Islam, the Faith of Love and Happiness

Haidar Bagir

• Publisher: Kube Publishing Ltd
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781847741103
• eBook ISBN: 9781847741110
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Islamic Theology

"This practical book presents the inner depths of Sufi teachings in a way that is directly relevant to our constant efforts to reach for happiness."—Professor Komaruddin Hidayat, Islamic scholar and bestselling author of Life's Journey

"When we peer inside our souls and still cannot find happiness, we must dig even deeper. This book is like a whetstone that sharpens our abilities to uncover true happiness from within."—Gobind Vashdev, spiritual teacher and bestselling author of Happiness Inside

"... mercy and compassion lie at the heart of the religious quest and this message is vitally important in our dangerously polarized world."—Karen Armstrong, author of the bestselling books, Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time, Islam: A Short History, A History of God and Fields of Blood

" Islam, the Faith of Love and Happiness offers an antidote... by presenting the heart of Islam, the extent to which Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad offer a message of love and happiness."—John L. Esposito, Professor of Islamic Studies, Georgetown University

Through touching stories, humorous anecdotes, and profound insights into the spiritual realm that draw on sacred Islamic teachings, Dr. Haidar Bagir shines a brilliant light into the darkness that all too often overwhelms us. Consisting of twenty-nine short, inspirational chapters, this work will take you on a spiritual quest to overcome the maladies of your soul and help you experience true happiness.

Haidar Bagir is an influential Islamic scholar and spiritual master based in Indonesia. He earned his MA from Harvard University and his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Indonesia. He has been listed among the 500 Most Influential Muslims by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre for several years in a row. He has written a number of popular books, his most recent being Learning to Live from Rumi.

Part I

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Dive into Love, Seize Happiness

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Happiness as the Highest Goal

HAPPINESS (SAʿĀDAH) REPRESENTS the highest goal of mankind during their tenure here in this world. It can be reasoned that happiness is the main concern of everyone on earth. Indeed, every human endeavour is intended to assist in obtaining happiness. This appears in numerous verses of the Qur’an which place the joy of life—both in this world and in the afterlife—as the purpose of human existence (creation):

Whoever behaves righteously, whether male or female, while they are a believer, We will surely cause them to live a good life, and We will surely give them a reward better than what they do. (al-Naḥl 16: 97)

Ibn ʿAbbas, the main mufassir (exegete) among the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), interprets the phrase ‘a good life’ (ḥayāh ṭayyibah) as happiness (in this world). Indeed, if we humans follow rather than violate our nature, we are truly created for happiness (falāḥ):

And by the soul and by Him Who perfectly proportioned it, and imbued it with (the consciousness of) its evil and its piety: He who purifies it will prosper/be happy (aflaḥa), and he who suppresses it will be ruined. (al-Shams 91: 7–10)

The problem is that there is a mistaken perception amongst some people in Muslim societies that if we want to be happy in the Hereafter, we have to live miserably in the world. Sometimes this belief stems from a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) which states that life is a prison for the believer, while it is heaven for unbelievers. Or part of another hadith which states that people who laugh much in this world will end up crying a lot in the Hereafter. So do not be surprised if there are some people who think that people of strong faith/creed must maintain a grim or melancholic disposition. Is this belief really sound?

A good example of how a faithful Muslim leads his life, and lives in this world with serenity, is in the life of Ḥasan b. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, the grandson of the Prophet (peace be upon him). He was known to have a neat and clean appearance, well-groomed and elegant, in short, very pleasing to the eye. So much so that his attire became a source of vilification by those who detested him.

Once a disbeliever who despised Ḥasan b. ʿAlī intercepted him and said: ‘Your grandfather (Prophet Muhammad) had said, the world is a prison for a believer. And yet you live in it with so much ease.’

Ḥasan b. ʿAlī responded: ‘My life, although good and enjoyable in this world, when compared to the joy and happiness that I will get in the Hereafter, is like Hell. Imagine the pleasure I would obtain if I enter His Heaven? While your life is hard in this world, and will be harder still in the Hereafter.’

While at the same time, according to the āyah (16:97) above, those who are pious and faithful, will be awarded a far better life of happiness as compared to what they were already given in this world.

Ḥasan b. ʿAlī’s outlook and deportment can thus be understood in the context of the aforementioned āyah. According to him, happiness in this world is at a far lower relative level when compared to life in the Hereafter, resulting in what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: it may aptly be compared to the life of a prisoner.

There is another interesting āyah concerning how a believer leads a life full of happiness in this world:

[O Prophet], announce glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds, that for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow. Their fruits will have such resemblance to those of the earth that whenever they will be provided with those fruits they will say: ‘It was this that was granted to us on earth before.’ For them there shall be pure spouses, and there they shall abide forever. (al-Baqarah 2: 25)

It is important to draw our attention to the expression used by the inhabitants of Paradise, ‘It was this that was granted to us on earth before.’ Indirectly, this verse is implying that someone who would go to Heaven would have already tasted the pleasures of Paradise while they were in this world. The people of Paradise will find that whatever they receive or experience, they would have—to a certain extent—received and experienced while they were in the world.

Again, in conclusion, those who are of the faith and do good deeds are not only guaranteed by Allah to be among those upon whom happiness is conferred in the Hereafter, but also in this world. This is how a Muslim should approach life, by appreciating the sources of happiness in it; in other words, we should live a life of happiness in this world in order to reach a far higher level of happiness in the afterlife. Exactly as mentioned in His statement:

Seek, by means of the wealth that Allah has granted you, the Abode of the Hereafter, but forget not your share in this world! (al-Qaṣaṣ 28: 77)

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What is Happiness?

