Meaning Of Happiness In Islamic Perspective

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Meaning Of Happiness In Islamic Perspective

From islamic perspective, happiness is express by the terms of saadah. The term saadah has a close relation to both the hereafter(ukhrawiyyah) and the present world(dunyawiyyah). In the case of the hereafter life (ukhrawiyyah), saadah indicates the meaning of an ultimate form of happiness which is everlasting contentment and bliss. This kind of happiness is a promise to those who in worldly life have submitted themselves sincerely to serve god by obeying His command and avoiding His prohibition. While the happiness in the present world is related with three things which are to self (nafsiyyah), to the body (badaniyyah) and to the things external to the self and the body (kharijiyyah). Happiness to self (nafsiyah) is related to conduct pertaining to knowledge and good character. Badaniyyah is related to health and security while kharijiyyha indicate to wealth and other attributes.

According to al-Attas (1998) it is necessary to identify shaqawah first in order to get a clear understanding of the saadah in Islam. The opposite term of saadah is shaqawah. The term shaqawah meaning are contradict with saadah which generally means the great misfortune and misery. Shaqawah derives from its constituent elements such as khawf (fear of unknown), huzn (grief,sorrow,roughness of soul), dhank( narrowness, straitened), hasrat(profound grief) and other similar emotions. There are other conjugated terms formed from shaqawah such as shaqa, yashqa, tashqa, shaqiyy and shiqwah that applied in the Quran that also related partly to the hereafter, partly to this world and some even to both. Al-Attas claims that the words undoubtedly refers to those who turn away from God and reject His guidance. In short, the term of shaqawah can happen to anybody who keeps disregarding the commands of God and always behaving in a manner that God has prohibited.

Greek and Western philosophers however comprehend differently the concept of happiness. A view from a Greek philosopher, Aristotle defines happiness(eudaimonia) as living well and doing well and seeking eudaimonia is the final end. Some other philosophers also define happiness as the pleasant life which can be achieved by avoiding distress and desires for things beyond ones basic needs. However the Greek and Western philosophers point of views in happiness only focus on the happiness in present life (dunyawiyyah) only. By observing the way of other perspective define the meaning of happiness, we know that the other philosopher than Islam does not believes the existence of the life after death where ultimate happiness is exist. In fact, we can learn the beauty of happiness in the perspective of Islam.

According to al-Ghazli, there are four group of means (wasil) to happiness, which man can utilise to achieve happiness in his life. Each of these four means has four forms of virtuousness. Thus, in actual fact, the total number of means amounts to sixteen. Nevertheless, not all of these means are equally relevant to happiness. In other words, they have their own functions, some are useful and some are necessary to attain happiness. The four groups of means are (1) the goods of the soul (al-fadil an-nafsiyya), (2) the bodily goods (al-fadil al-jismiyya), (3) the external goods (al-fadil al-khrijiyya), and (4) the goods of divine grace (al-fadil at-tawfiqiyya). Religious virtues are classified into two kinds, the external (zahir) and the internal (batin). External is like the amal ibadah we perform in worshipping God and also doing good to people. Internal refers to activities of the heart that grounded upon knowledge of God. Internal happiness requires positive disposition in the self inducing good intention (niyyah) to be followed by action (amal) with sincerity of purpose (ikhlas) and truthfulness to oneself (sidq).

The meaning of happiness in this worldly life and ultimate happiness in the hereafter is very closely bound up with faith (iman).The good of soul consists of iman and good character (husn al-khuluq). Faith is then divided into knowledge of revelation and knowledge of practical religion. Faith is also regarded as synonymous to knowledge. As for good character, it is divided into temperance and justice. The description of a good character includes all the virtuous qualities of the soul. This is because temperance and justice involve the repression of desire and anger and it is upon this repression that the acquisition of all the virtuous qualities depends on (Al-Ghazali, 2015). The four possessions of the soul can then be reduced into two minor parts: the faith or knowledge and the praiseworthy qualities of the soul. These two are the nearest means to attain happiness. Since the improvement of the soul through the good qualities can be achieved by action (amal), the nearest means to happiness emerges as knowledge and action

The concept of knowledge and action as the primary means to happiness is also linked to the love of God. Al-Ghazl explains that love necessarily follows knowledge. In other words, the strength of love depends upon the strength of knowledge, the weakness of love of the world and the degree of intimacy with God are created from the remembrance of Him. As for the action, it produces the love of God in these following ways; the evil qualities of the soul are but various aspects of its love of the world, therefore purification clears the soul from this love and thus makes it fit for the love of God (Quasem, 1978).

To conclude, by practising these mechanisms of obtaining happiness, man would gain his happiness in both the temporal world and the world after death. With the understanding that he is steadfast in his faith by obeying Gods command, avoiding His prohibition and always exercising the knowledge and act accordingly, he will never regret his choices. In fact, God will grant him with the Vision of God (al-Attas, 1995; Nasr, 2014), his heart will always be full of tranquillity and he will always be happy and achieve happiness in its real sense for the rest of his life. Happiness in Islam derived that happiness in this present world (duniawiyyah) is not an end of happiness. But the end of happiness is the love of God.

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