The Meaning of Happines in Islam

Regardless of beliefs, culture and identity, etc that differs human being from one to another, for us, happiness has become universal aims and goals that we pursue. Our daily individual and social activities, the need for education and so on is actually not other than the way to be happy. The one who considered as happy in general perhaps identic with prosperity, succeed in education, getting married and have a lovely family an so on. We might agree that all of us want to be happy. But the concept of happiness, the condition of happiness and the way to pursue it, according to my opinion, maybe different.

Beliefs and cultures actually construct our thought about the concept of happiness. In Chinese culture for example, prosperity have been stressed to become the means in pursuing happiness. To one who become a prosperous man will also gained respect from others that leads to a feeling of joy and happy. The thought about happines regarding time and space is also changing. For example, in traditional society, the one who get married and have a lot of kids considered as a happy person. But today in modern society especially in the west, people tend to think that divorcement is normal. Still, the one who divorce will fill the feeling of sorrow as we considered it natural and universal.

Some people seek pleasure to be happy. Some might partying all night long, dating different women and spend a lot of money to buy fancy things and travelling around the world in order to be happy. In my opinion, we have misunderstood the real meaning of happiness by considering it has the same meaning with pleasure. Hedonism is the right example to look at.

In Islam, happiness is related to the reality of the nature of men and the nature of universe. It related with the very basic and natural question from time to time. Who we are? Where we come from? and where we will go (after this life)? Actually happiness isn't just about feeling. It related to the knowledge of the reality of things, the reality of the seen and the unseen. In history, there are lots of argument regarding of this, starting from the era of Greek philosopher. They, as well as in Islam, seek the meaning of life in order to find the very nature meaning of happiness.

We will achieve happiness if we know our goals to be created, where we come from, what is real nature and where we going to be. I'm not going to explain all of these philosophical explanation in this article, instead I jut want to explain the general concept so we can compare and contrast various concept of happiness.

Happiness actually is not the contemporary feeling like we feel when we seek pleasure, it actually the level of spirituality that everyone can achieve by knowing the reality of himself as mankind. The soul are created by God and its natural condition is in homesickness to comeback to its origin. Human has two tendencies that God created to be our natural condition. The soul that is the same as an angel and the lower self that tend to satisfy its needs like an animal.

The one who become happy and reach the level of spirituality is the one who can control his animals tendencies and tend to be close with his soul potential. It only can be achieved by gaining knowledge of realities, not in the sense the knowledge that achieved through ratio but the knowledge that given by God from prayer, supllication and contemplation. The very basic of knowledge is derived from Qur'an and hadith as a biblical source, the saying of God. But then God can speak to the soul that move closer to him. He first witness god with rational knowledge where ratio become the channel and then the soul also can become the next channel to gain ma'rifah (the witnessing knowledge).

In conclusion, God has acknowledge human with his knowledge for what to do and what not to do. He guarantee happiness as a reward in this life and hereafter. The happiness is not contemporary feeling, it is a permanent spiritual achievement that bring the soul to become the happy soul.