Financial Happiness: Islamic Finance Perspective

"Who is he that will loan to Allah a beautiful loan which Allah will double unto his credit and multiply it many times?" [2:245].
The verse stated above teaches us that by generously giving to the poor and needy, Allah will increase our wealth and blessings in this life, wipe out sin, and increase rewards. Sadaqah will also give barakah in our wealth. It is definitely the best investment for our Dunya and akhirah.

It is also reported in Sahih Muslim that the Prophet Sallallahu 'alaihi Wa Sallam said:
"Charity does not decrease the wealth and the servant who forgives, Allah adds to his respect; and the one who shows humility, Allah elevates him in the estimation (of the people)."
and
"There is not a day in which the obedient slaves rise in the morning except that two angels descend, and one of them says: 'O Allaah! Compensate the one who spends.' The other angel says: 'O Allaah! Destroy the wealth of the one who is niggardly."

However, the immerse gaining from sadaqah isn't always in a physical and direct form in Dunya. It doesn't necessarily mean that by giving sadaqah our salary would have doubled or our selling would have increased instantly. It may mean that Allah will put barakah into our life and wealth. We will notice that no matter how much amount of money we allocate in sadaqah, we will still have plenty left and our life will noticeably be happier.

Mr. Y is spending his money on necessity, which contains 3 levels. Dharuriyah, hajjiyah, and tahsiniyyah. Dharuriyah is our primary needs, things that we cannot live without. And then there's hajjiyah, our secondary needs, where if we can not obtain these things, we can still survive but we will not function well. And the last one is tahsiniyyah, our tertiary human need. It is less important than ethics because the need is not about survival, it is to feel better.

Our society lifestyle is mostly based on desire, not needs. Let's have a quick self-reflection. When we go to the mall with enough amount of money, then we see something that we like, what crosses our mind? "I want to buy that". But do we think and consider "do I need to buy that?". We need to start implementing our saving mindset and start spending our money on what will benefit us in the future.

The key to financial happiness doesn't depend on the amount of income we earn in a period of time, it depends on how we utilize it. Our mindset defines our happiness and well-being. Buying stuff that is beneficial for us and our surrounding will gain our long-term happiness.  To be financially happy we need to take the time to figure out what we really want and to not get distracted by all the bright and shiny or yummy and delicious things. So we need to set a priority list of what we really need. And also we should focus on where our money goes, the best way to allocate it is to make some investment out of it, especially investment for akhira in a form of sadaqah, waqaf, and zakah.