Episode 1

Episode 1: Two Sacrifices and the Seed of Envy

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Allah relates the story of Adam's two sons in truth as a lesson about the danger of envy (hasad). Both offered a sacrifice to Allah; the sacrifice of one was accepted, but not the other's. Allah said, "And recite to them the story of Adam's two sons, in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other. Said [the latter], ‘I will surely kill you.’ Said [the former], ‘Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear Him]’" (Qur'an 5:27). The acceptance of the sacrifice was not about how large the offering was, but about the piety of the heart that offered it. Instead of correcting himself to become God-fearing like his brother, the one whose offering was rejected was consumed with envy and threatened murder. The other brother's stance was truly noble: he did not answer a threat with a threat, but corrected the root of the matter — that what determines the acceptance of a deed is piety, not violence. Reflection: envy is a disease of the heart that burns up deeds and drives one to evil. If something is not accepted, the way of a believer is self-examination and improving one's piety, not blaming or hating the one whose deed was better. Source & Note: evidence from the Qur'an, 5:27 (text & translation from quran-json). The Qur'an calls them "Adam's two sons" without names; the names "Habil" (Abel) and "Qabil" (Cain) come from tradition/tafsir and are not certain from the text.

Episode 2: The Hand That Held Back out of Fear of Allah