Since the first World Happiness Report in 2012, the United Nations has, until recently, come out with five happiness reports, with the most recent being the World Happiness Report 2017. Among the surveyed nations, 41 are Muslim countries whose scores of happiness level vary significantly due to differences in socio-economic progress. On the other side of the prism, it is striking that a large number of Muslim countries occupy the bottom two quarters of the index list, whereby the bottom 10 Muslim countries are Mali, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Afghanistan, Yemen, Guinea, Togo and Syria. An Islamic index of happiness could perhaps provide a more culturally coherent gauge to help in the pursuit of producing yearly happiness reports for Muslim countries. With the emerging global trend of evaluating happiness at the national level, it is timely now for all Muslim countries to set their happiness agenda.

Source: New Strait Times June 16, 2017 02:26 UTC