seven factors for jealous

No doubt, man's heart would be the center for jealousy and this would be detrimental to him if he were not familiar with the facts of Quran, the programs of the Prophet(s), and Imams, and if he were inconsiderate of  his supreme dignity as a man. To better know the symptoms and factors of jealous and the consequences associated to it , we ask you to refer to the following text by Professor Hossein Ansarian in “ Land of lovers”.

A jealous person could not tolerate the possession of anything good by others; at the same time he wishes for the destruction of any asset by others and for the failure of its owner.The authorities on ethics have produced significant issues related to jealousy by delving into the sacred verses of the Holy Quran and books on narrations. The Naraqi Allameh, the deceased Mulla Mehdi in his precious book, called “Jame' Al-Sa'adat,” which is translated into Persian under the title of “the science of Islamic Ethics,” and is available for Persian readers, writes:  Jealousy is a desire for the destruction of a Moslem man's possession. However, if he wishes for an identical item which is in the possession of the victim of his jealousy, then he is involved in envy.

Since a jealous man desires for the destruction of the assets of Allah, therefore he is looking for evil and is fond of it. The theosophists have emphasized that whoever is content with evil even for his adversaries is among the evil-doers. Thus, jealousy is the worst trait and the jealous one is among the most wicked persons. Condemning this trait of man, the Holy Quran remarks:

أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَى مَا آتَاهُمْ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ  [1]

“Or do they envy the people for what Allah has given them of His grace?”

وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنفُسِهِمْ  [2]

Many of the followers of the Book wish that they could turn you back into unbelievers after your faith, out of envy from themselves, even after the truth has become manifest to them.

إِنْ تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِنْ تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا [3]

If good befalls you, it grieves them, and if an evil afflicts you, they rejoice at it. There are seven factors for jealousy:

First: Wishing viciousness and malignity for God's servants:

There are people around us who rejoice noticing other people in misery. Such people, due to their internal wickedness, become delighted when they see others in trouble even if they had not known these latter groups previously. But these people would get upset when they notice the prosperity of others. Such people demonstrate jealous behaviors out of their wicked nature.

Second: Enmity and vengeance: This is by far the main reason for jealousy since people, except for those who are in constant control of their spirit, rejoice seeing other people fail. This happens because man wants his enemy's destruction. When his enemy gets some assets, he gets upset.

Third: the desire for social positions. An individual who is after fame and social recognition loves being admired by flatterers. He would like to be apple-polished as a hero, a brave man, a true religions person, and as a handsome one. If he hears there is a superior one to him, he will get upset. He wants to be unique in getting the admiration of others.

Fourth: fear of failure of attaining one's desired item or aim: this state of affairs might happen between two individuals both of whom are striving to get what they are after. Thus, jealousy might step in since each one wants to have the item in his control. An example is the jealousy among brothers for the father's wealth. Another example is the rivalry among the students in absorbing the teacher's attention toward them.

Fifth: Arrogance: This feeling is present when an individual can not tolerate to see anyone else surpass him because he is under the illusion that the other person would show arrogance towards him if he is superior. In order for him to be superior to his rival, he wishes for the destruction of the asset or for the annihilation of his rival altogether.

Sixth: False-pride: A person suffering from such a feeling wishes for his rivals to be inferior to him at all times. He thinks if his rivals were better-off, they would never be obedient to him. The jealousy inflicted upon the Prophet(s) by the infidels was of this sort since they used to complain: How is it that a poor and orphan youth could dominate us?

لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَى رَجُلٍ مِنْ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ [4]

And they say: why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns?

Seventh: Amazement: this sensation takes place when the victim of one's jealousy is a humble person in the eyes of the jealous person and he will naturally get amazed if he sees his rival proceed in life. This kind of jealousy is leveled against the Prophets:

أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُنَا [5]

“They said: you are naught but mortals like ourselves”

Sometimes most of these factors are present in one individual and as a consequence the jealousy is severe in such a person. He is unable to conceal it and as a result manifests it and shows his indignation towards the victim of his jealousy. He wishes for the disintegration of both his rival and the assets he has got.[6]

Here is a fantastic narration from the Prophet(s):

قالَ اللهُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ لِمُوسَى بْنِ عَمْرانَ: يَا بْنَ عِمْرانَ، لا تَحْسُدِ النّاسَ عَلى ما آتَيْتُهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِي، وَلا تَمُدَّنَ عَيْنَيْكَ إلى ذلِكَ وَلا تُتْبِعْهُ نَفْسَكَ، فَإنَّ الْحاسِدَ ساخِطٌ لِنِعَمِي، صادٌّ لِقَسْمِي الَّذي قَسَمْتُ بَيْنَ عِبادي، وَمَنْ يَكُ كَذلِكَ فَلَسْتُ مِنْهُ وَلَيْسَ مِنّي. [7]

God told Musa Ibn-e Emran: Do not be jealous on people for the Blessings which I have bestowed upon them. Do not have an eye on the advantages of life they have and do not wish to have them this is because a jealous man is angry for My blessings onto the people and desires to stop the flow of these blessings towards them. If this continues I do not care about him and he is not Mine.Jealousy is a pitfall for both the believer and the unbeliever alike. A jealous person manifests his mental reaction in his uneasiness towards the assets and wealth of others and in his inclination towards the obliteration of others' possessions.

In his “Sharh-e Shahab,” Ravandi writes: Jealousy has a traumatic effect on one's attitude. Since the jealous one strongly wishes for the degradation of his rival, he might even plan to destroy him altogether.  A person afflicted with the disease of jealousy manifest his pent-up emotions in his daily interactions with people. He continues with this up to the point when he is taken away from the right path. The result of his jealousy is shown in his hatred toward the victim of his jealousy. Yusuf's brothers took up such jealous behaviors towards his brother.

