Is the hadith which says that whoever is content with little provision will enter al-Firdaws saheeh?

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

With regard to the hadith mentioned in the question:

It was narrated by at-Tabaraani in al-Mu‘jam al-Kabeer (2/225), and via him by Abu Na‘eem al-Asbahaani in Taareekh Asbahaan (2/288) and by al-Bayhaqi in Shu‘ab al-Eemaan (9271), via Ismaa‘eel ibn ‘Amr al-Bajali, who said: Fudayl ibn Marzooq told us, from ‘Adiy ibn Thaabit, from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever fulfils his desires in this world will be prevented from fulfilling his desires in the hereafter; whoever looks with longing at the adornment of those who live a life of luxury will be disgraced in the kingdom of heaven; and whoever bears a hard life with patience and acceptance, Allah will cause him to dwell in al-Firdaws wherever he wishes.”

The hadith is da‘eef (weak) and not proven, and it has more than one problem:

Its isnad includes Fudayl ibn Marzooq. Ibn Ma‘een classed him as thiqah (trustworthy) in his report from ad-Doori (1298), and as da‘eef (weak) in another report, as it says in al-Majrooheen (2/209).

Ibn Abi Haatim said in al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel (7/75): I asked my father about Fudayl ibn Marzooq and he said: he is honest and his narration is fine, but he makes many mistakes when writing his hadith. I said: Can he be quoted as evidence? He said: No. End quote.

Ibn Hibbaan said in al-Majrooheen (2/209): His hadith is munkar jiddan (very odd). He was one of those who made mistakes in narrating from trustworthy narrators. He narrated fabricated reports from ‘Atiyyah and some sound reports from trustworthy narrators, which is why people were unsure about him. In my view, all the reports that he narrated from ‘Atiyyah that are regarded as odd are to be viewed as being the fault of ‘Atiyyah, and Fudayl is innocent of that. With regard to the reports that he narrated from trustworthy narrators that are in harmony with the reports narrated by sound narrators, they may be quoted as evidence, but as for the reports of which he is the only narrator, and there are no corroborating reports from sound narrators, they should not be quoted as evidence. End quote.

Its isnad also includes Ismaa‘eel ibn ‘Amr al-Bajali. He was classed as da‘eef by an-Nasaa’i, as it says in ad-Du‘afaa’ wa’l-Matrookeen (85); and by Abu Haatim, as it says in al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel (2/190); and by Ibn ‘Adiyy, as it says in al-Kaamil (1/525). Al-Khateeb said in Taareekh Baghdad (1/336): He is a narrator of strange and odd reports. End quote.

The hadith was classed as da‘eef by al-Haythami in Majma‘ az-Zawaa’id (10/248). He said: It was narrated by at-Tabaraani in as-Sagheer and al-Awsat. Its isnad includes Ismaa‘eel ibn ‘Amr al-Bajali, who was classed as thiqah (trustworthy) by Ibn Hibbaan, but as da‘eef (weak) by the majority. The rest of its men are the men of as-Saheeh. End quote.

Similarly, he was classed as da‘eef by al-Albaani in Da‘eef al-Jaami‘ (5655).

The hadith has another worthless isnad. It was narrated in at-Targheeb wa’t-Tarheeb (1455) via Muhammad ibn Ayyoob al-Anmaati, who said: Ibraaheem ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbaar al-Masri told us: Khaalid ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan Abu’l-Haytham al-Khurasaani told us: Shu‘bah told us, from ‘Adiyy ibn Thaabit, from al-Baraa’ ibn ‘Aazib.

There is more than one problem with this isnad too:

It includes Khaalid ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan Abu’l-Haytham al-Khurasaani, who was classed as thiqah by Ibn Ma‘een. Abu Zur‘ah and Abu Haatim said: But there is nothing wrong with him. But al-‘Aqeeli said: There is a problem with his memory. See: Tahdheeb al-Kamaal (8/123). Ibn ‘Adiyy said in al-Kaamil (3/36): He is not that good. End quote. Ibn Hibbaan said in al-Majrooheen (1/281): He was one of those who made mistakes, to the extent that he could no longer be regarded as a sound narrator, because he made too many mistakes. I do not think that a report should be quoted as evidence if it is narrated only by him. End quote.

In this instance, he was the only one who narrated the hadith from Shu‘bah, so it should not be accepted from him, especially since he had a poor memory.

Its isnad also includes Ibraaheem ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbaar al-Masri, who is unknown (majhool); no one gave a biography for him.

There is a similar report that was narrated by Ibn Shaheen in at-Targheeb fi Fadaa’il al-A‘maal (304) via Kaadih ibn Rahmah az-Zaahidi, and by Ibn al-Faakhir in Moojibaat al-Jannah (222), and by Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah (1366), via ‘Anbasah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan. Both of them (Kaadih and ‘Anbasah) narrated it from al-Mu‘alla ibn ‘Irfaan, from Shaqeeq, from Ibn Mas‘ood, who said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever is content with what he is given [of provision] will enter Paradise.”

This hadith is mawdoo‘ (fabricated).

Its isnad includes al-Mu‘alla ibn ‘Irfaan, whose hadith is matrook (rejected). Adh-Dhahabi said in Mizaan al-I‘tidaal (4/194): Ibn Ma‘een said: He is nothing. Al-Bukhaari said: His hadith is munkar (odd). An-Nasaa’i said: His hadith is rejected. End quote.

Both narrators are liars. The first one is Kaadih ibn Rahmah, of whom adh-Dhahabi said in Mizaan al-I‘tidaal (3/399): al-Azdi and others said: He is a liar. End quote. Abu Na‘eem al-Asbahaani said in ad-Du‘afaa’ (200): He narrated fabricated hadiths from ath-Thawri and Mas‘ar. End quote. Ibn Hibbaan said in al-Majrooheen (2/229): He was one of those who narrated jumbled reports from trustworthy narrators, to the point that one would think that he did that deliberately, or he was so imprecise that his reports look very confused. He narrated many odd things in his reports, so he deserves to be rejected. End quote.

The second is ‘Anbasah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan, who is also a liar. Abu Haatim said, as is mentioned in al-Jarh wa’t-Ta‘deel (6/403): His hadith is to be rejected; he used to fabricate hadiths. End quote.

Ibn al-Jawzi said in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanaahiyah (1366), after quoting the hadith: ‘Anbasah and al-Mu‘alla are to be rejected, as was stated by an-Nasaa’i and others. Ibn Hibbaan said: They both narrated fabricated reports, and it is not permissible to quote them as evidence. End quote.

Shaykh al-Albaani said in as-Silsilah ad-Da‘eefah (1616): It is mawdoo‘ (fabricated).

Secondly:

With regard to what the hadith refers to, which is that whoever is content with what Allah gives him will be among the triumphant and successful, the reports that are soundly narrated from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) are sufficient for the Muslim, from which he can learn a great deal, and he has no need of those strange and weak reports.

Those sound reports include the following:

Muslim (1054) narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “He has succeeded who becomes Muslim and is given sufficient provision, and Allah makes him content with what He has given him.”

It was narrated by at-Tirmidhi in his Sunan (2349), and by Ibn Hibbaan in his Saheeh (541), via Haywah ibn Shurayh, who said: Abu Haani’ al-Khawlaani told me that Abu ‘Ali ‘Amr ibn Maalik al-Janbi told him, from Fadaalah ibn ‘Ubayd, that he heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “Glad tidings to the one who is guided to Islam, his provision is just enough, and Allah makes him content with it.”

The isnad of this hadith is saheeh. It was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Targheeb wa’t-Tarheeb (830).