The Pearl Necklace, Session 6: Being Content with Allah swt

wa-ridaau ghaneematee

and to be content/satisfied
with what Allah has given to me.

Todays part of the hadith is on being raazi with Allah swt, being content. Nabi pbuh said that contentment is
my wealth, here Nabi pbuh is talking about being content with Allah, regardless of which state that Allah
keeps us in. We should be raazi with Allah swt.
There are a few things today we wanted to mention during the lecture.
- What is being raazi with Allah swt?
o Scholars have written a lot on this topic, being content with Allah and being content with the
state that Allah has put us in.
o In Surah Baqarah, ayah 216, Allah says that you might hate a thing which is good for you and
love a thing which is harmful for you, and Allah knows while you know not.

- Whatever Allah has written for us and the state that Allah has kept us in, we should be content with
Allah as our Rabb
o The haal (state) of a momin is so beautiful that a momin gets reward in every single state, that
whatever state Allah swt keeps us in, whether happy or not, we should always be raazi for a
momin gets rewarded in both states.
o Patience is the height of being raazi with Allah swt. Its easy to be raazi in good times, but it is
more difficult to be patient when Allah is testing us
- Allah has also mentioned that we should not divert our gaze and look at the blessings of others, we
should always be raazi with Allah
o You should not distract your gaze by looking to people who we have given jewels of this world,
groups of them who we have given jewels in this world, this is but a distraction of this world so
that we may test them
- If a person wishes to test whether they are raazi with Allah, they should look for these signs. There are
three, according to scholars:
o The first sign is that a person who is content with Allah swt is raazi with Allahs swt ataa, happy
or content with whatever Allah has given her. She doesnt complain about why did Allah make
me this way or children, or intellect, or parents, like this, she doesnt complain and she is raazi
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is, even if Allah doesnt give her something, she is still raazi, for example, if a woman wants
to marry but isnt shes still raazi, a woman without children is content both ways, neither does
she complain about Allah nor does she complain in her heart. This is the highest maqaam for a
salik, being raza with this. Being raazi even when Allah doesnt give us something
o The third sign is that even If she is going through a kefiyat, a state that she doesnt wish to do
ibadah, praying, tahajjud, Quran, but shes forcing herself, she should still be happy with Allah
because sometimes Allah tests us in how true we are to the claim that we want closeness
- What is the importance of being content with Allah
o There is a hadith qudsi, Allah says, that person who is not raazi with my decision, and that
person who does not practice patience upon the trials that are sent, then that person should
get out from under my sky, and should take someone else as his Lord.
That person who is not happy with what I have written for that person, and that person
who is not patient upon the trials and tribulations that I have sent, then that person
should leave and get out from under my sky and take another as his Rabb.
- Sahabi went to Nabi pbuh for advice that is brief and easy to follow, Nabi pbuh said do not complain to
Allah swt in something or about something that he has decreed for you.
o Sayedina Dawud AS asked oh my Rabb who is most despicable in your eyes, and Allah
responded saying that when I decree something for this person, that person for whom I decree
something, that person is not content with my decision, he is the most despicable in my eyes
- The importance of being raazi with Allah swt
o Umar bin khattab RA wrote a letter to a sahabi: all of khayr is in being raazi with Allah, if you
have the ability then you should be raazi, however if you do not have the ability, then you
should at least try to be patient.
So being raazi is a state higher than the maqaam of sabr, shes not merely patient, shes
perfectly extremely content with everything and anything that Allah has given her
- There was a famous shaykh, maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi, he had a lot of students and one time one of
his students decided to visit him and the student was a very famous poet and pious person, but
wanted to grow spiritually, when he entered the house of his shaykh, the people wanted to see him
and he anticipated this, so he put a sign around his neck saying khamosh, meaning silent, and he would
point to it that he is remaining silent to maintain and develop a strong connection to Allah
o Khwaja Majzoobs poetry, was very ajeeb, according to scholars, and we love it and a beautiful
couplet is
Tera ghum bhi mujhko azeez hai kyun ke teri hee di hoowi cheez hai
Even the solace you have given me is dear to my heart because it is from you
o Like if our husband brings us a gift thats ugly, we dont say anything and let him have that, we
pretend to be happy and excited to keep him from being hurt
o Similarly whatever Allah swt sends us, whether happiness or a trial, the purpose is to test us
and we should remain happy
- In the book of wisdoms, he writes, blessed is that being who(se Lord) chains his servants with trials and
difficulties to draw them closer to himself
o It is very easy, weve been covering this hadith, and its so easy to talk about these great
maqaamat, love, yaqeen, desire is my ride, maarifat, being an aarif of Allah swt, unfortunately
for a lot of us, these words, or these teachings have been reduced to only words, and one only
gets the true meaning of these teachings by being in the company of the ahl-Allah, by becoming
the true lovers of Allah
- What exactly is Razaa - There are many different aqaal of different scholars to capture its essence
o One scholar says, accepting the hukum of Allah swt with happiness is raza
o Another says: Raza is that one gives up ones own choice, that you dont make any choices of
your own you only make the choices that Allah wants for you
o Raza is actually the contentment of the heart when the hukum of Allah comes about, so for
instance, if Allah has decreed something or us and were not happy about it, and there are so
many e-mails, and this is the greatest problem of women in our times, is that we are not happy
