Therefore...

Therefore, it may be said that envy is a state of abjectness and dejection, which finds an expression in the desire for the destruction, or deprival of others’ merits and advantages. Accordingly, some scholars, like al-’ Allamah al-Majlisi, have confined the causes of envy to the following seven: Enmity. The sense of one’s supremacy: It may happen that the envious man anticipates the pride of the envied on account of a merit and advantage that he enjoys.

Not having the patience to put up with the pride, he earnestly desires the loss of those merits and advantages. 3*. Kibr* (pride): The envious person desires to treat high-handedly the person who is conferred some merit or favor, which is not possible unless those favors and merits are lost. Wonder: The envious person is puzzled to see the great blessing enjoyed by the object of his envy.

Fear: The envious man is apprehensive of some hindrance on the part of the person enjoying an advantage or merit that may, he fears, frustrate his cherished aims and objectives. Love of authority: This becomes a cause of envy when one’s acquiring or preserving authority over others requires that nobody should share his advantages or merits. Viciousness of nature: The man of vicious nature does not like to see others enjoying any kind of good whatsoever.

In the view of this writer, most, or rather all, of these causes are derived from the feeling of inferiority and dejection. Some Evil Effects Of Envy Envy itself is one of the deadliest diseases of the heart. The mortal diseases of the heart, like pride and other vices, though each is a mortal sin in itself, produces additional vices each of which is fatal independently. We shall discuss here a few of them, which are apparent and known to this author.