In Pursuit of Happiness

The Dictionary Defines Happiness As:

1. The Quality or State of Being Happy

2. Good Fortune; Pleasure, Contentment, Joy

And therefore this is something that we all crave.

There is no soul that does not seek happiness. As this is the natural disposition of man. However to man this has become something which is directly related to material wealth. Happiness has become synonymous with Ad- Dunya, and why is that. That is because in the absence of strong faith, this is the natural disposition of man. As Allah Subhana Himself makes clear in the Quran, through an ayat many of you will have already read today, or will before the sun sets, from Surah kahf, as Allah Jala wa A’la says;

 

الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا

Wealth and children are an 4dornment of this, world’s life: but good deeds (18:46)

However when we look at our lives then, it should be that we are the happiest of people. We, the people of the West, should be the happiest on the face of the Earth. As there is more material wealth saved by the West than exists in the rest of the world together.

However, there is a problem, we are not the happiest. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Based on our world view, we should find then, that the richest country in the world is also the happiest. However, it is not.

In fact in the U.S. there is a suicide every 17 minutes. Therefore before I start the prayers for Jummah, 2 people will have killed themselves in the United States for no other reason than despair from this world. However don’t just think this is a fitan in the US, as the relationship is directly proven in all the richest countries. Hence 150 000 people commit suicide every year in Europe alone.

And at a more local level, visit the mental health services of this city and you will find a substantial proportion of patients using services have no shortage of material wealth, yet are so unhappy, they suffer from depression and take clinical drugs to try stop themselves taking their own lives.

Therefore this should be a clear indication that happiness is something that we cannot win from this world, in any substantial and sustainable manner, as the world around us is a proof against it.

Therefore what must we do, we must realise that we need to find it where Allah, the Most Wise has told us it is, and that is with him.

Allah Jala wa A’la makes clear that;

أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ

For, verily, in the remembrance of God [men's] hearts do find their rest (13:28)

Therefore the example of this world shows us that happiness generally from the world is short lived, and moreover that happiness, contentment and tranquillity is only in the remembrance of Allah.

Happiness is not something that is measured by quantity nor could it be bought by currency, and no human possesses it to sell it, nor can they take it away from one who attained it or was granted it. Happiness is, faith followed by action, calamity followed by patience, fortune followed by thankfulness. And the happy one is the one who favors the eternal over the vanishing and perishing.

Now in our time, many of us start thinking this is a rejectionist attitude, and is a little extreme, and that to which we are calling is more unhappiness. As the best remembrance of Allah, the Quran is full of; we cant do this and we cant do that. However I stop you there and I tell you that is because we fail to give the Quran the attention it deserves.

The Quran is our liberator, and is actually here to open our hearts and minds, and be the source of our enlightenment, contrary to popular belief, hence Allah the Al mighty makes clear;

Ta Ha, We did not bestow the Qur’an on thee from on high to make thee unhappy, 20:1-2

So if it wasn’t sent to make you unhappy, what was it sent for, well, by Allah, I tell you it was sent to make you, that which you are craving, HAPPY.

And I heard a story of a companion which illustrates this perfectly, his name was Rabbi Ibn Amir, and he had spent his whole life in servitude, living as a slave. However, with Islam came his freedom, and came happiness to him.

Once he was sent as the head of a delegation to meet the Persians, the USA of their time, the world superpower. And he was received with much honour, as the messenger of the leader of the faithful, Umar Ibn Khattab.

The deputy leader of the Persians received him in a tent made from silk and gold, and laid for him cushions of a comfort he had never even imagined. However as he approached, he with his spear removed this from the ground and sat on the floor, and when asked what is it you come with, he said;

“ We come with the will to liberate man from the worship of the creation, to the worship of the creator.”

He was not phased by the wealth and funfair, he was not made happy with the elaborate reception, he was made happy only with the worship of Allah.

So we look at ourselves, and we think we are Muslims, we believe in Allah and his messenger, and we fulfil the tenants of faith, happiness should then be ours. And your right it should be, but by Allah it is us that push it away. How do we push away happiness, we do so in two ways;

1. We don’t obey Allah and His Messenger

How close are we to the Sunnah of Muhammad Ibn AbdAllah? How dear is it to us? How dear is it to us to copy him in his actions and inactions? These are questions we must ask ourselves.

So when Allah says to us pray, we say maybe later. When Allah says make Hajj, we say maybe when I am older. When the messenger says, love for your brother, what you love for yourself, we at this point love nothing.

Therefore I remind you of the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, when he said,

“ Everyone will enter Jannah, except those that choose not to! “

He was asked, and who are those? or who is that?

And he answered,

“ He who disobeys me, has chosen not to “

2. We create environment devoid of blessing and happiness

Ibn Masoud Radhi Allah Anhu swore by Allah three times, that when Allah mentioned speech for the sake of amusement leads people away from Allah, in Surah Luqman, then Allah was referring to Music. So what’s the relation well, things that would destroy happiness is making the Muslim environment a dwelling for Kufaar Jinnis and isolating, and pushing away angles. This happens by such things, as it does with other things that mentioned in the Sunnah, for example;

The Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) said: “Angles do not enter a house that has a dog or picture” So why is it there are many people close the doors and shut it for angles not to enter and they get or invite reasons of misery and worry while they are seeking happiness after that?

And subhan Al malik that is for those of us who still remain in Islam, what about those of us, who flurt with kuffar everyday, by abandoning the prayer, the zakat, the fasting??????

Therefore brothers think about this, do then we really deserve to be happy? Do you really think we can be happy as we commit to the haram day in day out? Happiness is a gift for the believers my brothers and sisters in Islam, and is something that is true and attainable for every single one of us, should we want it. As this represents a state of the heart. Allah Himself says;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ وُدًّا

VERILY, those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds will the Most Gracious endow with love (19:96)

And we see the evidence from this, in the book and all around us. And I bring you the example of the wife of Phiroan as a sublime example of this. Asiya (May Allah Have Mercy on Her) was married to Phiroan, and she accepted Islam. Now how was this, the man who said, ‘I am your lord most high’, how could he have a wife who believed in another lord, the lord of he who called himself lord?

So what did he do?

He set about an intricate process of torture for her, to make her submit through her pain, and reject the king of kings, for he who was not even king of his palace.

And therefore as she was tortured, and lay naked suspended from her breasts from a ceiling, in pain and anguish, she did so with a smile on her face. She, May Allah have mercy on her, did so happy. Why? As she had faith and she had the reliance on Allah. So as she lay suspended in this horrific state, she cried to her lord;

رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ

O my Sustainer! Build for me a mansion in the paradise [that is] with you, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me, from all evildoing folk! (66:11)

Sent her Sons for Death

And Allah showed her, her abode in Paradise, and comforted her heart as she was martyred. And therefore my brothers and sisters, I tell you now, that the road to happiness, is a road on something called Tawaqul; Reliance on Allah. As when one has firm belief, and this translates into a genuine happiness with whatever Allah puts your way, welcome to eternal happiness. Happiness in Dunya and Happiness in the hereafter.

Therefore Brothers and Sisters, if your not the happiest, think why not, and realise that this state is a gift from Allah for those who believe and work righteousness, and if you strive for the pleasure of Allah, inshAllah you will find it and your heart will be content, even in the most bizzare circumstances.

Keep your eyes peeled, soon I guess I will need to explore the practicalities of seeking the face of Allah for this almost utopian happiness. And as i sign out, I ask you to make dua for a brother who we love greatly, Shafiq, who is going for a job he really wants, may Allah make things easy for him, and use him to serve the Ummah.

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