Stop wishing for what others are blessed with

And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allah of his bounty. Indeed Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing.

[Qur'aan 4:32]

Allaah has blessed certain people with blessings He has not blessed others with. If you do not have something someone else has, you do not have the right to start wishing that you had it and that person did not have the blessing.

Allaah blesses whom He wills with what He wills. Rather then sit and burn in the fire of jealousy, you should supplicate to Allaah that He blesses you with that which you want.

You will see that people have certain blessings which you can never have. Then you will see that people have blessings which you can ask Allaah to give you. In either case, you have no right to wish ill upon those who have the blessings and look at them with envious eyes hoping that you had the blessing and they did not.

A woman cannot become a man. She cannot start wishing that she was one so she could do the things men can but women cannot. This is one blessing that she can never have. She has no right to look upon men and wish that she had been a man. Nor can she ask Allaah to make her a man. It is one of those blessings which Allaah has ordained for whom He willed and it will stay that way. If you do not have it, you do not have it.

Similarly,  Imaam al-Mahdi is the rightly guided one who Allaah will send to guide this Ummah. You cannot wish you were Imaam al-Mahdi. Nor can you ask Allaah that He make you Imaam al-Mahdi. This is one of those blessings which Allaah has ordained for him and no one else can have it.

Then there are those blessings which you can ask Allaah to give you. If you see someone who Allaah has blessed with wealth you can make dua that Allaah blesses you with wealth. However, you cannot at any cost wish ill for or look enviously upon the person who Allaah has blessed with wealth.

That is not permissible. You can ask Allaah to bless you with wealth. You cannot look at your brother in faith with eyes of envy and jealousy and wonder why he has so much wealth and you do not.

Narrated Ibn Mas`ud:

I heard the Prophet (allallaahu alayhi wa sallam) saying, "There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allah has given wisdom (i.e. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others."

[Sahiih al-Bukhaarii Hadiith No. 1409]

When you see that Allaah has blessed someone with something which leaves you in awe, you are supposed to bless him/her in regards to the blessing.

You do not want to kill him with your evil eye.

It has been narrated from Sahl ibn Haneef that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came out and traveled with him towards Makkah, until they were in the mountain pass of al-Kharar in al-Jahfah.

There Sahl ibn Haneef did ghusl (bathed), and he was a handsome white-skinned man with beautiful skin. ‘Amir ibn Rabee’ah, one of Banu ‘Adiyy ibn K’ab looked at him whilst he was doing ghusl and said: “I have never seen such beautiful skin as this, not even the skin of a virgin,” and Sahl fell to the ground.

They went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, can you do anything for Sahl, because by Allah he cannot raise his head.”

He said, “Do you accuse anyone with regard to him?” They said, “‘Amir ibn Rabee’ah looked at him.” So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called ‘Amir and rebuked him strongly.

He said, “Why would one of you kill his brother? If you see something that you like, then pray for blessing for him.”

Then he said to him, “Wash yourself for him.” So he washed his face, hands, forearms, knees and the sides of his feet, and inside his izaar (lower garment) in the vessel. Then that water was poured over him, and a man poured it over his head and back from behind. He did that to him, then Sahl got up and joined the people and there was nothing wrong with him.  

[Hadiith narrated by Imam Ahmad, Malik, al-Nasai and Ibn Hibban]

That is how damaging your evil eye can be when you look at someone who Allaah has blessed with something you do not have and you do not bless him for it.

And to begin with, when you see someone with something Allaah has blessed them with in this worldly life you should not be wishing for it. Rather, you are commanded to look at those below you in regards to this worldly life.

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

“Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of Allah.”

[Sunan Ibn Maajah Hadiith No. 4142]

All in all, stop wishing for that which Allaah has blessed others with. When you see something someone has which amazes you bless him/her for it. Remind yourself that we are not here to make this world our permanent abode. The real life is the life of the next world.

Strive for that.

Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure

On adorned couches, observing.

You will recognize in their faces the radiance of pleasure.

They will be given to drink [pure] wine [which was] sealed.

The last of it is musk. So for this let the competitors compete.

[Qur'aan 83:22-26]