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Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem was Salaatu was Salaam 'ala Rasoolhil Kareem
wa ba'ad, Review by Umm Zubayr Sakeenah Moore
How to Achieve Happiness 
By Shaikh Abdur-Rahman As-Sadi
Darussalam 1999, softcover booklet 32 pages
In the booklet “How to Achieve Happiness” Shaikh As-Sadi (May Allah have Mercy on him) explains that all of mankind is in search of happiness, all of mankind has the ability to deal with affliction but only the believer has the advantage in that he or she seeks reward from Allah, has faith, patience and total reliance on Allah.
The layout of this booklet is slightly informal. There are a few introductions and no final conclusion. The chapters are very small, presented as small points to reflect on. Each point is designed to show how to eradicate depression and anxiety. Each reflection is based upon Quran and Sunnah, bringing Ahadith and verses from the Quran where appropriate. MashaAllah there are many advantages to the way the material is presented: You do not need to have a lot of time to invest in reading. This would be an ideal book for early morning reading or for just before bed. You can read out of order, if you feel reading a certain section would be useful for you at the moment, you don’t need to have read what comes before or after.
Some of the points presented include: Supplications of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), Kindness towards the Creation, The Heart’s Inner Strength, Seeking what is Beneficial, and Overlooking People’s Harms. All the points are very powerful, speaking to the heart, common sense or both. For someone who does suffer from depression and anxiety, or anyone needing help getting through hard times, this book can bring tremendous benefit inshaAllah.
An example of the writing style:
Among the best methods to repel depression is to intend to await Allah's reward Alone for whatever good he or she grants to those who have rights on them and to all others. Kindness is a type of good mannerism with Allah. Therefore, do not worry about receiving thanks from whomever you have granted a favor, just as Allah described the quality of His chosen slaves among creation:
"(Saying): 'We feed you seeking Allah's Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you.'" (76:9)
Quran is presented with Arabic script followed by the English translation of the meaning, the use of Arabic terms is minimal and are defined in the text or footnotes. This book comes highly recommended for all! * This book review may be used as website content on the condition that you do not edit the review and leave all links to SuqAs-Sunnah Bookstore intact *
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