Sufism

Contentment (rida) is the heart's peace with the decree

Al-Qushayri records a live disagreement among early masters over whether contentment with God's decree can be trained and achieved or only received as an unearned gift, which shapes how demanding a station it really is.

Al-Qushayri's chapter on rida records a genuine disagreement among the earlier masters he compiles: some held that contentment with God's decree is a maqam, a station a sincere seeker can work toward and eventually stabilize in, while others held it can only be a hal, a state that comes and goes as a gift, not something willpower can manufacture on demand. Practically, rida is described as the heart's acceptance of whatever God has decreed, pleasant or painful, without inward resistance or the wish that things were otherwise, not resignation or numbness but a settled trust that the decree, however it feels, is not arbitrary. Al-Qushayri is attentive to how demanding this is: several of the sayings he records concern people tested by real loss, and rida is presented not as an easy sentiment but as one of the most advanced stations precisely because it is tested hardest exactly when it is least natural to feel.

Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya