HADHRAT IBN UMAR ( RADHIYALLAHO ANHO )Hadhrat Ibn Umar (Radhiyallaho anho) marrates that Rasulullah ( Sallallaho alaihe wasallam )said," Hasad (Jealousy) is not permitted except in respect of tow persons - one whom Allah blesses with recitation of Qur'an amd he remains engaged in it day and night, and the other who is given a lot of wealth by Allah and he spends it day and night."On the authority of many ayaat of the Qur'an and numerous ahadith hasad is an evil and is absolutely forbidden.This hadith,however, appears to permit hasad in respect of tow persons. Because there aremany well-known traditions dealing with hasad, the Ulama (Plural of aalimreligious scholar)have interpreted this hadith in tow ways. Firstly, hasad as denoted by the Arabic word 'ghibtah',is taken here in the sense of emulation. There is a differnce between jealousy and emulation.Hasad is a desire that one possessing a blessing should be deprived of it; whether the person who feels jealous acquires it or not, whil emulation signifies a desire to possess a thing, whether the actual owner is deprived of it or not. Since hasad is haram ( religiously unlawful )under Ijma ( consenus of opinion ), the Ulama have traslated, by way of metaphor, this wordhasad as ggibtah, meaning emulation. Ghibtah is permissible in worldly affairs and commendable in religious matters. The second interpretation is that the term hasad has been used in a hypothetical sense, i, e, if hasad were permissible it would have been so w
