I feel envious or jealous of someone

Someone has something — a marriage, a job, recognition, ease — and instead of being happy for them, it's eating at you.

What to know

The Quran treats envy seriously enough to include it among the specific evils we're taught to seek refuge from, and the Prophet ﷺ drew a precise line between what's destructive and what isn't.

What you can do

• Recognize the feeling for what it is: the Quran teaches seeking refuge specifically 'from the evil of an envier when he envies' (Surah Al-Falaq 113:5) — the destructive kind wishes the blessing removed from the other person.
• Know the one exception: wanting the same good without wishing it taken away — 'There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it rightly, and a person whom Allah has given wisdom and he teaches it' (Sahih al-Bukhari 1409 / Sahih Muslim 816).
• Make dua for the person you envy — asking Allah to give you the same good, rather than to take theirs away, is a practical way to interrupt the feeling.