The 365 · Tazkiyah · Day 57 · Envy
Shamātah · Gloating at Others' Misfortune
The disease
الشَّمَاتَة
Shamātah
The story
The Companions modeled the inverse practice: when their enemies fell, they did not gloat; they made duʿāʾ for them or remained silent. ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, when news of his rival al-Aʿmash's death came, did not celebrate; he said 'may Allah have mercy on him' and continued his work. ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, when his enemies fell at Ṣiffīn and elsewhere, wept, saying these were Muslims, even those who had fought him. The Companions' restraint is the worked example.
Why it's named first
Shamātah is the heart's pleasure at another's misfortune. It is the structural inverse of ḥasad: where ḥasad wishes another's blessing removed, shamātah celebrates another's blessing already removed. The disease often appears toward enemies, rivals, or simply people we resent: their car breaks down, their business fails, their child gets in trouble, their marriage strains. The diseased heart smiles. The Prophet ﷺ explicitly forbade this disease and named the consequence: the misfortune you gloat over may transfer to you.
In the Qur'an
Q 7:128: قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِ اسْتَعِينُوا بِاللَّهِ وَاصْبِرُوا ۖ إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لِلَّهِ يُورِثُهَا مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ ۖ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ. The verse names the structural Quranic principle: outcomes belong to Allah; the believer is patient and trusts the unfolding. Shamātah at another's misfortune is therefore a violation of the principle: it claims authority over the cosmic accounting, which belongs only to Allah.
In the Sunnah
The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Do not express joy at your brother's misfortune, lest Allah have mercy on him and afflict you with it.' (Sunan at-Tirmidhī 2506, classed ḥasan ghariib, narrated by Wāthilah ibn al-Asqaʿ.) The hadith names the operational consequence: the misfortune is transferable. The gloater becomes the next sufferer.
The cure
1. When you hear of an enemy's or rival's misfortune, immediately say 'may Allah make it easy for them' (out loud or silently). The verbal duʿāʾ inverts the disease. 2. If shamātah arises, name it: 'this is shamātah, this brings the same misfortune on me.' 3. Reflect: every misfortune you have ever suffered, you would not wish on your enemy. The reflection retrains the heart. 4. Refuse to discuss others' misfortunes with the satisfaction-tone. Discuss them only with concern or duʿāʾ.
What is at stake
Tirmidhī 2506: the misfortune transfers. The Prophet ﷺ named this as the structural law of shamātah.
A du'a for this day
اللَّهُمَّ سَهِّلْ عَلَيْهِ (O Allah, make it easy for him), said over the suffering enemy. And: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَمَاتَةِ الْأَعْدَاءِ (O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the gloating of enemies), the Prophet's ﷺ duʿāʾ for protection from being the victim of shamātah, recorded in Bukhārī 6347, Muslim 2707. The duʿāʾ also reminds: do not be the disease's source if you do not want to be its target.
The door of mercy
The cure is fast: one duʿāʾ for the suffering enemy reverses the disease in real time. Within weeks of practice, the heart's reflex to others' misfortune shifts from satisfaction to compassion. The Companions practiced this; the modern Muslim can recover it.
A reflection to carry
Shamātah is gloating at others' misfortune: feeling pleased when one's enemy or rival suffers harm. The Prophet ﷺ: 'Do not show shamātah toward your brother, lest Allah have mercy on him and afflict you.' (Tirmidhī 2506, hasan.)
Read the longer reflection
The Prophetic warning is structurally severe: shamātah may invoke the inversion-prayer where Allah grants mercy to the gloated-against and the gloater receives the original misfortune. The diseased state is often hidden: 'I'm not happy he failed; I'm just noting it.' Modern political and personal disputes amplify shamātah-temptation when an opponent fails. The cure: when noticing the gloat-feeling, immediately make duʿāʾ for the afflicted person's relief; recall that Allah's reversal-mechanism may operate at any moment; remember that you may be the next afflicted.
Sources: Quran, Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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