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عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَقَالَ: أَوْصِنِي. قَالَ: «لَا تَغْضَبْ». فَرَدَّدَ مِرَارًا، قَالَ: «لَا تَغْضَبْ».

— رواه البخاري (6116)

Translation:

Abū Hurayrah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) reported: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “Advise me.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not become angry.” The man repeated his request several times, but the Prophet ﷺ replied each time: “Do not become angry.” (Narrated by Al-Bukhari[1])

Introductory Overview:

Among the many prophetic teachings that refine a believer’s inner world, this hadith stands out for its simplicity in wording yet vastness in meaning. With just two words — “Lā taghḍab” (Do not become angry) — the Prophet ﷺ pointed to a root cause of numerous spiritual, personal, family, and social problems.

Anger is a natural human emotion, but unchecked anger becomes a storm that sweeps away reason, harms relationships, and opens the door to sin. It distorts judgment, weakens self-control, and fuels regret. This hadith addresses the deeper discipline of the nafs, the purification of character, and the cultivation of a heart that remains steady when provoked.

The man mentioned in the hadith who asked the Prophet ﷺ for advice has been the subject of scholarly discussion. Some narrations suggest that he may have been Abū al-Dardāʾ[2] (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu), as al-Ṭabarānī relates a report in which Abū al-Dardāʾ asked the Prophet ﷺ to direct him toward an action that would admit him into Paradise, and the Prophet ﷺ replied, “Do not become angry, and Paradise will be yours.”

Classical scholars highlight that the Prophet ﷺ selected this advice specifically for the man because he recognised anger as the gate through which many other destructive traits enter: harshness, backbiting, cutting ties, injustice, and rash decisions. By closing this gate, a person protects himself from a thousand evils.

In essence, this hadith is a call to:

• emotional intelligence,
• spiritual maturity,
• self-restraint,
• good manners (ḥusn al-khuluq),
• and social harmony.

Anger: Key to All Evil

Classical scholars[3] described anger as the intense change that overtakes a person when the blood of the heart begins to boil and surge upward toward the upper parts of the body, causing the veins and arteries to swell and the face and eyes to turn red. In this state, the desire for retaliation is awakened, and a person may act in ways he would never approve of in moments of calm and clarity. This occurs when the angry person feels capable of overpowering the other. But when he feels unable to retaliate or senses hopelessness, the blood contracts inward, producing a kind of suffocating heaviness whose outward sign is the yellowing or paling of the face. Remarkably, these classical observations mirror what modern science identifies as the body’s stress response: the sympathetic nervous system releases adrenaline, increases heart rate, redirects blood flow toward the limbs, and prepares the body for confrontation. The physiological “fight response” appears as flushing and redness, while the “freeze response”, when one feels powerless, results in pallor and withdrawal. What the ancients described as a boiling of the blood is now explained through the activation of neural and hormonal pathways, yet the outward signs remain exactly as earlier scholars recorded.

In Musnad Aḥmad, Abū Saʿīd reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Indeed, anger is a burning coal in the heart of the son of Adam. Do you not see the redness of his eyes and the swelling of his veins?”[4] In another narration, he ﷺ said: “Anger is from Shayṭān, and Shayṭān was created from fire.”[5] These words capture both the spiritual and physical reality of anger: it is a flame kindled in the chest, inflamed by Shayṭān as a means of gaining influence over the human being. For this reason, one narration states, “When the ruler becomes enraged to the point of burning, Shayṭān seizes authority over him.”[6] The expression istashāṭa, meaning “to blaze or ignite,” conveys the state in which anger becomes an internal fire that consumes reason. Anger is a combustible force that disturbs the inner equilibrium, agitates the body, distorts judgment, and opens one of the chief doors through which Shayṭān seeks to mislead the human being.

The command “Do not become angry” may be understood in two complementary ways, as scholars such as Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī explained[7]. The first interpretation is that the Prophet ﷺ was directing him toward embodying the qualities that naturally extinguish anger at its roots: generosity, forbearance, modesty, humility, patience, refraining from harming others, pardoning, overlooking faults, and maintaining a cheerful and gentle disposition. When these noble virtues become a person’s habitual character, anger loses its grip upon the heart, and the soul remains calm even when provoked. This understanding suggests that the Prophet ﷺ was advising him to cultivate a moral personality that no longer reacts impulsively, because a refined heart resists the pathways that lead to anger.

