Contentment: tasting the sweetness of faith
Three things that lead to Jannah
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
«يَا أَبَا سَعِيدٍ، مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ نَبِيًّا، وَجَبَتْ لَهُ الْجَنَّةُ». فَعَجِبَ لَهَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ، فَقَالَ: أَعِدْهَا عَلَيَّ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، فَفَعَلَ.
“O Abu Sa‘id, whoever is pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad as his Prophet, Paradise becomes assured for him.”
Abu Sa‘id was amazed by these words and said, “Repeat them to me, O Messenger of Allah.” So he repeated them.
(Sahih Muslim)
In the narration reported by Imam Ahmad, Abu Sa‘id (may Allah be pleased with him) described how the Prophet ﷺ spoke to him:
أَخَذَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِيَدِي، فَقَالَ: «يَا أَبَا سَعِيدٍ، ثَلَاثَةٌ مَنْ قَالَهُنَّ دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ». قُلْتُ: مَا هُنَّ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: «مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولًا».
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took me by the hand and said, ‘O Abu Sa‘id, whoever declares three things will enter Paradise.’ I asked, ‘What are they, O Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘Whoever is pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad as his Messenger.’”
(Musnad Ahmad)
In another narration, al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (may Allah be pleased with him), said:
سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ: «ذَاقَ طَعْمَ الْإِيمَانِ مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولًا».
“I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘He has tasted the flavour of faith who is pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad as his Messenger.’”
(Sahih Muslim)
The Prophet ﷺ took him by the hand
Look at the way the Messenger of Allah ﷺ addressed Abu Sa‘id. He took him by the hand and called him by name: “O Abu Sa‘id.”
He was drawing his attention to what he was about to say. He conveyed this through his words, through holding his hand, and through his love and mercy ﷺ.
Of course, simply saying, “O Abu Sa‘id,” would have been enough. Abu Sa‘id would have been all ears, ready to respond: “At your service, O Messenger of Allah,” as the Companions used to do.
The Prophet ﷺ then told him about three things: being pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad ﷺ as his Prophet. If he fulfilled these, Jannah would be his.
These are easy words to say, but putting them into practice is easier said than done. This is why Abu Sa‘id wanted to hear them again. Was it really these three things? He wanted to be sure that he had not missed anything.
Three statements that encompass the religion
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) commented on these two hadiths—the narration of Abu Sa‘id and the narration of al-‘Abbas—and said:
«هَذَانِ الْحَدِيثَانِ عَلَيْهِمَا مَدَارُ مَقَامَاتِ الدِّينِ، وَإِلَيْهِمَا تَنْتَهِي».
“These two hadiths are the foundation around which the spiritual stations of the religion revolve, and to them they ultimately return.”
(Madarij al-Salikin)
He discussed them in the section on the station of rida: contentment. These few words encompass our relationship with Allah, our acceptance of His religion and our following of His Messenger ﷺ.
He also said:
«وَهِيَ سَهْلَةٌ بِالدَّعْوَى وَاللِّسَانِ، وَهِيَ مِنْ أَصْعَبِ الْأُمُورِ عِنْدَ الْحَقِيقَةِ وَالِامْتِحَانِ، وَلَا سِيَّمَا إِذَا جَاءَ مَا يُخَالِفُ هَوَى النَّفْسِ وَمُرَادَهَا».
“They are easy to claim and pronounce with the tongue, but they are among the most difficult matters to fulfil in reality and under trial, especially when something comes which opposes the desires and wishes of the self.”
(Madarij al-Salikin)
This is where we need to look at ourselves. We can say the words, but do we mean them?
Being pleased with Allah as your Lord
What does it mean to be pleased with Allah as your Lord? It means relying upon Him and asking Him for help from the depths of your heart.
We recite:
﴿إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ﴾
“You alone we worship, and You alone we ask for help.”
(Surat al-Fatihah, 1:5)
You ask Allah to help you with anything and everything you do, think about or plan. This is part of being pleased with Allah as your Lord. It is a state of the heart.
We are familiar with saying:
رَضِيتُ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ ﷺ نَبِيًّا وَرَسُولًا.
“I am pleased with Allah as my Lord, Islam as my religion and Muhammad ﷺ as my Prophet and Messenger.”
We say these words in our remembrance, but we are seeking more than the words themselves. We want their meaning to be present in our hearts. We need to mean what we say.
How do I know whether I mean it? When the decree of Allah Almighty goes against what I want, that is the real test.
When things do not go as we wish
We may feel hurt by what happens to us. We may find a situation difficult. Yet we can still be content with Allah.
The bigger picture and the wisdom of Allah are often beyond our understanding. This is why we need trust and contentment. We cannot see everything, and we do not understand everything.
If our response to every difficulty is, “Why me? Why now? Why this? Why that?” where is our contentment?
