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S2E6 - Can faith make me happy? | DoubleTake
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence presents three examples of rights that it says have been given to all people.
But what does “happiness” mean from a Quranic perspective? What’s the difference between how Muslims think of happiness compared to people of other faiths? What does the journey to attaining happiness look like? In this episode, host Mohamad Zaoud talks to Dr. Yasien Mohamed, author of the Yaqeen Institute paper “The Idea of Happiness in the Qur’an.”
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This phrase from the United States Declaration of Independence presents three examples of rights that it says have been given to all people. But what does happiness mean from a Qur'anic perspective? What's the difference between how we as Muslims understand happiness compared with people from other faiths? What does the journey to attaining happiness look like? Welcome once again to Double Take, a podcast by Yaqeen Institute about the questions and ideas around Islam and Muslims that give us pause. Remember to subscribe to the show on YouTube, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. I'm Muhammad Zaud and today we're exploring how Islam can help us achieve happiness. With me is Dr. Yasin Mohamad, author of the Yaqeen Institute paper, The Idea of Happiness in the Qur'an. Dr. Yasin is Emeritus Professor of Arabic Studies and Islamic Philosophy in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. He's authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles on classical Islamic philosophy, Islamic psychology, Qur'anic ethics and modern Islamic thought. He currently teaches at the International Peace College of South Africa. Dr. Yasin Mohamad, Salam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah and welcome to Double Take. Wa Alaikum Salam Wa Rahmatullah and thanks for having me. Thank you so much. You know, we're here to talk about happiness and whenever I want to remember happiness, I want to remember my time at Kirsten Bosch Gardens in Cape Town. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes. That's our favorite place. It's amazing, it's amazing. Dr. Yasin, many people in history have tried to explain what happiness is and how we can achieve it.
Like Viktor Frankl, for example, talked about the importance of having meaning in someone's life in order to avoid falling into depression and addiction. Abraham Maslow, for example, put together a list of basic human needs that contribute to a person's psychological health, which started with things like food, sleep and safety at the bottom and then things like respect, love, all the way up to self-actualization. John Locke, for example, who was very influential on the founders of the United States, coined the term the pursuit of happiness, and he viewed it as the foundation for civilization. He himself was influenced by Greek philosophers like Aristotle in how he thought about happiness. He thought that everyone should have the freedom to live however they want so they can pursue happiness. So, Dr. Yasin, despite all of this, many people are struggling to find real long-lasting happiness. According to marketresearch.com, the self-improvement market in the US was worth about $12 billion in 2019 and it's expected to continue to grow. So, a lot has been written and said about attaining happiness. My question to you is, Dr., what is missing in this conversation about finding happiness? What is the real happiness that us as Muslims try to achieve compared to what we hear about other kinds of fates? Okay, bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Yes, thank you for that question. Happiness, the pursuit of happiness, has been a pursuit since the beginning of time. And according to the Greek philosophers as well as the Islamic philosophers, happiness has been the goal of man.
That's the end goal, the telos. The Greeks call it eudaimonia and the Arabs call it sa'ada. So, they are in agreement that the goal of man is happiness. They also agree on the means to happiness. How do we achieve this happiness? Both the Greek philosophers and Islamic philosophers have the view that the means to happiness is through the cultivation of virtue. The building of character is the secret to happiness. But where they differ is with regard to the concept of the year after. According to Aristotle, happiness is only confined to this world. But for Islamic scholars like Raghav-e-Isfahani and Imam al-Ghazali of the 11th century, they are inspired by the Quran and they say that happiness, we have happiness in this world, but also the eternal happiness in the year after. And they call this sa'ada, they call it sa'ada from the Arabic word sa'id, the adjective sa'id which is mentioned in the Quran. And also the word sa'id is mentioned, the verb su'idu is mentioned in the verse, and as for those who are happy, they will be in paradise abiding therein forever. So I do so the verb is su'idu in chapter 11 verse 108. And also the question is so sa'ada comes from the word su'idu or from the word sa'id, which these are words mentioned in the Quran.
