Some people always look angry, don't they? You can see it on their faces. These people look as though they will explode any minute and vent their anger on the first person who gives them the chance to do so. Heaven help the waiter who is late with the coffee or the petrol attendant who makes a mistake with the change! There is no pleasing such people. They are the most difficult people to work or to live with. In recent months, we have seen a new face of many Egyptians as their anger spills out so easily to those around them. In much of the political debate in recent months we have seen very impolite language and accusations by some of quite an improper nature made against people who disagree with them. Some television presenters are so keen to present a bleak image of the country that they are causing depression and fear in many Egyptian homes. When will it all end?, people are asking. There is a big difference, though, between being angry and showing your anger. People show their anger in different ways. For some, it is precisely the kind of explosive outburst we are seeing these days. For others, they can be just as angry, but they express their anger quietly. There is a difference, too, between things which make us angry and things which annoy us. All of us become annoyed, now and again, by the routines of life. Being kept waiting for people who are late for an appointment is annoying. Not finding the right tin of baked beans in the supermarket is annoying, especially if you have been looking forward to them! Such things, though, in God's scheme of things, are not world shattering. We can get by with life's little annoyances. Being angry, though, is a different matter. If we find ourselves getting angry and losing our temper time and again over small things, we perhaps need to stop blaming others and to take a look at ourselves and ask what is causing this anger. Are we angry with others because we disagree with them fundamentally? Are we angry with them because of their behaviour? Or is it just because we got up late or we didn't have any breakfast? If this is the case, there is really no excuse for our anger. Are we finding fault with others when really the blame lies squarely on our own shoulders? All of us, for Egypt's sake, should try to tame this sort of anger. This is not how we should behave. There are, though, things which give us cause us to be angry. Some things really make us mad. In these cases, being angry is quite justifiable and we are right to be angry. We read in a translation of the meaning of the Holy Qur'an: O ye who believe. stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents or your kin.... 4:135 Justice should be so important to us that we should seek justice, even if it costs us dearly. Justice is one of the attributes of Almighty Allah. Allah is Just in all that He does. We should be keen to see justice prevail and we should be angry when people are dealt with unjustly. There are small things in life that should make us angry, because they involve people. When someone, for example, who has a lot of money is treating someone with little money in an unkind way we have cause to be angry. Instead of thanking Allah for the good things they have in life, such people boast of the vastness of their riches and abuse those who have none. In fact, anyone in a position of authority who abuses that authority should make us angry. If we need to be angry, let us be angry for the poor and the weak. Caring for them means speaking out on their behalf, too. Unfortunately, in our world there are some situations which cause us to be rightly angry, such as when we see the terrible suffering of our brothers and sisters in Palestine, who are humiliated daily by Occupation soldiers and are denied basic human rights and, in some cases, access to their land and their family. This is an evil that causes us to be angry. Injustice is the greatest cause for anger in our world. If we step back for a moment, though, some of the things making us angry these days are really just things that are annoying us. Long traffic queues are a real nuisance that are frustrating and time wasting, but the world won't come to an end if we arrive fifteen minutes late for an appointment. A shortage of petrol is infuriating at times, but it won't stop us eating our fill at the end of the day. We won't go to bed hungry.. There is a lot, then, that can make us angry and there are other things that annoy us. We should learn to know the difference. Knowing how to control and to channel our anger is what is most important. Otherwise, our anger just costs us a lot of emotion, but achieves little else. We need to be wise. We also need to be very calm and to remember that Allah is in control of all things, not us. If our anger is just bad temper, then it is inexcusable. If it is righteous anger, we should learn how to make our feelings known. If the people of Egypt could channel their righteous anger into the proper ways of combating injustice and oppression, then perhaps the country would change a lot quicker and a lot more citizens would have shoes to put on their feet and food to give their children. Shouting at one another will not solve anything and it certainly won't make Egypt a better place. If we are just angry men and women, no one will bother about us at all. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, teaches at Al-Azhar University and is the author of nine books about Islam. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com, join him on Facebook at Idris Tawfiq Page and listen to his Radio Show, “A Life in Question," on Sundays at 11pm on Radio Cairo 95.4 FM.
