الحسد Summary 1) The unity of the Muslim Ummah (nation), and community. 2) Keeping the heart away from the source of hatred. 3) Defining Envy. 4) Evidences from the Qur’an and Sunnah forbidding envy. 5) The Jews’ and disbelievers’ envy of the Prophet. 6) Certainty is the cure to envy. First Khutbah All praise be to Allah, the Most Merciful the Most Gracious. He will grant His pious worshippers Paradise in which they will be amid Gardens and fountains of clear-flowing water. Their greeting will be as Allah says which translates as: Enter you here in peace and security. And we shall remove from their hearts any lurking sense of injury: they will be brothers joyfully facing each other on thrones of dignity. There, no sense of fatigue shall touch them, nor shall they ever be asked to leave (Al-Hijr: 46-48). I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and that there is no Lord but Him, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger and the best person selected among His creatures. Allah says which translates as: Allah sent amongst the unlettered a Messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to sanctify them, and to instruct them in Scripture and Wisdom although they had been, before in manifest error (Aal-‘Imraan: 165). O Muslims, one of the graces and favors granted by Allah to this nation is that He made it an integrated community, whose people share the belief in Allah and build their relations with one another based on believing in Allah and loving one another for His sake. Allah freed the hearts of the Muslim nation from hatred and envy. When a Muslim sees that a favor is bestowed upon his brother Muslim, he becomes happy, feels that Allah is Most Gracious and that all His worshippers are needy and poor in comparison to Him, and remembers the saying of the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam): O Allah, all favors on me or any of Your creatures are Yours with no other besides You. All praise and thanks be to You. Whenever a Muslim sees any of Allahs creations (mankind) afflicted with harm, he pities them and hopes that Allah will relieve such distress and forgive their sins. Hence, a Muslim lives with a glowing heart, content with Allah and his life. His soul is free from the impulses of black envy. If ones heart is full of hatred and envy towards others, this is a severe illness. Faith quickly leaves an impure heart just like water leaks from a damaged vessel. Islam pays great attention to the condition of hearts. Black hearts corrupt good deeds and do away with their merits. As for pure hearts, Allah blesses their deeds even if they are small and He grants them goodness. Allah described the Muslims saying, which translates as: And those who came after them say: Our Lord! Forgive us, and our brethren who came before us into the Faith, and leave not, in our hearts, rancor (or sense of injury) against those who have believed. Our Lord! Thou art indeed Full of Kindness, Most Merciful (Al-Hashr: 10). From this standpoint comes the severe attack on one of the vices and illnesses of the heart which is envy. Islam totally prohibits it. Allah ordered His Messenger to seek refuge against the evils of the envious people. Envy is just like a flaming fire in the envious persons heart. He himself, as well as other people, are harmed because of it. An envious person wishes that the favors bestowed upon other people would no longer exist and that such favors would become his. Such a person is just like an epidemic, against whose ill affects society should be warned. A person can never trust such envious people especially since the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: Belief and envy will never exist together in a worshippers heart. Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: Beware of suspicion. Suspicion is the most untrue speech. Do not spy and do not eavesdrop. Do not compete with each other, do not envy each other, do not hate each other, and do not shun each other. Be slaves of Allah, brothers. The Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) also warned against it and showed its effect on ones good deeds which go in vain, as he said: Beware of envy, because it devours good deeds just like a fire consumes wood. O Muslims, people are still good so long as they do not envy each other. Once they allow it to happen, they will corrupt the relationships between each other and will be doomed to loss. Envy erases all taints of goodness from their hearts. Envious people buy the Hellfire that will burn them and their money. Envy will not let them sleep and will always keep them in a state of fear and worry. Whenever they see Allahs favors granted to their Muslim brothers, they become very sad and troubles overwhelm them. They may even feel discontent with the decree of Allah. They spend day and night without food or rest their hearts being eaten by grief. O Muslims, among the signs of goodness and happiness in our society is that we should be free from envy and hatred of one another. People are created for the purpose of living together. No one likes any other person to be superior to him. Almost no one escapes such envy except those confident in Allah and content with His decrees. If we want to escape envy, we should know the reasons for it so that we can completely eliminate it and protect ourselves from it. An envious person may be motivated by enmity towards others, arrogance, pride or a disposition to show off. In the Holy Quran, Allah mentioned some people who envied the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) and wished the Quran to be revealed to persons other than him. Regarding this He says which translates as: Also, they say: Why is not his Quran sent down to some leading man in either of the two (chief) cities? (Az- Zukhruf: 31). The Jews knew that the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) was telling the truth, but they did not believe in him out of envy. Envy, when it occurs, almost always takes place among counterparts, relatives or people of similar characteristics. Therefore, a tradesman might envy another tradesman just like himself and a craftsman might envy another person who has the very same craft. Students of religious knowledge, for example, might envy one another. The same thing applies to scholars, because some may have wide acceptance and effect on people while others do not. The envious student may conceal such envy under the pretext of enthusiasm towards religion and the Sunnah of the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam), but he is actually motivated by bitter envy. The reasons for such envy are loving this worldly life and being discontent with Allahs decree. An envious person is a vile, bad-natured, and base person who loves this worldly life and is never content with the ordinance of Allah. He always shows dissatisfaction when Allah grants His favors and Graces on the righteous believers. Islam teaches a procedure that eliminates such envy and removes it from peoples hearts. Islamic teachings purify hearts and souls of their illnesses. A Muslim should know that envy is harmful to the envious person himself whether in this worldly life or in the Hereafter. An envied person is never harmed because of it. Blessings and favors will never go away because of ones envy. Why does he torment and even kill himself with such envy? An envious person is just like one who throws a stone at his brother in order to murder him. Yet, the stone does not hit its target except if Allah wills, and instead is returned to the envious person and hits his eyes, chest or soul. He is just like a person who sets a great flaming fire, but the envied person escapes it while the envious person burns himself in its flames. O Muslims, Islam checks peoples souls and hearts in order to clean them from the filth of envy and bitter rancor. It makes them full of benevolent feelings towards people and life. Islam checks these hearts daily and weekly. When souls are molded by Islamic morals and proprieties, they are cleansed of defects and shortcomings until the believers hearts are free from the least taint of envy or hatred. The Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) pointed out that on each day a person harbors envy, his prayers are not accepted. Prayers are accepted only when they are accompanied by hearts free from any evil towards other people. He said: There are three people whose prayer will not be lifted over their heads (i.e. accepted by Allah): a man who leads people in congregational prayer while they hate him, a woman who sleeps while her husband is angry with her and two envious brothers. The test is also made every week, as the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: Deeds are shown to Allah on Monday and Thursday. Every Muslim slave who does not associate anything with Allah is forgiven except for the man who has enmity between him and his brother. It is said, “Leave these two until they have made reconciliation”. Always remember that all favors and blessings such as money, prestige, knowledge, health or a good reputation are from Allah. It is not permissible for any of His creatures to restrict, because these blessings and bounties have been ordained by Allah. We should not also wish for the removal of such favors and always remember that envy is a reason for suffering and disbelief as Allah says in the following verses which translates as: Quite a number of the People of the Book wish they could turn you (people) back to infidelity after you have believed. From selfish envy, after the Truth has become manifest unto them (Al-Baqarah: 109). Or do they envy mankind for what Allah has given them of his Bounty? but we had already given the people of Abraham the book and wisdom, and conferred upon them a great kingdom (An-Nisa’: 54). Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn, From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practice Secret Arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practices envy (Al-Falaq). Hereby I end my sermon, and I ask Allah to forgive us all.
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 03:49:54 +0000
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