Inspiration & Envy as per Quran

“What is Envy? Non-Acceptance of Good in Others. If we Accept that Good it Becomes Inspiration” ~ Rumi

Envy is a basic and inbuilt trait in our Fitrat as humans. If someone is successful or seems to be better than us, we tend to resent that success or that blessing of another person and consequently we resent that person.

[Quran- Surah #4-Surah Al-Nisa; Ayah #54; 4:54] “Are they envious of the people because God has showered them with His blessings? …..”

The feeling of envy can also lead to feeling disturbed or threatened by any change or newly introduced knowledge. Such insecurity blinds the eyes and covers the brains, thus impairing the quality of our perceptions and blocking our perceptions from being receptive or tolerant towards the new knowledge or the person and we fail to appreciate the truth.

[Quran- Surah # 3- Surah Al-Imran- Ayah # 19- 03:19] “Indeed, the Deen in the sight of Allah is Islam. And those who were given the book did not differ except after knowledge had come to them – out of jealous animosity between themselves. And whoever disbelieves in the Ayaat of Allah, then indeed, Allah is swift in account.”

When we feel envious of other people’s success or blessings, this feeling affects negatively in many ways. It causes anger, hatred, worry, revenge towards others because of their success or blessings. It also causes anger towards ourselves for not having what others have, leading to feelings of sadness and anxiety. More Importantly when we feel jealous, due to all these associated negative feelings, we are unable to live life, enjoy the positive feelings of love, kindness and contentment. Therefore, this feeling of envy which might appear to be rather insignificant at first, with the passage of time, the feeling leads to a snowball effect that builds upon itself, becoming larger, and larger and potentially dangerous or disastrous to those who we are envious of; and ultimately engulfing our whole life and lives of those around us into itself. The feeling of envy is one of the tools used by Shaitan, sucking us into a life of negativity for us and for those around us. Its because of this that the feeling of Envy is termed as ‘Shar’- Evil by Quran.

[Quran- Surah #113- Surah Al Falak; Ayah # 1&5; 113:05] Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of the dawn. …And from the evil of an envier when he envies.”

The word ‘Shar’ شَرِّ has been used in Quran as opposite to the word ‘Aman’ امن. The Word ‘Aman’ has the same meaning with the same root word as the word ‘Na’mat’ blessings as per Quran. Basically, the word “Aman’ means to utilization of all our faculties and abilities towards constructive path of Haq, peace & harmony, love & kindness, righteous path resulting in Allah’s Na’mat-blessings on us. It is because of this that in Surah l Fatihah, we pray to God to make us amongst a nation on whom Allah has bestowed Na’mat. ‘Shar’ being used as apposite to ‘Aman’ means that the feeling of Envy destroys all our faculties and abilities pushing us towards the path of lawlessness and destruction, hate and revenge, Zulm & Ba’atil.

[Quran- Surah #1- Surah l-fatihah ; Ayah#7 ; 01 :07] The path of those upon whom You have bestowed blessings, not of those who have evoked anger or of those who are astray.

Inspiration is built on the same foundations from where the feeling of envy originates. Inspiration and Envy are in-fact two sides of the same coin. Whenever we see someone who we feel is better than us in any way, either we feel envious or we get inspiration to be like him/her. If we get inspired then we try to utilize all our faculties and capabilities to its maximum trying to compete with them and surpass them in success. Its through this inspiration that we achieved by accepting the good in others thereby from other people’s success stems our own success giving us Na’mat and ‘Aman’. The feeling of inspiration stemming from the good in others leads to the sense of competition which is greatly is encouraged in Quran

[Quran- Surah#23- Surah Al-Mominun; Ayah #61; 23:61] “ They are eager to do righteous works; they compete in doing them.”

On the other hand, if we feel envious then its our feeling of insecurity which makes us believe that we can never be better than them thereby undermining our own faculties and abilities leading us towards the destructive path of Shar and Ba’atil.

“What is Envy? Non-Acceptance of Good in Others. If we Accept that Good it Becomes Inspiration” ~ Rumi.

Although, Inspiration and Envy are two sides of the same coin, the difference lies in our focus and attention. Therefore, whenever we fall victim to the feeling of envy, instead of getting inspired by the good in others by utilizing all our capabilities and faculties to its maximum towards Aman & Na’mat, we are letting the other side of the same coin, the feeling of envy-the Shar overpowers us. And thus, instead of our inbuilt sense of competence that God intends for us to employ, we end up using the same part of our fitrat but in an entirely opposite manner by being envy leading to Shar and Evil. Falling victim to the feeling of envy is underestimation on our part of our own faculties and abilities. You would be surprised to realize that once you put all your faculties to work, once you utilize your abilities to your maximum, you can find a whole universe within yourselves and you can reach heights that you never thought was possible for you to reach.

In terms of our goals of life, we need to be careful what we choose to aim, what area of competence we need to focus on. Since its unique to each and every one of us, we need to choose our area of competence in accordance with our own unique set of capabilities, strengths, situations and aspirations within the boundaries given by God Almighty as Deen and towards the path of Haq. Our basic aim in life is not to focus on other people’s blessings but to focus on our owns as its unique to each and every one of us.

[Quran 20:131] And do not extend your eyes towards what we bestowed upon other people. Such are temporary ornaments of this life, whereby we put them to the test. What your Lord provides for you is far better, and everlasting….

The way to defeat this feeling of envy is through taking Inspiration from the Good in others igniting the inbuilt sense of competence in each and every one of us. This feeling of envy, shar, this evil can be defeated by recognizing and supporting the greatness and blessings of God Almighty in the special talents/success of others and by utilizing our own faculties and abilities to its maximum through Inspiration igniting the healthy competition amongst us. This way we can unravel the universe within each of us; recognizing and supporting each other while focusing on our own blessings and successes. If All of us as Muslim Ummah, in our own unique way can do this, there is no doubt that we can inspire each other towards Haq- jointly reaching the heights / thrones of dignity and respect with the support of each other.

[Quran- Surah #15- Surah Al-hijir; Ayah# 47; 15:47] “We remove all jealousy from their hearts. Like one family, they will be on thrones of dignity”.

Therefore, rather than be trapped in this viscous cycle of negativity of Envy and Evil, its extremely important that we guard ourselves against this Shar at all times by focusing on Allah’s blessing on us. We focus on our own goals and aspirations rather than success of and Allah’s blessing on others; we take inspiration from the good in others through love, kindness, and support for each other; we focus on our own faculties, strengths and abilities and we remain grateful to God Almighty with utmost gratitude for all the blessings HE has bestowed on us at all times by utilizing these blessings and faculties to the maximum and by working towards our righteous goals.