In the Name of All{h, the Source of General Mercy to all of Humanity, the Source of Specific Grace to the Believers

Topic of Discussion: Swallowing the Anger

âad|th 58 · Discussion 72
Lectures on Akhl{q [Isl{mic Ethics and Spirituality] Delivered by
his Eminence Ñyatull{h al-`UÉm{ al-H{jj Shaykh N{Äir Mak{rim Sh|r{z|

Translated by Saleem Bhimji

for Al-FatÅ Al-Mub|n Publications [www.al
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www.al-mubin.org]
mubin.org and Isl{mic Publishing House [www.iph.ca
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Text of âad|th:
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Translation of the âad|th:
The Prophet MuÅammad
has said, “O’ `Al|! I advise you (in regards to something) with a piece of advice, so then safe-guard this as you
shall never be devoid of any goodness as long as you have safe-guarded my recommendation. O’ `Al|! The person who swallows his anger
while he is able to act out his rage, on the Day of Judgement, All{h will grant him protection and faith whose pleasure the person will taste.”1

Explanation of the âad|th:

In this piece of advice from the Messenger
, we see that there is not more than one thing which has advised which is that if a person has
the ability to do something and he refrains from it, All{h i will grant that person a blessing in the transient world, and will also grant him a
blessing in the next life: the blessing of the next life is the protection (from the hell-fire), while the blessing in this world is that of true faith
which he shall be able to taste (experience).

The word “/0” which has been mentioned in this âad|th originally means to tightly seal the top of a flask and it is used in the meaning of
swallowing one’s anger since when a person becomes upset it is said that his anger spills out of his presence.

At this point, there are some issues which we must explain:

1. Anger and rage are of the one most important things which lead to sin:
The sins which a person commits in a stage of anger are many, for example: Insulting and harming a fellow believer; polluting the tongue
with various things said which are sins, and… In addition, sometimes a person performs such a sin that he is not able to control himself or
due to his anger, performs something that he would never be able to compensate for during the course of his entire lifetime.

It is due to this, that most of the resolutions and decisions which are taken in a state of anger are accompanied with regret and remorse.
Thus, a person must advise himself that it is only after he has come out of his state of anger that he would make any decision since in the
state of anger, the person’s thoughts are not balanced and do not work properly and in this state, he does not have the ability to discern his
best interests from what is detrimental to him.

1
BiÅ{rul Anw{r, Volume 74, Page 46
Ethical Discourse # 72 – Page 1 of 4
It is due to this that the scholars have stated that, “While in a state of anger and rage, there is no decision which can be made, nothing can
be ordered (to be done), nor can any punishment given.” In other words, in such a mental state, no important action can be undertaken –
rather, what is important is that a person does not make any decision and in this time period, must only try and control himself. Of course,
to control ones’ self while in a state of anger is also a difficult thing to do and of those things which are very beneficial in assisting in this act
of controlling ones’ self is to bring about the agents within the self which would result in a change in the mental state.

For example, the person should leave that area where he is in order to control his emotions, or if he has become upset while inside his
house, then he should step outside. It has even been stated that if a person is standing then he should sit down or if he is sitting down then
he should stand up or even drink some water (to change his mood and control himself).

Thus in any event, he must change the state he is in and even if he is able to change his state for a brief period of time, this itself would be
very beneficial. To accomplish this, he could, for example, sprinkle some water on his face or recite a S}rah from the Qur`{n so that his
mental state and attitude change.

Sometimes a person goes into such a stage of anger that in order for this anger to cool down and be at rest, he has no other choice but to
make a fist and punch the wall so as to remove the pressure building up in him so that in the end, his anger and wrath are not shown and
manifest upon others.

Anger is a flame from the fire of Sha|Ç{n and is one of the most important tools which Iblis is able to make use of.

That which a person must keep in mind is that anger takes a person out of his natural state of mind. For example, we have seen people who,
while in their ‘regular mental state’, are very good and down to earth people, however when they enter into a stage of anger, then everything
around them beings to fly (since they pick up anything they see and begin to throw it around!) In this state, they can not be considered as a
normal human being since in that state, we see that there are many changes in that person which have come about and the most difficult
thing here is that when a person is in this state, we see that he does not have any religious excuse which he can use such that he could, for
example, say that “I was in a state of anger and thus I did so and so.” In addition we see that a majority of people who are killed are done
when the killer is in a fit of anger and rage and as we know that there is not a single person who would take a large knife and cut off
someone’s head when he is cool and collected.

2. Anger is one of the most dangerous tools for Sha|Ç{n to use to make people commit sins.
Anger itself is one of the gifts from All{h i which is sometimes used in incorrect and inappropriate places.

As we know, the power of anger actually refers to the gathering of all of a person’s physical energy in the face of a difficulty. In other words,
All{h i is the one who has created the power of anger within a person so that he would be able to defend himself in the face of an attack
and offence since if a person was to remain indifferent in such situations and did not gather and muster up all of the power of his body, then
he would not be able to defend himself.

There are some people who have stated that when a person is in his regular state, he has approximately 1/10th of his power ready to use.
However when he gets into a state of anger and rage, then his power becomes ten fold - meaning that all of all energy becomes ready to use
and thus it has been seen that in a regular state, some people are very slack and relaxed, however when they enter into a stage of anger and
rage, then even five people would not be able to take charge over him and would not be able to control him since at this point in time, all of
his inner energy and power has been gathered together.

