Al-Baqarah (The Cow): Verse 109

Context and Background

This verse addresses the third type of malice employed by the Jews against the Muslims.

It is narrated that Finhas ibn Azura, Zayd ibn Qays, and a group of Jews approached Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and Ammar ibn Yasir after the Battle of Uhud. They said: "Have you not seen what has befallen you? If you were on the truth, you would not have been defeated. Return to our religion; it is better and superior for you, and we are more rightly guided than you."

Ammar replied: "How severe is the breaking of covenants among you?" They said: "Severe." Ammar said: "I have vowed that I will never disbelieve in Muhammad as long as I live." The Jews remarked: "This one has apostatized."

Hudhayfah said: "As for me, I am content with Allah as my Lord, Islam as my religion, the Qur'an as my Imam, the Ka'bah as my Qibla, and the believers as my brothers."

They both went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and informed him. He replied: "You have done well and achieved success." Then this verse was revealed.

We will first discuss envy, and then return to the exegesis.

Issue 1: Condemnation of Envy (Hasad)

Numerous narrations condemn envy.

1. Hadith: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Envy consumes good deeds just as fire consumes firewood."
2. Hadith of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (PBUH) announced for three consecutive days that a man from Paradise would appear. The same Ansari man appeared each time. Abdullah ibn Amr followed him and stayed at his house for three nights. He observed that the man prayed little at night, only mentioning Allah when turning on his bed, and rose only for the dawn prayer. When Abdullah asked him about his deeds, the man replied, "Nothing more than what you saw." As Abdullah was leaving, the man called him back and said: "The only thing is that I harbor no ill-will or envy towards any Muslim regarding the bounty Allah has granted him." Abdullah concluded: "This is what elevated you, and this is what is unbearable [to achieve]."
3. Hadith: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "The disease of previous nations has crept up on you: envy and malice. Malice is the shaver; I do not mean it shaves hair, but that it shaves religion."
4. Hadith: The Prophet (PBUH) mentioned that his Ummah would suffer the disease of previous nations: arrogance, extravagance, excessive accumulation, competition in worldly matters, estrangement, envy, leading eventually to transgression and chaos (harj).
5. Story of Moses (AS): When Moses went to his Lord, he saw a man in the shade of the Throne who was envying his position. Moses asked Allah about him, and Allah informed him of three characteristics of his deeds: He never envied people for what Allah gave them of His bounty; he never disobeyed his parents; and he never spread slander.
6. Hadith: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "The bounties of Allah have enemies. When asked who they are, he replied: 'Those who envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty.'"
7. Hadith: The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Six will enter the Fire before the Reckoning: unjust rulers, Arabs due to tribalism, landowners due to arrogance, merchants due to treachery, villagers due to ignorance, and scholars due to envy."

1. Awf ibn Abdullah and Al-Fadl ibn al-Muhallab: Awf advised Al-Fadl: "Beware of arrogance, for it was the first sin by which Iblis disobeyed Allah (referencing the verse on prostration to Adam). Beware of greed, for it expelled Adam from Paradise... Beware of envy, for it caused the son of Adam to kill his brother."
2. Ibn al-Zubayr: "I have never envied anyone for anything in this world. If he is destined for Paradise, why should I envy him for the world, which is insignificant in Paradise? If he is destined for the Fire, why should I envy him for worldly matters when he will end up in the Fire?"
3. Al-Hasan: When asked if a believer envies, he replied: "Do you forget the sons of Jacob? However, it does not harm you unless you act upon it with your hand or tongue."
4. Mu'awiyah: "Everyone can be pleased with the envious person, except the envious person himself, who is not pleased unless the blessing disappears."
5. On the consequences of envy: The envious person gains only condemnation and humiliation in gatherings, the curse and hatred of angels, anxiety and grief from people, terror at the time of distress, and disgrace and punishment on the Day of Standing.

Issue 2: The Reality of Envy

If Allah bestows a blessing upon your brother, and you desire its removal, this is envy (Hasad).

If you desire a similar blessing for yourself, this is Ghibtah (covetousness/admiration) and Munafasah (competition).

