On Anger, hatred, and envy: A Study of Imam Ghazali's Ihya Book 25 - Al-Maqasid Weekend Retreat - Dec 12-14,2025

1. YouTube Video: Session 1: The Dangers of Anger -Ustadh Amjad Tarsin- Dec 12, 2025

https://www.youtube.com/live/Lwbiq5x7SX0?si=tPeq71cY0PaHFqrb

2.YouTube Video: Retreat Mawlid: Dec 13,2025

https://www.youtube.com/live/knDhXro0bAw?si=RaREGSioW_8_nghV

3. YouTube Video: Closing Session: Dec 14,2025 - Dhikr & Dua

https://www.youtube.com/live/pBwYJxeHOek?si=Onady_ipKwCbzt2E

Anger, hatred, and envy are three of the most destructive illnesses of the heart and destroyers of one’s religion. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “Anger certainly spoils faith like aloe spoils honey,” [al-Bayhaqi] and when a man asked him for advice, the Prophet ﷺ replied, “Do not become angry,” and when the man repeated his question several times, the Prophet ﷺ gave the same answer: “Do not become angry.” [Ahmad] Unlike some other blameworthy traits, the goal is not to eradicate anger completely as it is praiseworthy under certain circumstances, but it must be controlled if aroused. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The strong one is not the one who can overpower someone physically; the strong one is the one who controls himself when angered.” [Bukhari & Muslim] Uncontrolled anger can lead to other insidious qualities, including hatred, anger’s inward expression, which in turn leads to envy, the desire for Allah’s blessing to be removed from someone and happiness at that person’s sorrow. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Envy consumes good deeds just like fire consumes wood.” [Ibn Maja] In On Hatred and Envy, Imam Al-Ghazali, looks at the essence of anger, hatred, and envy, their causes, their cures, and the merit of forbearance, pardon, beneficence, and kindnesses in struggling against them. We pray that this will be a weekend filled with abundant blessings as we acquire sacred knowledge and spend time in devotion together.

Mecca Books: Al-Ghazzali On The Treatment Of Anger, Hatred And Envy: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Muhammad Nur Abdus Salam (Translator)

Al-Ghazzali discusses the roots of anger that will never be uprooted but how the triumph of God's Unity conceals anger, how the treatment of anger is obligatory along with the causes of anger. In addition he describes hatred and envy, the harms of envy, its true nature, the treatment for envy and how envy must be uprooted from our hearts.

About Imam Al-Ghazali

Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali was born in 450 AH (1058 A.D) in the Iranian town of Tus, studied Islamic law and theology at the Seljuq College in Nishapur, and became a distinguished professor at the famous Nizamiyya University in Baghdad.

Despite his glittering success, he was inwardly dissatisfied, so he abandoned his career for the life of hardship, abstinence and devotion to worship. During ten years of wandering, he experienced a spiritual transformation, in which the Truth came to him at last, as something received rather than acquired.

Blessed with an inner certainty, he then applied his outstanding faculties and vast learning to the task of revitalizing the whole Islamic tradition. Through his direct personal contacts, and through his many writings, he showed how every element in that tradition could and should be turned to its true purpose.

Imam al-Ghazzali was fondly referred to as the "Hujjat-ul-lslam", Proof of Islam, he is honoured as a scholar and a saint by learned men all over the world and is generally acclaimed as the most influential thinker of the Classical period of Islam.

He passed away in 505 AH (1111 A.D).