The Evils Of Envy
The topic of envy is a very important one. It is a serious problem that all of us need to cope with. Envy spreads through society like a frightful illness and it is an illness that demands treatment.
Envy is indeed a serious, sometimes fatal illness. It is an ignoble character trait that tears rifts between people, communities, and even nations. A community that is blackened by this loathsome quality is one wherein cooperation and love become virtually unknown. Enmity, hatred, and violence become the order of the day.
Envy occurs when we see some blessing in the hands of another and desire for that blessing to be lost to that person. Muslim scholars have defined this feeling in many ways, but all of their definitions contain this essential meaning – to wish for someone to lose something good that he or she has been blessed with.
Al-Nawawi describes envy in the following way: Envy is to desire for someone who enjoys a blessing to become bereft of it, regardless of whether that blessing is of a religious or worldly nature.
Al-Ghazali writes: As far as envy is concerned, Islamic scholars define it as the hatred of a blessing and the love that the one so blessed by it will become bereft of it.
Envy is something quite prevalent in the world. This is why the Qur’an speaks about it often. Allah says : “Do they envy the people on account of what Allah has given them of His grace?” [ Surah Al-Nisa’ : 54]
We must also not forget the famous story of Joseph (peace be upon him) and his brothers who envied his father’s love for him so much that they cast him into a well.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned against the ill consequences of envy upon the envier, saying: “Beware of envy, for indeed envy consumes one’s good deeds like fire consumes wood.” [ Sunan Abi Dawud (4903)]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) warned so sternly against envy because of how dangerous and ruinous it is. It can bring us to destruction in both our worldly and spiritual lives.
He also said: “Do not revile nor envy one another. Do not turn away from one another and do not sever ties. Be devotees of Allah and brothers to one another. It is not permissible for a Muslims to shun his brother for more than three days.” [ Sahîh al-Bukhari (6065) and Sahih Muslim (2559)]
Envy is indeed a great and deadly evil. When it strikes, it inevitably leaves destruction in its wake.
The Servants Of The People Of Paradise
The People of Paradise will be served by boys whom Allah (swt) will create to serve them and who will be most beautiful and perfect in form:
“They will be served by immortal boys, With cups, and jugs, and a glass from the flowing wine.” [56:17-18]
“And round about them will [serve] boys of everlasting youth. If you see them, you would think them scattered pearls.” [76:19]
Ibn Katheer, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “Boys of eternal youth will go around to serve people of Paradise, boys who remain in that youthful form forever, never changing or advancing in age. It was said that they will be wearing earrings, to emphasise their youth, because such a thing is appropriate for young people, but it does not befit those who are older. And Allah (swt) said [76:19] i.e. if you saw them going around to attend to the needs of their masters, with their beautiful faces and splendid colorful clothes and jewellery, you would think that they were scattered pearls. There is no more beautiful description than the picture of pearls scattered in a place of beauty.” [Tafseer Ibn Katheer, 7/184]
Some scholars suggested that these boys are the children of the Muslims and Mushrikeen who die in childhood, but this was refuted by al-‘Allaamah Ibn Taymiyyah (ra), who explained that these boys of eternal youth are part of the creation of Paradise: “..they are not the children of this world. When the children of this world enter Paradise, they will do so in a perfect form, like all the other people of Paradise, in the form of their father, Aadam.” [Majmu’ al-Fatawa, 4/279, 4/311]
The Purity of Islam
It is important in this present day that the children of Adam clearly understand the true meaning of Islam.
We must know the value of its purity, of its peacefulness, its unity, its sincerity, its honesty, and the value of its spirit and justice and truth. We must know the greatness of Allah Who rules over all this, and we must find tranquility in our lives, so that we will be able to guide others toward peacefulness.
To all those who have accepted Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad (peace be upon him), with perfect faith, certitude, and determination before we can bring peace to all life, before we can eliminate poverty, suffering, illusion, and disease in the world, before we can come to love every life as we do our own, we must first understand the value of absolute faith.
