In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Jealousy Destroys our Good Deeds (for teens)

 

Jealousy is called hasad in Arabic. Hasad means when we see someone who we think is better than us, or has more than we do, we hate them and try to stop them from gaining more. 

Islam teaches us not be jealous because a jealous person will never accept the truth even if he or she knows it. Many of the enemies of the Ahlul Bayt [AS] became their enemies because of jealousy. They could not become like the Ahlul Bayt [AS] and so instead of following them, they tried to fight them and oppose them.

Allah [SWT] does not like jealousy. He says in the Quran:

أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَىٰ مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ

Are they jealous of [other] people because of what Allah has given them of His Grace?

Surah an-Nisa, 4:54

   

Instead of being jealous of others who are better than us, we should try to work hard to make ourselves better too.

The story of Habil and Qabil, the sons of Nabi Adam [AS], is a good example of the effects of jealousy. Qabil killed his brother Habil because he was jealous of him.

When we become very jealous, we disobey Allah [SWT] and often we do things that we later on regret very much.

For example, there lived in Baghdad a very wealthy man of excellent character. His neighbour was very jealous of him. He always tried to make his rich neighbour look bad by spreading false rumours about him, but all his efforts were in vain. His jealousy became so strong that he forced his servant to kill him, and then blame the rich neighbour for the murder!

When we see someone who is better than us, we should be happy for them and congratulate them. We should work hard and also pray to Allah [SWT] to bless us as well.

Everyone has a special gift from Allah [SWT] and we only have to find what we have been blessed with. 

For example, someone may be an artist but not have a good voice to recite the Quran or qasidah in public. Another person may be a poet but not very good with building and repairing things with their hands. Yet another person may be very good with cooking but someone else may be better with teaching and helping little children. If we are not jealous, Allah [SWT] will help us find our special gift in life!

And once we find our special gift from Allah [SWT] and realise that we too have a special ability that others do not have, we must never be proud and boast about it or show off. Instead, we should thank Allah [SWT] and try and use our gift to help others. 

When we thank Allah [SWT] and use our gift from Allah [SWT] to help others, Allah [SWT] makes us better and gives us more. But when we use it to show off and brag, Allah [SWT] takes it away or the gift becomes a punishment and we harm ourselves with it.