Continuing our Ramadaan series, this post continues the book entitled “Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart” – Shaykh Hamza Yusuf Hanson‘s translation and commentary of Imam Muḥammad Mawlūd’s didactic poem “Matharat al-Qulub” (purification of the heart). The Imam was a 19th century Mauritanian scholar. For notes on the copyright status of the book, as well as links to purchase your own copy, please see the introductory post of the series.
Envy
POEM VERSES 54–58 If you were to describe your desire that someone lose his blessing as “envy,” then your description will be accurate. In other words, if you yourself were able, through some ruse, to eliminate [someone’s blessing], you would utilize that ruse to do so. But if the fear of [God], the Eternally Besought, prevents you from doing so, then you are not an envious person. This is what the Proof of Islam [Imam al-Ghazālī] expected with hope from the bounty of the Possessor of Majesty and Generosity. He said that whoever despises envy such that he loathes it in himself is safeguarded from fulfilling what it customarily necessitates.
Definition
Envy (ḥasad) is a severe disease of the heart that some scholars hold to be the root of all diseases, while others opine that the parent disease goes back to covetousness (ṭamaʿ).
Regardless of where envy ranks in the hierarchy of diseases, most scholars agree that it is the first manifestation of wrongdoing and the first cause of disobedience against God. It occurred when Satan (Iblīs) refused to obey God when commanded to bow down before the new creation, Adam, the first human being. Nothing prevented Iblīs from bowing down except his envy of Adam, for God chose Adam to be His vicegerent on earth instead of him. Iblīs arrogantly objected to the command that he show Adam any honor, for Iblīs saw himself, a creation from fire, superior to Adam, created merely from clay. When confronted with his disobedience, Satan did not seek forgiveness from God. Enviers develop a mindset that makes it impossible for them to admit they are wrong. To manifest envy is to manifest one of the characteristics of the most wretched creature, Satan.
In Arabic, ḥasūd (or ḥāsid) is one who carries and emanates this envy, and the object of one’s envy is called maḥsūd. The Qur’an teaches us to seek refuge in God from “the evil of the envier [ḥāsid] when he envies” (QUR’AN, 113:5). The Prophet said that envy consumes good deeds the way fire devours dry wood. The Prophet
also said, “Every possessor of any blessing is envied.” Someone of means will have someone who envies him for what he possesses. Even a street sweeper may be envied. If he owns a donkey to pull his cart and another street sweeper has no donkey and has to pull his cart, this can be a cause for envy.
While it is believed that envy can bring about harm to the one envied, ultimately it is the envier who is harmed the most. The evil eye is generally related to envy, though not necessarily so. Some people simply have “the eye,” some type of psychic power that does not necessitate envy. Every culture has a concept of the evil eye. In some cultures, parents used to pierce the ears of their firstborn males and dress them as little girls for the first five years, since firstborn males were so coveted. Many Chinese conduct rituals to prevent the evil eye from afflicting their homes by placing mirrors on walls to reflect evil looks. (The word “invidious” means, “envy,” and it originally meant to look at something with a malevolent or evil eye.)
The Prophet said, “The evil eye is true.” The evil eye is not superstition. The Prophet
worked to eradicate superstition from the minds of people. For example, the Arabs believed that when the moon eclipsed it meant that a great person died. When a lunar eclipse occurred on the day the Prophet’s infant son, Ibrāhīm, died, many of the Arabs were impressed by this phenomenon. While a charlatan would have seized the moment to take advantage of such an event, the Prophet
announced to the people, “The moon is a sign of God; the sun is a sign of God. They do not eclipse for anyone.”
Imam Mawlūd explains that envy is exhibited when one desires that another person lose a blessing he or she has. This loss could be anything big or small—a house, a car, a job, etc. For example, an envious person may become resentful that a coworker was promoted, to the point that he wishes that the person lose the position. A woman may envy another woman because of her husband such that she hopes that a marital crisis separate the couple. A man may grow envious over another man’s wife. There are endless variations of envy, but a common thread is the desire that someone lose a blessing. In essence, envy arises over what one perceives to be a blessing in someone else’s possession.
A blessing (niʿmah) is something that God bestows. One of God’s names is al-Munʿim, the Bestower of Blessing. Envy, then, is to desire that a person lose whatever blessing God has given him or her. It is tantamount to saying that God should not have given this person a blessing or, worse yet, that He was wrong to do so “because I deserve it more.” As the Imam says, it may reach the point that an envier would himself remove the blessing if he were able to do so through some kind of ruse. However, what is perceived as a blessing could be based on a completely false notion, as one may desire something that in reality is nothing but trouble and difficulty. Conversely, there could be a blessing hidden in something difficult.
