Anger – The danger, its effects and the cure

13 Mar, 2016 - 00:03 0 Views
Anger – The danger, its effects and the cure Worship in Islam

The Sunday Mail

(Continued from last week)
ANGER is a flame of fire concealed in the depths of the heart. It is like hot coals hidden under the ashes. It may be that anger gives rise to many fatal diseases of mind and body, not to mention if one was to act on it.
It definitely has many adverse effects on one’s health. Frequent loss of temper leads to being afflicted with a constant tenseness in the nerves and increases trembling sensations.
The real danger of anger and the extent of it’s harm can be gauged from the guidance and instruction of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him), to one of his companions who came to him asking for advice. So he told him, “Do not become angry (that is do not lose your temper).”
Thereafter the man repeated his question (asking for advice), to which Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) repeated his advice – this happened several times. This goes to show that anger has disastrous consequences and needs to be controlled.
Among other issues, Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him)’s advice to control the temper implies two important issues: First, that the person should make every effort to adopt those means which would give rise to good character such as kindness, generosity, tolerance, humility and other similar positive traits. If a person were to conduct himself with such good manners until it becomes an essential part of his nature, then this would necessitate exclusion of anger when its triggers arise; Second, that the person should not act according to the implications of his anger if and when it overcomes him. Rather, he should stop and restrain himself and struggle against acting on it. This is because if anger overcomes the person, then it becomes the factor that controls him and literally dictates his moves and his speech.
This is seen in the advice of Umar, the companion of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) to one of the Governors whom he had appointed in a certain region, after the demise of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) – he said to him, “Do not judge between two people when you are angry.”
Similarly it has been reported from some of the righteous predecessors that they used to say, “The closest that a worshipper comes to the wrath of The Almighty is when he loses his temper.” And indeed, so true is the saying: “Anger is like a wind that blows upon the light of sense and puts it out.”
Anger may lead to various adverse effects, some of which are listed here: enmity and hostility in the heart; jealousy and hatred among people; abuse, insult and foul speech; conflict and discord; divorcing the spouse – followed by regret later on; violence and aggression which may ultimately lead to murder; uttering a curse against oneself, family, children or wealth – which then results in personal suffering and loss; and so forth.
Anger may continue to increase in a person until it even reaches the level of disbelief.
There are various reasons that give rise to anger such as pride and arrogance, self-conceit, mockery and playful jesting, humiliation and attachment to and love of this life. Some foolish people signify anger to be a sign of strength, bravery and masculinity. In this manner they approve of it until it becomes a matter of praise in their sight.
Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) explained this gross misunderstanding so beautifully when he said, “A powerful person is not the one who can wrestle (others), but a powerful person is the one who can control himself when angry.”
Controlling one’s anger requires much more strength and power than wrestling. Actually a wrestler may knock out his opponent and be happy with that, regarding himself as being strong and powerful, yet the person who proves to be even more powerful is the one who controls his or her anger.
In general, the reasons for anger are many and they differ from one individual to another – so from among the people are those who get angry due to the silliest of reasons. Therefore it remains upon each individual to always calm down and distance themselves from that which may provoke their anger.
It is not possible to free oneself from anger if its triggers remain.
Therefore, the means to curing anger is by first identifying and then removing these triggers and putting in place that which counters it.
It is quite clear that the remedy for arrogance is through humility, for self-conceit is through knowledge of the self and its shortcomings, for mockery is by refraining from it, for playful jesting is by having seriousness in affairs, for humiliation is by forbidding foul speech and for the love of this life through appreciation of every goodness and contentment. We will discuss the remedies of anger in the next article.
(. . . to be continued next week)
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan, please contact: Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars Publications Department P.O. Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare Tel: 04-614078 / 614004, Fax : 04-614003 e-mail: [email protected]

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