Chapter: On Contentment with Divine Decree

باب فی الرضاء بالقضاء — قضا وقدر پر راضی رہنے کے بارے میں

بَابٌ فِي الرِّضَاءِ بِالْقَضَاءِ — On Contentment with Divine Decree

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي

"O soul at peace! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him]. And enter among My righteous servants and enter My Paradise." (Al-Fajr, 89:27–30). The author explains: Rida' (contentment with divine decree) is the highest station after tawakkul. The soul that has found rest in Allah returns to its Lord in a state of mutual pleasure — it is pleased with Allah and Allah is pleased with it.

رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ رَبَّهُ

"Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. That is for whoever has feared his Lord." (Al-Bayyina, 98:8). This is the ultimate summit of the spiritual path: when the servant's will becomes aligned with divine will, calamity and ease alike are received with equanimity.

The author explains: Riḍāʾ (contentment with divine decree) means that the heart surrenders to whatever Allah decrees — ease or hardship, abundance or want — without inner resistance or complaint. The servant knows with certainty that every decree of Allah flows from His infinite wisdom and mercy, and so the heart finds rest in Him at all times. This is the opposite of anxiety and grief: it is the fruit of tawakkul ripened into certainty.

اَلْإِيمَانُ بِالْقَدَرِ يُذْهِبُ الْهَمَّ وَالْحُزْنَ

"Belief in qadar (divine decree) removes grief and sorrow." (Narrated from Abu Hurayra — Kanz al-'Ummal). Imam Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that belief in divine decree dispels worry and grief.

اَلْقَدَرُ سِرُّ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَنْ آمَنَ بِالْقَدَرِ فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى

"Qadar is a mystery of Allah; whoever believes in Allah and believes in qadar has grasped the firmest handle." (Narrated from Ibn 'Abbas — Kanz al-'Ummal). The one who anchors his heart in divine decree is free from anxiety because he knows that all events — pleasant and painful alike — flow from the infinite wisdom and mercy of the Creator.