Anger is the Disease of the Soul
What is Anger?
Anger is an emotion which is characterized by disagreement against someone or something. Anger also happen with the feeling of ignorance, hurt, shame, insecurity, sadness, guilt, fear. Sometimes anger results in the loss of relations, reputation and trust. Anger causes violence and destructive acts. Since, Islam is the religion of peace; hence Islam prohibits anger and advice to all people that avoid the anger as much as they could.
Abu Hurairah (R.A) narrated that a man said to the Prophet (P.B.U.H), “Advise me.” He replied, “Do not become angry”. The man repeated his request several times, and each time the Prophet (P.B.U.H) told him, “Do not become angry” [Al-Bukhari].
Anger is the Disease of Soul
Anger is one of the types of diseases. Anger is the most dangerous type of diseases which destroys and affects our souls. Our Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (P.B.U.H) disliked the act of anger and stated in hadith that anger does not show the powerfulness of man. He (P.B.U.H) elaborated the strength of a person in the following hadith,
“The strong man is not the one who can wrestle, but it is the one who can control himself when he is angry.” [Bukhari, Natharul Durrar: Volume 1, Page 183]
Is it Possible to Control Anger?
Anger is a natural psychological emotion like love, hate, and fear. There is not a single person in the world, who never gets angry in their entire life. Thus, to never get angry is impossible but to control anger is possible and if the person is not able to control then he may cause harm and hurt himself and others. Allah has mentioned in the Quran that He loves those who control their anger.
“… [those] who spend generously [in the way of Allah], whether they are in prosperity or in adversity, who control their anger and forgive other people, for Allah loves those who do good” [Quran 3:134]
Some ways in Islam to Reduce Anger
Hazrat Mohammad (P.B.U.H) said we could control our anger by saying “I seek refuge with Allah from the shaytaan.”
Sulayman ibn Saad said: "I was sitting with the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and two men were slandering one another. One of them was red in the face, and the veins on his neck were standing out. The Prophet (P.B.U.H) said, ‘I know a word which, if he was to say it, what he feels would go away. If he said "I seek refuge with Allah from the Shaytaan," what he feels (i.e., his anger) would go away." [Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 6/337]
At another place Abu Dharr has narrated that the Prophet Hazrat Muhammand (P.B.U.H) said, "When one of you becomes angry while standing, he should sit down. If the anger leaves him, well and good; otherwise he should lie down." [Abu Dawud Book 036, Hadith Number 4764]
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) also said, “If one of you becomes angry then he should stay silent.” [Sahih al-Bukhari Book 57, Hadith 5]
How to Cleanse Yourself from Anger?
Our Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (PBUH) mentioned in one of his hadiths that, “Anger comes from the devil, the devil was created of fire, and fire is extinguished only by water; so when one of you becomes angry, he should perform ablution.” [Abu Dawud: Book 41, Number 4766]
All of mentioned hadiths and verses of Quran says that Anger is not just an emotion but it is a kind of disease which could harm a person up to very extent. Like every disease has some cure, similarly anger also has cure. Anger is worse than anything for the mental health. Thus, in order to stay healthy and happy a person should avoid anger by all the best possible ways.