with our husbands and most of the women are going through difficult marriages, that we
should always remember that Nabi pbuh and a sahabi said that Im not happy with my wife and
I wish to separate from her and Nabi pbuh said you should be raazi with Allah because she is
the one that Allah decreed for her, if there is something you dislike in her there must also be
many things that you like in her also so this is what we should think when we are unhappy
when Allah has decreed something for us
- Oh my son, Im going to advice you of certain characteristics that will bring you close to Allah and take
you away from your sins, the first characteristic that you should worship Allah swt in such a way that
you dont associate anyone with him, and the second was that you should be content with the qadar
takdeer that Allah has decreed for you in whatever you like and dislike
- What are some of the gifts that a person gets when they are raazi with Allah swt? Allah grants certain
inamaamat when they are raazi
o First, a person tastes the sweetness of imaan, Nabi pbuh said that person has tasted the
sweetness of imaan who is raazi with Allah as his Rabb, Islam as his deen, and Nabi pbuh as his
rasool, we will only taste when we are raazi
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a person ends up getting the muhabbat of Allah swt, Allah sent a wahi to Dawud alayhis
salam, that oh Dawud there is no amal that is more beloved to me than the amal of you being
raazi with my raza, and there is no amal that is more displeasing to me than you being unhappy
with what we have decreed for you and being discontent
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gift when reaching maqaam of raza is getting the glad tidings of jannah, there are certain
people who, when their souls are leaving their bodies then Allah will address them, oh serene
and content souls, you should return to your lord in a state that you are content with your lord
and your lord is content with you and when Allah is content with us he grants us this nafs e
mutmainna, you should enter my jannah (from Quran)
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gift is that those people who are raazi with Allah who have attained this maqaam, they will
cross over the pull e sirat very quickly, they will be the fastest to cross it, again this is a riwayat
narrated by a sahabi, and it is written in the book of zabur, the book of Dawud, that oh Dawud
who will be the people of humanity that will be the quickest to pass, Allah said then that these
are the people who are raazi with my hokum and their tongues are always wet with my
remembrance, so InshaAllah those who attain this maqaam will get this
o Then the greatest reward is that a person gets the raza of Allah swt. The bani Israel said to
Musa AS, how can we tell if Allah is raazi with us and Allah said to Musa, tell them oh Musa AS
that if they are raazi with me in their hearts, then I am raazi with them in my heart
- What is the greatest treasure of being raazi with Allah swt?
o The greatest contentment that comes to that person is that they realize that whatever Allah
does or whatever state Allah keeps them in, there is always khair in whatever Allah decrees for
us, it is always the best for us. Nabi pbuh said that whatever Allah decrees for a momin, is only
a source of betterment for them
- Two short stories that show the importance of being content with Allah:
o A person of the quom of Musa, that oh Musa make dua that Allah grants me the knowledge of
knowing the language to understand animals, I want to be able to understand animals when
they speak and Musa tried to explain to him that we should be raazi with what Allah has given
us and the man kept insisting that I really want it and please make dua for me and he wouldnt
leave Musa as alone so Musa made dua and Allah gave him the ability to understand. So one
time, the man was cleaning up his eating area in his home and he heard his dog and chicken
talking, the dog was saying to the chicken that I have been up all night guarding the house and
Im hungry, please let me eat the leftovers from dinner and the chicken said Im sorry and I
understand that youre hungry but you know what if you let me have them I will give you
something better, the goat will die today and when she dies the meat will be there because the
master wont eat the goat and you can have the entire goat and the dog agreed because he felt
it was profitable and the man heard and though that if the goat will die, I will sell the goat to
avoid loss and he was pleased with himself that it was so beneficial to know the language of
animals and the second day they were talking again and the dog was upset, that you lied to me
and Im so hungry and I havent eaten for a whole day and please let me have the leftovers and
the chicken said but Ill promise you something even better, the cow will die and the master
cant eat it and you can eat the cow so the dog hesitantly agreed and when the master heard
this conversation he thought I should avoid this situation and then the master sold the cow.
The third day the dog said Ive had it and Im not going to listen to you anymore and Im
definitely going to have the leftovers and the chicken said that Its up to you but tomorrow the
master of our house will die and people will bring food and there will be lots of food and when
the master heard he went to Musa and said that this is what I heard and Musa said I told you
not to ask for what Allah has not given you, Allah had decreed for death to come upon you, and
death to come upon your house, so Allah sent it to the goat, then the cow and you sold them,
and you are the only one left to die so now you will suffer and go through the decree of Allah
swt.
This story really shows the importance of being content with Allahs raza, we are human
beings and we cannot see beyond the zaahir, even when we take istekhara, we beg that
Allah knows what we dont know, but sometimes because of the limits on our
understanding, we are unable to understand the things Allah decrees for us, so we
should always be content with whatever Allah swt decrees for us.
o Second story, remind tomorrow
- In another part of the course we will discuss how the sahaba akraam were always content with Allah,
the greatest example of raza is Nabi pbuh himself. May Allah always give us the tawfeeq to be raazi.