Finding Happiness: The Path to Contentment

With contentment, the shackles meticulously wrought by society to chain one down with pleasure are effortlessly taken off, allowing its wielders to free themselves from the tomb of this world, and allows them to appreciate the things that transcend it…

Article Author: Adam Hasan

In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me.”^[1]

Let us start by asking a simple question, what do we fundamentally desire the most? What do we intrinsically yearn for? Food, fame, money? No, think even more basically, what do all of these things have in common, what do they bring us – happiness. We desire happiness. How do we truly fulfil our most fundamental desire, how do we fulfil the purpose of our lives – how can we truly be happy?

Pleasure and Desire, Contentment and Fulfilment

Happiness is either addictive or fulfilling, immoral or pure and destructive or constructive. This is what differentiates between pleasure and contentment.

What is pleasure? Pleasure can be described as the rush one feels after carrying out his desires, the kick of dopamine that so easily manipulates the feeble human brain toward action, and at times this can be useful, to win, to beat or to be the best. Pleasure can very easily be tied to one’s competitive nature, but it very easily takes on a darker tone, and we need not delve far.

Contentment, on the other hand, does not induce the same chemical rush as pleasure. In fact, the feelings could almost not be further apart. Contentment, instead, eases one’s heart and soul, allowing him to accept life as it comes, and approach all problems with a positive and hopeful (in God’s Mercy) mindset, accepting his place in this world, and the greater reality thereafter.

The Boon of Contentment

Contentment is spiritual, tied to objective eternal realities. It covers what even the modern man considers to be ‘perennial’ [lasting or existing for a long or apparently infinite time; enduring or continually recurring]. It is born out of wisdom and universal truths. Building strong, loving relationships; accepting our weaknesses, those we can improve and those we cannot; seeking not an end, worldly goal, but to constantly improve oneself are examples of such. Contentment encapsulates many things that elude many in this modern secular world. It is to challenge injustice; to stand firm on the Truth, regardless of those around us; to accept reality, regardless of the consequence such brings in this all too short a life. It is to improve oneself, but not aimlessly, but to do so such that when the undeniable reality of death comes to face each and every one of us, and we stand, insignificant before our creator, we can truly hope for his mercy.

“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.”^[2]

With contentment, the shackles meticulously wrought by society to chain one down with pleasure are effortlessly taken off, allowing its wielders to free themselves from the tomb of this world, and allows them to appreciate the things that transcend it: kindness, relationships and the value of Truth! These things are perhaps not measurable, not quantifiable, not counted by dopamine levels in one’s brain, but rather relate to man’s eternal and infinitely greater self, his soul. Contentment allows man to feel warmth in a blizzard, to see light in the darkness and to smile with hope, even in the face of despair. This is contentment, not pleasure.

The Vice of Pleasure

Pleasure, on the contrary, does the opposite. It brings no benefit to one’s soul, one’s true self, but serves to distract the body, the animalistic lesser self that operates upon its whims and lesser desires. Pleasure cannot help but bind one to this world, as it is, in fact, simply defined by the limited nature of the world.

In small doses, pleasure is not evil, but when taken any further than its intended, natural purpose, it is toxic and destructive. Pleasure cannot fill the hole left by a life without contentment, it only serves to distract oneself from the emptiness and futility of one’s life. It serves to tell man that while he is blessed, he cannot appreciate his blessings. Sometimes, even surrounded by loving people, he cannot feel more alone. And it never stops. Not until it destroys him. It is like a parasite, only festering and growing, feeding off the materialistic craving of man, seeming impossible to subdue, until it becomes part of him, until it defines him.

But it gets even worse, as pleasuring oneself creates a further need to experience that rush, to reach that high again. Yet the need created by pleasuring oneself cannot be fulfilled by the same act, but only by something greater, and so any problem caused by it will always, spiral out of control. Does the drug abuser consciously enjoy his lifestyle? Though he knows how desolate he has made himself, he continues, because of the ‘kick’ or the ever-unfulfilling pleasure the drugs give him. Such allows him to escape reality, even that bit longer. He sees himself as nothing without it, and once again, by removing contentment, he has found himself empty, as spiritually hollow as the mannequins lining shop windows.

