The Sunnah Ways To Manage Your Anger
In this article, we shall discuss how anger can be managed and its effects on both the individual and society. Allah (SWT) mentions anger in the Quran on a number of occasions. And we will also look at the Sunnah ways to manage our anger.
In one instance,
Allah (SWT) says: “And those who spend their days angry without any right to be so, and those who are insolent towards others – those will have a humiliating punishment”
(Quran, 90:10)
Anger is also mentioned in a number of hadiths.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “The strong man is not the one who can overpower others, but the one who controls himself when he gets angry”
Bukhari and Muslim
Anger is an emotion that we all experience at some point in our lives. It is an emotion that can lead to many benefits such as heightened performance and courage. However, anger also has negative effects such as increased stress levels and aggression. It is important to learn the sunnah ways to manage our anger.
Anger is an emotion that is experienced by everyone at some point in their lives.
The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Verily, Allah is mild and loves mildness, and He gives for mildness what He does not give for harshness”
Muslim
In order to produce a calm effect in us, Allah (SWT) has prescribed a number of things that we can do. Some of these include: making dua to Allah (SWT), remembering Allah (SWT), being patient, entertaining good thoughts, distancing oneself from anything that may cause anger, etc.
Allah (SWT) has given us guidelines on how to deal with this emotion of anger. All of these are found in the Quran and Sunnah. However, there is no single way in which we can manage anger. Instead, there are many strategies that have been prescribed by Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).
Control of tongue
Some people think that anger is a sign of strength, but it isn’t. When you lose self-control and say things like “I’m going to kill him” or use bad language in an angry state this can create more harm than good for yourself as well as those around you who might be affected by your words – especially if they were close friends with the person whose death sparked off their rage! It would also destroy his/her home life etcetera which will make them less happy too. So silent perseverance may help avoid these ugly situations altogether.
The messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “If any of you becomes angry, let him keep silent”
Reported by Imam Ahmed, Al Musnad. See also Saheeh Al-Jami, 693, 4027
Control of physical aspects
There is a hadith of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) stating that if a person is standing while he is in the state of anger. Then he needs to sit down. If he is sitting then he needs to lie down. Even if that doesn’t help then he needs to do wudhu.
The messenger of Allah said: “If any of you becomes angry and he is standing, let him sit down, so his anger will go away. If it does not go away, let him lie down”
Abu Dawud, book. 034, hadith no. 4764
Controlling your physical aspect will help us avoid the worst situations. One of the worst situations you can find yourself in is murder. We’ve seen cases where people get so angry they take out their anger on others and end up committing murder without even realizing what they are doing or why it happened at first glance! This could be prevented by being patient with one another.
“I was sitting with the Prophet (PBUH) when a man came to him leading another man by a rope. He said ‘O Messenger of Allah, this man killed my brother’. The messenger of Allah asked him: ‘Did you kill him?’. He said: ‘yes’. The Prophet asked: ‘How did you kill him?’. The man said: ‘He and I were hitting a tree to make the leaves fall, for animal feed, and he slandered me so I struck him on the side of the head with an axe, and killed him…..’
Reported by Saheeh Muslim, 1307, edited by Al-Baaqi
Seek refuge from Shaytaan
Anger is from the Shaytaan. He will whisper into your ear and take control of your emotions if you don’t control them.
Sulayman Ibn Sard said: “I was sitting with the Prophet (PBUH) and the two men were slandering one another. One of them was red in the face, and the veins of his neck were standing out. The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘I know a word, if he were to say it, what he feels would go away: ‘I seek refuge with Allah from Shaytaan’’ what he feels (anger) would go away.’
Reported by Al-Bukhari, book. 054, hadith no. 502
Rewards for controlling anger
Allah (SWT) tests us and even rewards us abundantly for every good deed. controlling our anger is also included in good deeds and we will be rewarded for the same.
“Whoever controls his anger when he has the means to act upon it, Allah will fill his heart with contentment on the Day of resurrection”
Reported by Al-Tabarani, 12/453. See also Saheeh Al-Jami, 6518
As we can see, there is no one way in which you should manage anger. Every situation requires a different strategy and it has been precisely defined for us by Prophet Muhammed (PBUH). Whoever follows his guidance will receive Allah’s blessings, support, and protection.