 As-salamu alaikum my dear respected viewers, hello and welcome to the 29th episode of the Treaties of Rights series with me or host Ali Jassim. Today we will discuss the right of him through whom God makes you happy. Regarding this, the Imam Sajjad alaym as-salam has said, and the right of him through whom God makes you happy is that if he intentionally made you happy, you should first praise God and then you should thank him accordingly and reward him for initiating a nobility and be determined to return his favor. If he made you happy unintentionally, you should praise Allah the Almighty, thank him, and realize that he chose you exclusively for that and you liked it. He has been one of the means of God's blessings descending upon you. You should only wish him well since the means of dissension of blessings are themselves blessings wherever they may be even if unintentionally. And there is no power but Allah SWT. Going through life and experiencing harsh circumstances makes us appreciate happiness more. Being happy is a gift from Allah SWT that everyone should be grateful for. It is through being happy that we move through life. If one were to closely observe their life and the lives of those around them, they would surely notice something very significant. Every individual in this universe seeks and works tiredly to achieve an aspect that may already be present in their daily lives if only they took the time to realize it. Achieving happiness is everyone's global subconsciously or consciously. We humans are always striving to reach this illusion of happiness. Everyone has their own definition for happiness. Some might say that their happiness is achieved through buying a house or traveling or getting married. But is that really happiness? There are many different situations in life. Sometimes life is filled with failures and difficulties. At other times it is filled with success and happiness. The difficulties may seem like storms that threaten a safe harboring. The successes may cause such an outbreak of happiness that we lose all of our control. Islam in the Holy Quran directs us towards prosperity and invites us to act moderately in all situations. We should not lose hope in Allah SWT's mercy when we are faced with difficulties. We should not think that there is no way out for us. We should not become negligent during times of happiness and forget our identity and God. We should remember Allah SWT in all situations and realize that blessings and the attention that we receive are due to God's will. It is God who makes us happy. We should also realize that difficulties are very instrumental in our progress and development. We should be moderate whether we are happy or sad. The cause of happiness varies. Sometimes we get a new position. At other times we get rich. Another person makes us happy. One of the common reasons we find it so difficult to find happiness is due to our perception of what it really is. Our ability to be happy depends on how we define it. For many, happiness is defined by what has been achieved or what has been accomplished or material things we have obtained. While these things can't contribute to the feeling of being happy, do they really bring us true happiness? What does Imam Ali Amir al-Mumin in Peace and Blessings be upon him say about happiness? Nine rules for happiness by the commander of the Peytul Ali. First, rely on God when pleased and when grieved. Second, fear Allah SWT when you are alone, when traveling and when at home. Third, do not coerce anyone no matter how much he wrongs you. Fourth, do not worry no matter how high your concerns may pile up. Fifth, lift simply no matter how high your prestige may be. Sixth, anticipate goodness no matter how serious the affliction may be. Seventh, give Allah though you may be deprived even of a little. Eighth, smile even if your heart may be bleeding. Ninth, do not stop supplicating for your Muslim brother when he is absent. Through Imam Ali's eloquent words, one can slightly change their viewpoint about happiness. Allah SWT has given us humans free will and a mind to make decisions. Anyone can be happy if they tried and worked hard enough. Financial stability as well as other materialistic matters do play a role in one's happiness, even though its importance is extremely low compared to other factors of happiness. An individual with a correct set of beliefs and values will surely have a higher sense of happiness than those who live life freely without any beliefs and rules to regulate their lives. In the Holy Qur'an, Allah SWT says, those who believe in the oneness of Allah, Islamic monotheism and work righteousness, tuba means all kinds of happiness or name of a tree in paradise is for them and a beautiful place of final return. Most factors of happiness, like ethical and religious virtues, are at all people's disposal. But we must not forget that there is a special emphasis in the words of Imam Ali, peace be upon him, on the unseen factor of Tufiq, i.e. divine help for success. He says, Tufiq leads to goodness and is the most important factor of happiness. Now, what if someone came and gave you a reason to be happy or made you happy in any way? How could we possibly thank them? Making believers happy is a greatly encouraged in the Holy Qur'an and in the narrations of the Ahlul