And the record [of deeds] will be placed [open], and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, “Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?” And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does injustice to no one.
The Qur’an, Surat al-Kahf (The Cave) 18:49
Iblees then said to Allah, “Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lure mankind on earth and put them in the wrong, all except Your devoted servants”.
Allah said, “[Devotion] is a straight path to Me: you will have no power over My servants, only over the ones who go astray and follow you.
Surah al-Hijr, (15:39:-42)
And when My servants ask you, [O Muhammad], concerning Me - indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me [by obedience] and believe in Me that they may be [rightly] guided.
The Qur’an, Surat al-Baqarah (The Cow) [2:186)
If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? And in Allah (Alone) let believers put their trust.
The Qur’an, Surat ‘Aali Imran (3:160)
“My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve. And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants.”
The Qur’an, Surah an-Naml (27:19)
‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) would write to his governors during his caliphate and say:
“The most important of your affairs in my view is prayer; whoever prays regularly has protected his faith, but whoever neglects it, is bound to be more negligent in other issues of faith.”
(At-Taareeqah Al-Hakamiyah, p. 240)
Difference between envy & jealousy
A question that was asked to Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan:
Question: May Allah be good to you, what is the ruling on envy if it arises from a person? And what is the difference between it and jealousy?
Answer: Envy is a despicable characteristic, a blameworthy characteristic and our messenger sallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: and do not envy one another.[1]
If a person finds within himself something for his brother, envy is to wish for the favor to be removed, this is the accurate meaning of it, to wish for the favor to be removed from the one being envied.
So if a person finds something from that within himself then let him seek refuge with Allah from it and he should supplicate for blessings for his brother/sister and ask Allah from his bounty the likes of what he has given your brother to give it to you as Allah says:
(And do not wish for the things in which Allah has made some of you excel others. For men there is a reward for what they have earned (and likewise) for women there is a reward for what they have earned, and ask Allah of his bounty. Surely, Allah is Ever All Knower of everything.4:32)
So envy is a wicked attribute and the envier doesn’t harm anyone except himself, he only harms himself and it only destroys the one who possesses it. It is upon the one who finds this characteristic within his/herself to seek refuge with Allah from the evil of envy, to supplicate for his brothers for blessings and to ask Allah from his bounty for himself.
As for jealousy, then it doesn’t have any envy in it at all. Jealousy is for a person to wish to have the like, to have the same as the one who has this favor whether it be from worship or knowledge or an abundance of wealth, so he asks Allah or he wishes to be like this individual who Allah has favored.
This is something admirable and is not blameworthy. That which is blameworthy is to wish for the favor to be stripped away from your brother/sister, as for you hoping to be given the like of what your brother has been given and you ask Allah for that then this is something honorable and this is jealousy. The messenger sallahu ‘alayhi wasallam said: There is no envy except in two instances meaning no jealousy except in two instances, a man Allah has given knowledge, Allah has given him the Qur’an so he stands with it at night and in the daytime and in another wording Allah has given him wisdom so he teaches it and judges between the people by it. And a man Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the way of Allah.[2]
Footnote:1+2; Muslim(6214).**Bukhari(152) and Muslim(816).
“Support me with your advice in private, and avoid advising me in public. Surely giving advice among the people is a kind of reproach, which I would rather not listen to. If you disobey and ignore my wish, don’t be saddened if you are not obeyed.”
Imam Ash-Shafi’i [Ibn Hazm, Al-Akhlaq wa’l-Siyar (Morals and Behaviour)
And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
The Qur’an, Surah Luqman 31:27.
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.
The Qur’an, Surat an Nisa (The Women) 4:48
Yahya related from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Ali ibn Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
“Part of the excellence of a man’s Islam is that he leaves what does not concern him.”
Narrated in Malik, [Book 47]
And to your Lord direct [your] longing.
The Qur’an, Surat ash-Sharh (The Relief) 94:8
Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah:
“Whatever Allah has decreed for His believing slave is a blessing even if that is in the form of withholding; it is a favor even if that is in the form of a trial, and the calamity decreed by him is fair even if it is painful.”
(Madarij al-Salikeen, 4/215)
Narrated Anas, may Allah be pleased with him:
“I served the Prophet of Allah, upon him be peace, for ten years. During that time, he never once said to me as much as ‘Oof’ if I did something wrong. He never asked me, if I had failed to do something, ‘Why did you not do it?,’ and he never said to me, if I had done something wrong, ‘Why did you do it?’ “
[Sahih Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad]
Ibn Taymiyyah:
“If you correct your hidden deeds subsequently Allah will correct your outward deeds.”
(Al Fatawa 3/277)
