Happiness in Islam refers to both this world and the hereafter. Happiness in the hereafter is the ultimate goal of the believer, motivating him to strive for true happiness in this world. We will first examine the literal meaning of happiness in the and then discuss the interpretations of it by Islamic philosophers, namely Miskawayh (d. 1030), alIsfahani (d. 1060) and al-Ghazali (d. 1111).
Theview
Man will be accountable on the Day of Judgement: he will experience otherworldly happiness if he has done good, and otherworldly misery if he has done evil. Good people will have their book of good deeds placed in their right hand, and they will be happy:
As for him who is given his book in his right hand, he shall say, Come! Read my book! I knew I was going to face my accounting. He shall be in a happy life, in an exalted Garden whose fruit-bunches are nigh [to be plucked… It shall be said to them:] Eat and drink to your satisfaction in consideration of what you had left in previous days. (69.19–24; see also 56.27–44; 17.71; 74.39)
The happiness of the hereafter is not merely spiritual. The does not recognize a hereafter that is peopled by disembodied souls; it does not recognize, it seems, the dualism of body and soul, but speaks of man as a unitary being. The term nafs, according to Rahman, was developed later by Islamic philosophers as a substance (jawhar) separate from the body, but the refers to man himself, his personality, with body and intelligence. The does not affirm a mere spiritual heaven and hell as suggested by the Indian philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal. It describes the physical heaven and hell, not as metaphors, but in order to convey their real effects: the vivid portrayal of fire and the garden conveys the psychospiritual effects of these physical conditions, which are more important. Thus the states: ‘God has promised believing men and women Gardens, underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide, and pleasant abodes in the Gardens of Eden—but the pleasure of God with them is greater and that is the great success’ (9.72). Thus the believers and the virtuous will have their greatest reward in the pleasure (ridwan) of God. The faces of the believers on that day will be ‘fresh with joy and will be looking at their lord’ (75.22–23) (Rahman, 1980:112–13).
The expression yawm alqiyama (Day of Resurrection) was transformed into the philosophical expression yawm (Day of Happiness). The indicates that mankind, because of divine predestination, is divided into ‘happy’ inhabitants of paradise and ‘unhappy’ dwellers in hell. However, the impact of predestination is mitigated by verses that pertain to free will and responsibility; hence there is the idea of responsibility for our actions, and accountability to God on the Day of Judgement (Daiber, 1994:657).
Thus the term (happiness, bliss), which became a central concept in Islamic philosophical literature, connotes man’s highest striving for eternal happiness in paradise. Its opposite is shaqawa (misery), which denotes man’s eternal misery in hell. We earn this supreme happiness by the purification of the soul. Wealth, health and friends help towards this purification, and so we should strive towards these as well, but we should be aware that none of this bounty, physical or spiritual, is possible without the grace of God. Hence we should perpetually pray to God to grant us the good of this world and the hereafter.
Miskawayh’s view
Due to the influence of Neoplatonism, this happiness has been described as the ‘assimilation to God’. Miskawayh described it as such, but Isfahani replaced it with the concept of khilafa (vicegerency) (2.30; 6.165). The true vicegerent conforms to the revealed law and turns to God alone for sustenance, as is suggested in the verse: ‘Allah suffices us; Allah will give us of his Bounty, as will his Apostle. We turn humbly to Him’ (9.61). This idea of the assimilation to God was also developed by al-Kindi, al-Razi and the Ikhwan alSafa’ (Daiber, 1994:658).
Aristotle also influenced Muslim philosophers in his assertions that happiness should be pursued for its own sake, and not for the sake of something else, and that the highest happiness is connected to the rational soul. However, Muslim philosophers differ from him in the view that happiness is not confined to this world, but also extends into the hereafter. The quality of worldly happiness determines the quality of otherworldly happiness. There are two levels of worldly happiness: one consists of the right conduct in fulfilling one’s basic needs, the other of lessening human wants for the sake of a greater happiness in the hereafter (al-Attas, 1995:34ff.).
