A Piece of Heaven in the Heart

Is there such a career as a ‘Happiness Provider’? Apparently there is. I read about this ’happiness’ consultant who has studied ‘happiness’ for three years. Now, she holds her ‘happiness’ workshops in Dubai.

The concept is very interesting. I believe most of such coaching is useful to some degrees if followed correctly. How does it work? Mainly through a change in perspective. The coached person is taught to become better aware of good things in him and outside him, and he is shown how to appreciate nice things that he was oblivious to before. This changed attitude, inturn, causes him to experience many moments of joys & pleasures.

But are those things ’happiness’? Can we survive solely on them – those sensual joys, those ephemeral pleasures, those borrowed enjoyments, those giddy laughters, those triumphs, those accolades…? As much as they enrich our lives, these fleeting episodes do not settle in the deepest core of the heart, nor satisfy the soul. What really is happiness then – the real thing?

It is usually described as a ‘state of well-being defined by contentment & inner peace’. The renowned specialist of the heart Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzi (rahimuhullah) hits the perfect note when he describes:

“Truly in the heart there is a void that can not be removed except with the company of Allah.
And in it there is a sadness that can not be removed except with the happiness of knowing Allah and being true to Him.”                                                                                                                                                                                               [Al-Fawaid]

 All joys flow from this ultimate fountain of happiness – the acknowledgment & submission to Allah. And, without it, all those ‘happy’ moments are shallow, temporary or just a façade.

 This maybe the reason why the renowned icon of selfless love & charity, Mother Teresa did not find happiness during all those years of serving humanity. Her confessional letters describe the emptiness, the torture, the darkness that filled her core:

 “The smile is a mask…”

“Where is my Faith?  Even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness. My God, how painful is this unknown pain. I have no Faith. I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart & make me suffer untold agony.”     

“As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear.”                                                                                                                                                                 [Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light]

 Only true belief & complete submission satiates the heart and quenches the soul. And once that happens, the happiness, the bliss, the tranquility that descends is known only to those who carry their paradise in their chests. One can only try to (enviously) imagine the delights that must fill their hearts when they describe their happiness:  

“If kings and the sons of kings knew what we had, they would try to take it from us by the sword!”  

 ”There are times when the heart dances in joy.”

 “There are times when I say, ‘If the people of Heaven have anything like this, how truly sweet their lives!’”                                                                                                                                                                                      [Al-Fawaid]

May we get to taste this delight in our lives too.

Thirsty in the UAE

Summer has arrived. Its already sweltering by 10am. The half a minute it takes for me to leave my air-conditioned house & walk to the air-conditioned car is enough to feel swoony. Then i see the laborers working at the construction site infront of my house. How do they withstand the heat? Is their body differnt from mine? Do they feel the heat less than me? How often are they drinking water to replenish their system? Are they content with their work? Are they getting sufficiently paid for their hard labor? Do they feel isolated in this country? Do they have a family back home that they miss? Do they wish their wives & children were with them?

How do they feel when they look at me sitting in my cool car & driving away? Do they begrudge me for what Allah has blessed me with? Do they hate or envy the comforts i have?

Do they know that everytime i see them i do dua for them? Those who are non-muslims, i pray for their guidance. Those who are muslims, i pray that Allah gives barakah in their meager earnings.

In the meantime, lets atleast do a small deed of kindness for our less fortunate brothers. Take a bottle of cold water everytime we step outside our homes & offer it to a thirsty person laboring under the sun.

May Allah protect us from the extreme thirst of the Day of Judgment. Ameen. May Allah make us of those who will drink the wine of Jannah. Ameen. May Allah have mercy on thoes laborers.

Verily, the Abrâr (pious, who fear Allâh and avoid evil), shall drink a cup (of wine) mixed with water from a spring in Paradise called Kâfûr.
A spring wherefrom the slaves of Allâh will drink, causing it to gush forth abundantly.
They (are those who) fulfill (their) vows, and they fear a Day whose evil will be wide-spreading.
And they give food, inspite of their love for it (or for the love of Him), to Miskin (poor), the orphan, and the captive,
(Saying): “We feed you seeking Allâh’s Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you. (Al-Insan 76:5-9)