Raja'

Raja' is the confident expectation that God will fulfill His promise of mercy to those who strive sincerely toward Him. Al-Ghazali is very precise: raja' is not wishful thinking (tamanni), which is passive and effort-free, but an active, effort-coupled expectation — the hope of the farmer who has done everything in their power and now awaits the divine completion of what they cannot control. The foundation of raja' is knowledge of God's names — Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Ghafur, Al-Wadud — and the firm conviction that divine mercy is vaster than any sin. But this knowledge must be paired with sincere striving; without effort, 'hope' becomes a spiritual alibi for sloth.

As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.