Perhaps an even more apt example is in the immodestly dressed women in society today. Men seemingly cannot help but look at women as objects of desire, we are built for each other, but when limiting one’s thought process to pleasure, a woman becomes only that, an object of pleasure, something to lust after. With contentment, a man sees a woman for what she truly is, a complementary partner in a relationship, that will be with you both physically, mentally and spiritually, and whose relationship extends far beyond the bedroom.

How to Achieve Your Goal – Contentment

Pleasure comes from following one’s material desires, his need for food, sex and stimulation. But how does one achieve contentment? As contentment transcends the physical, the means of achieving it will too. Contentment can only truly come from surrendering oneself, body and mind, to the Higher Power, briefly mentioned previously, more commonly known as God or Allāh in Arabic.

By accepting God’s power and absolute dominion over all things, one frees himself from the world. Who is there to fear, but God. What is there to worry about, when it is all in the plan of the Most Wise, God? The Merciful tells us in his holy book:

“Verily in the remembrance if Allāh do hearts find rest.”^[3]

The vice of paranoia is dispelled, as he surrenders his trust in God, just as a baby surrenders itself in the warmth of its mother’s embrace, feeling nurtured, cared for and protected. It frees him from succumbing to others, as he knows his opponents, or oppressors hold no real power, and that any consequences they bring are only temporary, and that reward will come for those who stand firm on the truth.

And it frees people, from pleasure. No longer are we controlled by our desires, no longer are we slaves to it; as with something infinitely greater to submit yourself to, man makes himself a slave to God, not his insatiable hunger for this world. When he is among those who embody the verse:

“Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allāh, Lord of the worlds.”^[4]

What else does he need? As he is truly fulfilling his purpose, there is no oblivion in his soul to run from. And he may see the things of this life as they truly are: trivial, many a time meaningless, too often harmful. The need to escape emptiness is subdued, one regains control over himself, and can partake in his wants in a controlled manner, if he so wishes. But the desire loses control, that is what is important. So, strive for contentment, submit yourself to the Lord of all things, be free of the shackles of this world, be happy.

If you submit yourself to God, how are you free?

We are all slaves to something, by making ourselves slaves to the transcendent, we remove the shackles of this temporal world, and therefore become free of it. Furthermore, when one immerses himself with God, God guides that person, meaning that his desires eventually well and truly align with all of God’s wishes, so he becomes mentally free on two counts, he becomes not bound by the world, and then not tested by himself.

Why does contentment subdue pleasure?

Contentment fulfils you; pleasure only tries to. With contentment, people are happy, so there is no need for a kick. As I made clear earlier, pleasure is used to escape the crushing reality of one’s emptiness, but if you are not empty, then what is there to escape from? Contentment is a natural, and the only true remedy to pleasure.

Why is God the only way to attain contentment?

Humans are both emotional and logical creatures, God is the only reality that fulfils both of these. If one simply decided to turn himself off from the world, to try and ignore the crushing desolation that encompasses all he does, then he will not survive, just look at the depression and suicide rates for irreligious people, atheists and nihilists. God is the logical conclusion, the Higher Power that ordains all things, from Whom comes all strength and knowledge, and to Whom return all things.

Emotionally, the need for Whom we can rely on never leaves us as we mature from infanthood. Instead, it takes a new form; we all experience lows, we trip, we stumble, we all fall. And God is always there for you, every step of the way, when you know He is, and when you think he is not, when no one else is, when no one else can be. We need someone Whom we can rely on, One who is nurturing, strong (the Guardian), wise (the Guide), a reality, that is by all definitions – Perfect. We need God.

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References:

^[1] Qur’an 51:56

^[2] Qur’an 16:97

^[3] Qur’an 13:28

^[4] Qur’an 6:162