To have firm faith in Allah, the Almighty Lord, to know Him, to pray to Him, to believe with complete certitude in His messengers, prophets, and angels, to carry out the commandments sent through them, to bring into our consciousness His gracious qualities and all His attributes, and to dedicate our lives to His worship – this is the true meaning of Islam.
Islam is equality, peacefulness, and unity. Islam is inner patience, contentment, trust in Allah, and greatness of Allah. One who understands this and puts it into practice will be a true believer; he will know Allah and His commandments and practice the injunctions given through His revelations.
Allah sent His prophets to man to free him from his enslavement to earth, wealth, sensual pleasures, desires, thoughts and attachments. And yet man is suffering and can find no freedom; he is a slave to so many things. He has no peace, tranquility, equality, or love. The children of Adam must release themselves from the bondage of worldly pleasures.
If only man could acquire the wealth of Allah’s love and integrity, the wealth of His beautiful laws, then he would never lack in anything. That wealth is pure; it is the purity of Islam. If man had such inner wealth, he would never meet with loss in this world or in the Hereafter. He would be safe and secure in both worlds. Allah has asked mankind to accept this, to find freedom, and to raise the banner of unity on the staff of love.
People with strong faith know that it is important to cleanse their own hearts, while those with unsteady faith seek to find fault in the hearts and prayers of others. This becomes a habit in their lives. But those who pray to Allah with faith, determination, and certitude know that the most important thing in life is to surrender their hearts to Allah.
If the fountain of the heart is full, then all creations can come and partake of its clear water. If it is shallow, then all those who come will stir up the mud and have nothing but dirty water to drink.
Let us constantly strengthen our faith, certitude, and determination. Allah sent this gift of faith to each of the prophets and finally gave it in perfection to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The fundamental explanations of perfect faith were given to Allah’s messengers, and they in turn shared them with mankind. There are very deep meanings to be found in these.
Khazain-e-Quran
Whoever Fills His Muslim Brother Needs
[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 43, Number 622]
Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Umar (Radi Allah Anhu) : Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) said, “A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, so he should not oppress him, nor should he hand him over to an oppressor. Whoever fulfilled the needs of his brother, Allah will fulfill his needs; whoever brought his (Muslim) brother out of a discomfort, Allah will bring him out of the discomforts of the Day of Resurrection, and whoever screened a Muslim, Allah will screen him on the Day of Resurrection.”
[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 43, Number 624]
Narrated Anas (Radi Allah Anhu) : Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) said, “Help your brother, whether he is an oppressor or he is an oppressed one. People asked, “O Allah’s Apostle! It is all right to help him if he is oppressed, but how should we help him if he is an oppressor?” The Prophet said, “By preventing him from oppressing others.”
[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 3, Book 43, Number 629]
Narrated Abu Huraira (Radi Allah Anhu) : Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) said, “Whoever has oppressed another person concerning his reputation or anything else, he should beg him to forgive him before the Day of Resurrection when there will be no money (to compensate for wrong deeds), but if he has good deeds, those good deeds will be taken from him according to his oppression which he has done, and if he has no good deeds, the sins of the oppressed person will be loaded on him.”
These Are The Real Stars
PROPHET MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) described his Companions as the stars when he said, “My Companions are like the stars, whoever of them is taken as a role model will serve as a real guide.” In this article, we shall shed some light on the morals and manners of these real stars.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, movie stars, singers and footballers have been regarded as the stars in any society, but they are stars in terms of fame and popularity. But if we would like to talk about the real stars who should be taken as examples to be followed, we have to follow the Prophet’s description of the real stars, his Companions.
For example, Abu Bakr Al Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) spent almost all his wealth in supporting Islam and freeing Muslims who were still slaves of Makkah chieftains. Omar Ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was the epitome of justice. During his reign, nobody dared to usurp the rights of another person because they knew that Omar would never tolerance that.
Othman Ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) was the ideal example of generosity; he was one of the richest Muslims and spent all his money to support Islam and help Muslims to the extent that he bought a well owned by a Jews when he knew that that Jew exploited Muslims’ needs for water.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was an embodiment of deep knowledge of religion and erudition. After the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and especially in the reign of Omar Iban Al-Khattab, whenever Muslims faced a religious problem or had a question, Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was there to solve their problems and answer their questions. Many Western historians and Orientalists describe that the Companions were devoted followers of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and honest representatives of all his teachings and message. They encouraged other people including Persians, Romans, Egyptians, South East Asians etc. to embrace Islam by their good manners, morals and humane behavior.