There is a well-known story about al-Aṣmaʿī, the famous Arab philologist and compiler of poetry, when he once came upon a Bedouin and was invited to enter his tent. In Bedouin culture, the women serve guests in the presence of their husbands. This Bedouin had a very beautiful wife, though he himself was quite unattractive. When the men went out to prepare a lamb for a meal, the guest couldn’t resist saying to this woman, “How did such a beautiful woman like you marry such an ugly man like that?” The woman said, “Fear God! Perhaps he had done good works accepted by his Lord, and I am his reward.” God is all-wise in what He gives to people. If one questions the blessing a person has received, then he or she is actually questioning the Giver. This makes envy reprehensible and forbidden.
POEM VERSES 59–62 As for the cure, it is to act contrary to [one’s] caprice. For example, being beneficent to a person when it seems appealing to harm him, or praising him when you desire to find fault in him. Also [the cure is in] knowing that envy only harms the envier; it causes him to be grievously preoccupied [with his object of envy] today, and tomorrow he is thereby punished. Moreover, [envy] never benefits [the envier], nor does it remove from the one envied the blessing he has been given.
Treatment
Imam Mawlūd prescribes two cures for envy. The first is to consciously act in opposition to one’s caprice. The Arabic term here for caprice (hawā) is derived from the Arabic word that means, “to fall.” It is also related to the Arabic word for “wind.” One’s passion is like the wind, in that it comes, stirs up emotion, and then dies down. One cannot really see it, only its effect.
More often than not, following one’s whims takes a person away from the truth. The history of humanity is replete with false notions that have come and gone. The truth, however, is something that is fixed and that can be recognized as such, if one is truly objective. As for caprice, it has no foundation. For this reason, Imam Mawlūd says one must resist his caprice. The Qur’an repeatedly warns against following one’s caprice. It speaks of bygone communities who grew arrogant when God’s messengers came to them with admonitions and teachings that did not agree with their souls’ caprice. So they rejected the message and even killed the messengers (QUR’AN , 5:70). Also, God praises those who resist the caprices of their souls and promises them Paradise (QUR’AN , 79:40). One of the names of Hell mentioned in the Qur’an is hāwiyah (QUR’AN, 101:9), which is derived from the same root as hawā. Perhaps the connection is that a person enslaved to his whims descends into the depths of depravity in this life, and, as a consequence, he faces perdition in the Hereafter. As a remedy to the type of envy that prods one to bring about harm to another person, Imam Mawlūd suggests that one contradict his temptation, that is, do something that will benefit the person who is envied. For example, give that person a gift or do a favor. This defies the commands of one’s whims, gains the pleasure of God, and protects against envy. The Imam suggests also that one may praise the person toward whom one feels the urge to slander. There is no hypocrisy in this recommendation. The purpose is to starve envy of the negative thoughts it requires to thrive. Being beneficent to a person against whom one feels envy often makes that person incline towards the envier. In general, good people are inclined to love those who show them good.
Another treatment is to know with certainty that holding envy against another person brings harm to oneself. Human nature’s most primordial instinct is to avoid harm. It is easier for a person to repel negative feelings when he or she realizes these feelings hurt the soul. For example, if a disgruntled worker becomes anxious and angry because he is passed over for a promotion, his anxiety and anger harm his soul, mind, and body, and yield nothing for his future. In complaining at length and becoming obsessed with the object of his envy, the person to whom the promotion was granted, he permits the disease to fester in his heart and cause him grief. These cascading feelings will neither help him ascend in his profession nor alter the past. It is an entirely demoralizing exercise that can magnify the original injury he felt. Envy, in fact, can actually damage one’s sanity. Resentment may prevent one from accomplishing significant achievements. A person who shuns envy, even when others around him seem to be passing him by, is motivated to excel, unimpeded by depression and resentment.
Unfortunately, the Muslim world is now filled with envy. For example, when many Muslims look at Americans and Europeans, they hurl criticisms, applying all kinds of rhetoric. Ostensibly, one hears moral outrage. However, the root of much of this rhetoric is envy: “They have worldly possessions, and we do not” is what often comes across. Similarly, when many less fortunate Muslims glance toward the Gulf nations that have great stores of oil, they cannot resist passing judgment about how the Gulf Arabs squander “Muslim money.” This type of dialogue stems from envy. The issue is comparing what one has with what another has, and that only fuels envy and brings about no positive impact. This does not mean that one should not criticize; however, criticism should be done with the purpose of being constructive and not destructive.
The Communist Revolution was largely a manifestation of envy. The writings of Karl Marx indicate that he was filled with resentment. Much of his theory is founded on observing the wealthy and desiring that they lose what they have. This is not to suggest that when the wealthy are unjust to the poor and to the working class they should not be censured, but from the point of view of sacred law, both the affluent and the needy have their respective obligations. An obligation of the poor is not to envy the rich and harbor resentment toward them; and the rich are obligated to not belittle the indigent, grow arrogant, hoard wealth, or work to keep others in need.