IT IS DOUBTFUL that anyone would disagree that the purpose of his or her life on this earth is to achieve happiness (saʿādah). Although happiness may be understood differently by different people—as psychological, intellectual or spiritual—all agree with regards to its nature. It is happiness that makes humans passionate, excited and full of life, while encouraging us to spread tranquillity, peace, meaningfulness and fulfilment. Meanwhile, the opposite of happiness, i.e. misery (shaqāwah) is in the same league as anxiety, chaos and a life devoid of meaning.

Happiness in the Islamic tradition is referred to as surūr,faraḥ (joy) and, more fundamentally, saʿādah, ṭīb and falāḥ.¹ It must be emphasized that happiness is not the same as an assortment of pleasures. It is perfectly possible for one to lead a life of pleasures, without being happy. Happiness also does not mean the absence of hardship or suffering. This is because suffering may come and go, but they do not undermine the existence of happiness. This is what is referred to as underlying happiness (happiness that always exists in our lives).

Nor is happiness the same as ephemeral moments of pleasure. Such moments come without any assurance that they may not be immediately succeeded by a feeling of emptiness; nor are such moments free from anxiety about the prospect of a void after the pleasure is gone. Therefore, such pleasure never really takes root in the depths of the heart. Rather, it is more akin to something perfunctory floating on the surface of the superficiality of our lives.

Seen and felt through the foundation of underlying happiness, whatever happens on the surface of our lives will penetrate the heart as an entity that brings us positive meaning, reassuring us and bringing us happiness. It is possible that we may be struck with adversity and grief, but having the belief that everything in our life is essentially good, positive and for our well-being, will help us remain undaunted. Happiness gives a more enduring vision of peace and tranquillity. This is why some people identify happiness with ‘enduring virtues’ (al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt) as revealed by Him:

Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world. But the enduring virtues are the best in the sight of your Lord in reward, and far better a source of hope. (al-Kahf 18: 46)

Al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt are nothing but good deeds that one does for the good of others, often at the cost of sacrificing our own interest(s), providing a strong foundation for a sustainable and enduring underlying happiness.

Indeed, happiness is neither physical nor psychological—if psyche is understood superficially to be merely the collective indicators of cerebral-consciousness. Happiness is profoundly spiritual in nature—not necessarily of the ritual kind—but rather that associated with the heart. Spirituality is the force within humans that is not only superior to the cerebral intellectual faculty, but also surpasses emotions and feelings which—despite being linked to the heart—have yet to overcome their preliminary instability and imbalance. Indeed, emotions and feelings have all the ingredients to be stable and bring peace, tranquillity and happiness, but the combination does not always occur in suitable proportions.

When these emotions are stable, no occurrence outside of our hearts can disturb the state of balance that has been achieved, which is this underlying happiness. There would be no joy so unrestrained as to backfire, opening the possibility of subsequent misery, nor any sorrow so immense that would shatter the foundation of our happiness. Nor would any events in our transient life have so deep an effect as to upset our happiness. Just as a rock flung into shallow waters produces large ripples but in the deep ocean the same rock will hardly disturb its tranquil surface.

Indeed, happiness is intrinsic—residing in our hearts—not extrinsic or dependent on the fleeting occurrences in our daily lives. For those who have achieved this underlying happiness, anything can happen in one’s ‘external’ life, while the state of happiness remains stable. For those who have it, comfort and adversity are relative and neither have their own independent meaning. Relative to the underlying happiness, there is no adversity. Once placed on the foundation of this happiness, everything becomes a cause of happiness. Pleasure and pain become limited to outward appearances—or packaging. In reality, they are invariably meant to bring happiness. This is what makes many people state: at its heart happiness (and misery) is a product of perception. If we perceive anything positively, it will contribute to our happiness, though its outer appearance or packaging may look like hardship. Conversely, if we perceive anything negatively, it can give birth to misery, despite its beautiful outer appearance or packaging.

On top of that, we can say that sadness is something that is truly necessary in order to identify and feel happiness. People who have never felt sorrow or worry would be immune or desensitized towards happiness. A simple inconvenience can be the basis on which we can truly feel and appreciate happiness. Sayyidunā ʿAlī, karram Allāh wajhah (may Allah ennoble his countenance), once stated: ‘A person will not feel the sweetness of happiness (saʿādah), till he tastes the bitterness of grief (shaqāwah).’ It may be appropriate to note that, although the word shaqāwah is often regarded as the opposite of saʿādah and of other words that express happiness, shaqāwah, unlike saʿādah, should never be understood as having the possibility of perpetuity. God’s affection is so infinite that it closes all possibilities for perpetual shaqāwah or eternal misery. However, shaqāwah is always seen as the precursor to saʿādah. In other words, saʿādah is the principle of human life, while shaqāwah is an exception, shaqāwah is required merely as a yardstick, through which one can identify and appreciate happiness. At the very least, shaqāwah can be seen as God’s means of instructing and guiding us so that we are driven to be better.

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1. Sa‘adah means ‘happiness’ or ‘success’. While the word tib is derived from the same word as tayyibah, which means ‘blissful’; see Qur’an, al-Nahl 16: 97, and the explanation below. For an enlightening discussion of the meaning of falah as happiness, see Jalaluddin Rakhmat’s Reaching Happiness, published by Simbiosa Rekatama Media, 2009, pp. 24–27.

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Happiness is a Matter of Meaning

NO ONE WOULD contend that liv...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Part I Dive into Love, Seize Happiness
• Part II Life is an Odyssey of Love
• Part III Sources of Happiness
• About the Author