Al-Ghazali The Al-Chemist of Happiness

I have been on this film for quite sometime now. I mean, i first found it on the internet and longing to watch it after doing some research about the great imam, Al-Ghazali. His last poem touched my heart and my son's too. We watched it one night at very late hour and i said to myself, Subhanallah! Allah had given wisdom to this man that not many has. His way of looking at life and death should help us to perceive them differently. Do we long to meet Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? Perhaps we do but we have not prepared enough.

So i really wanted to watch this film and persuade the ISOC (Islamic Society) to film this .. we discussed and decided to show it at the cinema. It was a long ordeal.. trying to cover the cost but alhamdulillah.. we were successful. Insya'Allah, whatever we got left will go to our dakwah work during our next Islamic Awareness week. We are having it in Mac, insya'Allah.

Al-Ghazali the alchemist of happiness is indeed very interesting and different. It’s not the sort of film you see everyday. I won’t say that it is perfect but I would say that it challenged your thoughts spiritually that you felt hurt trying to dig your inner thoughts and question your spiritual being. It initiated a lot of inner discussion that you need time to ponder the issue and contemplate. As the movie transient frequently from the commentary and his life itself, it helped to directly comprehend the transition that the imam went through as to provide us with information for higher level of intellectual debate, not externally but internally.

It is interesting that what you have here is the state which I described as quite dichotomous. I would say one will enjoy it or just be bored. As someone mentioned it to me after the show, if you have engaged yourself with this sort of spiritual state, you will see thing clearly now but if you are not yet there, it helps you to know which direction or the sort of path you would want to take. But if you have never given any such thoughts, it might initiate or spark some interest. Or on the other hand, you might walk out feeling bored and at least perhaps enjoy the scenery and music and the diversity of colours and culture presented that was truly unique and exotic.

The impact of the story was interesting. When we came out, there were many discussions among us. Sheikh Abdullah Yassin from Cardiff said, one can be at one point, and then turn 360 degrees to search for the truth and back to the same point again. This seems to others as pointless but it is truly an amazing experience after you realized why you should be at that particular point. It was what Imam Al-ghazali went through. He constantly quest for the truth and questioned an issue as deep as he could go into it. But of course, for someone of his intelligence and integrity, his quest enabled him to go to much higher level than many of us can even imagine.

A non-muslim lady bought 2 tickets from us. She came with a bus just to get the tickets few days before the show. Bought two but came alone. Anyway, after the show, I asked her if she enjoyed the film. She told me she cried. She was touched by it all through. Isn’t it amazing? If we can show this to 100 people, even if we can touch one single heart, it is all worth it. And she asked if she could buy the DVD too!

One would wonder what sort of life it was… seemed so serious and no enjoyment. As Sheikh Hamza Yusuf described it… it was “absolute seriousness”. This is the message of the whole story, that life is just a delusion, as your senses deceive you all the time, so are the calls of life. And if we do not search for that ultimate goal, we will fill that hollow space with some other substitutes as human is a hollow being. When one fills oneself with the quest of that ultimate goal, that is when alchemist of happiness comes into existence. To worship god is a lower level or submission but when one reaches to the higher level of worship that is having the knowledge of the Creator, his perspective of life and death will never be the same.

I am not a philosophical person. So who am I to comment further. But alhamdulillah, the message was quite clear to many. That life is temporary (a wayfare) and time is running out. Unless we travel and embark on that spiritual journey, we may never find what we are looking for – The Absolute Happiness, insya’Allah.

I hope i am able to spark some interest here.. I really encourage others to try to screen the film at your local cinema. May Allah reward your effort and sincerity. We have to remember that Allah is All-merciful. If we walk towards Him, He will run towards us. Let us all help each other in strengthening our iman and love each other for His sake.