Is the statement “three things are signs of belief” a hadith?

The Details of the Question

Three things are signs of belief: Patience in the face of trouble, gratitude to blessing, consent to fate. (Imam Ghazali)
Imam Ghazali is cited as the source; I wonder if this sentence is a hadith or belongs to Imam Ghazali?

The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

This sentence is taken from a hadith. The person who cited it as in the question may have made this hadith narration to indicate that it is mentioned in Imam Ghazali's book.

Imam Ghazali reported the following as a hadith in the Patience and Gratitude chapter of his book titled Ihya:

The following is stated in the hadith that narrated from Ibn Abbas: the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) went to Ansar (local inhabitants of Medina) and stated the following:

“Are you believers?” Ansar fell silent. Umar, who was there, replied (instead of them) " Yes! O Messenger of Allah!".

The Prophet (pbuh) continued: “What is the sign of your belief?”

They said, “We show gratitude to blessing; we are patient in the face of trouble; we show consent to qada (fate).”

Upon this, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:

“I swear by the Lord of the Kaaba that those who do so are believers. "

The hadith reported by Tabarani is as follows:

وعن ابن عباس - رضي الله عنهما - قال : دخل رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - على عمر ومعه أناس من أصحابه ، فقال : " أمؤمنون أنتم ؟ " فسكتوا ، ثلاث مرات ، فقال عمر في آخرهم : نعم نؤمن على ما أتيتنا به ، ونحمد الله في الرخاء ، ونصبر على البلاء ، ونؤمن بالقضاء . فقال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - :  مؤمنون ورب الكعبة 

According to what is reported from Ibn Abbas (r.a), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stopped by Umar while there were other companions with him and asked them: "Are you believers?"

Those who were there kept silent. The question was repeated three times.

Finally, Umar (r.a) said:

“Yes! O Messenger of Allah! We are believers; we believed in everything you brought us. We show gratitude to blessings; we show patience in the face of trouble; we show consent to qada (divine predestination).”

Thereupon, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said,

“I swear by the Lord of the Kaaba that you are believers.” (Tabarani, Kabir, 11/153, No. 11336)

It is stated that Yusuf b. Maimun, who is mentioned in the chain of narrators of the hadith, is weak in terms of reliability and that others are reliable. However, Ibn Hibban stated that this narrator was also reliable. (Haythami, Majma az-Zawa'id, h.no: 172)

Our Prophet (pbuh) mentioned the signs of belief in various hadiths and regarded prayer, zakah, helping each other, greeting, offering food, attending mosques regularly and many other acts as signs of belief.

The subject of belief is widely mentioned in hadith sources. In Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim from Kutub as-Sittah, Tirmidhi's Jami' as-Sahih and Nasai's as-Sunan, separate chapters titled “Iman” are included. In Sahih Muslim, 380 hadiths covering nearly 200 pages are reported.

Many narrations included under various titles in hadith sources are also related to the subject of belief. These hadiths explain issues such as the principles of belief, the signs of belief, its relation with deeds and the qualifications of a believer.

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