Finding the True Happiness - Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers and the Seal of the Prophets. And upon his family, the pious and the pure. And upon those who follow them in goodness until the Day of Recompense and beyond.

Allah, the Exalted, said in the final revelation, after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of the night and the day, there are signs for those of understanding. Those who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and on their sides, and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, O our Lord, You have not created this in vain. Exalted are You. Protect us from the punishment of the Fire. Sadaqallahul Azeem.

My dear respected brothers and elders, respected and dear beloved students and youngsters, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

The Universal Pursuit of Happiness

Indeed, all of mankind is engaged in efforts and struggles in this life. The goal of all the efforts is one and the same, but the methodology of those efforts differ greatly. Everyone is striving to achieve happiness and contentment and a better life in this world — better life for themselves and their family members and loved ones and children. But how they go about trying to achieve that happiness is very different.

Allah says:

By the night as it covers the earth in darkness, and by the day as it brings forth the light, and by the being who created the male and the female — إِنَّ سَعْيَكُمْ لَشَتَّىٰ — verily, your efforts are diverse in nature.

Everyone is making effort every day when they get up. They take upon themselves the burden of how we can make this day a better day. But what practical steps they take in that direction differs greatly.

The Illusion of Material Happiness

Allah makes it very clear to us in His Book that that contentment of heart and that peace of mind and that inner happiness and composure that we are all striving to achieve — and that satisfaction and meaning in life that we want — does not lie in the material things of this world.

A person can have the kingdom of Nimrud. A person might achieve the army of Fir'aun, the wealth of Qarun, the beautiful palaces of the Thamud, the beautiful gardens of the nation of Saba, and have a financial empire in trade routes and be successful in importing and exporting like Ahlul Madyan, the nation of Shu'ayb. Or he may be working hard in the gym and have the physical strength of the nation of 'Aad, who said:

Who said, "Who can be stronger than us?" — Do they not see that Allah who created them is stronger than them? But he will not find that inner happiness and satisfaction in any of the above. That is why these stories were repeated by Allah in the Quran.

The True Source of Contentment

On the other hand, the true happiness is found only in the remembrance of Allah. Allah attracts our attention with the Harf al-Tanbih. He says أَلَا — verily, listen. Some of the translations of the Quran translate it as "Behold!" or "Verily!" This is a phrase used in the Arabic language to attract the attention of the listener or the reader.

Verily, it is only in the remembrance of Allah that the hearts will find contentment.

So we have two options. Either we can try every different medicine that is being presented out there by the people of the world, and fail all the tests, and come to this conclusion — hopefully before we die, which is also an unknown time. Or we can trust Allah that He is the one who is the most truthful and take His word for it. The one who created us, created our nafs, created our soul, created our ruh, created our jassad, our body, who is the creator of everything in existence — He is making this definitive statement that the contentment lies only in His remembrance. So it would be very foolish for us to ignore this statement of reality of Allah.

The Heart of the Prophet

And we find the condition of Rasulullah ﷺ — the one who we can all agree was the most successful human being, and the one who was most beloved to Allah, the one who had the loftiest status, the one who is the best of the entire creation. What was the condition of his heart? All conditions — throughout the day, throughout the night, in khalwa, in jalwa, in solitude or in company — his heart was continually in contact with and in remembrance of Allah azza wa jal.

The Masnoon Du'as: Stairs to Ma'rifat of Allah

One simple way we can gauge that, and we can get a slight barometer of that, is if we go over and deeply consider the significance and the meanings of something which we take very lightly — the masnoon du'as. The du'as which are masnoon, meaning they are thabit from Rasulullah ﷺ, they are attributed to Rasulullah ﷺ. These are those prayers and various invocations and du'as that emanated from the heart of Rasulullah ﷺ through his tongue, and were recorded by his companions and have been transmitted to us — the du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ for various different conditions throughout the day and the night.

When we were in the Dawrah al-Hadith — the last year of the 'Alim program — in which we study from before Fajr, all day there are classes from Dhuhr to 'Asr. 'Asr to break — to be honest, there is only a break in the day. Then from Maghrib till 'Isha and then after 'Isha till late at night. It is called the Dawrah al-Hadith, the year when we cover all the Hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ. So we cover the entire Sahih al-Bukhari, every single hadith. The whole Sahih Muslim, the whole Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Abu Dawood, Muwatta' Malik, Muwatta' Muhammad, Sharh Ma'ani al-Athar of al-Tahawi. These voluminous works, entire works have to be completed to gain the sanad and ijazah in Hadith. So the volume of Hadith is so great that you learn in that one last year.

So the students would appreciate and be interested in academic discussions — when there would be deeper discussions given by the professor of Hadith, the Shaykh of Hadith, on topics of 'aqidah, topics of belief, the deviant sects that have arisen in Islam, what are the refutations of those wrong interpretations — other points of wisdom, nukat, other lata'if, very beautiful, subtle points. And they would appreciate that and be interested in that.

