Seeking Happiness

Dr. Muhammad al-`Abduh

Everyone on Earth is looking to be happy.
However, few ask the question: What is happiness?
Is it wealth after poverty? Health after illness?
Strength after wretchedness?
Or is it to possess wisdom and sagacity?
To indulge in carnal pleasures?
To live a life of absolute freedom, not even confined by the dictates of morality and faith?

Questions like these come easily to mind, since happiness is something real. It is not an illusion. A person of knowledge finds happiness in knowledge. A generous person finds happiness in giving. An industrious person finds happiness in productive work. The pleasure that they feel is far greater than the simple pleasures of eating, drinking, and acquiring wealth. Yet, the question still remains: Is this is the utmost degree of human aspirations?

Is happiness nothing more? By nature, a human being is never content. There is always a drive to seek after something more, something better. A wealthy person seeks after further acquisitions. A scientist who makes a discovery goes on to another, more ambitious topic of research. This restless discontent goes on until a person aspires to the Lord, and finds peace in worshipping Him and in knowing that He is protecting and guiding us every step of the way.

When `Umar b. `Abd al-`Azîz became Caliph, he wanted to aspire to an even greater triumph. He said: "Nothing remains to achieve except Paradise." No matter how much we strive and how much we attain in this world, there will always be pain and discomfort. There will always be sorrows that we are unable to bear on our own.

However, if we set our sights on the Hereafter and work righteousness, we will find relief and a balm for our worries. There is, in fact, no other way to attain such peace. This is because true happiness requires us to aspire to a higher purpose, to have a noble meaning that we carry forward throughout our lives. When our sights are set upon such a purpose and we have full confidence in our Lord, then we can be reconciled to whatever befalls us. Then we experience true peace and contentment. We neither feel excessive joy at the good things that come our way nor excessive grief at the losses that we suffer. If we take the time to look at those around us – really look at them – we will see the worry and concern written in their faces. Their nice clothes and their smiling expressions may not indicate their worries, but those worries will be visible nonetheless. This is because they are engaged in the relentless competition for material gain, and this preoccupies their hearts and prevents them from attaining real happiness.

The Qur'ân expresses this truth most eloquently, as if it is speaking about our own day and time. Allah says: "Rivalry in worldly increase distracts you until you come to the graves." [Sûrah al-Takâthur: 1-2] Those who are obsessed with worldly pursuits, their weary, worry-filled days on Earth come to an all of the sudden, while they are unprepared. All the same, happiness is not to be found in leisure and relaxation, like many people suppose. Happiness is found in surmounting difficulties, in solving problems, in overcoming one's weaknesses.


An indolent person never experiences the pleasure of achievement. Happiness is found in the pain that is followed by triumph, in the sorrow that is followed by joy. It is found in bringing good to people through our endeavors to develop the Earth. It is found in the noblest expressions of our very humanity.