Bayt, peace be upon them. Let's go for a quick short break. Stay tuned. Welcome back, my dear viewers. There is a chapter on this subject in Usul Al-Kafi. The importance of happiness and making people happy has been outlined there. We will review a few of them here. Abi Hamza Tumali, Qur'an on the authority of Imam al-Sadaq, peace be upon him, on the authority of God's prophet, peace be upon him, and his pure progeny. Whoever makes a believer happy has indeed made me happy. Whoever makes me happy has made God, spana wa ta'ala, happy. This tradition shows that one way to please the God and the prophet is to make the people happy. This can play a very crucial role in fostering social unity and in eliminating hard feelings and animosities. Jaber narrated that Imam Baqir, peace and blessings be upon him, said, The smile of a believer at another believer is a good deed. Removing a speck from your brother's eye is a good deed. No form of worshiping God is more loved by him than making the believer happy. Therefore, the best form of worshiping God is making others happy. Imam Baqir, peace be upon him, also said, In the supplications of Moses, the son of Amran, we read that God told Moses, There are among my servants some for whom heaven is destined and they shall have the rule there. Then Moses asked, Oh Lord, who are those who have such a special place in heaven? God said, those who make believers happy. This tradition continues as follows. If a believer who lives in a land that is ruled by an oppressive ruler migrates to a land in which pagans live, seeks asylum there and gets influenced by them. When he dies, he will be told, Oh my servant, I would have let you reside in heaven if you had any place there, but heaven is forbidden for those who set up partners with me. The fire will be ordered to seize that man, but not to torture him and he will be fed at proper times. Then Moses asked, where will he be fed from? God said, he will be fed from whoever God wills. We also see a similar concept in the following verse. God forgives not that partners should be set up with him, but he forgives anything else to whom he pleases. The Holy Quran and it's chapter four, verse 48. Therefore, we realize that those who make people happy go to heaven and have a special rank there. In the sixth tradition in the above mentioned chapter, we read that, When one of you makes a believer happy, you should not think that you have only made him happy. No, I swear by God, you have also made us happy. No, I swear by God, you have also made God's prophet happy. Therefore, the prophet of Islam, peace be upon him and the immaculate imam, peace be upon them all, all get happy when they see that their followers are being kind to each other and making each other happy. Not only that, but making other believers happy could actually save you on the day of resurrection. So there, Serafi, quoted on the authority of Mamal Sadiq, when a believer is resurrected on the day of judgment, he might see someone ahead of him who tells him not to be afraid of what he sees and gives him glad tidings of happiness from the Lord. Then that person always accompanies him until the reckoning. His reckoning will be an easy one and he will be told to go to heaven. That person who always walks ahead of him will still accompany him. Then the believer will ask, may God have mercy upon you. You have been walking ahead of me since I was resurrected and have given me glad tidings of God's mercy on me. Now please tell me who you are. That person will say I am the result of your deeds making other believers happy in your life. God created me out of that happiness to give you glad tidings. In this tradition, we see that all of our deeds will somehow be manifested in the hereafter. Now we will mention a beautiful story about making others happy. Kulaini narrated that Muhammad Ibn Jamhur said, Najashi was a farmer who was appointed as the governor of the provinces of Ahwas and Fars. One of his agents went to see Imam Sadiq and said, I owe Najashi a lot of taxes and know that he really likes you. Can you please write a recommendation for me? Imam Sadiq wrote in the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Make your brother happy in order to make God happy. Then the man took the letter and gave it to Najashi. Najashi waited until others left. Then he kissed the letter and asked him what he wanted. The man told Najashi that he had been taxed 10,000 dirhams. Najashi ordered the tax not to be taken from him and asked if he had made him happy that way. The man said yes. Then he ordered that a horse, a servant and a maid be given to him and asked if he had made him happy. The man said yes. Then Najashi ordered the carpet he was sitting on to be given to him too. Later on, Muhammad ibn Jumu'ur told the Imam what had happened. The Imam became happy. He said, oh, you became happy. The Imam said yes. I swear by God that the Prophet became happy too. From this story, we can learn how much the Ahlul Bayt peace be upon them valued making others happy and how we as their followers should strive to do the same. We have reached the end of this episode. Stay tuned for another episode on the Treaties of Rights. Thank you all for watching and may Allah hasten the reappearance of our beloved Mahdi. Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.