Happiness.
It’s what everyone seems to be chasing.
Is it possible to attain complete happiness in this world? Where should we look? Where can we find it?
These are questions with seemingly no answers. What’s clear is that happiness cannot come from material gains.
So is there a guaranteed way to be happy?
First we must recognize that it’s natural to be happy sometimes and sad sometimes. It would be very strange and scary to be happy say at a funeral. Or after receiving a 0 on your exam. Or after getting in a car accident and so on.
Being sad isn’t a problem.
The problem is being sad all of the time, or rarely ever being happy.
Another thing to recognize is that happiness and sadness is a mind set. It’s not a physical reality. Meaning what makes one person happy might have no effect or even the opposite effect on someone else.
For example if you give a poor boy a pair of used shoes. He might be extremely happy, because he was so poor that he’s never owned a pair of shoes. Whereas if you give an extremely wealthy boy the same pair of shoes, he would be upset and offended.
So if happiness is a state of the mind, how can we make ourselves happy?
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the final Messenger sent by the one true God (Allah), gave us a formula to achieve it.
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
ibn majah vol.5 book 37 hadith 4142 sahih by darusalaam
“Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of Allah.”
This is a very powerful statement and is the key to a content and happy life. Why shouldn’t you look to those above you? Let’s imagine there was a person who had 1 shirt. He wasn’t happy with his one shirt and looked at the people above him who had 2 shirts. The one with 2 wanted to have 10. The one with 10 wanted a whole closet full of clothes. The one with a closet full of clothes wanted another closet, or he wasn’t happy with the quality of those he had.
If you’re always looking at those above you then you’ll never be satisfied or happy. The same applies to more things than just clothes. Like houses, cars, money and more. So you can see a person will never be happy if they’re forever chasing the things in this world. There will always be someone with more. And how foolish it is for a person to chase something that doesn’t last. When they die someone else will take his car, his house, and his money. All that he will be left with are his deeds.
Narrated Anas bin Malik:
Sahih al-Bukhari 6439
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “If Adam’s son had a valley full of gold, he would like to have two valleys, for nothing fills his mouth except dust. And Allah forgives him who repents to Him.”
But now a person who looks to those who are below him rather than those who are above him, he will definitely be satisfied and maybe even grateful.
The person with a closet full of shirts, rather than looking at those above him will see those who have less than him. “Alhamdullah I have 1 closet full of shirts. There’s people with only 10 shirts.”
The person with 10 shirts looks at those with 2 and says “Alhamdullah I am satisfied with what Allah has given me.”
The person with 2 looks at those with 1, and the one with 1 looks at those with none. They can all be happy for what Allah has given them and be at peace. And as Muslims we should never be dissatisfied because we have the greatest blessing of all which is Islam. As the Prophet Muhammad PBUH said:
Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had said:
Sahih Muslim 1051
Richness does not lie in the abundance of (worldly) goods but richness is the richness of the soul (heart, self).
A person can have everything in this world, but lack Islam and in reality he has nothing. And a person can have nothing in this world but he has Islam, so in reality he has everything. I pray Allah gives us the best in this life and in the next. Ameen
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