“O Allah, make me content with what
you have provided me, send blessings for me therein"
Each and every human is in pursuit
of happiness, whether it be a child, or an adult, a Muslim or a non-Muslim, and
this is a true fact. In order to achieve this true happiness, one must
comprehend what this emotion really is. Happiness is ‘feeling, causing, or
giving pleasure’ and it is being ‘satisfied’ according to the Oxford
dictionary. It is essential to understand the psychology of happiness so we
know how much of it we have control over.
James Montier published his research
into ‘The Pshchology of Happiness’ and learned that happiness was
composed of three elements:
- About 50% of individual happiness comes from a genetic set point. That is, we’re each predisposed to a certain level of happiness. Some of us are just naturally more inclined to be cheery than others.
- About 10% of our happiness is due to our circumstances. Our age, race, gender, personal history, and, yes, wealth, only make up about one-tenth of our happiness.
- The remaining 40% of an individual’s happiness seems to be derived from intentional activity, from “discrete actions or practices that people can choose to do”.
As humans we have no control over
our genetic set-point, and hardly any control over our circumstances. This 50%
of happiness in Islam is called ‘ridha bi al-qadha’ (being content with
our lot on life). This means that as believers if we truly loved Allah the
necessary effect of it would be that we are content with our lot in life. The
Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) would supplicate with words
that would highlight the importance of satisfaction with our fate, therefore we
too should make the effort to recite these sorts of supplications:
“I am pleased with Allah as my Lord,
with Islam as my religion, and with Muhammad as my Prophet” (Allah bless him
and give him peace).[Abu
Dawud].
“O Allah, make me content with what
you have provided me, send blessings for me therein, and replace for me every
absent thing with something better”[Bukhari].
“O Allah, I seek refuge with You
from knowledge which does not bring benefit and from a heart which is not
fearful and from a self which is not content and from a supplication which is
not answered.’” [Muslim]
Thereafter, the main conclusion to
be drawn from Montier’s research is that we can only work on the last 40% to
make ourselves happier. It must be noted that this 40% cannot be achieved in
pursuit of money, fame or anything else materialistic. These are all
transitory, and anything transitory will never result in true happiness. True
happiness is contentment, and this is only attained through activities which
are not fleeting. So here are 10 steps to make our lives happier:
1. Seek the pleasure of Allah –
nothing can make us happier than seeking the pleasure of Allah. Whether we are
university, home or on holiday never forget to seek the countenance of Allah.
2. Be grateful – The more grateful
we are to have the things we do, the more Allah will shower you with His
bounties. Appreciation of what Allah has blessed you with is vital.
“If you express gratitude, I shall
certainly give you more, and if you are ungrateful, then My punishment is
severe.”[Ibrahim: V7]
3. Satisfy your soul and not your
physical body – Work on activities that result in eternal happiness that bring
a smile to the heart and not merely a smile to the face. Do meaningful work;
strive to partake in feeding the homeless at hospices, assisting the distressed
and helping others over and above excessive shopping, excessive eating out, and
time spent in worldly activity.
“True enrichment does not come
through possessing a lot of wealth, but true enrichment is the enrichment of
the soul.”[Bukhari]
4. Avoid comparisons – do not look
towards celebrities, rich or affluent people above you in worldly matters. The
lives of such individuals are not ‘ideal’ in the eyes of Allah, look towards
the lives of the likes of the Messenger (Allah bless him and give him happy)
and Khadija (May Allah be pleased with her) who are our guiding stars in
religious matters.
“Look at those below you (less
fortunate than you), and don’t look at those above you, for this is better.” [Muslim]
5. Have no expectations in other
than Allah– place all reliance and expectations in Allah alone, any favour that
we do, and good character that we display is not for us to be met with the
same. All that we do is in hope
“O Allah, give me enough of what You
have made lawful to suffice me from what You have made unlawful, and enrich me
by Your bounty giving me independence from all other than You.” [al-Tirmidhi]
6. Serve others and cultivate good
relations – We should have an altruistic nature always ready share our warmth
and support to others. The Messenger (Allah bless him and give us peace)
strongly advised to maintain family ties, keep strong relations and relayed to
us the etiquettes of social relations.
“All created beings are the
dependants of Allah, and the most beloved of creation to Allah is the one who
is good to His dependants”
[Bayhaqi]
God gives us people to love and
things to use, not things to love and people to use.– Max Lucado
7. Be in routine- If we are in
routine we will get adequate sleep and that solves half the problem! A person
with a sleep deficit is often grumpy, tired and unproductive – all of this
counteracts the characteristics apart of the 10 steps to happiness.
The Messenger (Allah bless him and
give him peace) chose a simple live over an affluent
one, and he was always content in life. One lesson to extract from his life
full of happiness is his routine. A person that plans their day is much more
productive than a person that doesn’t.
“The Prophet (Allah bless him and
give him peace) had carefully apportioned his time according to the demands on
him for: offering worship to Allah public affairs, and personal matters.
After the early morning prayers he
would remain sitting in the mosque reciting praises of Allah till the sun rose
and more people collected. He would then preach to them. After the sermons were
over, he would talk genially with the people, enquire about their welfare and
even exchange jokes with them. Taxes and revenues were also distributed at this
time”[Muslim]
8. Promote brotherhood/sisterhood –
feeling a part of a larger group gives us a sense of security and a safety net
to fall onto in occasions of happiness and hardships. The concept of
brotherhood and sisterhood is one of the central themes of Islam.
“The (example of) believers (in
their mutual love, care and concern) is like a single person: if his eye
complains of pain his whole body complains of pain, and if his head complains
of pain his whole body complains of pain.” [Muslim]
9. Eat good halal pure food. Eating
well maintains our physical well-being, this too keeps us happy.
10. Keep Fit – Scientists claim the
best benefit of exercise is that it makes us feel happy.
Exercise is described by many
doctors as an anti-depressant. The presence of certain chemicals like endorphins
and phenylacetic acid increases drastically after a good work out and it is
this that contributes to that ‘feel good’ feeling after a good workout.
There are two chemicals apart of
exercising that contribute to that ‘feel good’ feeling after a good workout.
- Cortisol
- Endorphins
With
these supplications and ten steps with the divine assistance of Allah it is
hoped we can all live a happier life to transport us to our final abode –
PARADISE, where eternal happiness lies. May Allah be pleased with us always.
Ameen.
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