How to be happy: Make life happy with Islamic Sunnat

1 – Faith and righteous deeds: This is the greatest and most fundamental of means. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

 “Whoever works righteousness — whether male or female — while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic Monotheism)

verily, to him, We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment, and lawful provision), and We shall pay them

 certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)” [al-Nahl 16:97]

Allah tells us and promises us that whoever combines faith with righteous deeds will have a good life and a good reward in this world and in the Hereafter.

2 – Being kind to people in word and deed, and all kinds of doing good. This is one of the means of removing worry, distress, and anxiety.

 By this means Allah wards off worries and distress from righteous and immoral alike, but the believer has the greater share of that,

 and is distinguished by the fact that his kindness to others stems from sincerity and the hope of reward,

 so Allah makes it easy for him to be kind to others because of the hope that this will bring good things and ward off bad things,

by means of his sincerity and hope of reward.

3 – Another of the means of warding off the anxiety that steam from nervous tension being preoccupied with disturbing thoughts

 is to occupy oneself with good deeds or seeking beneficial knowledge, for that will distract one from dwelling on the matters that

 are causing anxiety. In this way a person may forget about the things that are making him worried and distressed, and he may become

happy and more energetic. This is another means that believers and others have in common, but the believer is distinguished by his faith

 sincerity and hope of reward when he occupies himself with that knowledge which he is learning or teaching, or with the good deeds that he is doing. 

4 – Another thing that may ward off worry and anxiety is focusing all one’s thoughts of the present day, and not worrying about the future or grieving about the

 past. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sought refuge with Allah from worry and regret, from regret for things in the past which

 one cannot put right or change, and worry which may come because of fear for the future. So one should focus only on the present day, and focus one's efforts

on getting things right today. For if a person is focused on that, this means that he will do things properly and forget about worry and regret. When the Prophet

 (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said a dua or taught a dua to his Ummah (community), as well as urging them to seek the help of Allah and hope

 for His bounty, he was also urging them to strive to attain the thing they were praying for through their own efforts and to forget about the thing which they were

 praying would be warded off from them. Because dua (supplication) must be accompanied by action.

5 – One of the greatest means of feeling content and relaxed and of acquiring peace of mind is to remember Allah a great deal. That has a great effect in bringing

 Contentment and peace of mind, and relieving worry and distress. Allah says:
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest”  

Remembering Allah has a great effect in achieving this aim because it has a special influence and because of the hope that it brings of reward.

Ibn al-Qayyim summed fifteen ways through which Allah may dispel worries and regret. These are as follows:

1- Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah (belief in the Oneness of Divine Lordship)

2- Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah (belief in the Oneness of the Divine nature)

3- Tawheed of knowledge and belief (i.e., Tawheed al-Asma’ wa’l_Sifaat, belief in the Oneness of the Divine names and attributes)

4- Thinking of Allah as being above doing any injustice to His slaves, and above punishing anyone for no cause on the part of the slave that would require such punishment.

5- The person’s acknowledging that he is the one who has done wrong.

6- Beseeching Allah by means of the things that are most beloved to Him, which are His names and attributes. Two of His names that encompass the meanings of all other names and attributes are al-Hayy (the Ever-Living) and al-Qayyoom (the Eternal).

7- Seeking the help of Allah Alone.

8- Affirming one's hope in Him.

9- Truly putting one’s trust in Him and leaving matters to Him, acknowledging that one's forelock is in His hand and that He does as He wills, that His will is forever executed and that He is just in all that He decrees.

10-Letting one's heart wander in the garden of the Qur’an, seeking consolation in it from every calamity, seeking healing in it from all diseases of the heart, so that it will bring comfort to his grief and healing for his worries and distress.

11-Seeking forgiveness.

12-Repentance.

13-Jihad.

14-Salaah (prayer).

15-Declaring that he has no power and no strength, and leaving matters to the One in Whose hand they are.