‘HOW DOES IT make you feel when you see and hear what is happening in Palestine,’ I asked the children.
‘I feel angry,’ they said.
‘But isn’t anger a bad thing? Remember the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ when he repeatedly told a man: “Do not be angry.”’ (Bukhari)
‘So, what are you saying? That I shouldn’t be angry.’
‘No not quite. I’m just exploring this issue so that we are clear in our thoughts. Anger is an emotion that Allah has created in us. Like all emotions, it has the power to do good or evil. It can be constructive, or it can be destructive.
It is constructive when anger arises for the sake of Allah. It is Allah who has given us the guidance and established what is right and wrong. Whenever we see those limits being violated, that should make us feel angry. In fact, it is that feeling of anger that drives us to remove those violations and restore what is right again. That is justice- to restore the balance of what is right. If we didn’t feel anger in such instances, then there would be no driver to restore justice and tyranny would increase.
The tabi’een Malik ibn Dinar said: ‘Allah, the Exalted, revealed to the angels to destroy a certain village. The angels said: ‘O our Lord, in it is your worshipping slave.’ Allah, the Exalted, said: ‘Start with him, for his face never changed (i.e., turned red with anger for the sake of Allah) when he saw my prohibitions violated).’ (al-Bahr al-Muheet)
Anger for the sake of Allah means that iman becomes the consistent regulator of our emotions.
If not for the sake of Allah, then anger is for our own sake, our ego and our interests. This is the destructive anger that leads to injustice and tyranny over others. That is the type of anger that the Prophet ﷺ forbade in the hadith where he advised the man to control his anger.
This difference between praiseworthy and forbidden anger is what we learn from the hadith where Ai’shah (ra) said: ‘The Prophet ﷺ never took revenge over anybody for his own sake but (he did) only when the limits of Allah were violated; in which case, he would take revenge for Allah’s sake.’ (Bukhari)’
‘But isn’t there a danger of doing the wrong thing even if we feel anger for the sake of Allah?’
‘The answer is yes. In Islam, we know that for any action to be accepted by Allah, the intention needs to be for Allah’s sake and the action needs to be in line with the Qur’an and sunnah of our Beloved ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘If anyone loves for Allah’s sake, hates for Allah’s sake, gives for Allah’s sake and withholds for Allah’s sake, he will have perfect iman.’ (Abu Dawud)
It cannot be one without the other. Otherwise people can wrongly use good intentions to justify taking the law into their own hands and take actions that end with more injustice and tyranny. For the Believers, the ends do not justify the means. Rather the ends and the means are both defined by Islam.
So, in the case of Palestine, we are angered not just by the current killing of innocents and indiscriminate destruction but more importantly, by what lies behind it, a 100-year history of occupation of the land of Palestine and an unjust apartheid system. Our anger should lead us to strive to deeply understand why Palestine is important to the Believers and the history of this area so that we can discern truth from falsehood. Our anger should lead us to know Allah’s hukm on how to resolve this- to counter the lies and create the correct public opinion for the liberation of this land by the professional armies of the Muslims and replace the system with the justice of Islam. Our anger should push us to be better Muslims all round so that we can contribute more to that work and remain steadfast in that path. Otherwise, all we will have experienced is anger and be caught up in shallow slogans whilst not creating any change.’