Just like Allah Ta'alah has declared some of our external or physical acts Fard (obligatory) or Wajib (necessary), and has declared some of them Hara'am (impermissible), similarly there are a number of internal or mental acts which Allah Ta'alah has declared Fard or Wajib or Hara'am. Abstaining from these internal or mental sins is as obligatory and necessary as abstaining from external or physical sins. Hasad (jealousy) (حسد) is one of those sins of the mind.
Hazrat Abu Hurairah RAA has narrated that Rasool Allah ﷺ once said, abstain from Hasad as Hasad consumes (and lays waste) a person's virtuous deeds just like fire consumes wood or dry grass. (The narrator wasn't sure whether Rasool Allah SAW had used the word wood or dry grass)
What is meant by Hasad? A person sees that someone else has been blessed with something desirable, for example, either some material possession or religious knowledge. He then becomes jealous and resentful as to why the other person got that blessing and starts wishing that the other person loses that blessing. This is Hasad. Sometimes when a person sees someone else in good conditions, e.g. if they have a good house or good job they also wish that they had a similar house or job, but do not wish the other person to lose it. This is not Hasad (jealousy), this is envy (رشک، غبطہ). It is not a sin. But if the person starts wishing that the other person loses the blessings he has got, then it has turned into Hasad which is a major sin.
Adapted from the talk "Hasad, a major sin" by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB
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