Be mindful of envy due to what it contains of pain in the heart & no benefit !

Imaam Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee رحمه الله said:

Know that ENVY is a great disease of the heart, and the diseases of the hearts are not cured except with knowledge and action. The beneficial knowledge for curing envy is to know that in reality envy is harmful to you in (your) Religious and worldly affairs, and the envied one is neither harmed in his Religious nor worldly affairs; rather he is benefited by it.

Blessings do not cease from the person you envy. And even if you were not a believer in the resurrection this would (still) have necessitated a realization – if you are sensible – to be mindful of envy due to what it contains of pain in the heart along with NO benefit. So how about when you know of what it contains of punishment in the afterlife.

And the clarification of our statement:

“Indeed the envied one is neither harmed in his Religious nor worldly affairs, rather he is benefited by it in his Religious and worldly affairs;”

– because what Allaah has decreed for him of blessings has to continue until the end of the lifespan He decreed for him. And there is no harm upon him in the hereafter (due to being envied) because he has not committed any sin in that; rather he is benefited by it, because he is someone receiving oppression from you, especially when the envy comes out through speech and action. As for the benefit in the worldly life (i.e. the benefits of being envied), it is that the most important goal of the creation is (to witness) the grief of an enemy; and there is no punishment greater than the envy you find yourself in.

So if you contemplate on what we have mentioned, you will know that you are indeed an enemy to yourself – a friend of your enemy (within yourself). Your likeness is nothing other than that of a person who throws a stone at his enemy to kill him, but he could not harm him and the stone bounces back on his right eye and plucks it out. So his anger increased and he again throws a stone harder than the first one, but it bounces back on his other eye and plucks it out. So his rage increased and he throws a third stone, but it bounces back on his head and breaks it, whilst his enemy is safe and laughing at him. This is a knowledge base cure (for envy). If a person reflects upon this, the inferno of envy will be extinguished from his heart.

As for beneficial action (to help to cure envy), then it is to make binding upon oneself to destroy what envy commands one to do. So if it arouses him towards hatred and defamation of the one envied, then he should make it binding upon himself to praise and extol him. If it makes him arrogant, then he should make it binding upon himself to be humble towards him (i.e. the one envied); and if it makes him block favours from reaching him, then he should make it binding upon himself to increase in giving him favours.

And there were a group of the Salaf who, whenever it reached them that a person backbit them, they would give him (i.e. the back bitter) a gift. These are very beneficial remedies for envy.

{Extract from: ‘Mukhtasar Minhaajil Qaasideen’ pages: 200-201 with the Takhreej of Imaam al-Albaani رحمه الله}