Anger is one of the evil whispers of Shaytaan, which leads to so many
evils and tragedies, of which only Allaah knows their full extent.
For this reason Islam has a great deal to say about this bad
characteristic, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) described cures for this "disease" and ways to limit its
effects, among which are the following:
(1) Seeking refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan:
Sulayman ibn Sard said: "I was sitting with the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), and two men were slandering one
another. One of them was red in the face, and the veins on his neck
were standing out. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said, `I know a word which, if he were to say it, what he feels
would go away. If he said "I seek refuge with Allaah from the
Shaytaan," what he feels (i.e., his anger) would go away.'" (Reported
by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 6/337)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "If a
man gets angry and says, `I seek refuge with Allaah,' his anger will
go away." (Saheeh al-Jaami' al-Sagheer, no. 695)
(2) Keeping silent:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "If any of you becomes angry, let him keep silent." (Reported
by Imaam Ahmad, al-Musnad, 1/329; see also Saheeh al-Jaami', 693,
4027).
This is because in most cases, the angry person loses self control
and could utter words of kufr (from which we seek refuge with
Allaah), or curses, or the word of divorce (talaaq) which would
destroy his home, or words of slander which would bring him the
enmity and hatred of others. So, in short, keeping silent is the
solution which helps one to avoid all that.
(3) Not moving:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "If any of you becomes angry and he is standing, let him sit
down, so his anger will go away; if it does not go away, let him lie
down."
The narrator of this hadeeth is Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with
him), and there is a story connected to his telling of it: he was
taking his camels to drink at a trough that he owned, when some other
people came along and said (to one another), "Who can compete with
Abu Dharr (in bringing animals to drink) and make his hair stand on
end?" A man said, "I can," so he brought his animals and competed
with Abu Dharr, with the result that the trough was broken. [i.e.,
Abu Dharr was expecting help in watering his camels, but instead the
man misbehaved and caused the trough to be broken]. Abu Dharr was
standing, so he sat down, then he laid down. Someone asked him, "O
Abu Dharr, why did you sit down then lie down?" He said: "The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: . . ." and quoted the hadeeth. (The hadeeth and this story may
be found in Musnad Ahmad, 5/152; see also Saheeh al-Jaami', no. 694).
According to another report, Abu Dharr was watering his animals at
the trough, when another man made him angry, so he sat down . . .
(Fayd al-Qadeer, al-Manaawi, 1/408)
Among the benefits of this advice given by the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is the fact that it prevents the
angry person from going out of control, because he could strike out
and injure someone, or even kill - as we will find out shortly - or
he could destroy possessions and so on. Sitting down makes it less
likely that he will become overexcited, and lying down makes it even
less likely that he will do something crazy or harmful. Al-'Allaamah
al-Khattaabi, may Allaah have mercy on him, said in his commentary on
Abu Dawud: "One who is standing is in a position to strike and
destroy, while the one who is sitting is less likely to do that, and
the one who is lying down can do neither. It is possible that the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) told the angry
person to sit down or lie down so that he would not do something that
he would later regret. And Allaah knows best." (Sunan Abi Dawud, with
Ma'aalim al-Sunan, 5/141)
(4) Following the advice of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him):
Abu Hurayrah, may Allaah be pleased with him, reported that a man
said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), "Advise me." He said, "Do not become angry." The man repeated
his request several times, and each time the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him, "Do not become angry."
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, Fath al-Bari, 10/456)
According to another report, the man said: "I thought about what the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, and I
realized that anger combines all kinds of evil." (Musnad Ahmad, 5/373)
(5) Do not become angry and Paradise will be yours (a saheeh hadeeth,
see Saheeh al-Jaami', 7374. Ibn Hijr attributed it to al-Tabaraani,
see al-Fath 4/465):
Remembering what Allaah has promised to the righteous (muttaqeen) who
keep away from the causes of anger and struggle within themselves to
control it, is one of the most effective ways of extinguishing the
flames of anger. One of the ahaadeeth that describe the great reward
for doing this is: "Whoever controls his anger at the time when he
has the means to act upon it, Allaah will fill his heart with
contentment on the Day of Resurrection. " (Reported by al-Tabaraani,
12/453, see also Saheeh al-Jaami', 6518).