And so the question is, this is the eternal happiness in the akhira or in the year after. Now the question is what about the happiness in this world? And the Quran mentions that we do have happiness in this world, but we don't use the word happiness. We use the word farah. So farah, which is joy, we may translate it as joy. And what's the main difference? What is that kind of, what's the significance of calling it farah as opposed to happiness in this life? Because the word sa'ada pertains is more appropriate for eternal happiness, whereas farah is temporary happiness, because we have two types of joys in this world, the negative joy and the positive joy. Now that both words farah is used for both, but the context is different. So when Allah is referring to the non-believers in the Quran in chapter 30, verse 26, they rejoice in the life of this world, but the life of this world is fleeting. So the word farah is used here for rejoice or for enjoyment. But this is with reference to the non-believers, which means that it is a temporary joy, but the positive joy or farah where Allah says in the bounty of Allah, let them rejoice. Chapter 10, verse 58. Here again, this farah is also the joy in this world, but it is for the believers acknowledging Allah's bounty. It is with the acknowledgement of Allah's blessings. And that is the fundamental difference.
Do you mind just like explaining that to me? Because for me, like happiness in this life is, in this life, even if it's temporary joy, I see a lot of non-Muslims, even Muslims enjoying the joys of this life. And is there anything wrong with that? You mentioned something about negative and positive joy. So what if I want to enjoy this life and I want to pursue happiness in this life? Of course, the hereafter we understand as Muslims, that's kind of the gold standard. But in this life, are there issues in pursuing joy in this life? No, look, Islam is not against enjoyment in this world or in this life. We have the hereafter as the ultimate eternal happiness. But the enjoyment in this life, it can be negative or positive. You can be happy in this world. Many non-Muslims are happy. They enjoy the pleasures of this world. Pleasure is another word, perhaps suitable, rather than happiness. Whether it's carnal pleasure or materialistic pleasures, these pleasures are temporary. So the luxuries of this world is actually an illusion. And Adam Smith actually, who is the father of capitalism, he said that the key to economic development is self-interest. But it's amazing that the same Adam Smith also admits that the luxuries of the world is an illusion. But it's a necessary illusion because that's what drives people for economic development. But why an illusion? Because when there's prosperity and luxury, people make comparisons.
You have an ordinary car. This one is a nice car. There's competition. There's greed. There's envy. The vices emerge. Ibn Khaldun actually mentioned the same thing. Excessive luxuries, especially in the big cities, it leads to certain vices. If we acknowledge that the ultimate happiness is the hereafter, Dr. Rathlew, what is that kind of path to happiness look like then for a Muslim? What do I need to do to my life in this life in order to achieve it in the hereafter? Well, we said earlier on that the key to happiness is the cultivation of virtue. And so that implies the purification of the self, of the nafs. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala states in the Quran, قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا Successful is he who purifies himself. That is his nafs. So in other words, remove all the vices of jealousy and greed and replace it with good qualities of gratitude, of generosity and so on. Now, we need to understand this in relation to human nature. There is a model of the tripartite division of the human soul. The human soul is divided into three faculties. The rational faculty, the concupiscent faculty and the irascible faculty. Now the rational faculty, that's your reason, the concupiscent faculty, that is your desire and the irascible faculty is your anger. So if your reason dominates over your desire and your anger, you have a balanced soul and you develop the four cardinal virtues
of wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. So there are other virtues, but these are the four main cardinal virtues. So these virtues, although philosophical virtues, they correspond with the Quran as well because the Quran also mentions these virtues. For example, Allah says, call to the way of your Lord with wisdom, Bil-Hikmah. So Hikmah is used here. Then Allah says, you know, exercise justice for that is closest to Taqwa. So that's Adl. So this is mentioned amongst the four cardinal virtues. But the point is that you see, this is just a theoretical explanation, but to get to the real virtue requires a practice. The Prophet ﷺ said, Takhalaqoo bi-akhlaqil laa, which means imbue yourself with the attributes of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, the divine attributes, whether it's generosity, whether it's forgiveness. And this is what brings you Taqarruq or nearness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So it is not enough for people to just make Dhikr and recite Quran because Islam is not just theory, it's also practical. So if you say, Ya Karim, Ya Karim, Ya Karim, you make Dhikr all the time, O generous one, O generous one, but you are stingy, you are selfish, you do not share, you don't express generosity, you are not Karim. So there is a disconnect here between your verbalization of the glorification
of Allah's name with the tongue, but you're not putting that into practice through your action. So the question is now, how do we put that into practice? It's a question of habituation, through a habit. So if I'm a stingy person and I want to overcome that vice and develop the quality of generosity to be Karim, I must be generous, I must do acts of generosity all the time. It must become ingrained in the human soul. The analogy that Imam al-Isfahani gives is that, or Imam al-Ghazali as well, gives that same analogy of that of calligraphy. If you learn to write Alif, Ba, Ta, and you are a novice in writing calligraphy, the teacher may say you have to write that Alif a thousand times so that you become habituated to it, so that it's not just a conscious action of writing that Alif or that Ba, it becomes ingrained within yourself so that that writing then becomes a spontaneous and a natural action. In other words, it comes from the soul. Similarly, the act of generosity or forgiveness, it's just a natural, spontaneous expression of the soul. So the point is that it's through habit, through a'ada. Now, the other question is how to achieve eternal happiness? The other question is what about the external virtues? Because character is one thing. Before we get to the external virtues, if you don't mind, doctor,
just so I fully understand the first point. I'm a very simple guy, so you're going to have to break this down for me. You're saying to me that those who are successful are those who cleanse the soul. You've got to cleanse your nafs in order to be… I'm just trying to understand the… I want to cleanse my soul regardless, but what is the correlation between a clean soul, kind of a spiritual being and happiness? Just if you can make that clear distinction for me, or that clear correlation for me. I want to cleanse my soul. Don't worry. I will, Inshallah. Yeah. Look, a happy being, if you commit crimes or certain sins, whether it's adultery, whether it's murder, whether it's theft, you're not going to feel good within yourself. You're going to feel guilty and unhappy. We have also in Islam the three faculties or the three levels of the soul. You have the al-nafs al-amara bi-su and then we have al-nafs al-lawama, which is the blaming self. If you commit sins all the time, you will be blaming yourself all the time. And you'll be feeling guilty and through that guilty press. So you cannot be happy committing these sins. But on the other hand, if you do good deeds, you do kind to people, you are generous, you forgive people. It's very uplifting to the spirit and that will make you happy. Fair enough. Okay. Makes sense. So you were saying in terms of the outward manifestation of that.
Yeah. So the thing is, the question people always ask now, what about external, the external virtues such as health, wealth, having friends, status, right? How do these contribute to this? We're talking of virtues is internal to the soul, but what is external to the soul? It's all these things like wealth. So where does wealth fit into the whole scheme? And with wealth, you can perform your religious duties. You can give zakah, you can give charity. With wealth, you need money to perform the hajj. So it can be used in that way. And then friends. What about friends or relatives? How do they help in the cultivation of virtue? The key point here is to have good friends, virtuous friends. Friends that want your company for the sake of your character, not for your wealth, not for your status, but for your character. So good friends are friends who, you know, they're not motivated by utilitarian purposes. So they are there for you, they love you, they care for you in good fortune or in bad fortune. So for example, I can give the example of a character called Ivan, in a Russian novel called The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Now Ivan was a judge of a high court in Russia. He had status, he pursued wealth, and he had friends gravitating around him.
