Islam As It Is
Islamic Character
~ 137 ~
beings at some time or another, and keeping it
under tight rein is often a matter of the greatest
difficulty. Fury can be so blinding that it causes a
man to forget all norms of human decency—to the
point of wishing to humiliate; injure or even kill an
opponent. He descends to using vile, harsh
language, even comes to blows, all in the attempt to
beat his opponent either verbally or physically. His
anger does not allow him to see that in so doing he
degrades himself as much as the object of his rage.
And it is not just the weak, the egoistic, or the ill-
natured who fall a prey to such baneful impulses,
but even the most morally upright and socially
irreproachable members of the community.
Anger gives a momentary illusion of strength, but
in actual fact it weakens, degrades and destroys. An
otherwise excellent character is seriously marred by
fits of rage, for that is what causes a man to forget
all his moral precepts and throw his principles to
the winds. It was not without good reason that the
Prophet said, “A strong man is not one who
overwhelms his opponent. A strong man is one
who controls himself when he becomes angry.”
