Part 13

The first sins by which Allah was disobeyed were three: covetousness, arrogance and jealousy. Covetousness was displayed by Adam, arrogance by Iblis,

’ Or those that share knowledge, this is why the scholars of hadith do not accept the reports of scholars criticizing their contemporaries.

and jealousy from Qabil when he killed Habil. '" In the hadith there occurs:

There are three sins from which no one can be saved: jealousy, suspicion and omens, Shall I tell you of what would remove you from this: when you envy then do not hate, when you are suspicious then do not actualize your suspicions, and when you see omens

then ignore them. ''

Reported by Ibn Abi ad-Dunya from the hadith of Abi Hurayrah, radiyAllabu ‘anbu.

In the Swnan from the Prophet (8),

You have been afflicted with the illness of the nations that came before you - jealousy and hatred. They are the shearers, I do not mean shearers of the hair, rather they are shearers of the religion.

So he called jealousy an illness just as he called miserliness an illness in his saying,

' Daf, reported by Abu ash-Shaykh and at-Tabarani from Hasan al-Basri as a mursal teport.

" Reported by Ahmad [1412, 1430] and Al-Tirmidhi [2512]. Its chain of narration contains unknown narrators, but the sadi/b has witnesses reported by Abii ad-Darda’ and Abi Hurayrah that strengthen it. Rather to Majma'‘ ax-Zand'id [10/8] whose authors also refer this sadi~h to al-Bazzar. Al-Mundhiti said that it usnad is good.

" Reported by Al-Tirmidhi, at-Tabarani and al-Hakim who said that it was sabih and it as he said.

[2.8 The Causes for Jealousy]

And what illness is worse than miserliness. '°

And in another hadith,

I seek refuge with You from the evil morals and manners, vain desires and illnesses.

Mentioning illnesses alongside manners and vain desires. Manners are those things that the soul becomes accustomed to such that they become its nature and disposition. Allah said in this regard,

Pan a er And indeed you are upon an exalted standard of character.

[Séirah Oalam (68):4]

Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn ‘Uyaynah and Ahmad ibn Hanbal (radiyAllahu ‘anhum) said in commentary to this:

Meaning ‘upon a great religion.’ And in a variant wording of Ibn ‘Abbas: ‘The religion of Islam.’ This was similarly stated by ‘A’ishah (radiyAllabu ‘anha) His manners were the Qur’an,

and Hasan al-Basti,

' Reported by Ahmad, Hakim and others. It is sabib. Refer to: Sabih al-Jami‘ {no. 7104] and the notes of Shu‘ayb al-Arna’at upon Sharh Muskil al-Athar of atTahawi [14/151-154]. [Translator’s Note]

The manners of the Qur’an is ‘the exalted standard of character.

As for ‘vain desires’ then they are temporary anomalous conditions, and ‘illness’ is sickness - this is an affliction that harms the heart and corrupts it. In the first Aadith jealousy was mentioned along with hatred. This is because the envier, first of all dislikes the bounty bestowed by Allah upon the one who is envied, and then begins hating this person. This is because the hatred of the thing being bestowed leads to hatred of the one upon whom it is bestowed, for when the blessings of Allah are bestowed upon an individual, he would love that they go away, and they would not go away except by the one who is envied going away, therefore he hates him and loves that he not be there.

Jealousy necessarily leads to desite and hatted just as Allah informed us of those that came before us: that they differed,

yea t “s Liipadee as After their came to them knowledge out of mu-

tual hatred and desire. [Sarah Al ‘Imran (3):19]

So their differing did not arise due to the lack of knowledge, rather they knew the Truth, but it was due to some of them hating others, just as the envier hates the envied.

In Sabibs of al-Bukh2ti and Muslim, Anas bin Malik (radiy Allahu ‘anbu) teports that the Prophet (8) said,

Do not envy each other, do not hate each other, do not oppose each other, and do not cut relations,

(28 The Canss for Jalon)

rather be servants of Allah as brothers. It is not permissible for a Muslim to disassociate from his brother for more than three days such that they meet and one ignores the other, and the best of them is the one who initiates the salam. '*

He (38) said, in the hadith that is agreed to be authentic, reported by Anas also,

By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, none of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself. '°

Allah, the Most High, said,

eae Seats

There is certainly among you he who would linger behind (from fighting in the Way of Allah). If a misfortune befalls you, he says: ‘Indeed Allah has favoured me in that I was not present among them.’ But if a bounty comes to you from Allah, he would surely say - as if there had never been any ties of affection between you and him - ‘Oh! I wish I had been with them; then I would have achieved a great success.’ [Swab an-Nisa’ (4):72-73|

" Sabih alBukhari (F.ng, Trans. 8/58 no. 91], Sahih Muslim (Eng, Trans. 4/1360 no. 6205, 6210).

