Three keys to living a life of Ihsan (cont.)
Key 2: Restrain anger- what is anger?
- The Holy Quran talks about ‘ghayz’- inner rage and ‘ghadab’- anger manifested in words or actions.
- If ‘ghayz’ is not managed, it will show up as ‘ghadab’.
- Allah has created us perfectly and anger is not a design flaw within us.
- Anger is a psychological state that results from inner agitation and desire for revenge.
- Anger has a great potential to be misused.
- It’s a signal amplifier signifying what is important to a person.
- Anger hides more vulnerable emotions.
- Unprocessed emotions will eventually cause disease in our bodies.
- Both extremes of either unleashing or deny anger are unhealthy for a person’s physical and mental well-being.
- When it becomes a habit to blame others for one’s anger, then that insanity becomes fixed. Anger is a very energizing emotion as it is meant to deal with a threat.
- Anger gives one a feeling of power and righteousness which then feeds the ego and ends up depriving one’s soul and spirit.
How to control anger:
- When such anger is experienced one must always remember the wrath of God.
- The faculty of anger which has been given to us has to be used in a balanced way.
- True power lies not in unleashing but in controlling anger.
- Instead of just feeling angry, turn that anger into productive action which leads to social movements being born.
- The proper use of the emotion of anger helps with the establishment and maintenance of a just social order and civic life.
LINKS:
SURAH ALI ‘IMRAN VERSE 134
“Forty Hadith” by Ruhollah Khomeini
“Al-Ghazzali On Disciplining the Self” by Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazzali
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