Etiquette of Guarding Against Envy (Al-Hasad) in the Quran & Sunnah

1. Seek refuge from the envier when he envies.

Allah says:

وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ

and from the evil of an envier when he envies. (Surah Al-Falaq 113:5)

Envy is named in the surah of refuge beside sorcery and the whisperer — a real harm in the world, met not with counter-envy but with Allah’s protection.

2. “Or do they envy people for what Allah gave them of His bounty?”

Allah says:

أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَىٰ مَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِۦ ۖ فَقَدْ ءَاتَيْنَآ ءَالَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَٱلْحِكْمَةَ وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُم مُّلْكًا عَظِيمًا

Or, is it that they are jealous of people over what Allah has given them of His bounty, while We have given to the House of Ibrāhīm the Book and the wisdom, and We have given to them a great kingdom? (Surah An-Nisa 4:54)

The verse exposes envy’s root: resentment at Allah’s distribution. The envier’s quarrel is not really with the person — it is with the Giver.

3. Much envy is a wish to turn you back.

Allah says:

وَدَّ كَثِيرٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَوْ يَرُدُّونَكُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ كُفَّارًا حَسَدًا مِّنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِهِم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۖ فَٱعْفُوا۟ وَٱصْفَحُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِىَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِۦٓ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

(O Muslims,) many among the people of the Book desire to turn you, after your accepting the faith, back into disbelievers - all out of envy on their part, even after the truth has become clear to them. So, forgive and overlook till Allah brings out His command. Certainly, Allah is powerful over everything. (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:109)

Allah unmasks the envy of those who wished the believers back into disbelief “out of envy from themselves, after the truth had become clear to them” — envy is not cured by facts; it is a sickness of the heart that facts cannot reach.

1. “Do not envy one another, do not hate one another…”

In the great narration of brotherhood he ﷺ said: “Beware of suspicion… and do not envy one another, do not hate one another, do not turn away from one another — and be, servants of Allah, brothers.”

Lesson: Envy is treated as a family disease: it is named first among the things that dissolve brotherhood.

2. No envy — except in two cases.

“Do not wish to be like anyone except in two cases: a man to whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it righteously in the way of truth; and a man to whom Allah has given wisdom, and he acts according to it and teaches it.”

Lesson: The only permitted longing is aspiration toward good — wanting the like of another’s worship and generosity, never the removal of his blessing.