Another great reward is described in the Prophet's words: "Whoever
controls his anger at the time when he has the means to act upon it,
Allaah will call him before all of mankind on the Day of
Resurrection, and will let him choose of the Hur al-'Iyn whoever he
wants." (Reported by Abu Dawud, 4777, and others. It is classified as
hasan in Saheeh al-Jaami, 6518).
(6) Knowing the high status and advantages offered to those who
control themselves:
The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: "The strong man is not the one who can overpower others (in
wrestling); rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself
when he gets angry." (Reported by Ahmad, 2/236; the hadeeth is agreed
upon). The greater the anger, the higher the status of the one who
controls himself. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "The strongest man is the one who, when he gets angry and
his face reddens and his hackles rise, is able to defeat his anger."
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 5/367, and classified as hasan in Saheeh al-
Jaami', 3859)
Anas reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) passed by some people who were wrestling. He asked, "What is
this?" They said: "So-and-so is the strongest, he can beat anybody."
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, "Shall
I not tell you who is even stronger then him? The man who, when he is
mistreated by another, controls his anger, has defeated his own
shaytaan and the shaytaan of the one who made him angry." (Reported
by al-Bazzaar, and Ibn Hijr said its isnaad is saheeh. Al-Fath,
10/519)
(7) Following the Prophet's example in the case of anger:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is our leader
and has set the highest example in this matter, as is recorded in a
number of ahaadeeth. One of the most famous was reported by Anas, may
Allaah be pleased with him, who said: "I was walking with the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and
he was wearing a Najraani cloak with a rough collar. A Bedouin came
and seized him roughly by the edge of his cloak, and I saw the marks
left on his neck by the collar. Then the Bedouin ordered him to give
him some of the wealth of Allaah that he had. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) turned to him and smiled, then
ordered that he should be given something." (Agreed upon. Fath al-
Baari, 10/375)
Another way in which we can follow the example of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is by making our anger for the
sake of Allaah, when His rights are violated. This is the kind of
anger which is praiseworthy. So the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) became angry when he was told about the imaam who
was putting people off the prayer by making it too long; when he saw
a curtain with pictures of animate creatures in `Aa'ishah's house;
when Usaamah spoke to him about the Makhzoomi woman who had been
convicted of theft, and he said "Do you seek to intervene concerning
one of the punishments prescribed by Allaah?"; when he was asked
questions that he disliked, and so on. His anger was purely for the
sake of Allaah.
(8) Knowing that resisting anger is one of the signs of righteousness
(taqwaa):
The righteous (al-muttaqoon) are those praised by Allaah in the
Qur'aan and by His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him). Paradise as wide as heaven and earth has been prepared for
them. One of their characteristics is that they (interpretation of
the meaning) "spend (in Allaah's Cause) in prosperity and in
adversity, [they] repress anger, and [they] pardon men; verily,
Allaah loves al-muhsinoon (the good-doers). " [Aal `Imraan 3:134]
These are the ones whose good character and beautiful attributes and
deeds Allaah has mentioned, and whom people admire and want to
emulate. One of their characteristics is that (interpretation of the
meaning) ". . . when they are angry, they forgive." [al-Shooraa 42:47]
(9) Listening to reminders:
Anger is a part of human nature, and people vary in their anger. It
may be difficult for a man not to get angry, but sincere people will
remember Allaah when they are reminded, and they will not overstep
the mark. Some examples follow:
Ibn `Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that a man
sought permission to speak to `Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allaah be
pleased with him), then he said: "O son of al-Khattaab, you are not
giving us much and you are not judging fairly between us." `Umar (may
Allaah be pleased with him) was so angry that he was about to attack
the man, but al-Hurr ibn Qays, who was one of those present, said: "O
Ameer al-Mu'mineen, Allaah said to His Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning): `Show
forgiveness, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the foolish' [al-
A'raaf 7:199]. This man is one of the foolish." By Allaah, `Umar
could go no further after al-Hurr had recited this aayah to him, and
he a man who was careful to adhere to the Book of Allaah. (Reported
by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 4/304).
