What is the real meaning of Zuhd (detachment / asceticism)?

Zuhd does not mean forbidding what is permitted or squandering wealth; rather, it means trusting what is in Allah's hand more than what is in your own, and meeting hardship with patience.

Zuhd, or asceticism, is misunderstood to mean abandoning the world, neither performing one's duties nor participating in its affairs, and retiring to a corner doing nothing. The Prophet ﷺ corrected this: "Asceticism or Zuhd does not mean forbidding what is permitted, or squandering wealth, rather Zuhd means not thinking what you have in your hand is more reliable than what is in Allah's Hand and it means feeling that the reward for a calamity that befalls you is greater than that which the calamity makes you miss out on." [Sunan Ibn Majah 4100]

This hadith eliminates the misconception, describing Zuhd as having faith in Allah and bearing suffering with patience. It is inseparable from tawakkul, trust in Allah.