The second interpretation is that the Prophet ﷺ intended: when anger arises, do not act according to it. A human being cannot prevent the emotion from appearing, just as Mūsā عليه السلام experienced anger until it subsided, as the Qur’an says: {وَلَمَّا سَكَتَ عَنْ مُوسَى الْغَضَبُ}. But a believer is commanded not to allow anger to dictate his words and actions. If a person restrains himself when anger appears and refuses to carry out what the anger urges, then its harm fades quickly, and often the emotion itself disappears as though it never existed. This is why Allah praises His righteous servants by saying: {وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ}, “Those who restrain their anger,” and {وَإِذَا مَا غَضِبُوا هُمْ يَغْفِرُونَ}, “and when they become angry, they forgive.” The Qur’anic model is not the absence of emotion, but mastery over it.

To reinforce this, the Prophet ﷺ offered a profound redefinition of strength. In the most authentic collections, he ﷺ said: “The strong one is not the one who overpowers others in wrestling, but the strong one is the one who controls himself at the moment of anger.”[8] In another narration, he asked the Companions who they considered a true wrestler, and when they described physical dominance, he corrected them by saying that true strength lies in conquering one’s own soul during anger.

Unrestrained anger is a gateway to countless sins—broken families, impulsive divorces, damaged friendships, severed ties, oppression, harsh words, slander, violence, and regret. By teaching him to restrain his anger, the Prophet ﷺ showed him the key to protecting himself from many moral and spiritual pitfalls.

The man in the hadith repeated his request for advice several times, but each time the Prophet ﷺ returned the same answer: “Do not become angry.” This repetition is significant. It indicates that the man expected perhaps a longer instruction or a more outwardly impressive act, yet the Prophet ﷺ returned him to a principle that, if mastered, could transform his entire character. Scholars also mentioned that it is possible the Prophet ﷺ recognised in this particular man a tendency toward excessive anger, and thus tailored the advice specifically to his personal spiritual weakness. This is supported by some narrations in which the man asked, “What will distance me from the anger of Allah?” and the Prophet ﷺ replied, “Do not become angry.”

One of the narrators reflected afterwards, saying: “I thought deeply about what the Prophet ﷺ had said, and I realised that anger gathers within it all forms of evil.”[9] This realisation captures the essence of the prophetic wisdom: anger is a gateway that opens into a multitude of moral and social harms, and when it is blocked, much corruption is prevented.

For this reason, Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad (raḥimahu Allāh) famously said, “Anger is the key to every evil.”[10] Similarly, when Ibn al-Mubārak was asked to summarise good character in a single phrase, he replied, “Leaving anger.”[11] Their statements reflect a deep understanding of how anger operates in the human soul.

Al-Haytami[12] notes that this hadith constitutes one quarter of Islam. Human actions are either good or evil. Evil springs from either desire or anger. By instructing us to eliminate anger or restrain it, the Prophet ﷺ was effectively eliminating half of the sources of evil, which is one quarter of all moral conduct if viewed within the totality of a believer’s actions. The fact that angels are entirely free from both desire and anger, and therefore free from all sin, further supports this understanding: the absence of these two forces is the absence of all corruption.

This hadith, therefore, represents a comprehensive principle of character refinement. It calls the believer to cultivate virtues that calm the heart, to resist acting on destructive impulses, and to embody true inner strength. Anger itself is not the problem; the problem is surrendering to it. And so, through these two phrases, lā taghḍab, the Prophet ﷺ offered a pathway to moral excellence, emotional intelligence, social harmony, and spiritual safety.

Harmful Effects of Anger

Anger leaves a trail of harm upon a person’s outward state, speech, behaviour, and relationships, as explained by Imam Al-Ghazali[13] and many other scholars. Outwardly, it distorts the face, reddens the eyes, and shakes the limbs, making a person appear almost transformed—as when someone erupts over a small traffic delay or a misplaced item at home. On the tongue, anger unleashes words that one would be ashamed of in calmer moments: insults, curses, accusations, rash oaths, or even impulsive divorce. Many families have witnessed a parent saying something wounding to a child or a spouse uttering a word of talaq that they later regret. In actions, anger drives people to break things, slam doors, strike others, or harm those who had no part in the conflict, such as kicking a chair, unjustly scolding a junior employee, or throwing a phone in frustration.

Inwardly, the damage is even deeper. Anger clouds the heart with rancour, envy, ill-will, and an eagerness to expose or embarrass the one who caused offence. A minor disagreement at work may turn into weeks of silent resentment; a neighbour’s small success may spark jealousy simply because an unresolved anger simmers beneath. Anger also overwhelms the intellect, weakening judgment to the point that sincere advice becomes fuel for further rage, just as when a person becomes even more furious upon hearing the simple words, “Calm down.” Al-Rāghib[14] likened the mind under anger to a narrow cave filled with smoke, where clarity suffocates, and the inner fire feeds on every word or gesture around it. In this state, Shayṭān easily pushes a person toward what he desires, for the angry soul becomes impulsive and unguarded.