But then in the books of Hadith, we would come to the chapter Kitab al-Ad'iyah — the chapter on the du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ. So students would sometimes lose focus because there is not much academic discussion that can be done here. This is a chapter on the du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ: What is the du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ when he woke up in the morning? What is the du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ before he ate? What is the du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ after he finished eating? What is the du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ before he went into the bathroom? When he came out of the bathroom? When he entered the masjid, when he left the masjid? When he wore clothes? When he saw himself in the mirror? In every condition that we go through in daily life, there are du'as attributed to Rasulullah ﷺ.

So when we go through that chapter, students would turn — maybe because of the excessive workload as it is to begin with — start dozing off, not paying attention, thinking, "Okay, we know this, whatever." So I recall that the teacher attracted our attention to this point, and he made a very important point. He said: "You think these du'as are a waste of time, and nothing important to pay attention towards. But in reality, if only these du'as are made with the correct intention and focus, then these are the stairs that a person can climb to gain complete ma'rifat of Allah — can become an Arif Billah, the one who is aware of Allah and has reached the pinnacle of ihsan."

Because what do we see if we take a quick glance at those du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ? Constant remembrance of Allah, without any state of heedlessness or ghafla ever coming in between.

The Du'a Upon Waking

As soon as you wake up, in the first state of wakefulness, it comes on the noble tongue of Rasulullah ﷺ:

These are the du'as which, if our children go to Islamic school, they are learning there, and they might even end up knowing more du'as than we do. But we all need to equally study and learn these du'as and practice them with the correct understanding.

All praise and thanks to that Allah, who has brought me back into a state of life after I was in a state similar to death. وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ — and towards Him is our final return.

So this is pretty deep. What it means is that as you are waking up from your sleep, you are not only thanking Allah that He brought you back to a state of wakefulness, when you could have passed away in your sleep. So this life that you have today, this day that you have to live — this is a blessing of Allah that you are thanking Him for. But moreover, as you are rubbing your eyes and becoming awake, you are remembering the scene which is a definite reality that is going to come — that just as you are awakening from your bed today, a time will come when you will be awakening from your grave, and you will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment.

That is why he is praising Allah and thanking Allah, and saying وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ — towards Him is our return. Meaning, just like I woke from my sleep today, I will one day wake from my grave.

The Two Blowings of the Trumpet

As Rasulullah ﷺ has said — do we remember that the trumpet will be blown twice? The great angel of Allah, Israfil, has already held the trumpet in his hands, and has already put the trumpet to his mouth. And he has already inhaled, and he is just waiting to exhale. Waiting.

When he is ready to exhale, then he will begin exhaling. So the first trumpet will be blown — and everything in the heavens and earth will come to a destruction. And Rasulullah ﷺ explained that life will continue going on until not a single person will be left in this world who says "Allah, Allah," who knows Allah. Then Allah will say: what is the purpose of this sun and this earth, this universe? Why does the sun have to continue to rise in the east, set in the west, and the earth rotate on its axis? This universe has no purpose if there is not a single person left who recognizes Me. So for that last person, the whole universe will continue to remain in existence. And when he dies, then the trumpet will be blown.

But it will start slowly, and everyone will hear a sound — a slight sound. They will be wondering what it is. It is just mildly irritating, it is bothersome. But then they will continue to ignore it and continue on with their lives. But it will be increasing in tempo, the decibel level will be increasing. And just like sometimes the youngsters, when they pump their volume up high on the music in the cars, you see that even our windows start shaking — you see the effects of loud sound creates vibrations and things begin to shake. So that is how the universe will be destroyed — through the sound, through the shaking, it will shake up the entire universe. It will increase, increase, until the entire world will be destroyed, and the mountains will be flying like dust.

So that is the first blowing of the trumpet. Then there will be a period of time when everything will be destroyed. Then the trumpet will be blown again, the second time. When it is blown the second time, then everyone will be resurrected from their graves. From their resting places, they will be resurrected and they will be proceeding automatically towards the mahshar, towards the place of judgment.

So every morning when you are waking up from your sleep, imagine if you are reciting this du'a — and we did not even progress to any other du'a, we are stuck on the first du'a when you wake up. But if you have this concept that you are remembering the Day of Judgment, and you are remembering how you are going to wake up on that day and face Allah, how will you lead the rest of your day? Versus the one who is focused just on: "I got to get to work, I got to make more money, I am going to be late, or there might be traffic" — and he is just rushing, he has no concept of Allah or remembrance of the Hereafter.

Remembrance in Every Moment

Then before you eat — when you wash yourself you make wudu. There is a du'a before wudu, a du'a after wudu. Du'a before you eat: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَةِ اللَّهِ. What we find in summary is that every moment is for remembering Allah — before beginning any action, bismillah, in the name of Allah. After completing any action, alhamdulillah, all praise and thanks to Allah.