This is how the Muslim should be. The evil munaafiq (hypocrite) was
not like this when he was told the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and one of the Companions said to
him, "Seek refuge with Allaah from the Shaytaan." He said to the one
who reminded him, "Do you think I am crazy? Go away!" (Reported by al-
Bukhaari, al-Fath, 1/465). We seek refuge with Allaah from failure.
(10) Knowing the bad effects of anger:
The negative effects of anger are many; in short they cause damage to
one's own self and to others. The angry person may utter words of
slander and obscenity, he may attack others (physically) in an
uncontrolled manner, even to the point of killing. The following
story contains a valuable lesson:
`Ilqimah ibn Waa'il reported that his father (may Allaah be pleased
with him) told him: "I was sitting with the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) when a man came to him leading
another man by a rope. He said, `O Messenger of Allaah, this man
killed my brother.' The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) asked him, `Did you kill him?' He said, `Yes, I
killed him.' He asked, `How did you kill him?' He said, `He and I
were hitting a tree to make the leaves fall, for animal feed, and he
slandered me, so I struck him on the side of the head with an axe,
and killed him.' . . ." (Reported by Muslim, 1307, edited by al-
Baaqi).
Anger could lead to less than killing, such as wounding and breaking
bones. If the one who caused the anger runs away, the angry person
turns his anger in on himself, so he may tear his clothes, or strike
his cheeks, or have a fit, or fall unconscious, or he may break
dishes and plates, or break furniture.
In the worst case scenario, anger results in social disasters and the
breaking of family ties, i.e., divorce. Ask many of those who
divorced their wives, and they will tell you: it was in a moment of
anger. This divorce results in misery for the children, regret and
frustration, a hard and difficult life, all as a result of anger. If
they had remembered Allaah, come to their senses, restrained their
anger and sought refuge with Allaah, none of this would have
happened. Going against the sharee'ah only results in loss.
The damage to health that results from anger can only be described by
doctors, such as thrombosis, high blood pressure, tachycardia
(abnormally rapid heartbeat) and hyperventilation (rapid, shallow
breathing), which can lead to fatal heart attacks, diabetes, etc. We
ask Allaah for good health.
(11) The angry person should think about himself during moments of
anger:
If the angry person could see himself in the mirror when he is angry,
he would hate himself and the way he looks. If he could see the way
he changes, and the way his body and limbs shake, how his eyes glare
and how out of control and crazy his behaviour is, he would despise
himself and be revolted by his own appearance. It is well-known that
inner ugliness is even worse than outer ugliness; how happy the
Shaytaan must be when a person is in this state! We seek refuge with
Allaah from the Shaytaan and from failure.
(12) Du'aa':
Du'aa' is always the weapon of the believer, whereby he asks Allaah
to protect him from evil, trouble and bad behaviour and seeks refuge
with Him from falling into the pit of kufr or wrongdoing because of
anger. One of the three things that can help save him is: being fair
at times of contentment and of anger (Saheeh al-Jaami', 3039). One of
the du'aa's of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) was:
"O Allaah, by Your knowledge of the Unseen and Your power over Your
creation, keep me alive for as long as You know life is good for me,
and cause me to die when You know death is good for me. O Allaah, I
ask You to make me fear You in secret and in public, and I ask You to
make me speak the truth in times of contentment and of anger. I ask
You not to let me be extravagant in poverty or in prosperity. I ask
You for continuous blessings, and for contentment that does not end.