As Ibn Miskawayh observed[15], this destructive temper also spills over onto the innocent and vulnerable and even to non-living things that have nothing to do with the problem. A parent vents frustration on children after a stressful day, a manager reprimands junior staff harshly due to unrelated stress, or a person lashes out at animals or breaks household items that simply “got in the way.” Beyond moral harm, anger deprives a person of worldly benefits—friendships are broken over trivial issues, jobs are lost due to temper, and important decisions are made hastily without reflection. Physically, anger raises blood pressure, disturbs sleep, triggers headaches, and contributes to heart strain or other illnesses. When one reflects on how many outward, inward, worldly, and spiritual harms emerge from a brief moment of rage, the depth of wisdom in the Prophet’s concise teaching becomes clear: “Do not become angry.”

Types of People in Their Anger Response

Imām Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī[16] رحمه الله divides people into three fundamental categories regarding the power of anger: tafrīṭ, ifrāṭ, and iʿtidāl. Tafrīṭ refers to a deficiency in anger where a person is so passive that he cannot defend his rights or repel harm — a blameworthy weakness of character. Ifrāṭ is excess, where anger dominates a person to the point that reason and religion no longer guide his reactions; such a person behaves impulsively, without deliberation or restraint. The praiseworthy state is iʿtidāl, moderation — where anger functions under the discipline of intellect and Sharīʿah, rising when honour or justice requires it and subsiding when forbearance is more virtuous. This balance reflects the prophetic model of strength described in the hadith: “The strong one is the one who controls himself at the moment of anger.”

Scholars also note variations in temperament regarding how quickly anger arises and how quickly calm returns. People fall into four types: those slow to anger and quick to reconcile, who represent the best moral disposition; those quick to anger but also quick to calm, whose virtue and weakness balance one another; those slow to anger but slow to let go, whose initial restraint is praiseworthy but whose lingering resentment is blameworthy; and those quick to anger and slow to reconcile, described as the worst category, combining two harmful traits.

The Prophet ﷺ described this contrast beautifully: “The best of men is he who is slow to anger and quick to be pleased, and the worst is he who is quick to anger and slow to be pleased.”[17]

In addition, classical ethicists such as al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī and Ibn Miskawayh observed that certain groups tend to be more susceptible to anger due to temperament or emotional fragility, such as children, women, the elderly, the sick, the greedy, and the miserly, all of whom react sharply when their desires are obstructed.

Al-Ghazālī emphasises that such quick-tempered behaviour is not courage or dignity but a sign of weakened character and diminished self-control, for even the physically strong may be morally weak if they cannot restrain their anger. True strength, he notes, lies not in erupting quickly but in governing one’s impulses through reason, patience, and the guidance of faith.

Managing Your Anger

Imām al-Ghazālī رحمه الله outlines a twofold method for purifying the soul from the vice of anger: uprooting its causes and calming it once it erupts. The first method focuses on prevention, for anger rarely appears without an underlying vice feeding it. Among its strongest triggers are arrogance, self-admiration, excessive joking, mockery, argumentative behaviour, competitiveness, betrayal, greed for wealth and status, and an obsessive desire to be honoured or obeyed. Each of these traits is a moral disease in its own right, and as long as they remain in the heart, anger will inevitably flare. Their treatment lies in recognising their spiritual dangers, reflecting on their ugliness, and consistently practising their opposites until humility, sincerity, honesty, patience, and moderation become natural habits of the soul. When these roots are uprooted, anger withers alongside them.

The second method treats anger after it has already ignited, and al-Ghazālī divides its cure into knowledge-based and action-based strategies. The knowledge-based remedies include six reflections.

1. Remembering the immense reward promised for suppressing anger, and the virtues praised in the Qur’an and Sunnah for forbearance, pardoning, and self-restraint.
2. Recalling the fear of Allah’s punishment, for Allah’s power over His servant is far greater than the servant’s power over the one he is angry with.
3. Reflecting on the consequences of revenge — the escalation of hostility, the long-term enmity, and the satisfaction your opponent gains from seeing you lose control.
4. Visualising your appearance during anger, disfigured and distorted, resembling a rabid dog, while the forbearing person resembles the Prophets and the righteous.
5. Examining the real motive behind retaliation — often nothing more than ego, pride, or a fleeting desire to dominate.
6. Recognising that anger arises from objecting to Allah’s decree, for events unfold by His will, not according to our whims; thus, accepting His qadar brings calm to the soul.

