What does Islam say about envying someone else's success?
Ḥasad — wishing the blessing another has were taken from them — is the first sin, Iblīs's sin. The scholars prescribed specific cures the moment one notices it in the chest.
10 passages from 5 books in the library
Islam condemns ḥasad — wishing that another's blessing or success be stripped from them — which al-Ghazali, in his book Rancor and Envy, identifies as a destructive trait of the heart and the very sin of Iblīs. He distinguishes blameworthy envy from the praiseworthy protective jealousy (ghayrah) that guards what is sacred. The remedy he urges is to act against the impulse the moment it stirs: to wish well for the one envied rather than ill, treating the cure as a discipline of the soul drawn from his Iḥyāʾ.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 5 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"There is a kind of jealousy that Allah Almighty detests, which is the jealousy of a man for"
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"Allah the Almighty is jealous, and so is the believer. Allah's jealousy is that a believer"
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"of Sa'd? I am, by Allah, more jealous than him, and Allah is more jealous than me."
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"If she lacks religious commitment in safeguarding herself and her chastity, she may bring disgrace to her husband and tarnish his reputation, causing turmoil in his heart with jealousy, thus making his life bitter."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, Indeed, Sa'd is jealous, and I am more jealous"
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"jealousy and a base self in tolerating humiliation and oppression inappropriately, they should"
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"This is also reproachable, for one consequence is a lack of jealousy over what is forbidden,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"upon him, that prophet Dawud, peace be upon him, was a jealous man. When he went out, he would lock"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"with an illicit desire, provoking one's jealousy, yet one restrains from expressing it and remains"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
· Provenance →
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"Sarah became jealous of her and complained to Abraham, who said to her, Do with her whatever"
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