Lesson 4 of 6 · Catching it before the shout
And the moment itself, in the tradition
For the two seconds before the shout, the tradition has something, and it is not what people usually quote. The single most circulated text on anger in Muslim material is graded weak, so it is not used here. What is sound is the following.
The strong one is not the one who overpowers people, it is the one who controls himself when he is angry. A man asked for advice and was told, do not become angry, repeatedly, and the repetition is the content. And kindness does not enter a thing without adorning it.
Alongside those, two verses and one warning about how to read the second. Had you been harsh and hard hearted they would have scattered from around you: that is a conditional about what harshness would have cost a relationship, which is this course's claim across years, and its addressee is the Prophet and the people around him rather than a parent and a child. And when Musa and Harun were sent to Pharaoh, who had exceeded all bounds, the instruction that went with the sending was to speak to him gently. Both halves of that are below, because with only the second one the argument is invisible.
al-Ghazali separates the two jobs that this lesson separates. Everything earlier in the lesson is about draining the causes so that the thing does not flare. For the flare itself he says, at section 27312 of the Ihya', in Arabic only:
فإذا جرى سبب هيجه فعنده يجب التثبت حتى لا يضطر صاحبه إلى العمل به على الوجه المذموم وإنما يعالج الغضب عند هيجانه بمعجون العلم والعمل
Our rendering, and it is a rendering: when a cause arises that stirs it up, then at that moment holding still becomes obligatory, so that the one it is in is not driven to act on it in the blameworthy way; and anger at its flaring is treated only with a compound of knowledge and action.
A compound of knowledge and action is what this course is handing you. A reason, and a thing to do. Neither of them works on its own.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Be careful with this one. It is a conditional about what harshness would have cost a relationship, which is the claim being made across years, and its addressee is the Prophet and the people around him rather than a parent and a child.
فَبِمَا رَحۡمَةࣲ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمۡۖ وَلَوۡ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلۡقَلۡبِ لَٱنفَضُّواْ مِنۡ حَوۡلِكَۖ فَٱعۡفُ عَنۡهُمۡ وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡ لَهُمۡ وَشَاوِرۡهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمۡتَ فَتَوَكَّلۡ عَلَى ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
By an act of mercy from God, you [Prophet] were gentle in your dealings with them- had you been harsh, or hard-hearted, they would have dispersed and left you- so pardon them and ask forgiveness for them. Consult with them about matters, then, when you have decided on a course of action, put your trust in God: God loves those who put their trust in Him
Qur’an 3:159
The first half of the second, here because with only the second half the argument is invisible. This is who Musa and Harun were being sent to.
ٱذۡهَبَآ إِلَىٰ فِرۡعَوۡنَ إِنَّهُۥ طَغَىٰ
Go, both of you, to Pharaoh, for he has exceeded all bounds
Qur’an 20:43
The instruction that went with sending Musa and Harun to Pharaoh, which is why the verse before it has to be shown too.
فَقُولَا لَهُۥ قَوۡلࣰ ا لَّيِّنࣰ ا لَّعَلَّهُۥ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوۡ يَخۡشَىٰ
Speak to him gently so that he may take heed, or show respect.’
Qur’an 20:44
The single most circulated text on anger in Muslim material is graded weak and is not used here. What is sound is this. The strong one is not the one who overpowers people, it is the one who controls himself when he is angry.
Narrated Abu Huraira:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger
Sahih al-Bukhari 6114graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
A man asked for advice and was told, do not become angry, repeatedly. The repetition is the content.
Narrated Abu Huraira:A man said to the Prophet (ﷺ) , "Advise me! "The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Do not become angry and furious." The man asked (the same) again and again, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said in each case, "Do not become angry and furious
Sahih al-Bukhari 6116graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
And that kindness does not enter a thing without adorning it. The third of three sound things for the moment before the shout.
A'isha, the wife of Allah's Apostle (ﷺ), reported Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) as saying:Kindness is not to be found in anything but that it adds to its beauty and it is not withdrawn from anything but it makes it defective
Sahih Muslim 2594graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.