Book of Healing - Healing Through Knowledge - Cure of Ghussah (Anger)
Cure of Ghussah (Anger)
Tags: Anger, Ghussah, Forgiveness, Irascibility
1. First of all, let us see the literal meaning of the word "Ghussah". Al-ghussah in Arabic literally means that which causes choking, a lump in the throat, mortal distress, torment, agony, ordeal, choking sound, suppressed moan, as it is said in verse (73:13): "Wa ta'aman dha ghussatin (and food that chokes)". There is no doubt that ghussah or anger, all of a sudden creates such a temper in the state of man, that he chokes by it, the heart sinks in grief and sadness and the darkness of despair covers him. This shows that anger is a kind of intense ethical disease, whose cure is necesary as soon as possible, so that its roots may not grow stronger with the passage of time.
2. God, may He be blessed and exalted, has created Hazrat Adam in His own image. It is because of this that a moral smile of the children of Adam is far more beautiful and attractive than the smile of a flower. It is the sign of the blossoming of the bud of the heart. Or in other words, in such a state a current of light radiates off the face of the children of Adam, because smiling is the property of man alone. But who is to blame when he is angry due to some matter, he is beside himself with rage, and the attractive spring of a smiling countenance is destroyed and ruined, and darkness overcasts the face due to the extinction of light?
3. Qur'anic wisdom requires that the wise people should study the law of contraries deeply and thoroughly, for there are many key secrets in them. For instance, justice and injustice are recognised by each other, and by decreasing one the other increases. Justice is like the bright day and injustice is like the dark night. It is a fact that night takes the place of day, and day is created from night. Similarly, if a person rages with unwanted anger, then it is also possible for him to suppress it.
4. When a believing servant controls his anger, then by the command of God, a permanent attribute of forgiving is created in him. Although in reality the attribute of forgiving belongs to God (4:43, 4:99; 22:60), but according to "Takhallaqu bi-akhlaqi'llah (Create your manners according to the manners of God!)" the Divine attribute can, to some extent be reflected in the mirror of humanity, as is said in verses (3:133-134): "And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Paradise, whose extensiveness is (equal to) the heavens and the earth, it is prepared for those who are pious, who spend in ease as well as in straitened circumstance and those who restrain their anger and pardon men; and God loves the doers of good (to others)".
5. The interrelated and collective allusion of the above-mentioned wisdom-filled words and teachings is that when someone restrains his anger, then according to the law of contraries, it turns into the eminent attribute of forgiveness, which subsequently turns into good deed. The extremely sweet fruit of good deed is the love of God, which is unique and everlasting. What does the one whom God loves, not have? He has everything. Thus only such people can hasten to the forgiveness of God and Paradise and can become among the pious and enter Paradise forever.
6. In verse (42:37) referring to the mu'mins who have attained the rank of tawakkul (reliance on God), it is said: "And those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive (yaghfirun)". Thus how praiseworthy is an attribute of forgiveness by a believing servant, for this act is spiritually linked with the name Ghafur (Forgiver) and Ghaffar (Oft-forgiver). Although the Divine act comprises both the worlds and the human act is confined within the limits of human access, nonetheless their relation and link is an universally accepted fact. In short, the best medicine and cure for the disease of anger, is to create the habit of forgiveness in oneself, which requires not only knowledge, but also good deed.
7. Divine wrath is mentioned in numerous sacred verses of the Qur'an, but it is surprising that among His attributive names, there is none which signifies wrath. Thus, in this connection, it is my personal conviction that it is the Vicegerent of God, who is His Embodied Name, from whom His wrath sometimes appears. As for the names, such as Qahir and Qahhar, they do not signify anger and wrath, rather, they mean overpowering, vanquishing, force to conquer, as it is said about the Day of Resurrection: "To whom belongs the kingdom this day? To Allah, the One (Unifier), the Subduer" (40:16).
8. Now we have to see among the levels of minerals, vegetables, animals, human beings and angels, where the power of irascibility, or wrath, is created? It is obvious that stones and trees do not have the capacity of wrath or irascibility; it is the animals which are endowed with this faculty so that they may use it in their own defence. Since man also has the animal soul, therefore it became necessary in him too. Nonetheless, since the animal does not have intellect, but man does, it became necessary for man to refine his anger. For, the lower powers or faculties which are found in man due to the animals soul, are like raw material for the workshop of the intellect, the purpose of which is to make higher and precious things from them.
9. There are two major divisions of the things which are used as medicine: Toxic and non-toxic. The toxic things are not used by the expert doctor in their original state, rather they are first refined and then used as medicine. Arsenic, stramonium, blue vitriol (copper sulphate), bitter almond, etc. are toxic, but when refined, they become extremely effective medicines. Similarly if the power of irascibility is also refined, from it is created the substance of forgiveness, by which in turn anger can be cured in the future.
10. There are many kinds of anger. For instance sagacious anger, superficial anger, artificial anger, childish anger and deep anger. Among these deep anger is bad and dangerous. It is a foolish rage in which the lava of sorrow and despair erupts and destroys all surrounding things. There is the fear of causing a heart-attack and blood pressure by such anger, because anger and grief affect the movement of the heart very badly.
11. Those Hindus who till today strictly practise their faith, do not eat meat. One reason for this is that according to their faith, to kill an animal is a sin. Another reason is that perhaps by eating flesh anger increases, as among the carnivora, the dog, the tiger, the lion etc. are extremely wrathful and irascible, whereas the grazing animals are not. This is Hindu philosophy. But in Islam there is no harm in eating lawful meat without transgressing the limits, and there is no wisdom in eradicating the opposite powers of the animal soul, such as anger, but rather the wisdom and contingency lie in refining them. It is in this sense that there is no monasticism in Islam.
12. If a mu'min has too much anger, he should not be disappointed, for despondency is a sin (39:53). Rather he should try to clearly understand the indication from God that for the sake of the greater jihad, he has to fight against his anger everytime, that is, he has to supress his anger. If he does so forty times, God willing, he will be victorious and successful in this field, and God, may He be blessed and exalted, will confer upon him the rank of His sacred friendship.
13. Ahadith:
- "When anyone of you is raging with anger, he should remain silent". For, in this state (of anger) the intellect does not function.
- "The supreme wisdom is the fear of God". How can he who fears the wrath of his Lord, be angry with others?
- "The Compassionate has mercy on those who have mercy [on others]" (Tirmidhi, I, 694).
- "The charity of good deed appeases the anger of the Lord". That is, to restrain wrath and anger is charity and good deed, by which the wrath of the Lord is appeased.
- "By forgiveness the honour of man is elevated".
- "The strong is not the one who throws someone down, rather, the strong is indeed the one who controls himself in wrath" (al-Mu'jam, III, 79).
Note: If someone has intense anger, he should read this article time and again. God willing, he will have many benefits.
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai
3/9/87
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