In my opinion, the second important thing, after exploring why they were described as stars by the Prophet (peace be upon him) is to take these people as role models: ‘Muhammad is the apostle of Allah; and those who are with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. You will see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness, and a great Reward.” (Qur’an, 48:29)
Success Is In Islam
UMAR Bin Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) was on his way to take over Jerusalem from the Romans. They insisted that they would hand over the keys of the city only to the leader of Muslims, whose power and might was well-known.
His journey was special. He would take turns with his slave to ride the camel. If for some distance he rode and the slave walked pulling the camel, then for the next equal distance the slave would ride and Umar would walk, pulling the camel. Jerusalem was near, the city’s gates were almost in sight, and it was the slave’s turn to ride the camel. While Umar walked, he passed through a pool of mud, so his clothes got soiled.
Abu Ubaidah Bin Al-Jarrah, commander of the Muslim army, was worried. He came to Umar, the leader of Muslims, and suggested that he rode the camel as they were about to enter Jerusalem. He thought the Romans, who are used to pomp and glory, will not respect his leader if he entered with such simplicity.
At first, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was taken aback. He didn’t expect Abu Ubaidah, one of the 10 whom the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave good news of Paradise in this world itself, to say something like this!
Then Umar spoke one of the most powerful statements ever to go down in history. He said, “We were a people who lived in humiliation before. Allah gave us honor through Islam. If we sought honor through anything else (at the cost of Islam) then Allah will humiliate us again.”
That statement looks as if Umar was directly addressing us, Muslims of the 21st century. Surely enough, what was the Arabian peninsula before Islam? It was steeped deep into ignorance that rulers would pass by and would not bother conquering it.
People would bury their female babies alive; fights would start at the drop of a hat and continue for hundreds of years; immoral practices were rampant; and most importantly idols made by their own hands were worshiped.
Who could have thought during the time that in less than 100 years the same people would be ruling from Spain to nearly the Indian subcontinent and beyond? But that is what Islam did to them, that is what standing firm upon the truth brought them. They were exemplary as believers – practicing Islam with full conviction, and obeying Allah with full submission. This is what we lack today. We lack knowledge that precedes action, and faith that turns knowledge into deeds. If we set that right, Allah promises us the success we so desperately seek.
“So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.” (Qur’an, 3:139)
Makkah Mukarma Kay Tarikhi Muqamat
The Soil Of Paradise
al-Bukhaari and Muslim reported the hadith of al-Mi’raaj from Anas ibn Maalik from Abu Dharr in which Abu Dharr (ra) said, “The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “I entered Paradise where I saw lights of pearl and its soil was musk”. Muslim and Ahmad report from Abu Sa’eed that Ibn Sayyaad asked the Messenger (saw) about the soil of Paradise. He said, “It is a fine white powder of pure musk”.
Ahmad reports from Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, concerning the Jews: “I am going to ask them about the soil of Paradise, which is a fine white powder.” So he asked them, and they said, “It is like a loaf of bread, O Abul-Qaasim,” The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Bread is like pearls”. [an-Nihaayah, 2/242]
Ahmad at-Tirmidhi and ad-Daarimi reported that the Prophet (saw) said, “I asked “O Messenger of Allah (saw), From what are people made?” He said, “From water.” We asked, “From what is Paradise built?” He said, “Bricks of gold and silver and mortar of fragrant musk; its pebbles are pearls and rubies, and its soil is saffron. Whoever enters it is blessed with joy and will never be miserable; he will remain there forever and never die; his clothes will never wear out, and his youth will never fade away .” [Mishkaat al-Masaabeeh, 3/89, no. 5630]
Footnotes
[1] Ibn Hajar said, in Taqreed al-Tahdhib, “Na’eem ibn Hammar or Hibaar or Khammaar. He was a Sahaabee and the majority of sources give his father’s name as Himaar.”