Note: Things We Must Do To Stay Contented

💐 In The Name Of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
💌 Things that bring forth inner peace and contentment:
1• Maintaining a strong connection with Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala and striving to obey Allah's Commands, regardless of how His servants see or treat you.
2• Being grateful to Allah the Most Wise for the gifts and blessings that He destined for you. Patiently accepting Allah's Qadr/Decree while not comparing your unique life story to others' journeys.
3• When unpleasant circumstances happen or when you get disappointed for whatever reason, understand that Allah the Most Merciful only grants you what He knows is best for you. Trust Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala, refusing to give up striving to pass Allah's tests, with patience and gratitude.
4• Carefully select which users and pages to follow on social media. Do not feel guilty about unfriending or unfollowing those whose status updates make you doubt your self-worth. The kind of posts you can expose yourself to should be ones that increase your level of faith/Imaan and enhance your self-esteem. Anyone who cowardly posts passive-aggressive content and gossipy updates deserves a virtual goodbye without warning.
5• Choose your daily battles wisely. Not every invitation to a fight and argument nor unnecessary messages that cause stress levels to escalate must be responded.
6• Aim to please only Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala and be contented with Allah's Love. Be courageous enough to embrace solitude and rejection from Allah's slaves once in a while. Know that as long as Allah the Most Loving loves you and you're guided by Him, you can survive confidently and independently without requiring people's validation.
7• Calm your heart and soul by frequently saying Dhikr, particularly the morning and evening Adhkaar, increasing your Du'as, and make it a habit to read at least two pages from the Noble Qur'an each day and/or night. The more good deeds you do for Allah's sake e.g. praying Salat Ad-Duha and Qiyaam Al-Layl, the stronger your faith/Imaan is and the happier you are on the inside.
8• Don't be afraid of being imperfect nor cancel taking risks to avoid mistakes. Whenever you make a mistake or get overcome by your nafs, rush to do Tawbah and seek Allah's Forgiveness. Learn from your errors. Don't allow imperfections to prevent you from progressing and improving as a striving Muslim.
9• Among the happiest of people are those who try to be helpful and kindhearted. While trying your best to serve Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala, do whatever you can for Allah's sake to avoid harming His creation. Being deliberately selfish, pridefully silent and taking advantage of people usually lead to guilt which contributes to struggling with feelings of emptiness.
📖 Fadalah ibn ‘Ubayd RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Blessed is one who is guided to Islam, whose livelihood is sufficient, and who is contented."
Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhī 2349
Grade: Sahih (Authentic) according to Al-Albani
📖 Thawban RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Blessed is one who controls his tongue, whose house is spacious, and who weeps for his sins."
Source: Al-Mu’jam Al-Awsaṭ 2398
Grade: Hasan (Fair) according to Al-Albani
📖 Abu Huraira RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Be devout and you will be the most pious of people. Be contented and you will be the most grateful of people. Love for people what you love for yourself and you will be a believer. Behave well with your neighbors and you will be a Muslim. Laugh less, for too much laughter will deaden the heart."
Source: Sunan Ibn Mājah 4217
Source: Sahih (Authentic) according to Al-Albani

Note: Things To Avoid In Order To Be Happy

💐 In The Name Of Allah The Most Gracious The Most Merciful
💌 Things that lead to depression or feelings of emptiness which we Muslims can avoid:
1• Allowing yourself to be dependent on people's actions and treatment of you to achieve happiness. Wrongly assuming that you'll be happy only if someone is nice to you or if your plans go well.
2• Comparing your life to others' lives, being addicted to watching vlogs and mukbang videos on YouTube, and feeling as though you lack something when you see other people doing things you can't do or having materialistic possessions which you don't own.
3• Forgetting Allah's blessings that He gave you, focusing on the bad events that took place previously, being unable to let go of the past, and magnifying your problems by complaining about them instead of saying Du'a and moving forward.
4• Scrolling through Facebook news feed and browsing random timelines for more than an hour without saying Dhikr or while delaying an obligatory prayer. The more you purposely delay a Salah and the more you neglect your duties to Allah the Almighty, the more your heart gets tainted with dark spots so you start feeling empty.
5• Frequently debating with keyboard warriors online and making long-term enemies offline. Being unwilling to forgive. Holding onto grudges and nosily stalking the accounts of people you dislike.
6• Being overly attached to temporary things like dunya and people. Not making effort to study about Islam and showing no interest in becoming pious or more practicing.
7• Listening to songs and music instead of calming recitations of the Noble Qur'an.
Harming your soul by letting it commit as many sins as you like e.g. watching porn, deliberately telling lies to make your audience laugh and backbiting about others "for fun".
8• Trying to live a so-called "perfect life" when perfection can only be found in Jannah Paradise. Assuming that getting married, getting richer, or traveling to a certain country spell out "success" and refusing to be contented with your condition until you obtain all three - marriage, wealth, and traveling for leisure.
9• Intentionally being selfish or withholding the favors that Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala granted you. Rather than sharing beneficial knowledge you've learned, with Allah's Will, and providing surplus food to the needy when you have the chance to be generous, you keep your joys to yourself selfishly.
📖 Fadalah ibn ‘Ubayd RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Blessed is one who is guided to Islam, whose livelihood is sufficient, and who is contented."
Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhī 2349
Grade: Sahih (Authentic) according to Al-Albani
📖 Thawban RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Blessed is one who controls his tongue, whose house is spacious, and who weeps for his sins."
Source: Al-Mu’jam Al-Awsaṭ 2398
Grade: Hasan (Fair) according to Al-Albani
📖 Abu Huraira RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Be devout and you will be the most pious of people. Be contented and you will be the most grateful of people. Love for people what you love for yourself and you will be a believer. Behave well with your neighbors and you will be a Muslim. Laugh less, for too much laughter will deaden the heart."
Source: Sunan Ibn Mājah 4217
Source: Sahih (Authentic) according to Al-Albani

Hadith: Paradise Is Surrounded By Hardships And Hell Is Surrounded By Desires

📖 Abu Huraira RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "When Allah created Paradise and Hellfire, He sent Angel Jibreel to Paradise saying: 'Look at it and see what I have prepared therein for its people.' Jibreel came and looked at it and what Allah had prepared therein for its people. He returned to Allah and he said: 'By Your Might, no one will hear of it but that he will enter it.' Allah ordered that it be surrounded by trials (and things that are disliked or too difficult for most people to do) and He said: 'Return to it and look at what I have prepared therein for its people.' Jibreel returned and found that it was surrounded by hardships. He returned to Allah and he said: 'By Your Might, I fear that no one will enter it.' Allah said: 'Go to the Hellfire and look at it and see what I have prepared therein for its people.' Jibreel found that it was in layers, one above another. He returned to Allah and he said: 'By Your Might, no one who hears of it will enter it.' Allah ordered that it be surrounded by lusts and desires and He said: 'Return to it.' Jibreel returned and he said: 'By Your Might, I fear that no one will escape it.'"
Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhī 2560
Grade: Sahih (Authentic) according to At-Tirmidhi