Signs of Happiness

Entry taken from my old blog:

 
Today I went to Pengajian Bulanan and Annual General Meeting of Indonesian Islamic Society of Brisbane (IISB). The ustadz was Romzi Ali from Sydney, who talked about Signs of Happiness (Tanda-tanda Kebahagiaan). I will write what he talked about, so that I don't forget.. and passing the knowledge to others (hopefully) brings amal shaleh..amin!

He told of Ibnu Abbas ra. (one of Allah's Apostle who was given the gift of memorising the Qur'an at the age of 9, and was specially prayed for by Prophet Muhammad PBUH), who was once asked by the Tabi'in (the generation after the death of Prophet Muhammad PBUH) what is meant by happiness. He answered that there are 7 signs (great things comes in 3s.. or 7s.. hehe --ga penting deh chi..):

1. QALBUN SYAAKIRUUN: A heart that is always grateful to الله, and qana'ah, feeling enough with small things. Well, I see it as feeling enough with what we have, whether it is a lot or barely anything, since it is human nature that we will never feel enough, regardless of how much we have. Ustadz Romzi described if we have $500, we feel enough spending $300, but if we have $700, then we feel we must spend $500 and $300 would be felt insufficient, and so on. Kalo Indonesianya sih.. qana'ah = bahagia apa adanya ;)
2. AL AZWAJU SHALIHAH: (Wichi's heart goes "WAAAA!!!" trus mupeng deh, hehe, didn't realise this would come second on the list, caught me off guard there and made me feel all butterfly-in-the-stomach ) This means: a shaleh/pious partner (husband/wife). Well, enough of the wonderings and the blushing... The Ustadz said there is an example in Q.S.At-Tahrim: 10-12 of a shaleh wife but kafir husband (Pharaoh and his wife), a shaleh husband but a kafir wife (Prophets Noah/Nuh as.and Lot/Luth as. and their wives), and a shaleh family all the way, such as that of Maryam and her family (the Ali-Imran family). Wouldn't we all want to be like Maryam... having generations before and after of shaleh families... As Wichi continues to wander and blush, the Ustadz went on of how the men are given the heavy burden of being responsible for their role as imam of the family... they cannot go anywhere in the Day of Judgment (i.e. up to heaven) if their family, especially their wives account them for being an irresponsible imam. The quality of responsibility here is of course according to الله and not according to us (man or woman!). So if there is the debate of Islam downgrading women, we must question what is the quality of the downgrading, according to whose values? Because in the end الله's values are what count above everything else... And yes.. Wichi continues to wander and blush and sigh dreamily... ....
3. AL AULADUN ABRAR: Yes, a shaleh/abrar child. We know the power of the prayer of a shaleh child, the Prophet PBUH in a hadith stated that there are three good deeds that will not die with a person after he dies, amal jariyah, useful knowledge, and the prayer of a pious child (I think it was Sahih Bukhari/Muslim).... The Prophet PBUH also in another hadith stated that taking care of parents in a form of jihad in itself.. Subhanallah... (Another emotional moment as Wichi's mind wanders off to her parents... miss them.. huhuhu... )
4. ALBIATU SHALIHAH: A conducive environment for our piety. Indeed, Wichi really feels for this. I get carried away easily, I must stay in an environment that nurtures my iman otherwise I'm really vulnerable to bad things (haha! bad, bad excuse...) The Ustadz spoke of how we should leave a country if the environment is doing bad things to our own iman, such was the case of the Prophet PBUH's hijrah from Makkah to Madinah.
5. ALMALUL HALAL: Owning halal wealth. We don't need much wealth, as long as it is halal. Halal not just of what we get, but what we use it for. Halal not for just material things, but how we use it, and even for food. There was a saying (forgot if it was hadith or not) pinned on the mushalla of my old school in Chemistry ITB (how old Chi.. baru 1 tahun ninggalin Kimia juga..sok2an.. hehe ) that said along the lines of what the Ustadz was saying: if you are in doubt, leave it! This is the case especially for food. Here in Australia it's always the case of doubting if the food we eat is halal, even if it has a halal sign, doesn't mean it is!! Scary huh.. was thinking of turning vegetarian just to be safe, hehe. Because anything that is doubtful to you is closer to being haram... It's important to maintain the halal-ness (Wichi's new word!!) of everything around you... there was a hadith telling a story of how someone kept praying to the maximum extent but was not being granted, because his food and earnings are haram!
6. TAFAKUH FI DIEN: The chance of learning.. of getting knowledge. The ustadz said there are three important things a Muslim should learn first: 1. ma'rifatullah: learn Allah, 2. ma'rifaturrasul: learn of the Rasul PBUH, 3. ma'rifatul dien: learn the religion (Islam)... The more we learn, the more we know and understand, the more we will love الله and the more our heart is filled with الله's NUR (light). Subhanallah...
7. UMUR BARAKAH: The time we spend, is a fruitful and blessed one. I was reminded of a training where we were given a piece of paper, and divide the paper into 10 pieces. 1 block represent 10 years of our lives. We cut off the end according to our life expectancy (so 3 pieces off, if we were to live to 70 years), then we cut off the other end according to our age because it has gone past. Most of the people were left with just one small piece of paper! Even though mine was a bit bigger (since I was younger than most people there) it did get me thinking.. wow, my life is only this left!! How can I make use of it?? Yes, it is important that the time we spend we don't regret, because we have filled it with amal shaleh and total devotion to الله...

(Based on Romzi Ali in the Pengajian Bulanan and AGM IISB Brisbane, Australia, Aug 23, 2008 with reference to 7 Indikator Kebahagiaan Dunia, adapted freely by Wichitra Yasya)