If your heart is shocked, saddened and jealous when you see someone else’s luxury, and if your heart feels joy and happiness at the end of that blessing of luxury, then understand that you have a disease like jealousy and enmity has taken place in one’s heart. Jealousy and envy is a contagious disease that has gripped many devout and virtuous people of the society. Grace, wealth, business, children, and religious and worldly progress make one’s heart-ache.
Sometimes they go so far as to follow their own thinking that they do not even hesitate to acquire enmity from others. And burning in the fire of jealousy, they wastes their deeds. Sometimes they do not even waste their lives unjustly.
According to Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal:
” Mera is shehr -i-adawat Baseera hai Iqbal,
Jahan loug sajdun main b lougon ka burra sochte Hain” – It is obvious that there is no shortage of jealousy in our surroundings, i.e in our society. If we turn our eyes to our own society when it comes to jealousy, it is clear that the people of our society, the people of the Kashmir Valley, have so much ingrained in their hearts and minds the disease of jealousy; now the people of our society do not have the happiness, peace, comfort, wealth, ability, intelligence and hard work of others.
(Brother, sister, uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandparents, husbands and wives), these are some of the relationships that are so close and sympathetic that whenever a person finds himself in trouble, at the earliest opportunity he calls out to one of these relatives to get him out of trouble.
But the moment of reflection and anguish is that we’ve gone so far from suffering and hardship that we have so much envy and hatred that we have settled in ourselves to such an extent that in this day and age, the brother of our society is sad, upset and distressed. I’m glad to see you, while a brother expresses sorrow and anxiety by finding his own brother in peace and happiness, not only that, but the happiness of a mother from a mother and a daughter from a daughter is not tolerated. The father is the son and the son is far from the father. Neighbours ‘behaviour is worst than their neighbours’. The shocking thing is that in our society today, a person feels that a husband and wife do not talk to their husbands for months.
Alas! Alas! We have seen the sinister look of no one. The relationship between husband and wife is yes! It is such a close and pure relationship that the relationship which Allah, the Exalted, has declared to be the garment of one another, and it is not only difficult but impossible for man to live without it.
Islam, which is a religion of peace, security and benevolence, has taught us a lesson of brotherhood and love and has instructed us to protect the dignity of human beings. But the fact of the matter is that today we have turned our backs on Islamic teachings and violated the moral values that a Muslim brother will not come to relax unless he is disgraced. Every now and then he thinks of how to humiliate the other brother, how to degrade his progress, and how to destroy his peace and tranquility. This is not a myth or a hearsay. Such incidents are common in our society today. People become mortal enemies of each other out of jealousy and envy, and in the end the game ends in murder.
What the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said about jealousy:
It is narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah(R.A) that the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:
”Beware of jealousy, for jealousy consumes good things as fire consumes wood”.( Abu Dawood 4903)
According to a hadith of Sahih Bukhari Kitab al-Adab, the Holy Prophet Mohammad(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) says;
Do not hate one another, and do not envy one another, do not harm anyone behind your back, but the servants of Allah be brothers to each other, and it is not permissible for a Muslim to stop talking to a brother for more than three days.
Allah, the Exalted, says in the Holy Qur’an:(Surah Nissa, verse 30):
Do they envy each other for what Allah has given them out of His bounty?
My brothers, keep this divine command in front of you and beware of jealousy. My dear Islamic sisters and brothers! Satan is our eternal enemy. He robs us of our faith in various ways. We must never be deceived by him and shake off Satan’s whispers with a strong faith. When we follow the teachings of Islam and have the power of faith in our hearts, the accursed Satan will face failure and our society will prosper by staying away from envy and hatred.
Our Society Burning in the fire of Jealousy – Aijaz Ahmad Dar
