Anger

None of us is free from the vice of anger but the true test is that can we control it or not?! As the world around us has become more chaotic and frustrating, anger has also increased. The tiniest of things make us angry...be it on the road, talking to an annoying/irritating person, in the market, at the office and even at home. Are we using our full capacity and potential to try and control our anger. Please think about it the next time you feel the onslaught of anger. Lets look at what Islam has to say about it.

1. Quran says:... (The believers) are hard against the unbelievers and merciful among themselves... (48:29)
2. Allah loves a believer who is polite. It is one of the qualities of a momin.-[Mustatul Anwar, p. 195]
3. Once a man approached the Messenger of Allah [s] and asked: "Advise me". Then the Messenger of Allah [s] said: "Do not be angry". The man repeated the same question and (the Prophet) again said: "Do not be angry," and continued: "He is not strong and powerful who throws people down but he is strong who withholds himself from anger."
4. ...Muhammad ibn Ya'qub (al-Kulayni), from 'Ali ibn Ibrahim, from Muhammad ibn 'Isa, from Yunus, from Dawud ibn Farqad, who reports al 'Imam al-Sadiq (A) to have said: "Anger is the key (that opens the door) to all kinds of vices."[Al-Kulayni, Usul al-Kafi (Tehran), Vol. III (Arabic text with Persian translation by Sayyid Jawad Mustafawi, p. 412.]
5. It is reported from Imam al-Baqir (a): “It is recorded in the Torah regarding which God Almighty confided to Moses (a), saying: "O Moses, control your anger towards those over whom I have given you authority, so that I may spare you from My Wrath." [Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 302, hadith # 7]
6. Imam Ali (a) said: “Protect yourself from anger for its beginning is insanity and its end is remorse.” [Al-Amidi, Gharar ul-Hikam wa darar ul-Kalim, hadith # 2635]
7. It is reported from al 'Imam al-Baqir (A) that he said. "Verily, anger is a spark ignited by the Devil in the human heart. Indeed, when anyone of you gets angry, his eyes become red, the veins of his neck become swollen and Satan enters them. Therefore, whosoever among you is concerned about himself on account of it, he should lie down for a while so that the filth of Satan may be removed from him at the time." 
8. Imam Ali (a) said: “The most powerful person is the one who is victorious over his anger with his forbearance.” [Al-Rayshahri, Mizan al-Hikmah, hadith # 15027]
9. Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a) said: “One who retrains his anger (towards someone), God will cover his secrets.” [Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar vol. 73, p. 264 hadith # 11]

These were just to show how much anger is hated by Allah(swt) and ahlul Bayt(s.a). Now the question arises what to do when one gets angry. Lets look at some traditions and hopefully we would be able to use them the next time we would become angry.

1. Imam al-Baqir (a) said “..whosoever is angry with someone let him sit down immediately if he is standing; for, indeed, doing so will repel from him the uncleanliness of Satan. And whoever gets angry with his family member, let him approach and (gently) touch him; for the feeling of family affiliation, when stimulated by touch, induces calmness.” [Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol. 2, p 302, hadith # 2]
2. Imam Ali (a) said “When a person gets angry, if he is standing, he should immediately lie down (sit down) on earth for a while as this removes the filth of Satan from him at that time." [Al-Rayshahri, Mizan al-Hikmah, hadith # 15059] 
3. Among the fundamental remedies of anger is to get rid of the factors responsible for its provocation. These factors include self-love, which in turn causes love of wealth, glory, and honour, and the desire to impose one's will and expand one's domain of power on the creatures of God. These inherently excite the fire of anger, as the individual infatuated with them tends to hold them in high regard. When someone loves these things, he gets excited and angry if any one of his aspired goals is not achieved. Another factor that sometimes arouses anger is that it is imagined to be a merit and confused with bravery due to one’s ignorance. Anger is thus the product of spiritual weakness, insufficiency of faith, immoderation of character and soul.
4. Certain other causes of anger are `ujb, bragging (iftikhar), pride(kibr), disputatiousness (mira'), obstinacy (lajaj), jesting and the like. to control anger one should get rid of these characteristics.

Sources:Al-islam.org