The first (envy) is forbidden in all cases, except if the blessing is bestowed upon a wicked person or an unbeliever whom he uses to commit evil and corruption. In this case, loving its removal does not harm you, because you do not love its removal as a blessing, but because it is a means to corruption and harm.

1. This verse: {...حسدا من عند أنفسهم} (out of envy from themselves), indicating that their desire for the removal of the blessing of faith is envy.
2. Qur'an (An-Nisa: 89): {وَدُّوا لَوْ تُكْفَرُونَ كَمَا كَفَرُوا فَتَكُونُونَ سَوَاءً} (They wish you would disbelieve just as they disbelieved, so that you would be alike).
3. Qur'an (Al 'Imran: 120): {إِن تَمْسَسْكُمْ حَسَنَةٌ تَسُؤْهُمْ وَإِن تُصِبْكُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا} (If good befalls you, it grieves them, and if harm befalls you, they rejoice at it). This joy is Shamatat (gloating), and envy and gloating are intrinsically linked.
4. Story of Joseph's brothers (Yusuf: 8-9): Their statement, "Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we, though we are a strong group. Indeed, our father is clearly in error," shows their envy was expressed as hatred for the blessing bestowed upon Joseph.
5. Qur'an (Al-Hashr: 9): {وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِي صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِمَّا أُوتُوا} (And they feel no discontent in their breasts for what they have been given). This praises them for the absence of envy.
6. Qur'an (An-Nisa: 54): Allah rebukes those who envy: {أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَى مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ} (Or do they envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty?).
7. Qur'an (Ash-Shura: 14): The division occurred due to transgression (bughyan), which is interpreted by some commentators as envy.
8. Qur'an (Al-Baqarah: 213): The division after knowledge occurred due to transgression (bughyan), interpreted as envy, where each sought leadership and acceptance.
9. Jews' envy of Muhammad (PBUH): The Jews used to seek victory through the Prophet promised to them. When Muhammad (PBUH) came from Ishmael's lineage, they recognized him but disbelieved out of envy (referencing Al-Baqarah: 90: {بَغْيًا أَنْ يُكَفِّرُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ}). Safiyyah bint Huyayy narrated that her father and uncle visited the Prophet (PBUH), and her uncle decided to oppose him throughout his life—this is the ruling on envy.

Competition is not forbidden, derived from Nafasah (preciousness/excellence).

Evidence that it is not forbidden:

1. Qur'an (Al-Mutaffifin: 26): {وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ} (And for that let the competitors compete).
2. Qur'an (Al-Hadid: 21): {سَابِقُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ} (Race towards forgiveness from your Lord). Competition implies fear of missing out, like two servants racing to serve their master.
3. Hadith: "There is no envy except in two cases: a man whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the way of Allah, and a man whom Allah has given wisdom and he acts upon it and teaches it to people." (This shows the word Hasad can sometimes be used for Munafasah).

Categories of Competition:

• Obligatory: If the blessing is an obligatory religious duty (like faith, prayer, Zakat), one must compete to attain it, as failing to desire it means being content with sin, which is forbidden.
• Recommended (Mandub): If the blessing is a recommended virtue (like spending in Allah's cause or teaching others).
• Permissible (Mubah): If the blessing is permissible.

Conclusion on Envy vs. Competition: What is blameworthy is desiring the removal of a blessing from others. Desiring its attainment for oneself without wishing its removal from the other is not blameworthy.

Subtlety: Removing deficiency from oneself relative to others has two paths: 1) Attaining what the other has, or 2) The other losing what they have. If one despairs of the first path, the heart tends toward the second. If the heart wishes to remove the virtue from the person if it could, that is blameworthy envy. If the heart restrains itself due to piety from removing the blessing, hope remains for Allah's pardon. This might be the meaning of the Hadith: "Three things a believer cannot escape: envy, suspicion, and superstition. If you envy, do not transgress (i.e., do not act upon it)."

