57. Anger

57. Anger

chapter 640. Anger

1317. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The person who is strong is not strong because he can knock people down. The person who is strong is the one who controls himself when he is angry.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)

1318. Ibn ‘Umar said, “There is nothing that is swallowed greater with Allah in reward than a slave of Allah who swallows and contains his rancour out of desire for the pleasure of Allah.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary:The statement is also authentically related from the Prophetﷺ.

chapter 641. What to say in anger

1319. Sulayman ibn Surad said, “Two men abused one another in the presence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and one of them began to get angry and his face got red. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, looked at him and said, ‘I know some words that, if he says them, will remove this from him. They are: “I seek refuge with Allah from the Accursed Shaytan.”‘ The man went to that man and said, ‘Do you know what he said? He said, “I seek refuge with Allah from the Accursed Shaytan.”‘ The man retorted. ‘Do you think me mad?'”

1319. (sic) Another variant of 1319.
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Imam an-Nawawee explains, “This demonstrates that: 1. To be angry for the sake of other than Allah the most High is from the insinuations of the accursed Satan. 2. Whosoever becomes so afflicted should seek refuge, and say, ‘A’oodhu billaahi min ash-Shaytaan ir-Rajeem (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan). 3. It (i.e. to seek refuge as described) is a means to removing the anger. The hadeeth also proves that to seek refuge with Allah from the accursed satan is not restricted to the person who is mad in direct contradiction to the one who thought so in error and even sent his companion away. Perhaps for this reason, Imam al-Bukhaari placed this hadeeth under this heading because the person exceeded the limits of the Sharee’ah in his anger and his refusal to accept admonition.

chapter 642. A person should remain silent when he is angry

1320. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘ Teach and make it easy. Teach and make it easy.’ three times. He went on, ‘When you are angry, be silent’ twice.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That is, teach the people what they should know from the matters of their religion and in doing that, make things easy and not difficult. Anger could be from the insinuations of the satan; it could take a person out of his normal self to such an extent that he might say or do any evil. He might also harbour hatred and other evils including disbelief. However, when the angry person keeps silent, it calms his anger and grants him control over it. So, the Prophetﷺ repeated it twice for emphasis. In an authentic hadeeth collected by the author, Al-Bukharee, and Imam Muslim in their Saheehs, the Prophetﷺ said regarding a person who was angry, “I know a statement which will take away what he feels if he says it; where he to say, A’oodhu billaah minash Shaytaanir Rajeem’ (I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed satan)”.

chapter 643. Loving the one you love is an easy matter

1321. ‘Ali was heard to say to Ibn al-Kawwa’, “Do you know what the first one said? ‘Loving the one you love is an easy matter. It may be that one day he will be the one you hate. Hating the one who hate is an easy matter, It may be that one day he will be the one you hate.'”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)

chapter 644. Do not let your anger be destruction

1322. Aslam said, ” ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab said, ‘Do not let your love be a total infatuation. Do not let your anger be destruction.’ I asked, ‘How is that?’ He replied, ‘When you love, you are infatuated like a child. When you hate, you desire destruction for your companion.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Loving a person should be for the sake of Allah the Exalted; likewise hating. However, some of the people develop unreasoning love for or passion in people leading them to behave irrationally. Similarly, when they dislike a person, they desire that such persons are put to destruction! These two extremes demonstrate that their love and hatred are not for the sake of Allah and this is disapproved – And the refuge is only with Allah.