Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
PhD Student, Department of Counseling, Khomein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomein, Iran.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Counseling, Khomein Branch, Khomein, Iran.
Abstract
Introduction and Objectives: The family, as the main center for meeting various human needs, has an inevitable impact on the beliefs, behaviors, and emotions of family members. Therefore, the quality of family functioning affects the health of family members and, consequently, the community (Najafi et al., 2024). Within the family system, the strength and durability of the marital subsystem are considered key to family stability, as the performance of this subsystem has a significant impact on the family’s health, and its problems can spread to the entire family (Zahrakar and Jafari, 2023).
One of the important issues in life is ensuring a successful and prosperous life accompanied by happiness and joy, which in religious literature is referred to as "pure life," "happiness," and the like, and in positive psychology it is referred to as "good life," "quality of life," or "well-being and happiness." Happiness and joy in the Qur’an and hadiths have specific criteria, based on which they are divided into praiseworthy and reprehensible. The verses of the Holy Qur’an deal with happiness in general, but the hadiths pay special attention to happiness and its causes in detail (Pasandideh, 2018).
Today, a large number of mental health problems result from disrupted relationships and conflict in solving life problems. In addition to making the presence of specialists in marital therapy necessary, the existence of marital problems also necessitates the need for preventive interventions to resolve potential problems before specialists enter marital therapy. The necessity of having educational-psychological guidelines that are based on the culture and values of that society will play an effective role in promoting the mental health of family members. The necessity of the present study is also defined in line with this role.
Method: The present study is qualitative in terms of approach, applied in terms of purpose, interpretive in terms of paradigm, and documentary in terms of study method. In the documentary research method, the researcher does not seek to examine the subjective goals and understand the hidden intentions of a text. In the documentary method, the researcher’s effort is to understand the intentions and motivations behind the documents, or interpretive analyses of a text, and to accept and cite them as the author’s written discourse and written language (Mehrtalab et al., 2023).
For documentary study, Sandelowski and Barroso (2006) introduce a seven-step method. In the present study, the seven-step method developed by Sandelowski and Barros was used. These steps include:
Step 1: Problem Formulation;
Step 2: Literature Search;
Step 3: Study Selection;
Step 4: Data Extraction;
Step 5: Data Synthesis;
Step 6: Interpretation;
The questions examined in the present study were:
1. What are the main components of happiness based on Islamic teachings?
2. What are the sub-components of happiness?
The term "background" refers to both theoretical and research background. At this stage, the researcher collected books, papers, theses, and dissertations related to happiness and quality of life based on Islamic teachings. Among the selected papers, theses, dissertations, and books, 29 books and papers were used.
Findings: Marriage and family formation are fundamental principles for the survival of societies, providing the basis for social education and the development of individual personality. Marriage should have criteria for measuring success or failure. In the field of preparing an Islamic happiness program, we can refer to the research by Zare Mubarak-Abadi and colleagues (2022). In the field of developing an Islamic happiness questionnaire, we can refer to the research of Azarbayjani and Ali Mohammadi (2010). In this study, the researchers aimed to identify the constructive and detrimental factors of marital happiness, as outlined in Islamic teachings, through a document analysis. By examining verses and narrations and studying authentic texts, we can name the factors affecting marital happiness in two areas:
1. Constructive factors of marital happiness;
2. Limiting and destroying factors of marital happiness.
The constructive factors of happiness have six organizing themes (reasonableness, religious beliefs, worthy deeds and good morals, worship, material elements and natural pleasures, and marital rituals and home hygiene) and have 52 basic themes.
Discussion and Conclusion: The impact of spouses' happiness and mental health on the stability and sustainability of a marital relationship is crucial. Because the happiness and satisfaction of couples provide the basis for facing many challenges of married life thoughtfully and wisely, which guarantees the longevity and stability of the marital relationship, happiness offers the basis for the growth of individual awareness, creativity, and activity. It facilitates social relationships (Lawrence et al., 2019). Some researchers believe that individuals who are vibrant and happy tend to have a positive bias in evaluating information (Thomas, Alper, & Glasson, 2017). Vibrant and happy individuals are extroverted, creative, healthy, cultured, have stable and enduring human and friendly relationships, and possess strong religious attitudes (Rajpat, 2017).
Some theorists and researchers believe that achieving joy and happiness is possible by paying attention to spiritual and religious goals, values, and basic needs, as well as finding meaning in life and experiencing love and affection for God. They believe that religious people can enhance their vitality, health, and happiness by holding such transcendent beliefs and values (Wad et al., 2018). This is while having value and meaning in life, a sense of belonging to a higher source, and hope in Allah Almighty are strategies that enable these people to experience less stress in dealing with life’s challenges and problems. Being cheerful and living happily in the long and short term is influenced by many internal and external factors, and spirituality and religiosity can create a foundation for cheerfulness and happiness in humans by strengthening internal factors, including finding meaning in life and concepts such as forgiveness, patience, trust, hope, social interest, gratitude and appreciation, kindness, and resilience (Deb et al., 2020).
God-centeredness is one of the most crucial criteria for achieving happiness and joy, as emphasized in the Quran and hadiths. In the Islamic lifestyle, the depth of an individual’s emotions, attitudes, and beliefs is not measured; rather, the individual’s behaviors are measured. The first step in improving healthy family relationships is early educational programs. The necessity of the present study is also defined in line with this role. The researcher will use the results obtained to develop a psychological educational manual on happiness based on Islamic teachings.
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