Issue 3: Levels of Envy (According to Al-Ghazali)

1. The Utmost Envy: Desiring the removal of the blessing, even if it does not result in anything for oneself.
2. Lesser Envy: Desiring the removal of the blessing for oneself (i.e., desiring a good house, beautiful wife, or authority that someone else attained). The primary desire is for self-attainment; the removal from the other is secondary.
3. Desiring the Like, then Removal: Desiring a similar blessing. If one cannot attain it, one desires its removal so that the disparity between them is not apparent.
4. Desiring the Like, but Not Wishing Removal: Desiring a similar blessing, and if it is not attained, one does not wish its removal. This last level is pardoned in worldly matters and recommended in religious matters.

Level 3 is sometimes blameworthy and sometimes not. Level 2 is lighter than Level 3. Level 1 is purely blameworthy. (Note: Desiring a similar blessing, as per {وَلَا تَتَمَنَّوْا مَا فَضَّلَ اللَّهُ بِهِ بَعْضَكُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ} (An-Nisa: 32), is not blameworthy if it means desiring the like, but desiring the exact same thing and its removal from the other is blameworthy.)

Issue 4: Seven Causes of Envy (According to Al-Ghazali)

1. Enmity and Hatred: Hatred leads to resentment, which demands satisfaction and revenge. If one cannot achieve satisfaction directly, one wishes for time/fate to inflict misfortune upon the enemy. Thus, envy is a necessary consequence of hatred. This is the type described concerning the disbelievers who loved the believers' affliction. Envy can lead to conflict and fighting.
2. Self-Exaltation (Ta'azzuz): When an equal attains a high position, the envious person feels elevated above, which he cannot tolerate. He desires the removal of that position, not out of arrogance, but to prevent his own feeling of inferiority.
3. Desire to Subjugate Others: If one's nature is to command others, one desires the removal of a blessing from someone who prevents this goal. This was the envy of most disbelievers towards the Prophet (PBUH): "How can an orphan boy precede us, and we bow our heads to him?" (Referencing Al-An'am: 53: {أَهَؤُلَاءِ مَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا}).
4. Astonishment/Wonder: As mentioned regarding past nations who said, "You are nothing but human beings like us" (Ibrahim: 10), questioning how a human could be sent as a messenger.
5. Fear of Missing Objectives (Competition for a Single Goal): This occurs among those competing for one objective. Each envies the other for any blessing that helps the rival secure the goal alone. Examples include co-wives competing for the husband's affection, siblings competing for parental favor (leading to wealth/honor), or preachers competing for the populace of one town (seeking wealth and acceptance).
6. Love of Leadership and Status for its Own Sake: Desiring to be unparalleled in a field. Hearing of a peer anywhere in the world causes distress and a desire for that peer's death or the removal of the quality (courage, knowledge, piety, wealth) that grants them status.
7. Stinginess with Allah's Goodness towards His Servants: Some people, even if not seeking leadership or wealth, feel distressed when hearing of a righteous servant's good state and rejoice in the troubles of others. This is inherent malice and baseness of nature, as other types of envy might be removed by removing their cause, but this type stems from innate disposition.

Often, several of these causes combine, intensifying the envy to the point where the person can no longer hide their hostility.

Issue 5: Frequency, Strength, and Weakness of Envy

Envy is more frequent among people where the aforementioned causes are common. These causes thrive where people share bonds, gather in councils, and compete for objectives. Competition breeds friction, which leads to envy. Where there is no association, there is no mutual envy.

Therefore, a scholar envies a scholar, a worshipper envies a worshipper, and a merchant envies a merchant. A cobbler envies another cobbler, not a cloth seller, because their objectives do not clash. A man envies his brother or cousin more than strangers, and a wife envies her co-wife more than her mother-in-law, because the competition is direct.

The fundamental root of envy is enmity, and the root of enmity is competition over a single objective. This single objective usually unites similar people, hence the frequent envy among them.

However, if one intensely desires worldly fame across the globe, they will envy everyone sharing that trait.

The True Root: Perfection (Kamal) is inherently loved, and its opposite is hated. Uniqueness in perfection is a great form of perfection. A partner in perfection is thus disliked because they contest this uniqueness. Since absolute uniqueness is impossible except for Allah, envy becomes restricted to worldly matters because the world cannot accommodate many competitors.