The Imam says that one way to uproot envy is to realize with solemn reflection that envy can never benefit its agent. One should also realize that what people attain in terms of material wealth or prestige is from God. He is all-knowing and all-wise; He knows best how to distribute His blessings and to whom, while we do not possess such knowledge.
The basis of the remedy for envy is taqwā, which is having a sense of awe of God, an active awareness of Him as the ultimate power over all creation. This defuses false notions of misappropriated blessings. A hadith states, “If you have envy, do not wrong [others].” If one does not work to remove another person’s blessings, then his or her envy is in check and is not the kind that necessarily devours one’s goods deeds. Envy that devours righteous deeds is envy that impels someone to wrong others. Imam al-Ghazālī makes a distinction between various strains of envy. He states that if one hates envy and is ashamed that he or she harbors it, the person is not essentially an envious person. It is important to be aware of the feelings that reside in one’s heart. This self-awareness is essential for the purpose of purification.
POEM VERSES 63–66 Its etiology includes animosity, vying for the love of others, arrogance, poor self-worth, vanity, Love of leadership, and avaricious cupidity [for things]. These [seven] causes engender envy. As for a blessing that a disbeliever or corrupt Muslim has that enables one to harm others or show aggression Because of it, then the “malady of second wives” is in such instances permissible.
Etiology
The Imam now delves into the etiology of the disease, for without discovering the causes of envy, it would be difficult to excise it. The first cause he mentions is enmity (ʿadāwah). Harboring feelings of animosity toward another makes one highly susceptible to developing envy. Another cause of envy is vying for another’s affection or love, which can become vicious; and its effect can linger in a person for a very long time, which is often the case when siblings compete for parental love. (On this topic, one may read Frank J. Sulloway’s Born to Rebel, a book with a complex statistical study about birth order and how children are affected by it—how competition for parental love and attention informs a child’s personality.)
The Imam next mentions arrogance (takabbur), a major cause of envy. An arrogant man who sees someone advancing ahead of him will feel that this person is not worthy of such advancement. The pre-Islamic Arabs exhibited this when the Prophet
preached. The disbelievers among the Quraysh, like Abū Jahl, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, displayed their arrogance by rejecting that Muḥammad
, this man among them, their own kin, received revelation from God. The Qur’an exposes their feelings, informing us that each of them secretly wished to receive a revelation from Heaven the way the Prophet
did (QUR’AN , 74:52). This was flagrant envy aimed at the Prophet
. When people regard each other as equal, arrogance does not foster. However, when someone is suddenly elevated in rank, the dynamics change. Pharaoh grew arrogant and envious when Prophet Moses came to him with God’s message. Part of Pharaoh’s problem was seeing that a prophet was chosen from among people whom he had enslaved and whom he regarded as lower than the Egyptians.
Imam Mawlūd mentions as another cause for envy low self- esteem (taʿazzuz), the feeling that one’s worth is compromised by the fact that another person has gained more. This also was a pathology found in the days of the Prophet , when the disbelievers of Quraysh protested aloud, “If only this Qur’an had been sent down to a great man of either of the two cities!” (QUR’AN , 43:31). In other words, they were so entrenched in their mode of tribalism that they could not accept the fact that Muḥammad
was a true prophet because he was not one of the elite of “the two cities,” that is, Mecca and Ta’if. In their view, Muḥammad
was too ordinary for them, too much like them, to have been chosen for such a lofty station. They felt, “How can he be a prophet, while he is like us, and we are not prophets?”
Love of leadership is another major cause of envy. People in leadership positions often resent others achieving something significant, fearing a change in the equilibrium of power. The envious leader desires that others are deprived of accomplishment and authority. This is akin to covetousness, which the Imam also mentions in the same line. There is, though, a distinction between covetousness and love of leadership. The latter afflicts those who have position already, while covetousness relates to those who do not have it but desire it avariciously. This type of covetousness, called shuḥḥ in Arabic, is a desire to have what is in possession of another person. God says, “Whoever is safe from the covetousness of his own soul, he is truly successful” (QUR’AN , 59:9).
According to Imam al-Ghazālī, because these diseases are common to human nature, the objective should be to transform them into something beneficial, to transform a disability into an advantage, which is what successful people tend to do. The Prophet said, “There is no [acceptable] envy except of two people.” One of them is a person who has been given wealth and spends it toward good causes. Envying such a person is permissible because one’s desire is to have wealth in order to do the righteous deed of giving to the needy. One may envy such a person, desiring to be able to do the same good as well, but not in the sense of hoping that he loses his wealth. The other person is one who has been given wisdom and teaches it to people. A person may envy the wise because he or she wishes to be imbued with some of that wisdom as well in order to teach others. Hence, if one has envy, one should let it not be of fleeting things, like worldly assets that are usually hoarded and displayed for show. One should instead desire what will serve one’s Hereafter. This is how to convert negative feelings into positive ones.
slip-sliding away..... 
Thank you, again, Yacoob! What a beautiful spiritual “examination of conscience “ this has provided!