Miskawayh combined both Neoplatonic and Aristotelian elements in his theory of happiness. Man’s perfection pertains to two things: the cognitive and the practical faculties. The practical pertains to moral perfection, which lies in the harmony of the faculties of the soul. When he achieves this harmony he becomes a small world, or a microcosm of the universe. Man’s happiness lies in becoming a small world (Zurayk, 1968:35–7). Happiness is the end of all virtues, and is the supreme good, but it cannot be attained without the body and the external virtues of material resources, friends and good fortune. These bodily and external virtues do not provide ultimate happiness, but they aid in its achievement. The happy man is either in the rank of the bodily things, or in the rank of the spiritual things, but whoever is in neither of these two ranks is in the rank of the animals (Zurayk, 1968:75ff.).
Al-Isfahani’s view
Al-Isfahani argues that the path to virtue is the path to happiness. Mere knowledge of the good is not true knowledge, which must correspond to one’s state of being. The actual doing of good transforms a person’s being. Revelation only guides the intellect as to what the good entails, but the good has to be practised. Thus to do good is to know good, and to do evil is to be ignorant of good. This conclusion follows from al-Isfahani’s conviction that the moral person is the happy person. Since people desire their own happiness, they will always desire the good. This emphasis on moral action and the purification of the soul in alIsfahani transcends Miskawayh’s emphasis on cognition as the key to happiness. Al-Isfahani emphasizes the idea of worship, and associates the assimilation to God with the idea of khilafa.
Both Miskawayh and al-Isfahani share the view that bodily and external goods are important for the virtues of the soul, but whereas Miskawayh regards them as inevitable burdens of earthly existence from which we need to be liberated, al-Isfahani regards them as forms of happiness, albeit of a lower order.
Both kinds of happiness, bodily and spiritual, worldly and otherworldly, are acknowledged by the Worldly pleasures should, however, be pursued in moderation. Al-Isfahani has a positive view of the body and of the world, which offers a more natural transition in the course of man’s ascent to the higher plane of happiness than that suggested by Miskawayh.
Al-Isfahani reminds us that complete virtue and real happiness are in fact the good deeds of the hereafter (al-khayrat al-ukhrawiyya). Lower goods that lead to this higher happiness are also virtuous, but we must be guided by our reason to choose them prudently. The four qualities of this otherworldly happiness are: eternity without destruction, ability without weakness, knowledge without ignorance, and wealth without poverty (al-Isfahani, 1987:129).
Happiness lies in the perfection of our distinctive quality, as suggested in the verse cited by al-Isfahani: ‘God has perfected everything, and it is this perfection that all things long for, and He has guided every thing to realise its particular perfection. Our Lord is He who gave everything its nature, then guided it‘(20.50).
The permits happiness for man (14.34), both otherworldly happiness that will not perish and worldly blessings that will perish. People seek happiness, but they often mistake it for something else. The thirsty imagine a mirage in the desert to be water: ‘As to the unbelievers, their works are like a mirage in level ground, which the thirsty supposes to be water, but when he comes close to it, he finds that it is nothing’ (24.39) (al-Isfahani, 1988:128; 1987:134).
Worldly benefits can lead to happiness if used sparingly, to provide for one’s basic needs. The happy ones are those who view happiness as a blessing, and the miserable ones those who do not see it as a blessing. Concerning the latter, the states: ‘So do not let their wealth and their children win your approval, Allah only wishes to torture them therewith in the present life, so that their souls might depart while they are still unbelievers’ (9.55) (al-Isfahani, 1987:130).
Man cannot attain higher happiness in the hereafter without distancing himself from the temporary world (6.158) and without removing the sickness of his soul (al-Isfahani, 1987:133). This is what God is referring to when he says: ‘And as for the happy, they shall be in Paradise, therein dwelling forever, so long as the heavens and the earth abide, save as thy Lord wills for a gift unbroken’ (11.108).
Al-Ghazali’s view
In agreement with Miskawayh and alIsfahani, al-Ghazali holds that if man disciplines his desire (shahwa), he will attain the perfection that distinguishes his nature, which is the heart’s knowledge of God. This special perfection, and its pleasure, are unique to man, and the pleasures of the senses cannot compare with this higher pleasure.
