I have always believed that you will never really be depress if you allow yourself to see the bigger picture in life. Here, the highlight of the book is how wonderful and unique women were created. She is a daughter, a mother and a wife, 3 roles that play a huge role in the lives of men. Serving well in this 3 roles will easily earn her paradise. However, Dolan said men showed more health benefits from tying the knot, as they took fewer risks. Women’s health was mostly unaffected by marriage, with middle-aged married women even being at higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts. It should be noted that the point here is not to praise or condone that “new religion”, for there is to be no new revelation or Prophet after Muhammad (Blessings and Peace be upon him) brought the Qur’an and the message of Islam. Rather the author’s point here is to praise a woman who rose above adversity and made a difference in the life of others.” (Translator) The final point is the fact that Dale Carnegie was continuously mentioned in this book. The first half of the book went well and then these stories and quotes started to appear after the halfway point. Dale Carnegie wrote books like ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’. He wrote about how to find happiness, yet many people believe that Dale Carnegie committed suicide (or opted for assisted suicide). After all the work he did, his own advice wasn’t able to save him in the end. Some people say that he died of a disease and the institute decided to write his cause of death as that, because they were afraid book sales on “personal growth” would drop. Allah knows best, but we can see why quoting such personalities can be problematic. Our Prophet Muhammad SAW and the rightly guided men and women of this Ummah have left volumes and volumes of work to quote from, so I was not happy with the fact that non-Muslims were given such a high regard.

For some reason, this book also romanticizes poverty. It insists over and over that “poor women in mud huts” are happier than people who “live in mansions and sleep in silk sheets” because the poor woman believes in god and implies that somehow owning material wealth equals being astray from God. I wonder if he has ever met with or spoken to these happy poor women. Because I have, and the stories they tell chill me to my bones. The horrors they endure, the squalor they live in, the misery that they cope with- how can this author just gloss over it all and insist that they are happy? Certainly they are religious. Who needs religion more than the poor? How will they forge through life without a beautiful belief to cling to? Instead of reducing their struggle to a silly proverb, he could have spoken about empathizing with them or helping them, which Islam does stress on so deeply. Out of all the lessons from this book, I took away the lesson on gratitude. This brilliant author had reminded us that no one is ever completely happy and we should always give thanks to all the things that happened to us, both the good and the bad. How many times have we found ourselves whining away about life’s unfavoured circumstances? The author reminded us that…….. Despite the benefits of a single, childless lifestyle for women, Dolan said that the existing narrative that marriage and children were signs of success meant that the stigma could lead some single women to feel unhappy.You can do good deeds at home and in society, that will help you attain the pleasure of Allah. So, set the best of examples and be a beacon for the children of the Ummah.” Dolan’s latest book, Happy Ever After, cites evidence from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which compared levels of pleasure and misery in unmarried, married, divorced, separated and widowed individuals. Whilst she was lying in her hospital bed, she opened the Holy Book and was inspired by Divine care – as she put it – to read these words from the Gospel of Matthew: If you have read this book, I would be interested in knowing your point of view as well, Insha’Allah. Yes well okay. In the introduction alone we can see this man’s disdain for those silly foolish Nobel laureates, and his presumable conviction that the entire lot of innocent women who read Agatha Christie are now out there, probably committing murder.

You are holding in your hands a treasure chest of reminders that will help you learn important lessons and set you on the path to happiness in this world and in the Hereafter, Insha' Allah. It doesn’t mention what these reminders are of. Presumably God, but for me it conjured up reminders of Medieval pastoral scenes full of disease and war. Dr. shaykh Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni (also spelt al-Qarnee) , born in Saudi Arabia. He is an Islamic Scholar and respected author and activist. He is most well known for his self-help book ' Don't Be Sad' which is seen as the number one in its field within Islamic literature and although written by a Muslim for Muslims it is praised as being ideal for non-Muslims alike. Other studies have measured some financial and health benefits in being married for both men and women on average, which Dolan said could be attributed to higher incomes and emotional support, allowing married people to take risks and seek medical help. Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has Faith, verily, to him will We give a new Life, a life that is good and pure and We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their actions'There were a couple of different things wrong with this story. Firstly, it is describing how these words in the Bible gave her strong faith and somehow healed her. Secondly, she went on to create another religion. In defense of the author, the translator did mention that the point was not to praise the creation of this new religion. However, there are better examples to praise women who “rose above diversity and made a difference in the life of others”. Mentioning this story could cause doubts in the hearts of the reader and may even inspire them to research this new religion. Thirdly, the statement that questions the Muslim woman by saying: “And you, O’ Muslim woman, what have you done?” seems to have implications that don’t sit right with me. Living a righteous life in the environment we live in today is already a huge achievement if you really think about it. I don’t believe that this is a motivating statement as the author intended, Subhan’Allah. The first heroic old woman was told that al-Hajjaj would kill her son. To that, pat came her reply “If you do not kill him, he will die anyway.” WOW lady, way to be a sociopath. This does not sound like heroism to me, it sounds like terrible parenting. Maybe the author mistranslated the message or something because my first unadulterated impression is of a woman who doesn’t care if her son dies. Because he will die someday anyway. Happily, the author highlights what the important heroic bit was- “putting her trust in her Lord.” By telling al-Hajjaj that he could murder her son. WHERE does the trust in god part come in here??? These words gave her strong faith and motivated her so much that she got up from the bed and started to walk about the room. This experience paved the way for this paralyzed woman to treat herself and bring healing to others.