Envy and jealousy in Islam: distinguishing hasad from emulation
Understanding hasad, distinguishing harmful envy from emulation and learning to wish others well through three hadiths.
Seeing someone close to you succeed can awaken a painful comparison: “Why them and not me?” That pain is not the same as wishing they would lose what they received. Hasad, harmful envy, targets another person’s blessing; emulation encourages a wish to do similar good.
Hadiths help distinguish these two directions and choose how to act in response to others’ success. The jealousy addressed here concerns their possessions, abilities or achievements.
Article contents
Not letting envy damage a relationship
The context of the narration
Abu Hurayrah transmits a teaching of the Prophet ﷺ about relationships between believers. He warns against suspicion and spying, then forbids envy, turning away from one another and hatred. The excerpt gives the end of this saying.“Do not envy one another, do not turn your backs on one another and do not hate one another. Be brothers, O servants of Allah.”
Read the Arabic text
وَلاَ تَحَاسَدُوا، وَلاَ تَدَابَرُوا، وَلاَ تَبَاغَضُوا، وَكُونُوا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ إِخْوَانًا
Understanding this hadith
Hasad here means envy that resents the good granted to another person, to the point of wishing they would lose it. It may concern income, success, an ability to learn easily or the esteem someone close to you receives. The problem is not wanting to make progress, but treating their good as a misfortune for yourself.
This envy can extend into actions: diminishing a success in front of others, withdrawing help or looking for a fault to regain superiority. When these reactions appear, you can refuse to feed them: do not publish the hurtful remark, acknowledge a specific merit and continue to treat the person fairly.
Disappointment with your own situation is not enough to conclude that you wish someone else harm. You can suffer from not having obtained something while still wanting the person who received it to benefit from it.
Also read: ending comparisons that make you forget your own blessings.
Wanting to do the same good without depriving the other person
The context of the narration
‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud reports that the Prophet ﷺ mentions two situations worthy of emulation. One concerns wealth spent rightly; the other, wisdom put into practice and taught. The word translated here as envy means wanting a similar good without wishing it to disappear from the other person.“There is no envy except in two cases: a man whom Allah has given wealth and enabled to spend it in the cause of truth; and a man whom Allah has given wisdom, who judges by it and teaches it.”
Read the Arabic text
لاَ حَسَدَ إِلاَّ فِي اثْنَتَيْنِ رَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ مَالاً فَسُلِّطَ عَلَى هَلَكَتِهِ فِي الْحَقِّ، وَرَجُلٌ آتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْحِكْمَةَ، فَهْوَ يَقْضِي بِهَا وَيُعَلِّمُهَا
Understanding this hadith
This text does not permit wishing for another person to lose their wealth or knowledge. It describes what is called ghibtah: wanting to be able to do similar good. This distinction explains why the same word, “envy”, appears both in a prohibition and in this account.
The Prophet ﷺ does not merely describe a rich man and a knowledgeable man. He specifies what they do with the gift received. The money is spent on a just cause; the wisdom is used to judge and teach. The object of emulation is therefore good put into practice, not the prestige of a title or a bank account.
If someone’s generosity impresses you, consider what you can give within your means. If you admire their knowledge, ask how to learn and begin a suitable course of study.
Also read: taking a path in search of knowledge.
Loving for your brother the good you love for yourself
The context of the narration
Anas ibn Malik reports this saying of the Prophet ﷺ about faith and the good you wish for your brother.“None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
Read the Arabic text
لا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ
Understanding this hadith
The saying calls for complete faith that includes wanting good for the other person. It is not a means of declaring someone experiencing envy to be outside Islam. It asks us to consider what we actually wish for: do the relief, security and opportunities I love for myself become difficult to accept when someone else receives them?
Congratulating someone close to you on a success, sharing a useful opportunity or supplicating to Allah for their good are ways of working on this wish. These actions do not necessarily remove every comparison immediately. They do, however, prevent frustration from becoming a reason to cause harm or withhold a good you could have shared.
In practice
- Someone’s success makes you want to put them downHold back the disparaging remark and honestly name what this person has accomplished.Reread the prohibition of envy
- You admire a generous or knowledgeable personChoose a gift within your means or something you can begin learning.Read the two examples of emulation
- You can help someone close to you make progressShare useful information without holding it back to preserve an advantage.Reread the good wished for one’s brother
Sources
- Sahih al-Bukhari · 6064Not letting envy damage a relationship
- Sahih al-Bukhari · 73Wanting to do the same good without depriving the other person
- Sahih al-Bukhari · 13Loving for your brother the good you love for yourself