His commands and avoiding His prohibitions—especially when he fulfills both what is obligatory and what is recommended—Allah is pleased with him. Likewise, Allah loves whoever adheres to what the True One loves, as He says in the authentic hadith recorded in al-Bukhārī:

“Whoever shows enmity towards a friend of Mine has challenged Me to war. My servant draws near to Me with nothing equal to fulfilling what I have made obligatory upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary acts until I love him. When I love him…”—and so the hadith continues.

This is because contentment is of two types:

The first is contentment with doing what one is commanded and refraining from what one is forbidden. This also encompasses what Allah has permitted, without transgressing into what is forbidden, as He says:

“But it is more fitting that they should please Allah and His Messenger.”

He, Most High, also says:

“If only they had been content with what Allah and His Messenger gave them and had said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us. Allah will give us of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To Allah alone we turn with hope.’”

This contentment is obligatory. Hence, He censures those who abandon it, saying:

“Among them are those who criticize you concerning the distribution of alms. If they are given some, they are pleased; but if they are given none, they become resentful.”

“If only they had been content with what Allah and His Messenger gave them and had said, ‘Allah is sufficient for us. Allah will give us of His bounty, and so will His Messenger.’”

(The second type is contentment with afflictions, such as poverty, illness, and humiliation. According to one of the two scholarly views, this contentment is recommended, not obligatory. It has also been said that it is obligatory, but the correct view is that patience is what is obligatory. As al-Hasan said:

“Contentment is an innate disposition, but patience is the believer’s mainstay.”

It has also been related in the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbās