The
Fourth Piece of Merchandise: Jealousy
The fourth piece of merchandise that
Satan sells is jealousy and he said himself, he sells this to scholars.
Definition
of Jealousy
The one who is jealous of anyone is
called a hasid while the one to whom anyone has jealousy is called the mahsood.
The definition of jealousy as is stated in volume 3 of "Lisan-ul-Arab"
(Page 166) is, 'To be jealous is to desire the loss of something possessed by
the mahsood and to gain its possession for oneself.'
Definition
of Jealousy in Simple Words
My Dear Islamic Brothers! We learnt
from the above-mentioned definition that the desire for the loss of someone's
boon (possession, ability, quality etc.) and acquisition of the same boon for
oneself is jealousy. For example the desire for the loss of someone's fame and
respect due to hatred and acquisition of his fame and respect for oneself.
Similarly, desiring the loss of a rich man's wealth and wishing the acquisition
of wealth for oneself in place of that rich man.
Children's
Teaching Us a Lesson
Remember! Jealousy is an extremely
evil vice and only foolish fall prey to it. Sometimes, the children in our
homes draw our attention towards this very important issue but we fail to
understand. I feel that children often teach us a great deal through their
immature actions. If you have children you will probably have seen that when
one child is picked up, the other begins to cry and hit him, in other words he
protests; "Why have you picked him up? Put him down and pick me up".
This is an obvious example of jealousy. The child that was picked up was
obviously favoured and the second child was crying because he wanted to gain
the favour for himself with the first being deprived of it. The sins of minors
are not written and they do such things due to their immaturity but we should
regard them as little Madanī Mubalighs. In other words, they peach us "O
elders! We are children and immature and we are practically showing you mature
elders what jealousy is; since we are childern, jealousy will not harm us at
all, but if you commit this sin, you will be severely harmed in both the
worlds!"
صَلُّوا عَلَى الْحَبِيب صَلَّى اللهُ
تَعَالَى عَلَى مُحَمَّد
Jealousy
of Naat Reciters
Jealousy is found in all types of
people, a lot of pious-looking people are also a prey to it and because they do
not have a Madanī frame of mind they remain unaware and continue sinning. Take
for example, Naat reciters these days. If one has a very good voice, the other
whose voice is not so good will probably fall jealous of him and because people
don’t pay much attention to him, he might say to himself, “I wish he has a
problem with his voice and I gain fame instead, my name as a great Naat reciter
should be published in newspapers and on posters, people should make me sit on
the stage, and make me wear garlands and shower money at me”. Ask yourselves,
is this not jealousy?” Qur’an and Naat reciters cannot save themselves from
Satan, especially in contests, despite the fact that these contests do have a
concept of encouragement but each person deeply desires to defeat every one
else and prove to be the best reciter.
If someone finds himself in second
position he will most certainly feel upset and crave for the first position,
doesn’t he feel, “Why has this Muslim brother come first? I wish he’d mess up
and I get first position.” Is this jealousy or not? I leave you to decide the
answer. The same happens in Madrassas when some students gain top positions and
others fall jealous of them wishing they had been in their place. This usually
results in suspicions, backbiting, and accusations (“I spent hours in
preparation, I’m sure the examiner didn’t check it properly” etc.)
Disasters
of Ostentation
In the contest of Naat or Recitation,
if one comes second, he becomes jealous of the first position holder or if he
comes third he becomes jealous of the first two position holders because he believes
that the quality of his own recitation was brilliant (out of pride) so he
accuses the judges of injustice, and falls prey to accusations, backbiting,
suspicions etc. and there is a possible danger of ostentation as well. This is
if he recites a Naat not for the pleasure of Allah and His blessed Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم but
for a trophy instead or a reward and to have his photo published in the
newspapers and people praising him and giving him gifts. In case of these evil
intentions, he will not get any reward, instead, he deserves to be punished.
These contests are permissible but the participants should reflect upon their
intentions.
Please
let me read two verses to gain blessing
If there is large gathering
somewhere, almost everyone wants to demonstrate their talent on the stage, if
the recitations have been recorded on cassette, one looks for his own
recitation (and ignores the other) and if it has not been recorded he will be
disappointed, why? And if a Qari or Naat reciter wants his recordings to be
sold in shops then how sincere is he? Was the recitation for Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ or for the recording? If there is an echo
sound system, there will be people asking for permission to read ‘a few lines
to gain blessing’! My advice is that if you really want blessings, sit alone in
your house, have the imagination of the blessed green dome, and then recite as
many Naats as you want, اِنْ شَآءَاللّٰه عَزَّوَجَلَّ
this will save you from ostentation and there will be a great deal of
blessings, and your record of deeds will also be filled with good deeds: A hint
is enough for the wise. May Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ
grant us sincerity.
70
Times More Reward for a Hidden Deed
My Dear Islamic Brothers! We should
weigh our actions with sincerity. It is mentioned in Hadith that hidden actions
are 70 times better than actions done publicly.
(Kanzul Ummal, V1, P447, Hadith
1929)
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