Mohammed Hijab – Spirituality #05 – Dealing with Envy

			The issue of envy is of particular significance today in the age of comparison, yeah, social media
has made the world like a global village, you've got Instagram, you've got YouTube, you've got all
these kinds of Facebook, whatever it may be, and people are just kind of comparing one another with
one another. And as such envy creeps into the heart and creates great discomfort and inconvenience,
I think we should start by talking about the main a hadith that relate to hazard. Of course, we all
know the verse in the Quran, or machete has said in either hazard that we seek refuge from, and one
of the things that we seek refuge from so the follow up is the envy of the envious person when they
		

			envy, but there is a that's more of a protective measure. We see
		

			in the Hadith, which is also an 40 Hadith of unknowing, we have a very interesting and very powerful
Hadith which is, starts actually the prophesy solemn said led to has said, you know, do not envy one
another. And there's all kinds of things that he continues saying, you know, do not inflate prices
of one another, do not hate one another do not turn away from one another, do not undercut one
another and trade. However, instead be what Kuhn why bed Allah He when l Muslim, Muslim, yeah, that
instead be, you know, the brothers and faith. And a Muslim is a brother of another Muslim. He does
not oppress him. Notice he failed him, nor does he lie to him, nor does he hold him in contempt. And
		

			then he pointed to his heart of Allah. It was elements of Taqwa Hoonah. That Taqwa is here, that
attack which is God, consciousness of piety is in the heart. And so this is the first thing you
know. And another Hadith, which has been as important maybe, is where the Prophet SAW Selim told us
once again, Yak one has said, you know, that be aware of envy, because envy consumes the virtues,
just as fire consumes the firewood. Now, the Roselli mentions in his book, and this one is his book
of basically Hekate.
		

			of hazard sorry, of envy, that the way you got to conceive of this is that God gives gifts to
people, you see. So to envy somebody is to express displeasure with the distribution of God. Now, I
want you to think about this for a second.
		

			If your issue with someone is that they have something you don't have you wish you had it. And we're
going to talk about the levels of envy here. But if you you have this new Aha, why did they have a
knock me this question pops into your mind. Few, if you're a female, you thinking about someone else
who has, you know, another woman, for example, who has certain things that you don't have a certain
life that you don't have certain house that she lives in that you don't have, because these are the
kinds of, if you're a man, that you may be thinking, once again, the man just this guy's making more
money than I am, he's driving a different car, I occurred to me he's got better status or worldly
		

			status. And of course, religious people will tend to be jealous over religious matters. So this
person is more knowledgeable than I am, we'll come to this as well, wherever it is that comes into
your heart. This is problematic, because it expresses a displeasure with the distribution of God. Of
course, we've got the famous story of sort of Joseph in the Quran, which kind of exemplifies his
point. And however, there is one thing which is important I should mention, which is that the Hadith
of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam who said, you know, Lucha Ileft, fitna, Taney, that there
is no fee like, envy that is justified except for in two types of thing, which is the process of a
		

			man who Allah has given knowledge of the Quran, and so he recites it during the night and the date,
and the man who Allah has given well, so he spends from it during the day in the night. What kind of
envy is allowed him and scholars seydel Is that he mentions as well, it's a kind of end of so called
envy. And this is envy and kind of quotation marks. Yeah. It's the kind of envy where you don't wish
that the other person lost their blessing. And so, there are three stages of envied Alpha
dimensions. The first one is that you'd love something, for example, wealth and wish that the person
didn't have it. Now this is a blameworthy type of asset, which there is nothing in the religion of
		

			Islam, or in fact, that justifies, generally speaking, having this kind of devotion towards someone
else, and you can and you'll tell yourself, if you have this, and we have to be honest about it,
expand yourself have such a feeling. The second is that you wish to have something that someone else
had, but you don't wish for them to lose that blessing. Now, this is lawful, but it's not
commendable. So you're still kind of thinking because there is a there's an aspect of okay, well,
I'm not happy with what I have. Half. There's an actual aspect of lack of care.
		

