Source : Nur `Ala Al-Darb Fatwas , alifta.net
Q62: I would like to perform Tawbah (repentance to Allah) from envying others. I am trying to get rid of this quality as hard as I can, but Satan often tempts me to do this through jealousy. If I become jealous of my colleagues or other women, I begin to envy them. A friend told me, “Suppress your jealousy and envy inside your heart, and don’t talk about it, so Allah will not punish you for it.”
A62: Yes, it is true, if you feel something you should try to struggle against yourself and suppress your feelings, and do not do anything contrary to the Shari`ah.
– Do not try to harm the person that you envy, whether by actions or by words.
– Ask Allah to remove this from your heart so it will not harm you.
– If one person envies another, but they do not act upon it, it will not harm them if they do not harm the person they envy, take their blessing from them, or speak ill about them. If it is something that is in their mind and they suppress it, it will not cause them any harm. However, they should be careful to avoid saying or doing anything to harm the person they envy. It was narrated the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,Avoid envy, as envy devours good deeds just as a fire devours fuel.
– Envy is a malicious thing that harms the one who feels it before it harms others.
– Believers should beware of this and ask Allah for protection. They should supplicate to Allah to remove this from their hearts, until there is nothing left of it. And, whenever they feel anything like it, they should struggle against themselves to suppress it and keep it inside their hearts, without hurting the person they envy, whether by actions or by words. And may Allah help us all!
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