Losing Your Cool

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

Your alarm clock rings, you jump out of bed and oops, you realize that you’ve missed performing solat Subuh. That’s not all, the water supply is off and you’re going to be late for work. You decide to skip the shower and bathe in cologne instead. Just as you’re about to leave your house, you slip and fall, grazing your knee in the process. You curse and swear and as you limp your way to the door you wonder why is there a profound quietness everywhere? Then you realize why. It’s a Sunday and everyone’s still asleep.

Sounds familiar? Well this could just be from someone else’s real life story but the bottom line is at some point in our lives we do lose our cool. After all, we’re only human. However, what makes us different from other living creatures is how we control our anger.

Think about this, when a baboon gets angry it resorts to violence since it does not understand why the other baboons love to play hide and seek in his territory. On the other hand, when a human is provoked, he has a choice of either rebelling like a wild animal or remaining cool as an ice cream. Therefore, when a temper bomb is about to explode, we have at least a split second to either flare or to flee.

Incidentally, it is said that being angry is like being drunk When fury takes control over you, your heart rate escalates, your intellect to reason goes awry and the organs (tongue, hands, legs) goes out of control too. This explains why some people become verbally and physically abusive when they see red as you’re intoxicated with negative emotions which immediately affects your faculty of thinking.


Anger is more than just a cauldron of disaster. It is actually a natural response to fear. So an angry person is actually someone who is fearful of something (of being exploited amongst other things) and unless he reasons out and calms down, he will transform into Mr Hyde.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) once asked his companions, “Who among you do you consider to be a strong man?” Most of them replied that the one who can defeat a wrestler in a fight is deemed to be strong. Prophet replied that the one who is strong is the one who can control himself at the time of anger.

On the other hand, the best antidote to rage would be to shut it out and be completely deaf and dumb. Either leave the room or engage yourself in something else to divert your thoughts. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recommended his ummah to perform ablution as it cools down the fire which is brought by Satan.

Interestingly, a couple who have been fighting for many years came to see the prophet to seek a solution to the problem. The husband claimed that the wife always said something hurtful which made him furious and he was afraid that this could escalate to physical abuse and divorce. He asked the prophet on what to do to control his anger.

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) told the husband that whenever the wife begins to nag, sip some water and do not swallow or spit it out. Instead, he has to keep it in his mouth until she calms down. The man did exactly as he was told and in a few months he reported that it worked!

Holding your temper may not be that easy, but it isn’t impossible either. Besides, there are so many plus points in maintaining your cool. Apart from making yourself look more respectable, controlling your anger can also save you from looking old, weary and ugly!

© Copyright Hezreen February 2009