by Summayyah Sadiq-Ojibara

Created on: May 26, 2008

Fire!

Sherifah (not her real name) rushed out of the house crying and fuming. He was not going to get away with it this time; it had to stop! Someone had to teach her bully of a husband not to push her around. This was the last time he would touch her, she was going to teach him a lesson of his life.

As Sherifah rushed back to meet her husband some hours later, armed with her two angry brothers, little did she know how much her expectations of teaching her husband a lesson of his life' would come to a tragic reality!

Sherifah's husband lost his footing down the staircase in an angry argument with his wife's brothers. He broke his neck and died instantly.

Sherifah's brothers had only come to warn their brother-in-law not to beat his wife any more; they instead ended up with a dead man and a twelve-year jail sentence for manslaughter for all three siblings!

Sherifah became a widow, lost her freedom and made her aged mother indigent from a sad heart and lack of care as all her providers were in prison, all because unbridled anger!

A true and tragic story of victims of anger, who lost everything that mattered to them in a moment of anger.

How many of us have been in Sherifah, her dead husband or the brothers' shoes at some point in our lives or in some form or the other?

Anger is an emotion that can turn a perfectly normal individual into a deadly beast in the blink of an eye. Although anger is usually considered a negative emotion, it can be positive and healthy if applied appropriately and in due proportion. A certain amount of anger, is necessary for survival.

Anger varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage, according to Charles Spielberger, PhD, a psychologist who specializes in the study of anger. It inspires powerful, often aggressive, feelings and behaviors, which can be expressed, suppressed, or calmed.

As we must share ours and in other's space with other inhabitants; man, animal and other natural elements, how do we manage our emotions? How do we make our anger work for rather against us?

Islam recommends a number of excellent ways to manage anger positively with the right perspective.

Know It! Understand It! Use It!

Anger is healthy; it can motivate and inspire an individual to achieve what he would ordinarily consider unattainable. It can also enable positive change in an individual's personality and character as well as his immediate environment.

In Islam, anger becomes positive when expressed appropriately against wrongdoing, immorality,

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