The Prophet ﷺ encouraged believers to reflect on the immense reward stored for those who restrain their anger

The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Whoever suppresses anger while able to act upon it, Allah will call him before all creation on the Day of Resurrection and allow him to choose whichever ḥūr he wishes.”[18] (Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, Tirmidhī)

In another narration, “No servant swallows a gulp more beloved to Allah than a gulp of anger he restrains for His sake.”[19]

Action-based strategies include what we explain below, of spiritual and behavioural remedies that address both the cause and the moment of emotional eruption

The Prophet ﷺ paid exceptional attention to anger, offering a set of

1. Seeking Refuge in Allah from Shayṭān

Anger is one of the primary gateways through which Shayṭān influences a person. In the Ṣaḥīḥayn, when a man grew intensely angry in front of the Prophet ﷺ, he said:“I know a word which, if he said it, what he feels would leave him: Aʿūdhu billāhi min ash-shayṭāni r-rajīm.”[20]

2. Changing Physical Posture to Limit Reaction

Anger fuels the body for retaliation; posture influences one’s readiness to act. By shifting posture, one reduces the physical capacity to harm and symbolically steps away from the urge to retaliate.

The Prophet ﷺ instructed: “If one of you becomes angry while standing, let him sit; if the anger leaves him, good; otherwise let him lie down.”[21] (Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd)

3. Remaining Silent During Anger

The Prophet ﷺ advised silence in moments of rage.  Silence protects a person from uttering words he will regret. Thoughtless speech in anger has destroyed relationships and even lives; therefore, silence is a mark of maturity and self-restraint.

The Prophet ﷺ said three times:
“If one of you becomes angry, let him remain silent.”[22] (Aḥmad)

4. Performing Wuḍūʾ or Ghusl

A further remedy is performing wuḍūʾ or ghusl, for anger is from Shayṭān, and Shayṭān was created from fire, which is extinguished by water. Beyond its symbolic meaning, wuḍūʾ practically interrupts the cycle of escalation, shifting attention away from the source of anger and cooling the body.

The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Anger is from Shayṭān, and Shayṭān was created from fire; fire is extinguished with water. So when one of you becomes angry, let him perform wuḍūʾ.”[23] (Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd)

By invoking Allah, changing posture, remaining silent, purifying oneself with water, and contemplating divine reward, a believer transforms a moment of inner turbulence into an opportunity for nearness to Allah and refinement of character.

References:

[1] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 6116

[2] Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ of al-Ṭabarānī, Hadith no. 2374, narrated from Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him), Other narrations indicate that he could have been Jāriyah ibn Qudāmah, the uncle of the famous al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays, and it is disputed whether he is a companion.

[3] Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī. Al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn bi-Sharḥ al-Arbaʿīn, Hadith Sixteen: The Prohibition of Anger.

[4] Musnad Imām Aḥmad, vol. 3, p. 19, and Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith no. 2191, narrated from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him).

[5] Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (Hadith no. 4784) and Aḥmad (Hadith no. 17985).

[6] Narrated by Aḥmad, vol. 4, p. 226.

[7] Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī. Al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn bi-Sharḥ al-Arbaʿīn, p. 329, Hadith Sixteen: The Prohibition of Anger.

[8] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 6114, and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith no. 2609, narrated from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him).

[9] Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Sunan al-Kubrā, vol. 10, p. 105; and Musnad Aḥmad, vol. 5, p. 373.

[10] Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī. Al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn bi-Sharḥ al-Arbaʿīn, p. 330, Hadith Sixteen: The Prohibition of Anger.

[11] Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī. Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa’l-Ḥikam, vol. 1, p. 363.

[12] Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī. Al-Fatḥ al-Mubīn bi-Sharḥ al-Arbaʿīn, p. 333, Hadith Sixteen: The Prohibition of Anger.

[13] Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī. Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Book on Condemning Anger, Hatred, and Envy, p. 168.

[14] Al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī. Al-Dharīʿah ilā Makārim al-Sharīʿah, p. 345.

[15] Ibn Miskawayh. Tahdhīb al-Akhlāq, p. 168.

[16] Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī. Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn, Book on Condemning Anger, Hatred, and Envy, p. 167.

[17] Narrated by Al-Tirmidhī (Hadith no. 2191) and Aḥmad (Hadith no. 11587).

[18] Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (Hadith no. 4777) and Al-Tirmidhī (Hadith no. 2021).

[19] Narrated by Ibn Mājah (Hadith no. 4189) and Aḥmad (Hadith no. 6114)

[20] Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith no. 6115; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith no. 2610.

[21] Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (Hadith no. 4782) and Aḥmad (Hadith no. 21386)

[22] Narrated by Aḥmad (Hadith no. 2136) and Al-Bazzār (Hadith no. 4872) with slight variation

[23] Narrated by Abū Dāwūd (Hadith no. 4784) and Aḥmad (Hadith no. 17985)