How Can I Be Happy? | Ways to Be Happy

The First Step to Happiness: Wish to reach Allah

The key to the path leading to happiness is to wish to reach Allah. To wish to reach Allah is the fundamental duty of a human being and the key to his happiness. When a person sets out on the path of Allah, Allah Almighty guarantees half of his happiness right from the very beginning.

All that is required for this is a wish: "O my Lord! I wish to reach You with my Spirit before I die." Whoever wishes to reach Allah, Allah has guaranteed that He will certainly lead them to Himself.

42/Ash-Shura-13: Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills, and He guides to Himself those who turn to Him (those who reach their Spirit to Him while still alive).

This is the word of Allah Almighty, and He surely fulfills His word.

Knowing Oneself to Be Happy

A human being must know themselves. A human being has a Spirit, a soul (nafs), and a physical body. The Spirit consists only of inner qualities (attributes). All beauty is in the Spirit. The soul (nafs), however, consists only of Vices. All ugliness constitutes the Vices of the soul (nafs). Anger, spite, jealousy, and envy—all the Vices of the soul (nafs)—initially fill the heart of the soul (nafs).

Satan, while influencing the soul (nafs), always attempts to present it as the person's own thought. The individual then thinks, "Actually, I would not think this way, but what has happened to me?" Yet, it is not the person's own thought. Satan only desires for the human being to be unhappy. Whenever a negative factor arises from within and takes the person under its influence in the direction of doing evil to others, that is precisely when satan is at work, and one must engage in Al-Mujadila against him.

There is no negative factor that cannot be resolved with the help of Allah.

3/Al Imran-160: If Allah aids you, there is none who can overcome you. And if He forsakes you, then who is there to aid you after Him? Therefore, let the Believer (the one who has faith written in his heart) place their trust and reliance (tawakkul) in Allah.

Not Seeking the Cause of Unhappiness in Others

What leads a person to unhappiness is the patterns of behavior and standards of thought. It is not others that make a person unhappy, but the effects that the behavior of others creates upon them. A person possesses the possibilities to nullify those effects. The axis is the person themselves. All the keys that will lead them to unhappiness or happiness have been entrusted solely to them in surrender.

"I behave wrongly toward others, yet may they not behave wrongly toward me." A person who harbors such a thought pulls at a boat tied to a pier, sweating and straining, yet the boat never moves. A human being pays for every unhappiness they cause others, over and over again, within their own inner world.

Stopping the spiral of anger at the very first moment

A human being is constantly receiving influences from their surroundings and constantly reacting to them. Influences and reactions are always chasing one another. If these cannot be mastered, the spiral continues to rise, turning into anger, and anger leads to turmoil with no clear end. Yet, it is within the human being's power to stop this.

Responding to an insult with an even greater insult is what the soul (nafs) desires. Yet, this only prepares the ground for the conflict to take on new dimensions. Even if a person is not at fault, they may say, "The mistake is mine; I ask for your forgiveness in the presence of Allah, please pardon me." Satan will claim that this behavior is demeaning. In reality, however, the exact opposite is true. The conflict ends, and the person does not diminish in the eyes of the other; rather, they grow. This is the first step taken toward peace (Sulh).

When forgiveness is sought, the door that the other person is waiting for to attack further is not opened. That door has been closed.

Man assumes that by taking revenge, he will find relief. The exact opposite occurs. Sorrow invariably follows every act of revenge.

Why do wrong actions make a person unhappy?

All people who do Good feel only happiness following that Good. Those who experience unhappiness, however, are the people who commit evil. Every wrong action, every act of oppression, saddens a person three times over. They are saddened because they committed the oppression. Then, the Spirit torments the soul (nafs), and they are saddened again. If they committed this evil against another, that oppression returns to them, and they are saddened once more.

Every oppression invites another. Thus, the links of the chain are connected to one another in a negative direction. Yet, it is within a person's power to transform this for the better. From the day a person corrects their manner of conduct, both they and those around them attain peace. Their family home, their spouse, and their children attain peace.

To Be a Person Who Brings Peace to Others

A person who wishes to be happy should strive to become someone who brings only peace to others through their every action. They should dedicate themselves to making others happy and seek out reasons to bring them joy. Satan claims that one must be unhappy in order to bestow happiness upon others; yet, from the very moment the first sacrifice is made, a sense of peace completely envelops one's inner world.

To the one who can offer something to others without expectation, gifts also come from them without expectation. Provided that it is seen that the kindness performed is not for the sake of benefit, but is done for the sake of Allah.

A person who engages in gossip initially does so to appear superior to others, but ultimately, they are diminished in the eyes of the other. The desire to appear superior diminishes a person and leaves them restless.

Allah has laws; goodness sprouts from where goodness is sown, and evil sprouts from where evil is sown. One cannot reap barley from where wheat has been sown.

Repaying evil with goodness

Allah Almighty states the following in Surah Fussilat:

41/Fussilat-34: Good and evil are not equal. Respond (to evil) with that which is best. Then the one between whom and you there is enmity will become as though he were a devoted friend.

41/Fussilat-35: None is granted this inner quality save those who are patient and those who possess the Greatest pleasure.

Greatest pleasure is the greatest, most sublime of all pleasures and happiness. The goal should be to become a person who responds to evil with goodness. This beauty is open to everyone. To achieve this, it is necessary to use the will in the direction of obstructing the evil aims of the soul (nafs) and satan.

Self-reckoning

Anyone who wishes to be happy must hold themselves to account this very night. They should ask, "Who am I?" and "How do I treat others?" and judge themselves from the outside, as if they were someone else. They must examine their relationships with the people around them one by one, and strive to eliminate any discord they may have with anyone. The next day, they should go to the person whose heart they have broken, ask for their forgiveness, win them over, and take the first step.

It is in one's own hands to place everything into the most beautiful design. A person who is happy also gives happiness to those around them.

The Pinnacle of Happiness: Continuous dhikr

Humanity’s experience of happiness in all its dimensions points to a goal: the complete deliverance of the heart of the soul (nafs) from Vices and its filling with the light (nur) of Allah. This is achieved through continuous dhikr, that is, by remembering Allah constantly while standing, sitting, or lying on one’s side. As the institution of dhikr increases, the Vices in the soul (nafs) disappear and are replaced by the virtues of spirit. When more than 50% light (nur) forms in the heart of the soul (nafs), the person begins to experience half of happiness. Upon reaching continuous dhikr, one experiences absolute worldly happiness.

Islam is the implantation within the inner world of a mechanism that will eliminate the negative influences and the distressing effects that accumulate upon a person. The inner conflict of those who have attained continuous dhikr has ended. For this reason, they are happy. A person who has not yet reached that goal can also approach happiness through correct modes of conduct. They do this effortlessly, while he does it with struggle.

Fourteen centuries ago, the Companions lived this. They came from very poor conditions and became the happiest people in the universe.

What does Allah Almighty desire from man? He desires for him to be happy. He has also shown the way. On the day a person brings only happiness to those around him, both he himself and the people around him will be happy.

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