Therefore, this thing (of anger) which All{h i has created within the person is actually one of His blessings, however it must be used in the
proper way – meaning that anger is actually of two types: the unbefitting form of anger and the praiseworthy and obligatory anger.

While in opposition to those who perform open sins and transgress (the laws of All{h i), a person must show his Isl{mic zeal and
enthusiasm (in opposing these impermissible acts) and must not be indifferent to sins happening around him.

There is a well known âad|th which states that All{h i once sent a group of Angels to destroy a particular nation, however they did not
fulfill their responsibility given to them by All{h i and returned back to Him and appealed to him by saying, “O’ All{h! Within this group
(whom we are commanded to destroy) we saw a very old man who worships You in the darkness of the night who was awake in Your worship
and we did not want to destroy this nation since this man was amongst them.”

It was revealed to this group of Angels that, “Return back to that nation and over-turn their entire community and destroy that old man as
well.’

Ethical Discourse # 72 – Page 2 of 4

Once this was stated, they were then told the reason why this was to be done:

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”This same old man that you see who was awake in the dark hours of the night in worship, it is this same man whose face never turned red in
anger even once at seeing the sins being committed around him.”

Therefore, when a person must perform the act of Amr bil Ma`r}f and Nah| `anil Munkar and must become angry (at sins being committed)
and fulfill the responsibility in these regards and not staying where sins were being performed, he must do this. Such a form of anger is
praiseworthy and obligatory and from the point of view of the faith of Isl{m, the person who is indifferent to these sorts of issues has
absolutely no value to himself. Of course it goes without saying that anger which is not warranted is something which is not liked (by All{h
i).

3. The Reward for Those who Swallow their Anger (
 

))
A) They shall have protection on the Day of Resurrection; If All{h i was to grant a person protection on the Day of Resurrection, which is
also the day known as: Yawmul âasrah, Yawmul Bar}z, Yawmul Khawf, Yawumul WaÅshatul Akbar and Yawmul Faza`, then is there any
greater blessing and gift which could be given to him than swallowing his anger just as if a person was to possess the entire transient world
however did not possess tranquility and peace (in the heart), then all of his material possessions mean nothing. However if he has peace of
heart and mind, then even if he has nothing (from the materialistic point of view), then in reality, he has everything.

B) They shall be granted True Faith in this World:

World: In relation to some sins, it has been mentioned that if a person was to refrain from
performing them, then All{h i would grant that person true faith which he could “taste” – this means that his faith would not be something
merely dry and monotonous in theory. Rather, since there would be a sweetness in the taste of this faith, it would be something which he
could actually feel and sense.

This is not something which is granted to all people. Rather, it is only granted to those people who stand firm and strong in the face of their
lower desires.

For example, in the book Was{`ilush Sh|`a in the introductory chapter on “Looking”, we have aÅ{d|th that: “If a person’s eyes fall upon a
beautiful woman who is not his maÅram and he immediately turns his eyes away from that scene, then All{h i would grant that person such
a level of faith that the person would actually be able to taste (the faith).”

Anger in the Isl{mic Narrations

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1, Im{m Ja`far as-à{diq  has narrated from the Noble Prophet
that he has said, “Anger corrupts and spoils the faith just as vinegar
spoils honey.”2

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2. Im{m `Al|  has said, “Surely I warn you in regards to anger since the beginning stage of this is insanity while the last stage of this is
remorse.”

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3. The Prophet of Isl{m
has said, “The strong person is not the one who can lift heavy weights, rather, the strong person is the one who
is in control of his own soul in the state of anger.”3

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4. Amirul Mo`min|n `Al| ibne Ab| ä{lib  has said, “Anger is a fire which is burning. The one who is able to swallow this is the one who
has extinguished it and the person who permits the anger to be free is the first person who shall be burnt by this fire.”4

2
BiÅ{rul Anw{r, Volume 73, Page 267
3
Majmu`atul Warr{m, Volume 2, Page 122
4
Ghururul âikm, Page 292
Ethical Discourse # 72 – Page 3 of 4
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5. Im{m Ja`far as-à{diq : “Anger is the key to every evil.” 5

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6. Im{m `Al|  has said, “A strong feeling of anger completely changes the way a person speaks and destroys the pillars of proof and
logic and makes a person’s comprehension scattered and disturbed.”6

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7. Amirul Mo`min|n `Al| ibne Ab| ä{lib  has said, “The staunchest of enemies for a person are his anger and his lower desires and
passions. So then the person who is able to take control of these two things shall have the greatest rank and shall be able to reach to the
pinnacles of humanity.”7

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8. The Prophet of All{h
has said, “Anytime you get angry, keep quiet.”8

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9. Im{m M}s{ ibne Ja`far al-K°dhim  has said, “the person who controls his anger from the people, All{h shall control His anger from
that person on the Day of Judgement.”9

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10. The Noble Prophet
has said, “Anytime one of you gets angery, he should wash his face with cold water since surely anger is from the
hell fire.”10

…and all praise belongs to All{h i – only the mistakes are mine. (Translator)

5
Ghururul Hikm, Page 49
6
Saf|natul BiÅ{r, Volume, Page 220
7
Ghururul Hikm, Page 498
8
al-MaÅajjatul Baydh{, Volume 5, Page 308
9
Was{`lush Sh|`a, Volume 11, Page 298
10
al-MaÅajjatul Baydh{, Volume 5, Page 305
Ethical Discourse # 72 – Page 4 of 4