Islamic Morals [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

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Islamic Morals [Electronic resources] - نسخه متنی

Ghulam Reza Sultani

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Lesson: 12 Jealousy and its Harmfulness


One of the
undesirable evil attributes is jealousy that can be discussed in several categories:

1 - Meaning of jealousy and its difference from envy

2 - Kinds of jealousy

3 - Its censure and prohibition and whether the prohibition covers all kinds
of jealousy or it is limited to some of this kinds?

4 - Signs of jealousy.

5 - Marms??? of jealousy from the viewpoint of an individual a society and the
religion.

6 - Causes leading to jealousy.

7 - Remedy of this dangerous disease.

Meaning
for jealousy and its difference from envy

The meaning
of jealousy is that man desires that a blessing may be removed from his faithful
brother though he knows that the said comfort is befitting him and hence the
title. But envy means: to desire the comfort possessed by others without a wish
that blessing may go away from others. In other words, an envious person ones
not want a halt the progress of others but makes effort to equal others. Perhaps
this attitude can be divided into five kinds:

Kinds of
Jealousy:

A: That man
desires that the comfort enjoyed by his fellow Muslim brother may be taken away
from the his even if thereby he himself does not get any benefit. This is the
worst kind of jealousy.

B: man wants
that others bounty may be removed from him and may be given to him.

C: Sometimes
man does not want that someone's ease may be taken away from him but wants the
same ease for himself and since it does not reach him he entertains a desire
for the other man's down fall and possibly, if he gets such strength, he removes
the said ease from the other person .

D: In the beginning
one does not want that the other man should lose his bounty but since he does
not have the ability to reach it he desires the downfall of the other person,
but without an intention to seize the other persons bounty even if he is able
to do so. As he considers himself religiously responsible and duty bound.

E: His heart
would feel happy if the other prosperity vanishes but, at the same, he is also
angry with his own heart due to such wish and also condemns scolds it.

It can be said
that, possibly, the ayats and traditions apply to all the aforesaid kinds. But
the fifth kind, from both logical and traditional viewpoint, deserves demarcation.

Condemnation
and Prohibition of Jealousy

Ayats and Traditions
censuring and banning jealousy are many. For example we suffice to quote the
following few:

1 - Many of
the followers of the book wish that they could turn you back into unbelievers
after your Faith, out of envy from themselves.

2 - Or do they
envy the people for what Allah has given them of His Grace? But indeed We have
give to Ibrahim's children the Book and the wisdom, and we have given them a
grand kingdom.

3 - If good
befalls you, it grieves them, and if am evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it;
and if you are patient and guard yourselves, their scheme will not injure you
in any way; surely Allah comprehends what they do.

4 -And do not
convert that by which Allah has made some of you excel others.

5 - Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: Indeed envy and jealousy burn down Faith just as fire burns down
timber.

6 - Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: Jealousy, self-centeredness and egos are calamities for Faith.

7 - Imam Sadiq
(a.s.) said: When the Arc of Noah settled on ground, Satan approached him Nooh
-AS and said: No one has as much right as you have on me, because, it was a
result of your prayer that this criminal group of people has vanished and I
feel happy. I recommend you two attributes if you keep away from them you will
benefit: 1 - Keep distance from jealousy, because it was due to jealousy that
I have been driven out of the divine out of the divine position court. Be away
from envy calamity which has afflicted humanity was because of envy.

Signs of
Jealousy

Obviously everybody
imagines himself to be better and thinks that his thoughts and manners are better
and as mentioned in the Holy Quran: Man is evidence against himself, through
he puts forth his excuses.

Yet, along
with this description the infallible and pure progeny of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
have mentioned some signs. Here is an example: it has been narrated from Imam
Sadiq (a.s.) that Luqman told to his son: A jealous man has three signs: 1:
While not facing him he backbites him, 2: When in front of him praises and feels
happy himself.

Harms of
Jealousy

Jealousy is
the fountainhead of many individual and social evils some of them being.

