Surah Al-Falaq (113) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5) ➊ The meaning of { وَ مِنْ شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ اِذَا حَسَدَ: ’’ حَسَدَ ‘‘} is to envy someone for a blessing from Allah, questioning why he received that blessing and wishing for its removal. Whether or not there is a desire or effort for the blessing to be transferred to the envier or not. There are several degrees of envy in terms of severity; the worst is when a person not only wishes for the removal of a blessing that Allah has given to someone but also tries through words and actions to make that blessing be taken away. Some try to get that blessing for themselves, while others do not care about that, rather they are satisfied just by the fact that the other person no longer has the blessing. Another form is when one does not try to harm practically, but in the heart wishes that the blessing be removed from the other. Both these forms are forbidden.
➋ The question arises, why is the restriction of {’’ اِذَا حَسَدَ ‘‘} (when he envies) mentioned when seeking refuge from the evil of the envier? The answer is that the harm of the envier’s envy affects the other person only when he tries to harm him through words or actions according to the demands of envy, or when he wishes according to the demands of envy that the blessing be removed from him. One form of envy is that a thought comes to the heart as to why a certain person received a blessing, but the person removes this thought, does not try to harm, nor intends or wishes for the blessing to be removed. There is no accountability for this. Such thoughts do come, because it is in human nature that he does not like anyone of his kind to surpass him in any virtue. So, the one who does not act upon the demands of envy, but rather tries to remove such thoughts and does good to the one he envies, prays for him, and starts mentioning his virtues publicly so that love for his brother replaces envy in his heart—then what need is there to seek refuge from his evil? Instead of acting upon the demands of envy, his effort to counter and remove it is a sign of the highest level of faith, and this is also the way to be saved from envy.
➌ The reason envy is forbidden is that the envier is, in fact, angry with Allah Almighty for giving that blessing to someone. Then he is angry with the servant without any fault of his, because the servant had no control over acquiring that blessing. So, the envier is actually an enemy of Allah and also of Allah’s innocent servants.
➍ The cure for envy is that a person should think that the harm of envy, in both religion and worldly life, is only to the one who envies, not to the envied, neither in this world nor in the hereafter. In fact, the envied benefits from the envy of the envier in both religion and worldly life. The religious benefit is that he is oppressed, especially when the envier tries to harm him through words or actions, so on the Day of Judgment he will be compensated for the oppression, and the oppressor envier will be left bankrupt of good deeds. The worldly benefit is that people always wish for their enemies to remain in grief, worry, and torment, and what greater torment and calamity can there be than the one in which the envier is caught? He is always burning in the fire of envy and is deprived of peace and tranquility.
➎ Envy leads a person to disobedience of Allah. The scholars say that the very first disobedience to Allah in the heavens occurred because of envy, when Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam (peace be upon him) out of envy. The first disobedience on earth, that is, one of the two sons of Adam (peace be upon him) killing the other, was also caused by envy. The oppression committed by the brothers of Yusuf (peace be upon him) against him and his parents was also due to envy. The Jews, even though they knew that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was the true Messenger, did not believe because of envy, and it was also envy that led them to perform magic on the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The evil behind those who blow on knots is also generally motivated by envy, which is why after seeking refuge from their evil, seeking refuge from the evil of the envier is also instructed.
➏ Sometimes the word envy ({’’غِبْطَةٌ ‘‘}) is also used in the sense of longing and competition, that is, upon seeing a blessing of Allah on someone, wishing that I too receive that blessing, but without wishing for it to be taken away from the other. This wish is not forbidden, but longing for only two things is commendable. It is narrated from Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ لاَ حَسَدَ إِلَّا فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللّٰهُ الْقُرْآنَ فَهُوَ يَقُوْمُ بِهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَآنَاءَ النَّهَارِ وَ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللّٰهُ مَالًا فَهُوَ يُنْفِقُهُ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَآنَاءَ النَّهَارِ ] [ مسلم، صلاۃ المسافرین و قصرھا، باب فضل من یقوم بالقرآن… : ۸۱۵۔ بخاري : ۵۰۲۵ ] “There is no envy (longing) except in two things: a man whom Allah has given the Qur’an, so he stands by it during the hours of the night and the hours of the day, and a man whom Allah has given wealth, so he spends from it (in good works) during the hours of the night and the hours of the day.”

5. 1. Hasad is that the envier desires the removal of a blessing from the envied, therefore, protection from it has also been sought because hasad is also a very bad moral disease that consumes good deeds.

5. And from the evil of the envier when [6] he envies.

[6] The meaning of ﴿حَسَد﴾ is that if Allah Almighty has granted someone a blessing, virtue, honor, or dignity, then another person becomes envious of him and wishes that this blessing be taken away from him and given to the envier, or at the very least, that it be taken away from him. However, if someone wishes that Allah grants him a similar blessing as well, this is not envy but rather emulation, which in Arabic is called ﴿غِبطة﴾, and it is permissible. Seeking refuge from the envier is in the case when he envies and, on the basis of envy, tries to cause harm. Before this, he does not become such an evil for the envied that refuge should be sought from him. If he burns within himself, let him burn. This very act is sufficient punishment for him.