Thread by @shahanSean

Abrahamic scriptures oft speak of God as jealous—perhaps most famously in Exodus 34:14, “the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God (Heb. אֵ֥ל קַנָּ֖א|ʾêl qannāʾ; Gk. Θεὸς ζηλωτής|Theòs zēlōtḗs).
The idea is absent in the Qurʾan, but it's quite prevalent in ḥadīth ...

A ṣaḥīḥ tradition states, “God is jealous as the believer is jealousy. The jealously of God (غيرة الله|ġayrat Allāh) occurs when the believer approaches what He has has prohibited.” sunnah.com/muslim/50/41

In Arabic, jealousy/ġayrah is spoken proverbial as both virtue and hazard.
“Jealousy is a part of faith as doubt is of hypocrisy”

“Jealousy is of two types: one that God hates and one that God loves. The jealousy God loves leads God’s servant to abandon disobedience against Him and to observe all that He has forbidden. The jealousy God hates is for an improper reason,” that is, without justification.

One might imagine that a suitor with a reputation as a severely jealous man would be a deal-breaker for a headstrong woman, but the following anecdote about a noble lady from one of the most powerful clans of Mecca’s Quraysh, Hind bint ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah, shows ...

one such women might argue why this would not necessarily be the case.
"Hind told her father, “I’m a woman in control of her own affairs, so don’t go marrying me off to a man unless you present him to me first.”
“That’s your right,” her father said. ...

One day he said to her, “There’s two men from your tribe who have asked for your hand in marriage. But I won’t name either one of them until I’ve described each to you first.
As for the first, he’s a man of true stature and noble descent. You might imagine him to be a fool ...

b/c of his heedlessness, but that’s pardonable b/c of his good nature. He’s a fine companion and always with a quick reply. If you follow him, he follows you, and if you take a side, he’s w/ you. You will decide how he spends his wealth, and your opinion alone will suffice to ...

multiply it.
As for the second, he’s a man of esteemed descent and peerless insight. His tribe’s shining moon, he is the boast of his clan. He chastens his women, but they do not chasten him. If they obey, he goes easy on them, but if they defy him, he’s pitiless: ....

fiercely jealous (shadīd al-ghayrah), easily made suspicious, and strict in secluding his women (shadīd ḥijāb al-qubbah). When hungry, he’s not to be pestered; when contested, never bested.
Now I’ve described them both to you.”
She replied, “As for the first one, he’s a ...

gentleman (sayyid) who wastes his noblewoman, providing for her needs perhaps if she can become pliant after her initial refusal, but all the while she’s wasting away under her tent! If she gives him a son, she’s an idiot!

If she brings a child to term, it’s a mistake for her to do so. Keep the name of this man to yourself, and do not tell me his name.
As for the other one, he’s a husband worthy of a free noblewoman. I adore the character of this man and will accept his proposal...

I am willing to accept my husband’s chastening – though confined to my tent, I care little. The son we share between us shall be free: the defender of the lady of his clan, the protector of her army, the advocate of her rights, and the guarantor of her lineage...

At the outbreak of war, he neither hesitates nor cowers. Who is he?”
“That man is Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb,” he answered.
“Marry me to him. Make sure not to offer me to him too easily, but don’t be short and imperious with him either.

Ask, rather, the God of Heaven for the best outcome and let Him choose what’s best for you.”
books.google.com/books?id=NplKC…

edit: “God is jealous just as the believer is jealous. The jealousy of God (غيرة الله|ġayrat Allāh) occurs when the believer approaches what He has has prohibited.”
[sorry for mangling that sentence so badly with typos]