"Verily, I have been prohibited from emitting two foolish and wicked sounds, one that is emitted when something favorable happens, and the other that is expressed when calamity strikes." (ln order that you may not be sad aver matters that you fail to get, nor rejoice because of that which has been given to you.) (Qur'an 57: 23) the Prophet (bpuh) said: "Verily, true patience is that which is displayed during the initial shock." The Prophet (bpuh) said: "Love the one who is beloved to you in due moderation, for perhaps the day will come when you will abhor him. And hate the one whom you detest in due moderation, for perhaps the day will arrive when you will come to love him." the Prophet (bpuh) said: "And I ask you (O' Allah) to make me just, both while being in a state of anger and while being in a state of joy." If the greatest of men, the example that our creator used as a template for us all has to ask his lord to make him just during states of joy and anger, where would we fall? Human beings are carnal creatures, slaves to that which they feel. Happiness and anger are our two most common influential feelings. They sway us beyond our own character. When we feel what we don’t like, we become something that is contradictory to our morals. So who are we? Are we our emotions? Should they be trusted? Or do they mutate us, transform us into a distant twisted less just morally inclined version of our selves like Mr. Hyde. The first sin was pride. It led the devil to “Feel” something he didn’t quite like. He did not enjoy the feeling of having to prostrate to another creation of Allah. Pride led to his dislike, he was offended, his feelings were hurt, he felt something that made him uncomfortable so much to the point that he knew full and well the powers of Allah and yet his feelings led him to disobey and rival and become an opposition to his very creator. Shaytan knew he could stand no chance against Allah, creator of the vast universes. Yet his feelings poisoned and deluded him to take a detrimental path. That is the analogy I will make, how our feelings delude us and make us into something we were ought not meant to be. I find so many people have opinions about things they dislike and in turn causes them to say harsh and cruel things about others simply due to the fact that the dislike the idea of something in their minds. This is a volatile state to exist in, truly. Such people are the toxicity in society. We must never let our feelings dictate our words and actions, even if they be good feelings such as happiness. Have you ever felt the impulsive joy of spending money, shopping, each purchase making you happy and leading to more spending in a dopamine surge of money spending, you end up broke at the end of it all, though the trail of happiness you followed sure was rewarding. That money cannot just magically reappear. On the other side we have more bitter feelings of discomfort. Anger, we hate it yet we channel it. We say the meanest things and cause all kinds of mental trauma, and in the end of it all those who witness our speech in these times often can never un-see nor un-hear what they witnessed and thus we have given life to that image of ourselves. “such an idiot”, “what an A-hole” these are common things we say when we dislike something, but why do we give life to such unpleasant, unfriendly energy and feelings when this isn’t who we really are. When we allow our feelings to manifest in these ways we ultimately relinquish control, not keen to the deception at work we think we are In control, but if the devil himself who saw the works of God with his own eyes far better than any of us can see, if he succumbed to his feelings and from it resulted in his casting out from the most beautiful and divine of places then why do we still ignore his example and follow in his footsteps. In a way I believe it is all pride. Pride that our feelings or opinions are better than the thing we contrast it with, pride that the upset we feel and anger is due to the incorrectness of what we perceive, pride which declares that we should never be discomforted by an opposing opinion, or an act that we deem incompetent and lesser than any act we would commit. In a way, it is all pride, and when we fall into these feelings, when someone cuts you off and you call them an idiot or someone forgets to do something or loses something or breaks something and we dare feel something sour about it, that says we are better, we are superior, we are infallible, and maybe if it were us instead of the devil, we would ourselves….disobey Allah in the same act of pride that the devil succumbed to. So question your feelings, question why something makes you think harsh things or say harsh things. What can be so powerful that it takes us away from what we know to be good and pure and what Allah would love and prefer from us. Why do we stray from the beautiful moral compass given to us just to be able to label someone an idiot because they did something in a way we disapprove of? Are we our feelings? Or are feelings to be seen like symptoms, indicators of sickness setting in our hearts. I leave you with this question to ponder.