These friends were, he was entertaining them, and he was very, very happy, that joy, experience of joy. But at the age of 45, he contracted a terminal illness. He was bedridden, he couldn't work. None of his friends came to visit him. That shows they were there for his position, and his colleagues as well. The relationship was a utilitarian relationship. And in another... novel by Balzac, a French novel, is called Father Goriot. Father Goriot was a wealthy man, but he lived like a pauper. And he gave all his wealth to his two daughters. The day he died, the daughters didn't even attend his funeral. So the point is that to be happy is to to share your wealth with people who are genuine. I mean, genuine friends will come to your wedding, but they'll also come to your funeral. Absolutely, absolutely. Dr. Yasin, you mentioned something about the concept of Zuhd. Now, pursuing happiness in this life is kind of a bit materialistic. You know, you're following your dreams of having a nice house, or, you know, having good friends and a beautiful car and family and whatnot. But if, and correct me if I'm mistaken, our religion makes a big emphasis on living a very simple life. And is that part of the purification of the soul that you're mentioning earlier? Or is there something deeper? And what's the role of this concept of Zuhd and happiness? What's the correlation?
Well, you see, first of all, we said that there's nothing wrong with material comfort, it makes you happy. So that's fine. But, you know, there is what we have biological needs. We all need, every human being needs food, shelter and clothing. It's an absolute necessity. So we need to work for these things. Right. But on the other hand, research has shown that over and above your biological needs, I mean, it would be a real pathetic state if you cannot satisfy those needs, if you're real destitute, you know. But over and above those needs, research has shown that people are not much happier if they pursue the luxuries. Because today, a guy who lives in a hut, you know, and is contented living in a hut, is happier than the guy who lives in a brick house, but he's not happy living in a brick house, because he wants to live in a mansion. Right. So the point is that detachment, so the key to overcome these problems, is that of detachment is an attitude towards this world, that this world is fluctuating. Allah says that everything changes in this world except the face of Allah, which is permanent. So we should focus on what is permanent rather than what is relative and what is fluctuating. Because when we are attached to the things, whether it's wealth or friends, these things change and they fluctuate. Your friends are not always there.
So this detachment is very important, for example, for wealth. How do you approach wealth? You see, if you have a detached approach, then wealth cannot control you. Wealth should be your servant, khadimon, but you should be the master over wealth, not wealth be the master over you. So there's nothing wrong with wealth, but it should be in service of your soul. And I think another good strategy is to rather compare yourself with those who are less fortunate. When you compare yourself with those who are more fortunate, then you feel that you're lacking in something. Your friend has got, you've got an ordinary car, your friend is driving a BMW, you must aspire for that as well. But if you compare yourself to those who are less fortunate, you tend to be more satisfied and more contented. As the poet says, I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet. I cried because I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet. So detachment is a very important zuhd. You know, one may translate it as asceticism, but of course you have various degrees of asceticism. Some people can go to the extreme. And I think that Imam al-Ghazali is a good example of zuhd. He was a famous professor in Baghdad, but he had all the knowledge, the position, the wealth, the prestige, but he had pride and arrogance. And this made him very unhappy. His soul was unhappy.
And so he went through a spiritual depression and then he went to a Sheikh. This is mentioned in a book called the Mizan al-Amar. This anecdote, his meeting with the Sheikh. I'm busy translating this work into English and it gives you some insight into al-Ghazali's autobiography, which you will not find in the Munthid min al-Dalal, which is his autobiography. Now he approaches the Sheikh and he says, you know, I'm going through a certain depression. There's something wrong with me. What should I do to improve myself? Should I recite more Quran? Should I make more dhikr? And the Sheikh says, no, that's not going to help you much. You have a fundamental problem within yourself. No amount of dhikr is going to cure you. You need to detach yourself from the dunya. Detach yourself from worldliness. Leave your city. Leave your position. Because this is all working on your pride. And take the spiritual path. So he left Baghdad actually. This was in the year 1095. He left Baghdad and he undertook that spiritual path of Zuhd for 11 years. And the result of that was the magnum opus that he wrote, the Ihya ul-Mudin, which is a brilliant guide for the moral and spiritual purification of the self. Dr. Yasin, I'm listening to you talk about happiness and kind of your journey as well. And I'm going to ask you a little bit of a probably a difficult question, if you don't mind.