A: It can be
said that jealousy is a kind of criminal motives observed in the world and if
an investigation is made in the real factors behind murders, thefts, excesses
etc we shall find that a significant number of them is based on jealousy and,
perhaps, that is why jealousy has been compared with a spark of fir which can
endanger both individuals and societies. We see in narrations that:

A: 1 Jealousy
can be close to blasphemy or disbelief and it is likely that jealousy may turn
off the life and future of man. In other words, sometimes destines of a family
and a community change due to jealousy and in history, such happenings are found
like the events of the sons of Adam and the sons of Yaqoob (a.s.).

B: A jealous
person spends away all or most of his energy, be 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.

C: Over and
above all this, jealousy leaves very undesirable effects on the body of man
and his health. Usually jealous persons are seen to be almost ill and restless
both physically and mentally because, today it has been established that many
physical illnesses are due to nervous causes or psychics causes. In today's
field of medicine we see detailed discussions under the title of illnesses related
to physical ???

Now pay attention
to the following narrations:

1 - Ali (a.s.) said: Less jealousy, more health.

2 - Ali (a.s.) said: It is surprising that jealous people are totally careless
about their physique.

3 - Also we read: Liar has no virility and a jealous no rest.

4 - So also: The jealous is in grief and the miser is rebuked.

5 - Imam Sadiq (a.s.) said: A miser cannot have peace nor a jealous pleasure.

6 - Amirul Mo-mineen (a.s.) said: One who does not suppress jealousy makes his
body his own grave.

D: Jealousy
drives away man's religion, that is, man, through jealousy, does things that
drive away his religion. Hence we read that jealousy is a calamity for religion.

Sometimes it
so happens that a man whom God has given a bounty becomes an enemy of either
God or of that bounty and consequently becomes an unbeliever, for example, Habeel.

The Holy Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) said: Verily there are enemies of the Divine bounties. It was asked
who is an enemy of Gods bounty? He replied: One who became jealous of those
whom god has given bounty.

It has been
mentioned in some Qudsi hadiths: In fact a jealous person is my enemy and he
becomes angry against my decision. He is not happy with distribution among my
servants.

In summary,
we should seek whether of the Lord from this wicked vice.

Causes of
Jealousy

May be all
of these three or anyone or all of these three things causes jealousy:

1 - Sometimes
it so happens that due to dirt in heart or internal blindness man is unable
to look at Gods servants whom He has given bounties. So Imam Sadiq (a.s.) says:
Jealousy and ill will is due to darkness in heart and blindness of soul which
gets rooted due to denial of Divine bounties and these two vices blind-heartedness
and fault-finding in Divine distribution are two wings of kufr blasphemy and
hence it was due to jealousy that the son of Adam drowned down in a perpetual
regret and fell into a ruin from which he never gets freed

2 - Enmity
between two persons often becomes the cause of jealousy.

3 - And sometimes
longing for power, desire for position and pride and self-centredness become
the cause of jealousy. Hence the Holy Quran Quotes the Al Kafirs of Quraysh
saying: and they say: Why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance
in the two towns? Valeed and Habeeb of Mecca and Ta'if.

Yet at another
place it says: They said: You are naught but mortals like ourselves.

And as regards
the third, it mentions: What! Shall we believe in tow mortals like ourselves
and if you obey a mortal like yourselves, then most surely you will be losers.

In any case,
we must strive so that the causes and reasons of it are removed and this is
easier than, trying afterwards, to get rid of jealousy.

Remedy for
this Dangerous disease

The best procedure
of removing this dangerous disease is:

First: Keep
in mind the individual, social and otherworldly harms of it.

Second: Seek
its practical remedy and remove it from heart by discipline.

Third: Man
must think for a while whether he can, through jealousy, grab a bounty from
others where as the fact is that whatever God Almighty has decided is bound
to reach him. So he says: And there is measure with him of everything.

And in respect
of the other says: For every term there is an appointment.

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