Symposium 26
Is Happiness and Misery from Allah?
Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom!
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam Wa Rahmatollah Wa Barakatoh!
Anwar:I still have a question on the Divine Justice. May I ask, please?
Hasan:Of course, go ahead!
Anwar:We hear a lot that this person is happy and that person is unhappy or miserable! Is happiness and misery from Allah or from the slave, or is it something in between?
Hasan:Very good question! But before we show their origins, we need first to shed light on their meanings.
Anwar:Yes, Very good.
Hasan:Happiness has been defined as an attribute to describe the slaves who achieve and enjoy a welfare that suits their body and soul. On the other hand, unhappiness is lack of this and being deprived from it.
Anwar:There are other definitions, but I think more or less they all say almost the same thing. Please, go on!
Hasan:We need here to demonstrate that these issues are mentioned in the Noble Quran and the Hadith. The Most Exalted Allah says in the Noble Quran:
(On the day when it cometh no soul will sneak except by His permission; some among them will be wretched, others glad۞As for those who will be wretched on that day they will be in the Fire; sighing and wailing will be their portion therein۞Abiding there so long as the heavens and the earth endure save for that which thy Lord willeth. Lo! Thy Lord is Doer of what He will۞And as for those who will be glad that day they will be in the Garden, abiding there so long as the
heavens and the earth endure save for that which thy Lord willeth: a gift unfailing)11;105-108.
Moreover, there is a Prophetic Hadith reported by Omar:
“Once one is born either happy or unhappy, what would we work for? For what is finalized or yet not finalized?” Prophet (PBUH) replied “For what is already finalized, Omar, as pens were dried and fates were practiced, but all is possible for what created for”.
Both the Holy Verse and the Hadith might give us this impression that happiness and unhappiness are forced on mankind, but the truth is that it is nothing but an invitation to obedience and rejecting disobedience. This is because the Almighty Allah wants happiness for whoever chooses obedience and unhappiness for whoever chooses disobedience, and this notification comes out of His Eternal Knowledge and Will. So, again there is no compulsion in this, and on the contrary, it is free choice that is being only confirmed as both happiness and unhappiness are the result of actions that come out of the doer willingly, and after all, what has been said refers to the next life and not this life.
Anwar:But these two concepts – happy and unhappy – are attributes with which people are described in this life. How is that?
Hasan:My dear Brother, happiness and misery or unhappiness are two things mankind acquire during their lives; they are not attached to us from birth to death. Happiness and unhappiness are the result of certain requirements applicable to a certain degree and not of forcing or compulsion.
These requirements might be genetic, cultural or environmental as they might or might not influence us, because we are born with freedom of choice, so we are free to become happy or unhappy, and this freedom cannot be totally canceled by these elements.
Anwar:But how about this Prophetic Hadith:“An unhappy person turns unhappy in his mother’s womb, and a happy person turns happy in his mother’s womb”?
Hasan:I need you to focus, my Brother. If this Hadith has a reliable source linked to the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), then it refers to this implication that human
beings are of two types: one is born from sperms and eggs of healthy parents physically and spiritually; this type is described with a happiness that will stay for all life along. The other one is born from a sperm and an ovum of unhealthy parents physically and spiritually; this type is doomed with unhappiness ‘unless your Lord wills otherwise’. So, this is related to this life and not the afterlife.
There is actually another Hadith that gives explanation to this Prophetic Hadith:
Hamad Bin Omair said: I asked Musa Bin Ja’far (PBUH) about the implication of the Prophetic Hadith “An unhappy person turns unhappy in his mother’s womb and a happy person turns happy in his mother’s womb”. He replied: The unhappy person is the one that Allah knows since he is still in his mother womb that he will be acting unhappily and the happy person is the one that Allah knows since he is still in his mother womb that he will be acting happily.
Thus, happiness and unhappiness of people since they are still in their mothers’ bellies implies God’s knowledge of man’s happiness and unhappiness due to
their choice of good and bad deeds, and consequently there is no compulsion or restriction practiced on a person in this regard.
Anwar:This is an excellent scholarly elaboration.
Hasan:I will end this discussion with a Hadith from Amir Al-Mu’menin (PBUH) in which he illustrates the fact that happiness and unhappiness are as a result of man’s actions and that no one is forced to become happy or unhappy:
“The truth of happiness is that one ends his work with happiness and the truth of unhappiness is that one ends his work with unhappiness”.
This clarifies that everyone has his own choice for being described with either happiness or unhappiness.
CHATPTER THREE
Prophecy
(Nobowa)
·Demonstrating the Meaning of Prophecy
and the Benefits of Prophethood (Bi’tha)
·Is Prophethood Divine’s Grace?
·Demonstration of Miracles
·What is the Difference Between Miracle
and Magic?
·Approaches to Proving Prophecy
·Attributes of the Prophets Including Infallibility
·Is Infallibility Against Free Choice?
·Infallibility of the Prophets (PBUT) in Individual and Social Affairs
·Words on Special Prophecy
·Attributes of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH)
·Elements of Building Human Personality
·Words on Fluency and Eloquence of
the Noble Quran
·Words on the Noble Quran
·Words on Universality and Finality of the Message
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