There are many people around you who wander about with long, sulking faces, aren't there? Do you also think that the number of your acquaintances who started to whine constantly, the ones who get bent out of shape because of anger has started to increase day by day? Do your friends on social media constantly share their sentiments of boredom and state that they are bored out of their minds? Do they send messages saying "I am on the last straw of my patience!" "Enough is enough!" etc.?
Well, the commonality for all those people is that they either do not have faith or they have hesitations and doubts about their faith. Those people who do not clearly grasp the beauties that faith would bring them live through a very troublesome life in this world.
Our Almighty Lord described those people mentioned above in the 7th verse of Surah Yunus in the Qur'an as; "...those who are content with the life of this world and at rest in it." The sole goal of those people is to live the life of this world a little longer and to benefit from the perks of this world. Actually those people who prefer the life of this world and act unaware of the life in the Hereafter remain aloof from the beauties faith would bring to their lives. It is possible that they have never thought that the weakness in their faith is the real reason behind this cold world they are living in. As a matter of fact, it is very easy to change that cold and soulless life they've been living; thinking about the reason behind the creation of man and this world is enough for that.
Faith is the source of joy for man
People who do not believe look for reasons for happiness and some assume that they will find happiness in wealth, some in beauty or youth and some think that being popular and successful would make them happy; so much so that they find it odd and fail to understand when they see someone who lacks those qualities feeling happy. Such people, who evaluate everything in this world superficially and only target the joys of this world, can never be happy in the true meaning of the word. That is because the joy they feel inside stems from transient whims. The ambitions they have due to their desire to attain something turn into an illusion of joy when they acquire what they desire. However they lose their interest in what they attained and consequently their "happiness" fades very rapidly.
Almighty God tells us about the fact that the happiness that is so bound to this world would indeed be very transient in a verse of the Qur'an:
"Know that the life of this world is merely a game and a diversion and ostentation and a cause of boasting among yourselves and trying to outdo one another in wealth and children: like the plant-growth after rain which delights the cultivators, but then it withers and you see it turning yellow, and then it becomes broken stubble. In the Next World there is terrible punishment but also forgiveness from God and His good pleasure. The life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion." (Surat Al-Hadid, 20)
Devout, faithful people live happily and in peace in every minute of their lives
Faithful people never lose even a scintilla of their joy when there is shortness in blessings, when they fall ill, or when they are in any form of difficulty. They do not need any special reason for happiness; having faith is the primary reason for their joy and for their being thankful. They are fully aware of the fact that the hardships of this world are given solely to test them and hope for a beautiful reward in the Sight of God when they show patience in the face of hardships. This thought alone becomes the source of their joy and happiness: They make comparisons because they act on their good conscience and appreciate the beauty of the blessings even better with that comparison.
For those who do not have faith, the situation is exactly the opposite. Such a person who, let us say, has a house would feel jealous instead of being happy for a friend who has even a bigger house, and start making plans to acquire a bigger house himself; however, even that bigger house would not make him happy because God does not create happiness and joy as a function of the size of one's house, of one's beauty, fame, popularity or success. A person who thinks deeply would instantly grasp this fact.
Youth and beauty are temporary as well; people get old no matter what and lose their strength. Without faith that could cause great distress.
All the beauties given as the blessings of this world would give pleasure and joy only when they are shared with love, only when people act with the spirit of sacrifice, not when people possess them in extravagant amounts or hoard them; without faith all those blessings become instruments of distress and decrease the quality of life.
As the level of a person's faith increases, they start taking a greater pleasure from beauties around them. They find a beautiful aspect in everything and see the goodness in all things, great or small.
"As for those who had faith and did right actions, they will be made joyful in a verdant meadow.” (Surat Ar-Rum; 15)
Adnan Oktar's article on Aaila The Muslim Family Magazine:
http://aaila.org/issue/september-october-2013/article/happiness-is-only-possible-with-faith
