Page 79 - Faith: The Way to Happiness

Perpetual Happiness Belongs to Believers

Another important factor in making believers happy and tran-
quil is their knowledge that any event which happens to them that
seems negative is in fact to their advantage. Faced with the problems
they encounter, ignorant people feel great anxiety and discomfort
and are crushed by them. When something occurs which seems dis-
advantageous, they cannot see the good and the benefit in it which
Allah wants for them. For this reason, they always fall prey to a pes-
simistic and hopeless outlook. This in turn distances them further
and further from Allah. This state into which such people sink in-
c reases their pain and dismay even more. Allah tells us that the
hardships disbelievers suffer will continually increase:
But as for those who deny Our Signs, We will lead them,
step by step, into destruction from where they do not know .
(Surat al-A‘raf: 182)
With the expression "from where they do not know" in the
verse, Allah is informing us that the deniers of the truth will experi-
ence anxiety and unhappiness in the life of this world in a way they
do not expect at all. They are not aware of what really makes them
unhappy and troubled. So long as they are not devoted to Allah and
His Book they will be unable to identify the source of their unhappi-
ness and will continue to be troubled.
Believers, on the other hand, see good in everything and what-
ever the circumstances in which they find themselves, they never
forget that what happens is what Allah wants for their own benefit.
So there is nothing to sadden believers or trouble them. Even if they
a re in a very difficult and disadvantageous position, they turn to
Allah and remain patient while asking for His help. This is a bless-
ing for believers. By the same token in times of ease and plenty they
turn to Allah nonetheless and show their gratitude to Him and try to

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