Anger can be Converted to Noor

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “One who swallows his anger in spite of having the capacity to act upon it, will have Allah endow his heart with Eeman and tranquility.” [Jami us-Sagheer]

The word used in this hadith for containing one’s anger is “kadhm.” In the idiomatic usage of the Arabs, the word “kadhm” meant “tying the mouth of a water bag when it is filled to capacity and is spilling over.”

When you are angered, when from the bag of your being, anger is seeping out in the form of vulgarity, with the demand of vengeance, with the urgency to smite, to insult someone, to hit someone, immediately tie the mouth of your anger with the string of “kadhm.”

Thus, one who is angered by someone and has the means at hand to take revenge but desists from doing so solely due to the fear of Allah and instead forgives the person, is granted by Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) Emaan along with peace and tranquility. This is the blessed prize for controlling anger. The one who swallows the bitter draught of anger has this anger converted to Noor (light) within him.