Some factors of happiness and joyfulness
Nowadays, people consider joyfulness as a tool for forgetting daily stress and pressures. From the viewpoint of Islam, happiness and feeling of joyfulness is the beating heart in every person’s life. Imam Reza (Peace be upon him) stated that a person’s everyday life can be divided into four parts. A part of it is allocated to sustaining the livelihood and another part is allocated to visiting one’s trusted brothers and those people who inform you of your shortcomings. In this way, another part of the person’s daily life has to be allocated to recreational activities in order to give more energy to the person (Behar al-Anwar). From this religious saying one can better realize the role of joyfulness in Islam and its positive impacts on other aspects of life.
If we do not consider feeling of happiness and joyfulness as one of the basic needs of every human being, we should consider it as one of the necessary requirements in life. Moreover, if one doesn’t direct the feeling of happiness and joyfulness towards human perfection, it will bring about ominous consequences in this world and afterlife.
Some of the factors that can create or strengthen the feeling of happiness are: Vindication of right and removal of wrong; Avoiding sins; Making others happy; Happiness at the time of worshipping God; Happiness during the days of waiting for the reappearance of the Infallible Imam and Islamic feasts; and other factors such as using perfume, wearing clean clothes, being clean and orderly, brushing the teeth, etc.
We can draw this conclusion that the worldview of every person towards the surrounding environment and the world plays a significant role in enjoying a sustainable feeling of joyfulness and exuberance.
A human being who believes in God and divine values considers everything even problems and grief as inconspicuous things that can bring about feeling of happiness.
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
Happiness from the Islamic point of view
Nature of joyfulness from the view of Islam and psychology
The Faithful Tested with Calamities
The virtue of patience in the time of Calamities in the sacred letter of Imam Sadiq