When I spoke to you earlier this month, you mentioned to me that you had a very tough year, a tough couple of years. But this year specifically, where you lost a very close loved one. And here you are talking about happiness. Do you mind kind of talking through Dr. Yasin's journey in maintaining that contentment and happiness, even during the adversity that was 2021? Yes, sure. Yes, it is a difficult question because it relates to my personal experience. But nevertheless, I'll try to answer that question in the hope that it can help also other people who've also experienced loss of dear ones. In my case, it was my wife who passed away. Her name is Zahira. She passed away on the 3rd of February of this year. She was 56 years old. And we were very happily married for 35 years. And we have four wonderful children. So, the thing is, I was very, very sad. We were all very sad for the loss of my wife. However, we are consoled by certain things. And the first thing I would say is that the first consolation is this, that we are conscious of the inevitability of death. We all know we will die. That's a fact of life. No one can deny that reality. But the consciousness of the inevitability of death, this is what we need to develop. My wife had that consciousness.
She always spoke to me during the years of our marriage about death. And we used to talk about who will die first because I'm much older than her. So, it was sort of, not assumed, but the likelihood of me going first before her. But she always used to say to my children as well that you must be prepared for my death. And actually, a few weeks before she had COVID or when she just had flu symptoms, she said to us that if I'm prepared to go, if Allah should take me away, I'm prepared to go. So, she had that readiness for death. So, I think this is very important that we as Muslims, as humans, we should have that awareness of the inevitability of death. Because as the poet says, the poet says, the boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, and all alike awaits the inevitable hour. The path of glory leads back to the grave. So, that is, we all need to go through that path. The second point of solace for me is that my acceptance of divine destiny. I put this down to Qadr, Allah's destiny upon us. And although my wife passed away from COVID, I will not put the blame on COVID.
COVID is just the reason or explanation for death. It's not the cause of death. The cause of death is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So, if we have faith and iman and we believe in Allah's destiny, that everything is written down, then we need to resign ourselves to Allah's will and make peace with that. So, that is how I responded. When I got the news of my wife's death, I said, Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. From Allah we come and unto Allah we return. And that is the normal Muslim response. And so, I could say I have made peace with that. The third point is this, that my wife led a very good virtuous life, a life of devotion to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. She was a wonderful person. She touched the lives of many people. She loved food, loved to share, loved to entertain people, to extend hospitality. And people were always happy in her company. So, I would say, in view of that and in view of the fact that this was a pandemic, that she died as a martyr, as shaheed. So, this is what I believe. She died as a martyr. She is in a better place than in eternal life, eternal happiness in Jannah. So, that's for me another consolation.
And then, the fourth consolation is that she left us with good memories. Not all people whose dear ones have passed away can say that. But I can say that she left us with very good memories and a good example for us as a true Muslim, for us to follow. That's another consolation. And the final consolation is this, she left me with four wonderful children. I am blessed with four wonderful children. And so, this is a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so, all I can say is that alhamdulillah, we make shukr, we show our gratitude to Allah for the blessings and this is one of the great blessings. And in life, we need to count our blessings. I mean, we have losses, but we also have gains. So, to conclude, although we are sad by that loss, we find solace in all of these things. JazakAllah khair. I have one final question. If my nine-year-old niece, and I'm looking at, she also has a cat, I'm looking at the cat just by your side. If you had a... He's a little kitten. We call him Jellaby. Jellaby. Yeah, it's a sweet meat, Indian sweet meat. It's very sweet. One of my joys.
I have one final question before we get on to the rapid fire. If on this concept of happiness, if my nine-year-old niece came to you and said, uncle Dr. Yasin, I'm starting off my life and I want to make sure that I'm happy, you know, I want to live a happy life. What is your response to this nine-year-old girl? Well, I'll tell her, you know, she must enjoy life, enjoy her time in the dunya. And I'm sure she loves ice cream. So I will tell her, look, enjoy your ice cream, but before you have it, say bismillah. And after you had your ice cream, you say alhamdulillah. You show gratitude for those little joys. And also remember that the jannah or the eternal happiness, the ice cream will be much nicer. And also, you know, it reminds me of my own children when they were small, nine years or 10 years old. I used to take them to the Kirstenbosch Gardens, the one that you visited in Cape Town. We used to go a lot to Kirstenbosch Gardens for picnics and, you know, to enjoy the stream and the animals. And so my children used to ask me now, what does jannah look like? You know, then I will tell them it looks like the Kirstenbosch Gardens, but much nicer.
