jealousy is that it can easily lead to other diseases of the heart or bad actions. For example, if one person possesses something that another person is very jealous of it may lead the person who is jealous to steal the thing that the other person possesses. One way that jealousy effects the individual is that a jealous person all or most of his energy, whether it physical or mental, which otherwise could help in the progress of the society, By losing it a jealous man spoils both his personal as well as the collective assets, of the society. This does not only affect the individual but also affects the society.
Jealousy drives also away one’s religion. Through jealousy, one does things that drive away his/her religion. This is why many Islamic books say that jealousy is a calamity for religion. This shows that jealousy is a very serious matter that all people, Muslim and non-Muslim, should keep away from. Every human will receive every single atom of their Rizk whether they are accepting of this or not. The bounties one will get are already written for him/her so being jealous is actually going against the Qada and Qadar of Allah. It has been mentioned in some Qudsi hadiths: “A jealous person is my enemy and he becomes angry against my decision. He is not happy with distribution among my servants.” When Allah says my decision in this hadith Qudsi, He is referring to Qada and Qadar and the Rizk that Allah gives to each servant.
From this hadith we can derive the greatest and most horrifying effect of jealousy. This effect is being the enemy of Allah. That is the worst thing that could ever happen to a human being because Allah loves all of his creations even if they are not Muslim. This shows that being the enemy of Allah is a very serious matter which in turn shows why jealousy is a very serious matter that all people should avoid.