holds my soul in His hand, none of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”

Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, among you is one who lingers behind. If a calamity befalls you, he says, ‘Allah has favoured me, for I was not present with them.’

“But if bounty from Allah comes to you, he will surely say—as though there had never been any affection between you and him—‘If only I had been with them, I would have attained a great triumph!’”

Those who linger behind do not love for their believing brothers what they love for themselves. Rather, if a calamity befalls their brothers, they rejoice that it has struck them alone. If a blessing comes to them, they do not rejoice for them, but wish to have a share of it themselves. Thus, when they have no love for Allah, His Messenger, or the Hereafter, they rejoice only in worldly gain that comes their way or worldly harm that is averted from them. If they did have such love, they would love their brothers, rejoice in the bounty He bestows upon them, and feel pain at the calamities that befall them. Whoever does not rejoice at what brings joy to the believers and grieve at what brings them grief is not one of them.

The two Sahīh collections report from ‘Āmir that he heard al-Nu‘mān ibn Bashīr delivering a sermon and saying:

“I heard the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—say: ‘The believers, in their mutual love, mercy, and compassion, are like a single body: when any part of it suffers, the rest of the body responds with fever and sleeplessness.’”

The two Sahīh collections also report from Abū Mūsā al-Ash‘arī—may Allah be pleased with him—who said:

“The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: ‘One believer is to another like a building whose parts strengthen one another,’ and he interlaced his fingers.”

Avarice is a disease, and miserliness is a disease; envy is worse than miserliness, as in the hadith