Wallahi, I was saying the same thing. I was saying the same thing to my wife. Man, that place. Jazakallah khair. Dr. Yasin, thank you so much for your time on this topic of happiness. I'm going to kind of switch gears now and ask you a bunch of questions where you've only got a few seconds to answer. OK. Are you ready? I know it's coming on to midnight in Cape Town, so I appreciate the level of energy that you've already shown in this interview. I'll just have a sip of water. Bismillah. Sure. All right. The first one is a very simple one. Your favorite reciter or qari of the Quran? I love Qari, what's his name? Qari Abdul Samad, Abdul Basit. He came to Cape Town in the early days. I was very inspired by his reciting. MashaAllah. I mean, there probably hasn't been a home, a Muslim home that hasn't hasn't been touched by Sheikh Abdul Basit. We normally ask what was the last book that you were reading? But I feel a more appropriate question to ask Dr. Yasin is what was the last piece of writing that you were writing? Oh, I see. The last piece of writing is what I wrote for Yaqeen Institute. It's called the Adab of the student in the Quran. MashaAllah. And it touches on some of these things, the etiquette, what should be the etiquette of the student? You know, the respect for the teacher and so on.
A simple one. If you had the chance to have dinner with anyone from history, not the Prophet, it has to be someone else. Who would it be? And why? I would love to have dinner with Salman al-Farsi, the Sahaba. Why him specifically? Because I'm very curious to know his transformation, how he converted from Zoroastrianism to Christianity and from Christianity to Islam. And also his encounter with the Prophet. I'm fascinated by that story. Interesting. What is the best part of living in South Africa? Yeah, I think the best thing of South Africa is the natural beauty that we have. The mountains, we have table mountain here. If you come to Cape Town, we can have breakfast on table mountain. And we have beautiful seas, mountains, greenery. And we also have the meeting of the two oceans, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Town Muslims would like to believe that that is the marriage of Bahrain and Al-Taqiyah. That is the meeting of the two seas where Musa alayhis salam wanted to meet Khidr alayhis salam and that was the meeting point. So it could have been Cape Town here, Cape Point. If you come to Cape Town from high on the mountain, you actually can see the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meeting but not mixing. That is the marriage of Bahrain and Al-Taqiyah. Come see for yourself.
Okay. And if it wasn't Cape Town that you were living in and not South Africa, where would you live in the world? That is quite a difficult question because the world is so full of turmoil, you know. But I think that I wouldn't mind Turkey. I love the Turkey. I love the people and I love the culture, you know, in Turkey and I love the Turkish movies. And one final question, Dr. Yassin. One final question. What is the most important thing for parents like myself of young children to teach their children? What's the most important lesson that I need to give my children? I think the most important thing as a father or as a mother, as a parent, is to show your love and compassion towards your children. Secondly, to apply discipline. Combine that love with discipline. The child must learn the meaning of no. Not everything is yes. Life is not just about yes. It can also be no. Because if you give in to their whim, that can be very dangerous. They can become brats and it will become problematic when they get married because they want to exercise their whim and they don't consider the preferences of their spouse. It can be problematic in the workplace because they want to exercise their whim and they don't want to follow the rules of the workplace. So I think discipline is important as well as love.
Dr. Yassin, thank you so much for joining us on Double Take. We really appreciate your time and your pearls of wisdom. I know it's coming on to midnight in South Africa so we especially appreciate the amount of effort that you put into this interview. Jazakallah Khair. Jazakallah Khair and it was my great pleasure. Shukran. Assalamu Alaikum. Wa Alaikum Assalam wa Rahmatullah.
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