A saying goes that “An evil thought is thrice cursed. First, it harms the thinker by doing injury to his mental body. Secondly, it harms the person who is its object. Lastly, it harms all mankind by vitiating the whole mental atmosphere.” Amid the dazzling picture of modern man's scientific and technological progress, the humanity today is haunted by the problems of hatred, jealousy and prejudice. These negative emotions are ruining humanity and it has only brought untold suffering and destruction for us. They are the root cause of other vices like corruption, disorder, misery and violence. Today we are less virtuous, less judicious, less rational and less peaceful. We need to cultivate a set of values and a clear direction to lead a productive life.
Envy and jealousy are two terms which in our day today life we conflate and often use synonymously, but both words stand for two different distinct emotions. While envy causes pain and frustration, the jealousy is the fear of losing something that one possesses to another person. Jealousy is milder and is often more visible, while envy sticks to one's soul like a leech. If jealousy is almost exclusively a negative emotion, the envy has some positive effects but overall both are regarded as two ugly emotions. On the other hand prejudice is an unfair treatment of individuals. It actually comes from individual’s social environment in which one is incapable of expressing self-controlled opinions. Prejudice prevents a person from exploring the unknown and meeting and dealing with new people and ideas and one ends up making decisions that backfire. It is generally agreed that together these evils give rise to hatred and animosity, the most poisonous of emotions and today it is a big human problem on earth.
Generally people with these emotions have twisted perspective of life and behave illogically. These people believe that they deserve success merely because they want it instead of working for it. They also believe that gains of others have been taken away from them and they get filled with resentment. They behave stand-offish, rude and obnoxious. They act maliciously and usually begin by criticizing and maligning others, as well as lying and spreading rumors. They exploit the innocence of others to gain their nefarious designs. It can also be seen and felt that these people always boast about their achievement and other baggage and always try to justify themselves before others but God knows their thoughts.
Some people say that these negative emotions are natural and a very complex phenomenon. They maintain that it’s a part of the evolution that has created today’s society. Others say that without hatred one would never understand the value of love and there has to be a balance. There are others who say that people hate others because they secretly envy that person. Some argue that it is easy to express hatred towards others because it shows aggression and gives the impression of strength, while showing love, one exposes ones vulnerability and one has to trust the other person not to hurt after one has exposed ones weaknesses. It is also argued that people hate others because we human beings are beast inside but we fear to show it outside. And some people maintain that although haters motivate others for obtaining success, but in the end, love is a better emotion.
We human beings are prone to temptation, fame, lust and greed and we know they have no logical reasoning. We are easily carried away when we are better than others, because of positions, jobs, wealth, back ground, religious beliefs and power to control others and we get into a complex of superiority. We feel proud if we have the power to control and damage others.  We become aggressive if we have a greater influence. We tend to have prejudicial attitudes towards others even if we have the knowledge on the subject. We judge others by looks only and not judge after we get to know them fully. We try to make ourselves feel better by putting other down. We get trapped in frustration, inferiority, superiority, over-confidence and lack of self-esteem which finally culminates into hatred and jealousy.
At workplaces we come across with so-called educated and experienced men exercising hatred, jealousy and prejudice with their associates for their no fault. Probably these people have grown up in such an atmosphere and even whatever has been taught in schools and colleges, they have not been fertilized or loosened by it. They have forgotten their responsibilities and duties and made themselves free to indulge in hate campaign and other vices, making the workplaces a den of intriguers. They are unaware of the fact about the huge loss they cause to the system by detaining others in their pity wicked designs. As good human beings we are expected to work cohesively with one another without any ill will and hatred. Hating someone just because you're scared or jealous of them is unacceptable. I understand, certain people may not be our favorites, but isn't it much wiser to just go on your own way, be peaceful and stay focused on ones work?
Apart from the ethical values of our day today life, all religions prohibit jealousy, envy and hatred in all forms and exhort that they are the most destructive emotions which a person may have towards his fellow human beings and which causes them to wish evil for others and be happy when misfortune befalls on them. Our beloved prophet (PBUH) was once asked who the best of people are? He (PBUH) replied: "the one with a clean heart and truthful tongue." they asked we understand a truthful tongue, but what does a clean heart mean? He (PBUH) answered: “It is the heart of one that is pious, pure and is free of sin, transgressions, hatred and Hasad."
God loves righteousness and holiness and hates sin and evil because they are contrary to His nature. His laws are based on equality and justice. We humans are created with the full capacity to both love and hate. The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars will throw us into the dark abyss of annihilation. Therefore we must make determined efforts to transform our thoughts and develop selfless love and affection for others and rise above the bad and the evil, to make things better for all of us. The reality of life is that everyone and everything will die in time because death is a natural part of life. I will conclude with a saying that “we hate some persons because we do not know them; and will not know them because we hate them.”

(The author is Associate Professor & Head Dept of Physics, Amar Singh College, Srinagar. Feedback at amin_malik_ku@hotmail.com)

Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:00:00 IST