			intendant him going on, is so this is important. A third one is to wish someone sorry to wish that
you have what someone else has on religious matters, like the Hadith mentions, you see, for example,
more knowledge of the Quran, more money, so they can give it in charity, and these kinds of things.
There are seven causes you mentioned, I was Allah mentions, of, of hazard of envy. The first one is
enmity, that you feel like, Oh, this guy's my enemy. And therefore, I wish that whatever he had
didn't have it. So anything that happens to good to that person, you know, you're actually you get
disappointed, there's a feeling of your heart, your heart gets hard, maybe, you know, or it drops
		

			your heart, your heart drops when something good happens to someone else that you dislike. I didn't
want that to happen. Do you mean you didn't want that to happen? Why because you don't like that
person. And this is something which is not allowed them to show you. The second one is dislike for
another's good. The Annie, for example of someone else, someone's got something good. And you think
like, you know what, I don't want that person to have that. But it's not because you necessarily
hate them. But it is what is. The third thing is pride or Keba. So you hold a certain person in
contempt. However, having said that, modern psychologists differentiate between arrogance and
		

			contempt. And we're not going to go into the distinction, although suffice it for me to say at this
juncture, that contempt by modern standards is where there's equality in the equation. And Kibera is
when there's a supposed hierarchy in the situation. That's our point. But when you when you don't
like somebody else, you feel like you're better than I should say, someone else. So it's more, you
know, a feeling of superiority. I deserve this, not me.
		

			So that's another reason. So prior to Kibana is to kind of keep it actually, the fourth thing is
expressing the attack job that you feel like, what's this, like? Why is this happening should be me.
And that's once again, it can link to Keba. The fifth thing is fear of failure, like an objective
for it, for example, that you're both in business, you and a friend of yours, and when you're in the
same line of work, and you feel like the more this guy succeeds, the more you're going to fail, you
see, or Alexandra mentions co wives, the more he loves her, and less, he loves me. And both things
are kind of misplaced here. The sixth thing is name and power that you want Jay, he wants status and
		

			you want power. And so you feel like this guy shouldn't be getting that power should be me. And the
seventh thing is basically you're narrow minded and believe everything good come to you, especially
in this particular industry, why wasn't it me that got this interview? Why isn't me that got, for
example, wasn't cool to do this talk, whatever it may be, I'm just speaking about kind of what
happens in our industry. Why it wasn't me that happens here. Or why was, for example, in this
classroom setting, why was the teacher didn't choose me? Or at a sports day event? Why didn't the
team choose me, for example? So people everyone knows are for all kinds of reasons, power, wealth,
		

			etc. But the truth is, on these points, religious people shouldn't really have it. That was the
medicine because obviously religious people would you know, they shouldn't you want money and power
and wealth is, at the end of the day, if you believe in an afterlife, these things are temporal and
transient. That's the first thing. The second thing is what is the medicine now, the first thing is
to know and this is point one of the medicine he says that you've got to know that this is injurious
to someone in this world and in the hereafter that it hurts you it's only there is no benefit,
there's no utility that comes from being envious. This is the first point. The second thing is that
		

			it burns your heart and mind. It's it's kind of like a rash, or some kind of itch that is or an
insatiable feeling or unquenchable thirst, it's, there is no end to it. So unless you realistically
want there to be an end for it, and try your best to put an end to it, then there's not gonna be an
end to it. And the third point is you should be the knowledge that you're not actually harming the
person being envied the fact if the person being envied has a mutual dislike towards you, you're
actually doing something which is in their favor, because you're injuring yourself. And of course,
when someone does this, it's a waste of energy. And you can't change the decree of God anyway. So
		

			it's like smashing your head against a mountain, you're not going to change anything. The fourth
thing is that not only does it benefit the envied person, maybe this dunya through your worldly
anxiety, and so on, but will also benefit benefit the envied person in the hereafter if you've
sought backbiting the individual, and so on on the day of judgment. And so these are the kinds of
medicines he also mentioned in terms of actions you should try. Maybe a facilitate that good that
that person is doing, doing an app and because this is a theme that runs throughout as well, because
if you feel a certain way, do the opposite. So do an action opposite of the course praise. The
		

			envied person say good things about them, or even if you don't envy them, but you feel you may envy
them, then praise them and do good for them so that the Envy doesn't come
		

			Once you're up and these are the kinds of practical advices that he's put forward the Solomonic
language
		

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