It is to hope. The most select of the khawāṣṣ (the elect) is to be with Allah for Allah, that is, to abandon all that is other than Him and to reach Allah. (Jāmiʿ, 61)
Know that the roots of the stations of yaqīn (certainty) to which the branches of the states of the people of yaqīn reach are seven: tawba (repentance), sabr (patient endurance), shukr (gratitude), rajāʾ (hope), khawf (fear), zuhd (asceticism), tawakkul (reliance upon God), maḥabba (love), and riḍā (contentment with God's decree). (Jāmiʿ, 218)
Riḍā (contentment) is the joy of the qalb (the heart) under the decree of destiny. It has been said: Riḍā is for the servant to firmly settle in his heart that Allah is just in His decree and that He is never to be suspected in His judgment.
Abū Sulaymān (al-Dārānī) says: Riḍā is not to ask Allah for Paradise nor to seek refuge in Him from Hellfire.
When Shiblī was in the presence of Junayd, he said: Lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh (There is no power nor strength except with Allah). Junayd replied to him: This is constriction of the heart. Constriction of the heart comes from not showing riḍā to destiny.
It has been said: Whoever is content with Allah does not oppose His decree. (Jāmiʿ, 244)
Riḍā is the verbal noun of the verb raḍīta (you were content). It is said: I was content with him, I was content by him, I was content for him. These all mean being content. The original is narḍā bih. It is said: arḍaytahu ʿannī (You pleased me) and raḍḍaytuhu (You made him content). When you have pleased him and sought his contentment, when you have requested contentment (to make content) from him, in the sense of 'he agreed with me,' you say fa-arḍānī (he made me content). In all these aspects, riḍā is to accept something willingly, without compulsion, and with ease.
(The views of the shaykhs regarding riḍā are as follows:) Abū'l-Ḥusayn al-Nūrī: Riḍā is the joy of the qalb at the decree of destiny.
ʿAbdullāh Ḥafīf: Riḍā is the qalb's sincere submission to Allah's judgments and acceptance of what Allah has decreed and chosen.
Rābiʿa was asked: When does a servant become content? She replied: When he rejoices in tribulation as he rejoices in blessing.
Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī also said: I wish to know the ways of riḍā. Even if they threw me into the Fire, I would be content with it.
Another said: Even if He were to throw me into the depths of Hell, I would be more content than if He threw me into Paradise.
Abū Muḥammad Ruwaym says: Riḍā is to meet the decrees with joy. Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Muḥāsibī says: Riḍā is the tranquility of the qalb under the flow of decrees (of destiny).
Ibn Shamʿūn says: There is riḍā to the Ḥaqq (the Real), riḍā from the Ḥaqq, and riḍā for the Ḥaqq. Riḍā to the Ḥaqq is to be content that He is the owner and decreer of judgment. Riḍā from the Ḥaqq is to be content that He is the one who apportions and gives. Riḍā for the Ḥaqq is to be content that He is Lord and God.
Abū Saʿīd al-Ḥarrāz was asked: Is it permissible for a servant to be both content and sākhit (angry, resentful)? He replied: Yes, it is permissible for him to be content with his Lord and angry with his nafs (the lower self).
Abū ʿAlī al-Daqqāq says: Riḍā is not to be unaware of tribulation, but not to oppose the decrees and destiny.
It is said that ʿUmar wrote to Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī: All good is in riḍā. Show as much riḍā as you can; otherwise, be patient in your ḥāl (spiritual state)!
It was said to Ḥusayn, the son of ʿAlī: Abū Dharr says that poverty is more beloved to him than wealth, and that illness is better than health. Upon this, Ḥusayn replied: If a person trusts in what Allah has chosen for him, he will not wish for anything that Allah has not chosen.
Yaḥyā Maʿārif was asked: When does a servant reach the station of riḍā? He replied: When the servant bases himself on these four principles, then he reaches riḍā. If You give, I accept; if You do not give, I am content. If You abandon me, I serve; if You call me, I respond. He also says that all affairs are based on these two principles: His observance of the rights of Allah (riʿāyat/riʿāya li ḥuqūqiʾllāh) concerning you, and your action concerning Him. One is content with what is done, and is sincere in what is to be done.
Abū'l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī says: The Iraqis and the Khurasanis have disagreed on whether riḍā is among the ḥāl (spiritual states) or among the maqām (spiritual stations). The Khurasanis say that riḍā is among the stations, that it is the final point of tawakkul, and that it is attained by the servant's kasb (effort). The Iraqis say that riḍā is among the states, that it is not attained by the servant's effort, but is a passing feeling that settles in the qalb like other states. These two views can be reconciled as follows: The beginning of riḍā is by the servant's own kasb and is among the stations, but its end is among the states. This riḍā is not dependent on the servant's kasb.
He also said: People have put forward views on this matter according to their own state and temperament, and thus have not reached consensus. They have also disagreed regarding temperament and tasayyub (submission, showing contentment). Here, the condition of knowledge is absolutely necessary. The one who is content with Allah is the one who never objects to His decree. (Nabhānī, I, 340)
riʿāyat/riʿāya li ḥuqūqiʾllāh (Observance of the rights of Allah) is in the qalb. The first effect on the qalb comes from Him; the performance of the deeds of the body occurs by His grace. Allah, by granting the qalb success in observing His rights, enables a person to fully observe His rights. Thus, a person gives his qalb to Allah's command and strives to serve as He has commanded.
There are three main aims in observing the rights of Allah: to be attached to iman (faith), to avoid kufr (disbelief), to adhere to the Sunnah and avoid bidʿa (innovation), and to always be among the people of obedience, thereby avoiding persistence in things that the qalb and body may do which Allah deems blameworthy. The rights of Allah concerning the badan (body, actions) are to act as He has commanded and to be careful in matters He has prohibited. After this, it is to observe the rights of Allah regarding the thoughts, good or bad, that come to the qalb. (Riʿāya, 43)
Riʿāya (observance) is to preserve ʿināya (divine care). Its first subtlety is observance of deeds, the second is observance of states, and the third is observance of times. (Rawḍa, 481)