The Hereafter (Akhirah): There is no constriction there. Knowledge is an example: one who loves knowing Allah, His attributes, and His angels does not envy others who know the same, because knowledge does not narrow for those who possess it; a thousand people can know the same truth and rejoice in it without diminishing another's pleasure. In fact, more knowers increase mutual intimacy.

Therefore, religious scholars do not envy each other if their goal is knowing Allah (an infinite sea) or attaining status with Allah (which is not limited). However, if scholars seek wealth and status through their knowledge, they envy each other, because wealth is a finite resource, and status means filling hearts; if one heart is filled with reverence for one scholar, it is less available for another. But joy in knowing Allah does not prevent another's heart from being filled with that same joy. This is why Allah described the inhabitants of Paradise as having envy removed from their breasts: {وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ} (Al-Hijr: 47).

Issue 6: The Cure for Envy (Knowledge and Action)

The cure involves two aspects: Knowledge ('Ilm) and Action ('Amal).

1. General Knowledge (Ijmali): To know that everything that exists is a necessary consequence of Allah's decree and destiny. If one accepts the decree, envy ceases.
2. Detailed Knowledge (Tafṣīlī): To know that envy harms you in religion and the world, while it does not harm the envied person in religion or the world; rather, it benefits him.

Harm of Envy to the Envier:

• In Religion: You hate Allah's judgment and dispute His distribution and wisdom. This is an assault on the core of Monotheism (Tawhid) and a speck in the eye of faith. You align yourself with Iblis and the disbelievers who love affliction for the believers. You face severe punishment in the Hereafter.
• In the World: You remain perpetually in grief and distress. Since Allah never ceases to grant blessings to your enemies, you are constantly tormented by every blessing you see and pained by every misfortune averted from them. You wished affliction upon your enemy but brought affliction upon yourself. This grief sickens the body, removes health, and causes obsessive thoughts, spoiling the pleasure of food and drink.

No Harm to the Envied Person:

• The blessing does not leave him due to your envy; what Allah has decreed for him will last until its appointed time. If the blessing remains, there is no worldly harm or sin for him in the Hereafter.
• If you wish the blessing would leave him and remain with you, this is extreme ignorance. You wish for a trial upon yourself, as you too have enemies who envy you. If blessings left due to envy, you would have no blessing left in religion or the world. Wishing that blessings leave others but not yourself due to envy is also ignorance.

Benefit to the Envied Person:

• In Religion: He is oppressed by you, especially if you engage in backbiting, slander, or exposing his faults. These are gifts (good deeds) that Allah transfers to him from you. Every time you speak ill of him, your good deeds are moved to his ledger, and your sins increase. You wished for Allah's bounty to leave him and transfer to you, but instead, Allah's bounty leaves you and transfers to him, increasing your misery.
• In the World:
  1. The greatest goal for people is the affliction of their enemies. What greater torment than the pain of envy? A wise person wishes his enemy long life so he can constantly see Allah's blessings upon him and be torn apart by envy.
  2. People recognize that the envied person must possess a blessing, inferring from the envier's reaction that the envied person is specially favored by Allah with virtues. Envy becomes strong evidence of the envied person's merits.
  3. The envier becomes condemned among people and cursed by the Creator, which is a great objective for the envied person.
  4. It pleases Iblis. Since the envier lacks the virtues of the envied person, if he accepted this, he would earn great reward. By showing envy instead of acceptance, he forfeits the reward and earns punishment, pleasing Iblis and angering Allah.
  5. If you envy a scholar, you wish for him to err in religion, be exposed, have his tongue silenced, or become ill. What greater sin is there?

Analogy: The envier is like one throwing a stone at an enemy to kill him, but the stone returns and strikes his right eye, blinding it. His anger increases, he throws again, and the stone strikes his other eye, blinding him completely. His rage increases, he throws a third time, and the stone strikes his head, wounding him, while the enemy remains unharmed. The calamity always returns to the thrower. The envier's situation is worse, as the stone only caused temporary worldly harm (eyesight), whereas envy leads to Allah's wrath and the Fire.

This illustrates Allah's vengeance against the envier: He did not remove the blessing from the envied, but He removed the envier's blessing, confirming: {وَلَا يَحِيقُ الْمَكْرُ السَّيِّئُ إِلَّا بِأَهْلِهِ} (Fatir: 43).

The beneficial action is to perform deeds contrary to the demands of envy:

• If envy demands slander, force your tongue to praise him.
• If it demands arrogance, force yourself to be humble toward him.
• If it demands cutting off means of good for him, strive to bring him benefits.

When the envied person realizes this, his heart softens, and he begins to love the envier. This ultimately removes envy in two ways:

1. When the envied person loves the envier, he acts in ways the envier loves, causing the envier to love him in return, thus dissolving the envy.
2. When the envier consistently performs actions contrary to the demands of envy (even if initially forced), this eventually becomes his nature, and the envy disappears.

Issue 7: Accountability for Envy

The aversion (Nafrah) felt in the heart of the envier towards the envied is not within his control, so he is not punished for it.

What is within his control are two things:

1. Being content with that aversion.
2. Manifesting the effects of that aversion: slander, seeking to remove the blessing, and obstructing means of love towards the envied person. This is what falls under religious obligation (Taklīf).

Return to Exegesis

This means they desired the believers to revert from faith after it had become clear to them that faith was true and right. A person who knows the truth should not desire to turn others from it except through a doubt (shubhah). Doubts fall into two categories:

1. Worldly Doubts: Telling them: "You know the hardship you face—being driven from your homes, distress, and constant fear. Abandon the faith that led you to these things."
2. Religious Doubts: Casting suspicion upon miracles or distorting the Torah.

Allah clarifies that their desire for the believers' reversion was due to envy.

Al-Jubba'i interpreted {كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ} to mean that their disbelief was their own action, not created by Allah.

Response: The phrase {مِنْ عِنْدِ أَنْفُسِهِمْ} (from themselves) has two interpretations:

1. It relates to the verb Wadda (wished): They wished this after it became clear to them that you (Muslims) were on the truth. How could their wish stem from seeking truth?
2. It relates to Hasadan (envy): It means an intense envy originating from their own selves.

This indicates that after the Jews sought to divert the believers through doubts (as explained above), the command was given to pardon and overlook. Allah does not command pardoning in a way that implies satisfaction with their actions, as that would be disbelief. Therefore, it must be interpreted in one of two ways:

1. Refraining from Retaliation: Avoiding immediate response and turning away, which is closer to calming the agitation at that moment. Allah commanded the Prophet (PBUH) to pardon the Jews, just as He commanded him to pardon the Arab polytheists (e.g., {قُلْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَغْفِرُوا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يَرْجُونَ أَيَّامَ اللَّهِ} (Al-Jathiyah: 14)). This command was conditional, as it was followed by: {وَاصْفَحُوا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ} (until Allah brings His command).
   • Interpretations of "until Allah brings His command":
     • The recompense on the Day of Resurrection for good deeds.
     • The strengthening of the Prophet's power and the increase of his Ummah.
     • The command to fight (the view of most Companions and Successors). This is why scholars say this verse is abrogated by the verse commanding fighting: {قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ} (At-Tawbah: 29). Al-Baqir (RA) stated that the Prophet (PBUH) was not commanded to fight until Jibril brought the verse {أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا} (Al-Hajj: 39) and handed him a sword, initiating the fighting at Badr.

Two Questions on Abrogation: * Q1: How can it be abrogated if it is conditional upon a limit, like fasting until nightfall? If the arrival of night does not abrogate the command to fast, why should the arrival of Allah's command abrogate the command to pardon? A1: When the limit is known only through revelation, the revelation that establishes the limit acts as a replacement for the previous command. * Q2: How could they be commanded to pardon and overlook when the disbelievers held the power, and pardon is only possible from a position of strength? A2: At that time, a Muslim individual who was harmed had the power to defend himself or seek help from companions. Allah commanded pardon then so as not to provoke immediate conflict and fighting.

2. The Second View of Interpretation: {فَاعْفُوا وَاصْفَحُوا} is a call for beautiful persuasion, involving sincere advice, compassion, and firmness. Under this interpretation, the verse cannot be abrogated, as it is a general command for conduct.

This serves as a warning regarding the threat, whether interpreted as a command to fight or otherwise.

Verse 286 (Al-Baqarah)