There was a new term that I came across a week or two ago. I don't know if i've heard of the meaning of this term before but even if i had known, i had forgotten about it anyway. So i was reminded and educated about it and the term is 'Rida'.

Rida is like a level of faith, a stage in life and an understanding of how and why things happen. It's when you're totally pleased and content with absolutely everything that is put before you because you accept that absolutely everything in your life is from Allah.

You are content and pleased with everything that comes your way; whether it's something you love, something you wish would happen again, something you aren't so sure about, something you'd run a mile away from or something that you wish never ever comes back!

So to be able to attain this stage and level of contentment, we need to have Shukr during the good times that we like. We need to thank Allah for everything that we have and show our gratitude and appreciation through our worship and supplications.

We also need to have Sabr during the hard times. We need to turn to Allah, the One who listens to every word we say. We need to speak of our weaknesses and complain to Allah too. We need to make supplications for everything that we want.

We need to understand that everything happens for a reason and that reason is because Allah had decreed for it to happen. Maybe Allah wanted to know how we would react or behave? Whether we would turn towards Him and become closer to Him or whether we'd lose hope in the One where all hope is placed?

So if we really love Allah, we will love everything that He gives us, any gift he gives us whether that is a blessing or a struggle. We need to have an extreme love for Allah, so when we love the Giver, we also love the Giver of the gift and hence love the gift too!