Malice and Ways to Confront It
Conversely, if we have impure and negative emotions, negative ideas will find their ways to our heart.
One of those negative emotions is malice and hate. It may have happened to you that someone has hurt your feelings and it has preoccupied your mind for hours, days or over months and years.
Malice and hatred are suppressed anger that grow in one’s mind and make him miserable. When the mind is preoccupied with such a negative emotion, one may not be able to benefit from the positive functions of his mind.
Such a state of mind wastes one’s life and leads him to making wrong decisions and doing wrong things. It may even cause mental and physical problems.
One way to prevent malice and hatred from forming in our mind is reflecting on what has made us so angry about the person in question.
The best way to confront it can be found in verse 34 of Surah Al-Fussilat: “Virtue and evil are not equal. If you replace evil habits by virtuous ones, you will certainly find that your enemies will become your intimate friends.”
The Quran also recommends patience and tolerance: “(Among) the servants of the Beneficent God are those who walk gently on the earth and when addressed by the ignorant ones, their only response is, ‘Peace be with you.’”
Another way is forgiveness and mercy. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said one of the best ways to create kindness in one another’s hearts is giving presents by which malice will not be allowed to take shape.