Know, the happiness of everything—its pleasure, its serenity—indeed the pleasure of everything accords with the needs of its nature. And the nature of everything accords with what it has been created for. The eye delights in [seeing] pretty pictures and the ear delights in [hearing] harmonious sounds. Every limb can be described like this. The heart’s distinctive delight is in the knowledge of God, the Most High, because the heart is created from [divine knowledge. (al-Ghazali, 1987:139)
Al-Ghazali follows al-Isfahani’s positive view of the world. Worldly pleasures are a means to the pleasures of the hereafter. The pleasures of desire and anger, the two lower elements in man, should not be obliterated, but disciplined (Qasem, 1975b: 153–61).
Otherworldly happiness is the highest form of happiness, and the Sufi way, according to al-Ghazali, is the most effective way of attaining it. Neither reason by itself, nor mere external conformity to the revealed law are sufficient to reach ultimate happiness. This goal can only be attained by the purification of the soul, and the Sufis stress the means to it, which is constant meditation and moral action.
References and further reading
al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib (1995) Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Islam, Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC.
and then discuss the interpretations of it by Islamic philosophers, namely Miskawayh (d. 1030), alIsfahani (d. 1060) and al-Ghazali (d. 1111).
view
does not recognize a hereafter that is peopled by disembodied souls; it does not recognize, it seems, the dualism of body and soul, but speaks of man as a unitary being. The term 
refers to man himself, his personality, with body and intelligence. The 
does not affirm a mere spiritual heaven and hell as suggested by the Indian philosopher, Muhammad Iqbal. It describes the physical heaven and hell, not as metaphors, but in order to convey their real effects: the vivid portrayal of fire and the garden conveys the psychospiritual effects of these physical conditions, which are more important. Thus the 
states: ‘God has promised believing men and women Gardens, underneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide, and pleasant abodes in the Gardens of Eden—but the pleasure of God with them is greater and that is the great success’ (9.72). Thus the believers and the virtuous will have their greatest reward in the pleasure (ridwan) of God. The faces of the believers on that day will be ‘fresh with joy and will be looking at their lord’ (75.22–23) (Rahman, 1980:112–13).
expression yawm alqiyama (Day of Resurrection) was transformed into the philosophical expression yawm 
(Day of Happiness). The 
indicates that mankind, because of divine predestination, is divided into ‘happy’ inhabitants of paradise and ‘unhappy’ dwellers in hell. However, the impact of predestination is mitigated by verses that pertain to free 
(happiness, bliss), which became a central concept in Islamic philosophical literature, connotes man’s highest striving for eternal happiness in paradise. Its opposite is shaqawa (misery), which denotes man’s eternal misery in hell. We earn this supreme happiness by the purification of the soul. Wealth, health and friends help towards this purification, and so we should strive towards these as well, but we should be aware that none of this bounty, physical or spiritual, is possible without the grace of God. Hence we should perpetually pray to God to grant us the good of this world and the hereafter.
concept of khilafa (vicegerency) (2.30; 6.165). The true vicegerent conforms to the revealed law and turns to God alone for sustenance, as is suggested in the verse: ‘Allah suffices us; Allah will give us of his Bounty, as will his Apostle. We turn humbly to Him’ (9.61). This idea of the assimilation to God was also developed by al-Kindi, al-Razi and the Ikhwan alSafa’ (Daiber, 1994:658).
idea of khilafa.
Worldly pleasures should, however, be pursued in moderation. Al-Isfahani has a positive view of the body and of the world, which offers a more natural transition in the course of man’s ascent to the higher plane of happiness than that suggested by Miskawayh.
permits happiness for man (14.34), both otherworldly happiness that will not perish and worldly blessings that will perish. People seek happiness, but they often mistake it for something else. The thirsty imagine a mirage in the desert to be water: ‘As to the unbelievers, their works are like a mirage in level ground, which the thirsty supposes to be water, but when he comes close to it, he finds that it is nothing’ (24.39) (al-Isfahani, 1988:128; 1987:134).
states: ‘So do not let their wealth and their children win your approval, Allah only wishes to torture them therewith in the present life, so that their souls might depart while they are still unbelievers’ (9.55) (al-Isfahani, 1987:130).
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