Rida (Islam)

In Islam, rida (Arabic: رِضَا, riḍā, literally 'approval')[1] is interpreted as satisfaction or "perfect contentment with God's will or decree".[2]

Riḍā is often found rather vaguely within the English translation of the Qur'an, and in the life accounts of Sufi saints such as Rābiʻa al-ʻAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya (Rabia al-Adawiyya). According to Annemarie Schimmel, author of Mystical Dimensions of Islam, "riḍā is closely related to shukr, or gratitude", another virtue within Islam.[3] Other possible related virtues would be sabr, faqr, tawakkul, and zuhd; all coalescing to form "perfect sincerity" or ikhlas.

  1. ^ Ed(s). "Riḍā." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2010. Brill Online. Augustana. 8 April 2010 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM-0920>[dead link]
  2. ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1975), 53.
  3. ^ Shimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 126.