You worked so hard with the sweat of your brow, you brought the money, you earned the money, and your wife made so much effort — she bought the ingredients and she cooked and made labour all day in the kitchen. And then together, the husband and wife when they are enjoying the meal — after they finish, what do they say?

Meaning you negate everything that you have done. And you say that all praise and thanks is to that Allah who has provided this beautiful meal to us. That's good enough, right? No — مِنْ غَيْرِ حَوْلٍ مِنَّا وَلَا قُوَّةٍ — without any effort and any input from our side, we didn't do anything. Because whatever ability I had to earn, whatever ability my wife had to cook — who granted us that ability, who granted us that strength, and who granted us that talent? It goes back to Allah.

That's why in the tafsir of alhamdulillah — when it says "all praises belong to Allah" — in the deeper tafsir of that they say: okay, you might say all praise should be to Allah, that might make sense, but how can you say all praise is for Allah? Because I might come inside and say this is a beautiful building, and the building is not Allah, so the praise is for other than Allah. Or somebody says what a beautiful painting, what a beautiful picture, what a beautiful building, what a beautiful meal you provided, what a beautiful person you are — so you are praising different people, and this praise is to other than Allah. You are saying alhamdulillah, all praise belongs to Allah. So the explanation of that is: all praises belong to Allah, either directly or indirectly, because all khayr comes from Allah.

So when you are praising Allah directly, you say alhamdulillah — that is definitely direct. And if you praise anything else — if you say, wow, the Sears Tower, or the Willis Tower, is such a tall beautiful building in the Windy City, it has survived all these years and doesn't come crashing down — then you are praising Fazlur Rahman Khan, who was the structural engineer, who was such a genius and designed a breakthrough technology in structural design to create such a building. But who gave him that intelligence? Allah. So your alhamdulillah, your praise, goes back eventually to Allah. If you say a beautiful building, the architect, or the engineer, or the craftsman, or those who built it — who gave them that skill? Allah. So your praise goes back to Allah. All praises are back to Allah, either directly or indirectly.

The Du'a Upon Seeing Oneself in the Mirror

And every du'a is so appropriate to the occasion. When you see yourself in the mirror, there is a du'a for that:

O Allah, just as You have made my outward appearance beautiful, O Allah, I ask from You to make my inner character beautiful as well.

Then you cannot say, "Hey, I'm not beautiful, this doesn't apply to me." No — every person:

Every human being is the most beautiful creation of Allah. We know this for a fact — human beings are the most beautiful creation of Allah. There is no doubt about that.

The Story of Harun al-Rashid and Malikah Zubaydah

One time, in a very romantic mood, when Harun al-Rashid, the Khalifa, was sitting with his wife, Malikah Zubaydah, on the terrace of his palace, and he was looking at the moon, he said: "Wallahi, O Zubaydah, if you are not more beautiful than the full moon that has arisen above us, then you are talaq — I give you talaq." So this is a conditional divorce.

So he went and asked many different scholars, and they said that the full moon in Arabic poetry and literature is known as the most beautiful thing in existence. That is why the Ansari girls, when they welcomed Rasulullah ﷺ in Medina, they said Tala'al Badru Alayna. The moon in its different phases has different names — you have heard of the Hilal? The Hilal is the first moon. And the Badr is the full moon. So the 14th night moon is called Badr, and the first night moon is called Hilal. And there are names for the moons in between as well.

So they said:

This is the famous poem of the welcoming of Rasulullah ﷺ. So they called him Badr, the full moon. So the full moon is the most beautiful. You said if she is not more beautiful than the full moon, then she is talaq — so unfortunately, she is now your ex-wife, ex-queen of the Abbasid Khilafah.

So he didn't want to hear that answer. So he went fatwa shopping — Googled the fatwa, to see if he could get another answer. Then finally he went to Qadi Abu Yusuf Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim, the student of Imam Abu Hanifah. And he said: your wife's marriage is intact, and she will remain your wife. Because Allah said:

The human being is the most beautiful creation of Allah. So when you see yourself in the mirror, you say, "O Allah, like You made me beautiful" — You could have made me an ant. You could have made me a scorpion. You could have made me a snake. You could have made me a pig. But You made me a human being.

The Ashraf al-Makhluqat — the most honoured of all creation.

Conclusion: Take Home the Du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ

So we could go on and continue through all the du'as. But as a final point — we have a guest speaker today who is visiting us, and he will be speaking and taking a few moments to address us — so I will have to cut this short. But let us leave with this take-home point:

Let us focus on the du'as of Rasulullah ﷺ. Take them to heart. Pick up a copy of the book of du'as — whether it's Hisnul Muslim, whether it's Adhkar al-Muslimin. Learn those du'as with understanding. Begin to recite them, and you will begin to feel personally your relationship with Allah increasing.