I ask You to let me accept Your decree, and for a good life after
death. I ask You for the joy of seeing Your face and for the longing
to meet You, without going through diseases and misguiding fitnah
(trials). O Allaah, adorn us with the adornment of faith and make us
among those who are guided. Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the
Worlds."
Greetings and peace be with you Amat Allah; thank you for starting this thread on anger, there is some very sound advice.
I think it is a Muslim story of a victor having won a fight, holds his sword to his opponent’s throat and is about to kill him. The vanquished man spits in the victors face, and the victor walks away without killing him. His companions said why did you show him mercy?
He replied, the man made me angry by spitting in my face, and I would have been angry if I killed him.
In the spirit of praying to a merciful and forgiving God,
my pleasure my brother ....subhaan Allah this is the first time to know about this story may Allah fill ur heart with happiness and satisfaction Ameeeeeeeen
as you see Anger is the main reason for everything bad is happening in this world ....
and Anger sometimes or let me say most of the times turn to hate which make us forget our humanity turning us to monsters no heart no feelings no thinking to hurt the others with no drop of mercy ......
and sometimes Anger drives us crazy to make us reckless taking the wrong decisions destroying the others lives and ours too make the others hate us despite us and to make them believe that we do not deserve respect love and mercy...
following in this the great great teacher the one who will take us to his paradise the first one the last one and the only one who wants our happiness and our good the amazing exemplar to be followed for ever .....SHAITAN .... Astagfero Allah
I don`t know when to wake up I don`t know when to open our eyes I don`t know when to feel to realise .....
may Allah guide us and protect us all from all harms ,sins ,shaitan and hellfire and reward us with the highest levels of paradise with out being reckoning....
Ameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen
and yes an Advice people:
don`t spend your life looking after the others mistakes forgetting about urs advice ur self first correct your mistakes first then advice the others and please don`t judge the others as saying you are in hell and you are in paradise coz you are not Allah the Owner of paradise ,hell and the whole world and stop mocking on the other believes stop it you will gain nothing for Allah`s sake nothing but hate so fear Allah and think of the day when you stand befor your creator....
Last edited by Amat Allah; 10-25-2008 at 02:48 AM.
Do not become angry and Paradise will be yours (a saheeh hadeeth,
see Saheeh al-Jaami', 7374. Ibn Hijr attributed it to al-Tabaraani,
see al-Fath 4/465):
"O Allaah, by Your knowledge of the Unseen and Your power over Your
creation, keep me alive for as long as You know life is good for me,
and cause me to die when You know death is good for me. O Allaah, I
ask You to make me fear You in secret and in public, and I ask You to
make me speak the truth in times of contentment and of anger. I ask
You not to let me be extravagant in poverty or in prosperity. I ask
You for continuous blessings, and for contentment that does not end.
I ask You to let me accept Your decree, and for a good life after
death. I ask You for the joy of seeing Your face and for the longing
to meet You, without going through diseases and misguiding fitnah
(trials). O Allaah, adorn us with the adornment of faith and make us
among those who are guided. Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the
Worlds."
He said, "Do not become angry." The man repeated
his request several times, and each time the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) told him, "Do not become angry."
really short in arabic but has so much meaning "La Taghdab"
barakallah fik wa a7sana ilayki
Learn silence as you have learned speech.
Speech will guide you, and silence will protect you.
yes subhaan Allah may Allah guide us all and give us Sabir and wiseness Ameeeen
many people my dear wasting their lives in being angry with this and that and never realise that there is a higher meaning of living this life la Hawla wa la qowata illa bellah....
Wa feekum wa Ja`alaki min Ashaab Al jannah Ameeeeeeeeeeen ^^
Wa Iyaki my dear sister ...and yes thats right anger makes us feel so bad and the rememberance of Allah gives the heart the peace and comfort and Allah says:
[28] Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allâh - Islâmic Monotheism), and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allâh: Verily, in the remembrance of Allâh do hearts find rest."
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"La Taghdab"
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