إِذْ قَالُوا لَيُوسُفُ وَأَخُوهُ أَحَبُّ إِلَى أَبِينَا مِنَّا وَنَحْنُ عُصْبَةٌ إِنَّ أَبَانَا لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُبِينٍ اقْتُلُوا يُوسُفَ أَوْ اطْرَحُوهُ أَرْضًا يَخْلُ لَكُمْ وَجْهُ أَبِيكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ قَوْمًا صَالِحِينَ [8]

They said: Yusuf and his brother are dearer to our father than we are although we are a stronger company. For this reason our father is in manifest error. They told one another: Slay Yusuf or cast him forth into some land so that your father's regard may be exclusively for us and after that you may be a righteous people in the eyes of the father. Jealousy is a devastating and peculiar aliment indeed. At times the flame of this fire compasses one to the full annihilation of his existence. The writer of the book “Al-zu' Al-Lame'“ has written a strange story on jealousy, a summary of which will follow here: Contemporary to Musa Al-Hadi there used to live a man in Baqdad, who was strongly jealous towards his neighbor. He was determined to destroy the neighbor by all means. For his purpose he purchased a boy-slave and trained him in the way he wanted for several years. One day he exposed a plan to his grown-up slave according to which the slave had to kill this man on the roof of his neighbor's house so that the neighbor could be later caught as the criminal and be murdered for his so-called “murder.”

The man prepared a very sharp knife and gave it to his slave. Prior to his murder he wrote a will according to which the slave would go free after his murder, receiving one-third of his belongings. The jealous man orally informed the slave that he could go anywhere he wished for after he had killed this jealous man.

The jealous man finally forced the slave to murder him despite the fact that the latter was against such a vicious act. The slave told the jealous man: I fear God to murder you. My master: why are you jeopardizing your life for an act the result of which is not clear? Suppose your predictions came true and your neighbor were arrested as a criminal, how are you going to benefit while you are dead? In the middle of the nigh, the jealous man left his bed and awakened the slave. Feeling fear and fright, the slave rose from his bed. The jealous man gave the knife to the slave. Both of them quietly went on the roof of the neighbor's house. The jealous man lay on the roof top, stretching his body towards the ka'aba and ordered his slave-servant to murder him. The slave cut the throat of the jealous man as he was ordered. Mission accomplished, the slave-servant returned to his bed.

In the morning, the house members were looking for the man of the family. After much research they found the beheaded man on the roof of the neighbor's house. They arrested the neighbor. However, he went free when the secret behind this crime was revealed to Musa Al-Hadi.[9]Mansur, the jurisprudent, observes:

Tell the one who is jealous towards me,

Are you aware to whom you are impolite;

You are showing contempt to God's creation,

While you are not at ease towards His Blessings toward me,

The result of your jealousy is an increase in my sustenance,

And a complete failure on your side.

*  *  *  *

The great Shiite jurisprudents have issued interesting decrees [Legal opinions] related to the jealous ones. Some of them will appear here: Sheikh Mofid states: The witnesses of the evil-doers, the grudged and the jealous are not legally valid. Ibn-e Edris, in Sara'er has said: jealousy is forbidden and one should restrain himself against it.

Allameh Helli, who is unique in religion and in practice, says; jealousy is forbidden. The enemity of a believer towards others and its manifestation are two plans which end up in injustice.In his glorious book, called “Sharage'“, Mohaqeq writes: jealousy is a sin and the enemity of a believer towards others and its surfacing destroy justice.The First Martyr, in his book called “Lessons” [Dorus], considers jealousy as a major sin which is in opposition to justice, and writes: revealing one's jealousy to a believer and showing him hatred are among major sins.

The Second Martyr, in his book called “Masalek” has stated; there is complete unanimity among the Islamic jurisprudents concerning the illegality of jealousy and enemity towards the believers. Their negation and the promise of chastisements appear in many narrations. Both of these are among the major sins and the destroyer of justice, either kept innately and hidden by the jealous one or manifested in his speech or behaviors.In the interpretation of Imam Ali's statement that “Stay away from jealousy because it is the worst trait and it is the Shaitan's manner,” Mohaqeq Khansari, better known as Aqe Jamal, writes; by jealousy is meant one's desire for the extinction of other person's assets, such as wealth, social position or knowledge, either attainable and accessible to him or not. This is illegal as a whole.One other personality who considers jealousy as a sin is Mohaqeq Mazandarani in his “Interpretation of Osul Kafi”  . Fazel Meqdad, in his “Kashfol Tham” has said, jealousy is forbidden. Since it is a hidden affair, its manifestation is pernicious to justice. He refers to Shikh Tusi's “Mabsut” in which it is written: If a jealous one manifested his jealousy through tyranny, then he is an evil-doer.

Allameh Majlessi in the Interpretations to Kafi and Beharol Anwar states: Most jurisprudents have declared that jealousy is absolutely forbidden, either it is manifested or hidden. However, some jurisprudents, considering some religious news, have considered as forbidden the revelation and surfacing of jealousy. One of these scholars writes: Irrespective of the numerous verses and the repeated news on the inhibition of jealousy, our wisdom explicitly condemns it as a pernicious trait. This is because jealousy is showing contempt towards God's willings. A jealous person shows his indignation toward the abundance that God has endowed upon some of His servants. What sin is graver than becoming uneasy over someone else's ease in life?[10]