Contentment of the heart - the jannah of the dunya

Contentment of the heart - the jannah of the dunya

If you ask me what's the most priced possession in this world, I'd say it is the contentment of the heart. In my own personal life I've gone through a phase when I didn't know what this even meant and so never experienced the sweetness of it. I always had something to worry about, to be disappointed about, to be anxious about... my heart was never at ease. It was always in a state of constant sadness and let downs.  But as I grew up, with a few gentle life lessons Al-Lateef taught me, I understood that there's no better feeling in this world than to feel contented at heart. I observed two kinds of people. One of them had everything to be happy about, like the wealth and luxury of this dunya, status, children, beauty... everything. Yet they were never truly the happy people. They always had something or the other to be depressed about. On the other side, I observed the kind who didn't have most of these things I mentioned above, but were truly happy in their lives. They hardly had any complains about life whatsoever. Without any doubt, I wanted to be among the 2nd category and I searched for that special secret in their lives that made them the happy people they were in spite of the fact that they didn't have much from this dunya. The answer was... contentment of the heart.

They were people who were contented with what they had. With everything they had. Whether it was a blessing OR even a test! They were people who were contented with the decree of their Lord upon them...

When I said my answer to 'THE' most priced possession of this world is contentment of the heart, some of you may have wondered why I didn't say it was 'faith in Allah'. It is because contentment of the heart IS faith in Allah. Faith in Him that whatever He decrees on you, whatever He plans for you ARE in your best interest. Its faith in Him as the Rahmaan and Raheem who's more merciful to you than your own mother. It is having full unflinching faith Him that He's got you when it's completely dark around you and all doors are closed. Its faith in Him as the Akram The Ever Most Generous who'll never fail to reward you with something good even if you've only been pricked by a thorn. Its having faith in His words "But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows, while you know not". Its faith in Him as Al-Wakeel - the best manager of your affairs.

This is why ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah said "truly there's a paradise in this world, whoever does not enter it, will not enter the paradise of the next world."
And truly the paradise of this world is the sweetness of faith in Allah, the inevitable byproduct of which is the contentment of the heart. For, the one who is contented feels like a king even if he's a pauper and the one who is not contented is like a pauper even if he's a king!

Let the famous saying of Umar RA serve as an inspiration to each one of us, "my heart is at ease knowing that what's meant for me will never miss me and what misses me was never meant for me."

When you start applying this in your life, people will find you strange. You are almost 30 and still single, yet you are happy. You are childless, yet you don't seem depressed. You are divorced yet there are no signs of anxiety on your face. They'll see so much happiness and serenity in you so much so that they'll start wondering if you are a strange person who actually 'liked' to be single or childless or divorced. They'll call you 'strange' because of the contentment you possess despite your situation. In a world where contentment of the heart has become strange, you'll be a stranger among them. At that point remember these words of our beloved leader and teacher sallallahu alayhi wa sallam "...so glad tidings to the strangers" (muslim)