Wholly Different: Why I Chose Biblical Values Over Islamic Values by Darwish Nonie

Author:Darwish, Nonie [Darwish, Nonie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781621576020
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Published: 2017-02-20T16:00:00+00:00

Envy

Envy Is a Sin vs. Envy Is a Curse

Pride often leads to envy. An inflated view of yourself tends to lead you to compare yourself with others and desire what they have, whether their traits or their situation. Thus it should be no surprise that the Islamic culture of pride is deeply immersed in envy as well.

The Bible warns us against envy: “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:1–2).

Envy, which can grow like cancer (rotting the bones) will ruin our relationship with God and hinder our happiness, internal peace, and spiritual maturity. It can also hurt others who are the objects of our envy, if we act upon our feelings.

But it is clear that the Bible focuses on envy as a sin that is deadly to the one who envies. The Koran, on the other hand, never mentions envy as a sin that is self-destructive. Instead, in the Koran, envy is regarded as the powerful source of a vicious curse—“the evil eye”—that can be intentionally placed on one person by another.

The Koran contains only three mentions of the word envy, and none of them are on envy as a sin to be avoided by Muslims. Instead they are about seeking protection against those who envy: “I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak; From the evil of that which He created; And from the evil of darkness when it settles; And from the evil of malignant witchcraft, And from the evil of the envier when he envies” (Koran 113:1–5).

The Koran describes those who stayed behind during jihad but who later came to collect the spoils of war as being envious of the jihadists: “Those who were left behind will say, when ye set forth to capture booty: Let us go with you. . . . Ye shall not go with us. . . . Then they will say: Ye are envious of us” (48:15).

The third mention of envy, in Koran 2:109, is about Jews and Christians who are portrayed as envious of Muslims: “Many of the People of the Scripture wish they could turn you back to disbelief after you have believed, out of envy from themselves. . . .”

Not one mention in Islamic scriptures is about envy as a sin or character defect. Instead of warning Muslims against this deadly sin and teaching them how to eradicate it from their lives, Islamic culture has created elaborate protective customs, activities, objects, and spells against those who envy, or have “the evil eye.” It is sad for me now to remember how many people I knew who were accused of envy or having an evil eye who were broken-hearted when they were told that by others, sometimes by close relatives.

Arab markets are stacked with jewelry and

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