Do not get angry, and Paradise will be yours

Abu’l-Darda رضي الله عنه said: I said, O Messenger of Allaah صلي الله عليه وسلم, tell me of a deed which will earn me admission to al-Jannah (Paradise).
He صلي الله عليه وسلم said, (( لَا تَغْضَبْ وَلَكَ الْجَنَّةُ ))
“Do not get angry, and Paradise will be yours.”
[Source: Saheeh at-Targheeb at-Tarheeb, (#2749)]

al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (رحمه الله) made some important points in Fath al-Baari in his commentary on the hadeeth (narration) “Do not get angry”. He said:

“al-Khattabi said: The meaning of the phrase ‘Do not get angry’ is, Avoid the things that cause anger and do not expose yourself to that which provokes it. Anger itself could not have been forbidden, because it is something natural which cannot be removed from human nature.

Someone else said: what is meant is that which can be achieved by training oneself… It was said that it means, Do not do that which anger provokes you to do.

Ibn Battal said: the hadeeth indicates… that striving to control oneself is more difficult than striving against the enemy, because the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) described the one who controls himself at times of anger as being the strongest of people.

Someone else said: Perhaps the person who asked this question was hot-tempered; the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) used to command each person to do that which was most appropriate for him, so he summed up his advice to this person by telling him not to get angry.

Ibn al-Teen said: in the words ‘Do not get angry’, the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) brought together the good of this world and of the Hereafter, because anger results in cutting off ties and withholding kindness, and it may lead to one doing harm to the person with whom one is angry, which diminishes one’s religious commitment.

One of the scholars said: Allah created anger from fire, and made it an instinct in man. When there is a dispute, the flames of anger are fanned until a person’s face and eyes become red, because the skin reflects what is underneath it…

Anger produces external and internal changes, such as a change in colour, trembling, uncontrolled actions and a change in appearance, such that if the angry person could see himself when he is angry, he would feel ashamed of his ugly appearance and the way his appearance has changed. All of that is what happens on the outside.

The internal effects are even worse, because it generates hatred in the heart, envy (hasad) and all kinds of bad feelings. The most ugly effects of anger are the internal effects, and the external changes are the results of the internal changes. All of this has an effect on the body.

The effect on the tongue is that it speaks words of slander and foul language which the wise person would feel ashamed of, and the angry person regrets them when he calms down.

The effects of anger can also be seen in people’s actions, when they beat and kill. If the angry person does not have the chance to do that, he turns his anger against himself, tearing his garments and slapping his cheeks; sometimes he may have a seizure, or fall unconscious, or break vessels, or hit someone who has not done anything wrong.

Whoever thinks about these evil actions will realize just how much wisdom there is in these gentle words of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم), ‘Do not get angry,’  and to how great an extent they protect people’s interests by warding off this great evil which may otherwise lead who knows where.

All of this has to do with anger for the sake of worldly things, not anger for the sake of religious matters… (Anger for the sake of Allah is praiseworthy and recommended, such as anger when seeing evil actions).

It helps a person not to get angry when he bears in mind what has been narrated concerning the virtues of restraining anger, and the warnings concerning the results of anger; he should also seek refuge with Allah from the Shaytan… and do wudu (ablution)… And Allah knows best.”

[Source: Fath al-Baari, (10/520)]