We say, “I am pleased with Allah as my Lord.” This is one of the highest stations. Without contentment, we can become constantly troubled, angry and dissatisfied. We do not enjoy this or that. We argue with our spouse, our parents and even ourselves.
Why? Because we have lost that contentment inside. We are relying on ourselves, trying to carry everything ourselves.
Contentment comes when we rely on Allah Almighty.
Trusting Allah’s mercy
This begins with our love for Allah and our trust in Him. We know that His mercy towards us is greater than the mercy of parents towards their children, as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught us.
We generally have no doubt about our parents’ love for us. So why do we allow ourselves to doubt Allah’s mercy towards us?
When you trust Allah, you can recognise that there is good in what He decrees, even when you cannot understand it at the time. You may be going through a very difficult trial, but it can make you stronger and better.
Being pleased with Allah as your Lord brings you to this understanding. However, the hadith does not stop there. We must also accept Islam as our religion and Muhammad ﷺ as our Prophet and Messenger.
Being pleased with Islam as your religion
Allah has chosen Islam for us. Being pleased with it means accepting the guidance and rulings He has given us.
There are things we may want to do which are prohibited. We may be tempted to cross the boundaries. In financial dealings, for example, there may be an investment you cannot enter into because it is haram. You may feel that you are missing out.
Nevertheless, respect the limits Allah has set. Accept the rulings He has revealed, even when you have to give something up.
These are His rulings. Our acceptance of them is part of our rida.
It is easy to say, “I am pleased with Islam as my religion,” when it does not cost us anything. Its meaning becomes clear when we are asked to leave something we want or fulfil something we find difficult.
Being pleased with Muhammad ﷺ as your Messenger
Being pleased with Muhammad ﷺ as our Prophet and Messenger means following him from our hearts.
What did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say? We follow it. What did he instruct us to do? We accept his guidance.
Allah says:
﴿وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانْتَهُوا﴾
“Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it.”
(Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)
If the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructs us to do something, we accept it. If he forbids us from something, we leave it.
The assurance he gave Abu Sa‘id was that Jannah would be his. This is why Abu Sa‘id wanted to hear it again: these three things?
Yes, but as we can see, they involve much more than repeating a statement. They require a response from the heart.
Allah knows what is in our hearts
We may be able to deceive one another in this world, but we cannot deceive Allah Almighty. He knows whether we are truly content or merely saying that we are.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we do not know what to say or do, and we try to bluff our way through it. We cannot do this with Allah. He knows exactly what is in our hearts.
This is why we need to work on the reality behind our words. When we say that we are pleased with Allah, His religion and His Messenger ﷺ, we are affirming something which should affect the way we live.
Moving from bitterness to the sweetness of faith
This brings us to the second hadith, narrated by al-‘Abbas:
«ذَاقَ طَعْمَ الْإِيمَانِ».
“He has tasted the flavour of faith.”
You begin to taste the sweetness of faith when you truly practise contentment in your heart and in your life.
Without contentment, life can seem bitter. We see people who are constantly dissatisfied and who seem to experience only its bitterness. Losing our contentment affects the way we experience everything around us.
Do you want to move from bitterness towards sweetness? Then nurture rida in your heart. This is how you begin to taste the sweetness of iman.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave us this assurance. He said that the person who is pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad as his Messenger has tasted faith.
Where do we find contentment?
Where do we buy this contentment? Can we pick it up from a shop? Of course not.
It is something we develop through our connection with Allah Almighty: through salah, dua and dhikr, and through strengthening our relationship with Him.
As that connection grows, you begin to think differently. Why? Because you know that everything is in Allah’s hands. You do not have to carry every worry as though you are responsible for controlling every outcome.
Of course, we must do our part. Do not misunderstand this. We must do what is required of us and fulfil our responsibilities. But while we are doing so, our hearts can be at peace.
We trust Allah. We are pleased with Him as our Lord, Islam as our religion and Muhammad ﷺ as our Prophet and Messenger.
Doing our part with a heart at peace
Deep down, we rely on Allah and renew our connection with Him. Whatever happens, we turn to Him, even when we do not understand the reasons behind what has happened to us.
We continue to trust His wisdom and His power.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is teaching us how to live and how to face our difficulties with the sweetness of faith rather than allowing bitterness to overwhelm us.
We will go through trials in any case. But there is a difference between going through a trial with trust and contentment, and going through it consumed by resentment. The difficulty may be there in both cases, but the state of the heart is different.
He ﷺ has taught us how to travel through this dunya and how to draw closer to Allah, even in the middle of our challenges.
O Allah, grant us contentment and make us pleasing to You. We are pleased with You as our Lord, Islam as our religion and our master Muhammad ﷺ as our Prophet and Messenger. Protect us as You protect Your righteous servants. Forgive us, our parents, our spouses, our teachers and those who have rights over us. Grant relief to our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and bring us back to You in a beautiful return. Amin.
Based on the khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 16th October 2026