Human beings are always searching for more. We live a life feeling unsatiated. We want more things. More money, more house, and more friends. We are always on the quest to increase our collection of belongings. When we get to a point when we recognize that the beast shouldn’t be fed, we do things to quiet the feeling. We are told to engage in self-care and do things that make us feel more grounded. We are taught to meditate, sign up for therapy, go for walks in nature, and consume more religion. Another avenue to finding contentment is through service to others.
Being in service to others may be as simple as daily care to your child or your aging parent. Service could also be running errands for an elderly neighbor or watching a friend’s kids so they can go on a date night. But when that doesn’t feel like enough, you should venture out into the community to find other opportunities to do good. You may find yourself helping with a youth group at the mosque, or signing up to cook meals at a shelter. Doing things for other people will help improve your life in a multitude of ways. If you still need more convincing, I’ve got further evidence of how living in service of others can bring positive change to your life:
There’s a hadith that shows us how valued acts of service were to our beloved Prophet Muhammad SWS.
Ibn Umar reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The most beloved people to Allah are those who are most beneficial to people. The most beloved deed to Allah is to make a Muslim happy, or remove one of his troubles, or forgive his debt, or feed his hunger. That I walk with a brother regarding a need is more beloved to me than that I seclude myself in this mosque in Medina for a month…” Source: al-Mu’jam al-Awsaṭ lil-Ṭabarānī 6026.
In this hadith we learn that doing acts of service in Islam goes beyond just feeding the hungry. It can be as simple as bringing joy to another Muslim. I think our Prophet SWS made the comparison between worship and acts of service to highlight that caring for others CAN be a form of worship.
There have been several studies that show us that doing good and helping others can bring a profound sense of fulfillment and even joy to one’s life. Forbes magazine published an article earlier this year titled, “For Happiness and Career Growth, Consider the Power of Volunteering.” In the article they cite a BioLife poll in which the people surveyed who volunteered regularly felt an increased sense of purpose (45% of people), increased happiness (36%), and improved mental wellbeing (26%). The poll also reported that 49% volunteered because they expected personal fulfillment. This is just one of many studies that demonstrates that service to others can actually be a way to serve ourselves because it touches our hearts and minds.
As you get older, it gets harder to make friends. You start to have more inhibitions and fewer places to meet new people. However, when you volunteer, you open the door to meeting new people in new communities. It’s more likely that you’d form bonds with those people because you would be coming together for a common purpose: to help others. What better way to form a friendship?
One of the biggest reasons I like to engage in volunteer activities is because it helps reinforce my gratitude. When I make food bags for the homeless and distribute them, I am reminded of all the blessings Allah has provided me with. Engaging with people that are in need of basic necessities really puts things into perspective for me. It’s a great reminder to give shukr to Allah.
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