How Can You Strike a Balance between Apparent and Hidden Blessings?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
How do we balance the concealment of blessing to avoid envy and acceptance of blessing through gratitude and the qadr of Allah?
A person may take sufficient precautions against the diseases of envy and acceptance of the qadr of Allah. However, some blessings may become apparent over time even if the person tries his best to conceal them. I’ve often seen that in this world, people are greatly envied for apparent blessings of beauty, which can hardly be concealed except by wearing nice/decent clothes. Isn’t it true that envy is prevailing in the world today?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your valuable question.
We need to have a balance between showing our blessings and concealing them. There has to be a middle path from both extremes. One conceals one’s blessings until others see them. One does not go on about telling and showing it off from the beginning.
Most Importantly, it is to protect ourselves from jealousy and evil eye and remind others of it, and embody ourselves with gratitude, always showing to Allah by way of worshiping Him and being inwardly and outwardly grateful through one’s actions. See the links below.
Everyone Blessed will be Envied, So Be Cautious.
Mu‘adh ibn Jabal reported: The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Help yourselves to meet your needs by being discrete, for everyone who is given a blessing will be envied.” [Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Kabir]
“Help yourselves to achieve your goals” – and the version narrated by at-Tabarani, “Help yourselves to meet your needs” – “by being discreet” means: Conceal your goals from people, and seek Allah’s help to achieve them. Then he gave the reason for discretion: “For everyone who is enjoying a blessing is envied,” that is if you disclose to people what you are trying to achieve, they will envy you and put obstacles in your way to prevent you from achieving your goal.
Time When You Can Speak of Your Blessing
He replied, “O, my dear son! Do not relate your vision to your brothers, or they will devise a plot against you. Surely Satan is a sworn enemy to humankind.” [Quran, 12:5]
The time when you can speak of the blessing, as mentioned in the verse, is after it happens, and there is no fear of envy and jealousy.
Ibn Kathir (Allah have mercy on him) said, “The command is to conceal a potential blessing until it arrives and is made known.” [Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir; Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir]
What We All Can Do and Should Do
- Recite Fatiha, Ayat al-Kursi, and the Four Qul Suras to protect ourselves
- Say Masha Allah/Barak Allahu fik if something pleases you.
- Give gifts and do good to those whom you envy.
- Praise them when you wish to criticize them.
- Make dua for them even if reluctant to do so.
- Know how deadly envy is and how it will only return to harm you.
- Be Inwardly and Outwardly Grateful
- Be content with Allah’s decree.
You can search for more related answers on SeekersGuidance Answers.
Related:
- Should I Hide Blessings to Avoid the Evil Eye?
- Envy and Evil Eye – Life With Allah
- Can Supplication Change Destiny?
- Envy – The Path of Muhammad: Birgivi’s Manual of Taqwa Explained. [Video]
- Purification of the Heart by Hamza Yusuf. [Book]
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I pray this helps with your question.
Wassalam,
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete the hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled in an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and ‘Aalimiyya sciences. He then traveled to Karachi, Pakistan. He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for several years. He has taught hifz of the Quran, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to children and adults onsite and online extensively in the UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences. He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His interest is a love of books and gardening.
