How can a person know Allah is pleased with him?

How can a person know if his Lord is pleased with him?

Is there anything that will tell a person that his Lord is pleased with him?

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All the praise and thanks is due to Allah, Subhanahu wata`ala. Peace and blessings be upon His Messenger and his family.

1. Among the signs that the Lord is pleased with His slave is that He guides him doing good deeds and avoiding haram things.

This is confirmed by the words of Allah: “While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety” [Muhammad, 47:17] ; “As for those who strive hard in Us (Our Cause), We will surely guide them to Our paths (i.e. Allah’s religion of Islamic Monotheism)” [Al -‘Ankabut, 29:69]

But if a person is hindered from doing good deeds and avoiding haram things – which we seek refuge with Allah – then that is a sign that Allah is not pleased with him.

"But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (i.e. neither believes in this Quran nor acts on its orders, etc.) verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."; He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?" ; (Allah) will say: "Like this, Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) came unto you, but you disregarded them (i.e. you left them, did not think deeply in them, and you turned away from them), and so this Day, you will be neglected (in the Hell-fire, away from Allah's Mercy)." [Ta-Ha, 20:124-126]

2. Allah has also explained in His Book that the sign of His being pleased with His slave and of His guidance is that He opens his heart to true guidance and true faith. And the sign of misguidance and being far from the Straight Path is distress and constriction in the heart.

Allah says:

“And whomsoever Allah wills to guide, He opens his breast to Islam; and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky. Thus Allah puts the wrath on those who believe not” [Al-An’am, 6:125]

Ibn 'Abbas said, commenting on this verse: “And whomsoever Allah wills to guide…” means Allah opens his heart to Tawhid and belief therein.  [Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 2/175]

3. Another sign of Allah’s love for His slave and His being pleased with him is that He makes him beloved to His slaves.

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“When Allah loves a person, He calls out to Jibreel: ‘Allah loves So and so,’ so Jibreel loves him. Then Jibreel calls out to the people of heaven, ‘Allah loves So and so, so love him.’ So the people of heaven love him and he finds acceptance on earth.”  [Narrated by Al-Bukhari (3209) and Muslim (2637)]

Al-Nawawi said: “and he finds acceptance on earth” means that people love him and are pleased to see him, so their hearts incline towards him. It says in another report: “and he finds love on earth.”

And Allah knows best.

[Via Islam QA (34829)]