Hadith of the Week... Anger

The Messenger of Allah, Muhammed (saw) said :

"The STRONG MAN is not he who is a good wrestler; the STRONG MAN is in fact the person who controls himself at the time of anger."

(In Imam Bukhari's collection)

Muslimness aims to practice the actions of the calmest Prophet Muhammad (saw) and then learn to... Not become angry, (as much as normal).

WHAT IS ANGER? Recognise when you get Angry. This is STEP 1 = anger is a rage fierce, displeasure, passion excited by a sense of wrong, physical pain, inflammation, mad, hot tempered, irrational, choleric, inflamed, a violent passion excited by real or supposed injury. Scream.

ANGER CAN BE POSITIVE...
It's a way of hating bad actions, the lying of leaders, the hatred for the haraam --> Smoking, alcohol, domestic violence, social inequality, drugs, communism, unjust imprisonment, theft, deceit, rape, gender inequality. Hate them, hate them, hate them. The list is endless. GET ANGRY PEOPLE!

Remember that we're human. No-one, not even Allah, is commanding us to keep everything locked in. Sometimes we need to vent out this rage - find a punch bag and go nuts.
If we tune our hatred towards evil - pure evil - we would decrease the badness, not get angry at Allah for putting us in real difficult situations and others. Heck, we would really annoy Shaytaan!

HOWEVER... Anger usually destroys many noble qualities
It snatches away your beautiful wisdom, which is what separates us from other species. Shaytaan (Satan) easily dupes man's weakness, so whenever you're angry - Shaytaan is sitting there waiting to deepen it...

Anger is a spark, a firework. When you feel it - sit down! Breathe. Get into the practise of counting to 1000 and rethink the situation. Otherwise you'll fall deeper into a dark well, feel depressed - Shaytaan bubbles it till there are plates smashing and profanities bouncing off walls, only he slithers away smiling.
Being very adept at understanding psychology, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:
"...I know a statement if he or she say's it then the person with anger will cool down. We should say: "I SEEK REFUGE IN ALLAH FROM SATAN THE OUTCAST."

People become scared of the CREATION and not the CREATOR. People, dont do that. Be fearful and LOVE Allah, don't be afraid of other people who live differently. Don't be intimidated of breaking cultural values, of 'dishonouring' your family, thinking the consequences are harmful.

But, this does not give us the right to become angry with our parents, family and friends because of a genuine misunderstanding.

When you see wrong, get angry! When you feel wronged, get angry! When you DO wrong, boy, you should get angry. "Audhobillahi min'ashaytaan, nira'jeem" = I seek refuge in God, from the Devil who is cursed.

But don’t become too angry at everything miniscule and MASSIVE because extreme anger creates opposition and bitterness - Learn to let it go, live with it. Live on.

And don’t intentionally or unintentionally start wars. The slightest unjust word, backbiting, or cussing of a friend can lead to divorce, broken ties, resentment. *ouch*
We’re Muslims. Let people who meet us think: "Hmm, these guys NEVER lose their temper…Cool"

TOP TIPS TO PUT OUT THE FIRE (before we gotta call the firefighters)

1. When your blood boils and there’s a steam trail drifting from your head – count to 100. Or 200. Okay, if you’re really peeved, count to ten thousand, multiply it by 3, divide by your age and take away your cousin’s wife’s number of shoes. You got 417 right?
2. Sit down! No, really, If youre standing, ready to fling something at someone, sit down and close your eyes. Forget everything for a moment. Forget why you're mad. If sitting doesn’t work. Lay down. Lay flat on the floor. Your bed. The bus stop. The middle of the road – Scrap that. But lay down so you don’t break down.
3. Tell someone about it. Pick a neutral friend and let out your burden on to them.
4. Make wudhu (Ablution). "Anger is the effect of shaytaan and shaytaan was created from fire. And water extinguishes fire."
5. Say the anti-Shaytaan dua again "Audho billahi min’ashaytan nirajeem"
6. Resolve the issue immediately. Don’t let the anger turn to cement – have a good, rational, confrontation.
7. If in disagreement apologise even if you think (and know, and can prove) you are right.
8. If you can, pray a couple of rakat. Make it a habit. When you feel blue give Allah two.
9. No-one can change or improve over night. Take it one step at a time. The next thing that gets you furious– think of what you’ve just read. Apply it.
10. You're only strong if you can control your anger. Allah will reward you for taking five and trying to strive.

With peace.

(shaytan: Iblis, the Devil; dua: supplication, a prayer; rakat: a unit of obligatory prayer)