So these people who lingered behind did not love for their brother Muslims what they loved for themselves, rather if the Muslims were afflicted with a calamity, they were overjoyed that it only afflicted them, and if they met with blessings they were not happy for them, rather they wished that they too had a portion of this blessing. So they would not become happy except if they received something of this world or some evil of this world was diverted from them. This was due to them not loving Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter, for if this had been the case they would have loved their brothers, and loved what they had received of His blessings and they would have been hurt by the calamity that had afflicted them.

As for the one who is not made happy by what has made the Muslims happy, and is not grieved by what has made the Muslims grieve then he is not of them. In the Sabihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim from ‘Amir ash-Sha‘bi who said: “I heard an-Nu‘man bin Bashir delivering a sermon and saying: | heard the Messenget of Allah (4g) saying,

The similitude of the believers with ‘respect to their mutual love, mutual mercy and mutual kindness in like that of one body. When a part of it suffers, the whole body suffers with fever and sleeplessness.

In the Sabibs of al-Bukhati and Muslim from the hadith of Aba Masi al-Ash‘ari, radiyAllahu ‘anhu, who said: “The Messenger of Allah (x) said,

The Muslim to another Muslim is like a building,

° Sabib al-Bukhari [Eng, Trans. 1/19 no. 12], Sahib Muslim (Eng, Trans. 1/31 no. 72,73].

‘6 Sabib al-Bukhari (Eng, Trans, 8/26 no. 40], Sabib Muslim [Eng. Trans. 4/1368 no, 6258].

2.9 Between Jealousy and Miserliness| ___

one part of it strengthens another and he interlaced his fingers. |"

[2.9 Between Jealousy and Miserliness]

Greed is a sickness as is miserliness, and jealousy is worse than miserliness as occurs in the hadith reported by Aba Dawid'* from the Prophet (3) that he said,

Jealousy eats away at good deeds, just as fire eats away at firewood, and giving charity extinguishes sins just as Water extinguishes fire.

This is because the miser only stops himself from having good but the envier dislikes the favours of Allah bestowed upon His servants. It is possible that a person give to those lesser than him who would help him achieve his objectives and yet display jealousy to those of the same level as him just as it is possible for him to be miserly without displaying envy to others. Greed is the basis for this as Allah said,

a cstess <6 WtA tae OQ) Sp AD bai ba oc5 And whosoever is saved from his greed, such

are they who are successful. [Sarah al-Hashr (59):

«Salih alBukhari |Eng, Trans. 8/34 no. 55), Sahih Mash (Eng, Trans. 4/1368 no. 6257].

‘This is an error from Ibn Tavmiyyah, for che hadith in this complete form with this wording is reported by [bn Majah [4210]. As for Aba Dawid then he reports only the first sentence and in the éswad of this hadith there is an unknown narrator,

In the Sabibs of al-Bukhari and Muslim’? the Prophet (3g) said,

Beware of greed for it destroyed those that came before you: it commanded them to be miserly and they were, it commanded them to be oppressive and they were and it commanded them to break the ties of kinship and they did. *°

‘Abdur-Rahmian bin ‘Awf”! used to frequently say in his supplication while make Tawaf,

‘O Allah! Save my soul from greed.’ So a person said to him, ‘Why is this your most frequent supplication?’ He replied, “When I safeguard myself from greed, I safeguard myself from greed, miserliness and from severing the ties of kinship.”

And jealousy necessarily leads to oppression.

" This is also an error from Ibn Taymiyyah for this hadith has not been reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim, rather it has been reported by Aba Dawid and alHakim [1/11] and its snad is sabeh .

Sunan Aba Dawud (Eng. Trans. 2/445 no. 1694].

*| As far as I know from what is preserved is that it was Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqjs.

The Disease of Desires and Passionate Love

[3.1 Between Jealousy and Desires]

Miserliness and jealousy are sicknesses that lead to the soul hating that which would benefit it, and its loving that which would harm it. This is why jealousy was mentioned alongside hatred and resentment in the preceding ahadith. As for the sickness of desire and passionate love then this is the soul loving that which would harm it and coupled with this is its hatred of that which would benefit it.

Passionate love is a psychological sickness, and when its effects become noticeable on the body, it becomes a sickness that afflicts the mind also. Either by afflicting the mind by the likes of melancholy, or afflicting the body through weakness and emaciation. But the purpose here is to discuss its affect on the heart, for passionate love is the fundament that makes the soul covet that which would harm it, similar is the one weak of body who covets that which harms it, and if he is not satiated by that then he is grieved, and if he is satiated then his sickness increases.

[3.2 The Reality of Passionate love (2shk)|

The same applies to the heart afflicted with this love, for it is harmed by its connection to the loved, either by seeing, touching, hearing, even think about it. And if he were to curb the love then the heart is hurt and grieved by this, and if he gives in to the desire then the sickness becomes stronger and becomes a means through which the grievance is increased.