By Maryam Abdul Mohsen
What makes you happy? What makes you smile the way the sun never fails to provide light? Is happiness something physical or deep inside the heart that one can never seek to comprehend? How do you measure happiness? Well, take a few seconds and ask yourselves these questions.
Many of you would rationalize that love makes you happy. Or money, power, respect and fame makes me happy. You would answer, I am happy as long as I have my loved ones. Even if I were to be stranded on an island, I’d be fine if my family is also stranded with me… My family and Wi-Fi (Modern answer in modern times).
Are you sure your family makes you happy? Can you really be happy when you know your wife likes to nag at small trivial things? Can you really smile when your father dictates your future while you stay still like a timid mouse? Can you truly attain happiness if you cannot be on good ties with your siblings for more than five minutes tops?
Oh no, you say! I have a perfect family, a perfect embodiment of happiness? My mother never nags at me, my father is so sporting, and he lets me do whatever I want. Liar. Biggest lie of the century.
There is no such thing as a perfect family. Nobody’s perfect. And happiness you attain with the presence of your loved ones is mixed with pain, and sometimes suffering. Ask any spouse if they had never once argued or quarrelled about anything and everything. I believe the one answer is a definite no.
So then you begin to ponder. Even if, hypothetically, you have an almost perfect family, you would feel lost. Lost in a maze. And the heart begins its search. Even if you have millions of dollars in your hands and you can buy anything you want, you’d still feel empty deep inside.
Because true happiness is not a fraction of the physical world. The world is imperfect, yes? Everything in this world has its flaws. Therefore, happiness of this world also has a bucket of flaws. Therefore, happiness does not come from the physical world.
The concept of happiness is measured through the concept of Ubudiyyah which means to enslave oneself in the worship of Almighty God, Allah Subhanahu Wa Taala. The concept of Ubudiyyah is the only source of happiness that a servant of Allah can attain.
Worship here does not mean religious ritual acts such as Zakat and Fasting. Worshipping Allah is a sweet affair as it encompasses any good acts that pleases Him. When a man and a woman love each other for the sake of Allah, happiness is attained. When a student studies for the sake of Allah, he or she gains unimaginable happiness. Why is this so? A Muslim would feel happy if he or she knows that His Lord is happy with him or her.
A metaphor for thinking: you drive a car and you drive whereever you want to and without knowing its directions. Is that possible? If you decide to drive a ride in three seconds without knowing where you are going, of course you would never reach your destination! Now you know that the real source of happiness is Ubudiyyah, it is a must to use several essential tools to help you reach the level of utmost enslavement to Allah, the Almighty.
According to Al-Ghazali, there are four tools to attain happiness: knowledge of self; knowledge of God; knowledge of this world; knowledge of the next world.
Knowledge of self and knowledge of God
Our Beloved Prophet once said, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord” In reference to the authentic Hadith, self-knowledge does not constitute knowing your limbs, shape, and face for this type of knowledge can never be the key to the knowledge of God. Self-knowledge which leads to knowledge of God constitutes questions like “What is your purpose in life?” and “What are you in yourself and where do you come from?”
The first step to self-knowledge is to know that a human being is composed of two elements which are the body and the soul. The body is sort of the kingdom and the soul must be the king in the kingdom. It is the knowledge of the soul and its attributes which are the key to knowledge of God.
Moreover, the king (soul) must be accompanied by an army of different faculty of senses. Reason should be the right hand man of the soul for only through reason can a human being attain knowledge of God. A rational soul is governed by reason which is a necessary tool to the contemplation of God which eventually leads to the knowledge of God. Consequently, a soul that is driven by passion and animalistic desires would not attain the true knowledge of God.
According to Al-Ghazali, self-knowledge leads to happiness when we truly understand our purpose in life which must be linked with God: to enslave oneself and to be a Khalifah of this world.
Knowledge of this world and the next world
As Muslims, we need to realise that possession of this world would not bring much good in attaining happiness. Islam does not prohibit possessing worldly things, but they must be within the limits of moderation as excessiveness or deficiency may result in an imbalance and irrational soul.
Knowledge of this world constitutes to the understanding that this world is just a stage, a journey to the rightful place of men. Life is a journey, like the pilgrims of Haj, to their destination to Makkah, they do not bring anything but themselves to Almighty Allah.
Prophet Isa p.b.u.h. saw the world revealed as an old hag. He asked her how many husbands she had possessed; she replied that they were countless. He asked whether they had died or divorced; she said that she had slain them all. Prophet Isa replied, “I marvel at the fools who see what you have done to others and still desire you.”
The moral of the story: do not LOVE this Dunya as it will do nothing for you in the hereafter. Our Beloved Prophet p.b.u.h said, “Do not put this Dunya in your heart, but put it in your hand.” For instance, you have some cash in your hand. If you love money and it devours your heart, it would be very difficult to give it away. However, if you place it in your hand, it is easier to give it away as the love or desire of wealth is had been tamed in your heart.
Therefore, it is vital to understand the status of this world as compared to the next world. With the knowledge and realization, men would not dwell too much in worldly affairs in an excessive way, thus will attain happiness in contemplation and acknowledgement of the real happiness in the other worldly life.
In a nutshell, true happiness has nothing to do with anything in this world. It is a metaphysical type of feeling, attained through knowledge, reflection and thinking. The tools mentioned by Al-Ghazali will help you to seek real happiness.
Now you know, and the first step is to acknowledge it. All the best, people!
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons