WHAT IS ENVY? There is no envy except for Mercy. When God showers His mercy on any person, two conditions arise in your mind. The first condition is that you do not love those gifts for him and like that those gifts should go away from him. The second condition is that you do not wish that the gifts should go away from him but that those gifts may be bestowed on you also. This is rivalry or competition in good works and gifts. The Prophet said: A believer makes efforts based on competition but a hypocrite envies. Envy is unlawful under all circumstances and there is no distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims in matters of envy. God distributed His gifts among His servants in the world. To envy it is to express displeasure at the distribution of God mercy. So, there is no cause of envy. The Quran says: If a good thing reaches you, it grieves them and if a disaster afflicts you, they become joyful-9: 50. The name of this joy is envy for the well- being of others. God mentioned the story of Joseph and also mentioned the envy of his brothers towards Joseph. They said out of envy: Kill Joseph or throw him into a well -12: 8Q. God says: Mankind was only one Ummat or people. Thereafter owing to envy, they separated themselves. God says: They became separate after knowledge came to them, being rebellious. God gave them knowledge in order to unite mankind and united their hearts by affection for His divine service. But they differed among themselves out of envy and everyone of them wished that he alone would yield authority.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 07:59:14 +0000