Ar-Razzaq is one of the great and beautiful names of Allah. In order to understand what it means, lets first look at what rizq means. Rizq is what has been apportioned for you which benefits you. So Allah is ar-Razzaq—He is the One who creates your rizq, and takes it upon Himself to deliver what He has apportioned to His servants. He provides this sustenance to everyone; Muslim and non-Muslim, man and woman, humans and animals and plants. It encompasses everything on earth. The provisions of all things are in the Hands of Allah; He grants whom He wills and withholds from whomever He wills. Allah says(what means), {And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. All is in a clear register.} (11:6) {And how many a creature carries not its [own] provision. Allah provides for it and for you. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.} (29:60) {Indeed, your Lord extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. Indeed He is ever, concerning His servants, Acquainted and Seeing.} (17:30) {And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account.} (2:212) In reality, there is so much more that can be said about rizq and how Allah provides for everyone; He provides not only food and drink and the like for the Muslim and the non-Muslim, but He also provides guidance and steadfastness upon the religion for the believers and His awliya. If we truly believe that Allah is ar-Razzaq, we will turn to Him and Him alone for all our needs. Knowing that not even a drop of water comes to us from other than Allah, how can we consider turning to unlawful means or others for seeking provisions? Here, it is relevant for us to consider what many of us may go through these days; education is costly and we may not be able to afford it so some turn to student loans which are interest bearing. Others want to buy homes, but cannot pay for them outright and so turn to mortgages. Some feel that since we live in the west, we may take on jobs in which we have to do questionable things, and justify them by saying its a necessity to survive. The saddest thing of all is that you will find Sheikhs out there who will give fatwas allowing pretty much everything. The people then use these fatwas to deal with interest and take on jobs in which they are required to disobey Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). When people resort to this, we realize that true Iman and taqwa are lacking; we realize that people have not properly understood who Allah is and what it means that He is ar-Razzaq. The one who appreciates this great name of Allah realizes that in the end he/she will not earn a penny more or less if they take the halal (lawful) route. Yes, it may be more challenging and may require some sacrifice, but it is lawful and pleasing to Allah. A true believer will not deal in interest, end of story! The exceptions when this becomes necessary are indeed very, very few although we are lead to believe otherwise. Allah provides and you will not receive more than your share no matter what you do. One may think they are doing well by earning through unlawful means, but that provision will lack barakah (blessings) and, in the end, they will have to answer for it before Allah at which time they may also be punished for it. Is it all really worth it? I do realize that restricting ourselves to halal earnings is a huge challenge, especially in the west, however, it is possible and doable. We need to prioritize and be realistic. We do not have to compete with the Joness and need to be confident that what Allah has in store for us in the Hereafter far surpasses any comforts we could imagine in this life. Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said, Among the inmates of Hell, a person who had led the most luxurious life in this world will be brought up on the Day of Resurrection and dipped in the Fire and will be asked: `O son of Adam! Did you ever experience any comfort? Did you happen to get any luxury? He will reply: `By Allah, no, my Rabb. And then one of the people of Jannah who had experienced extreme misery in the life of this world will be dipped in Jannah. Then he will be asked: `O son of Adam! Did you ever experience any misery? Did you ever encounter difficulty? He will say: By Allah, no my Rabb, I neither experienced misery nor passed through hardship. (Muslim) Therefore, we need to be content with what Allah has decreed for us of rizq. By all means, we strive to earn and even save, however, we need to be cautious and only seek provisions through means made lawful to us by Allah. Remember that we will have to answer to Allah in the Hereafter, not the Sheikhs we selectively take from to make ourselves feel better about something we know deep down in our hearts is not quite right. One of the most effective means of attaining the best of provisions is to be faithful and God fearing. Allah says (what means), {And whoever fears Allāh – He will make for him a way out And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.} (65:2-3) {And those who have believed and done righteous deeds – for them is forgiveness and noble provision.} (22:50) Brothers and sisters, this is spirituality, this is living according to the true aqeedah and this is living with the names of Allah! Simply rattling off the names and talking about how Allah has the most beautiful names doesnt do much for us. Internalising that and acting upon it is what will benefit us. Faith is not a lip service, it ultimately shows in our conduct and behaviour. So knowing that Allah is ar-Razzaq gives us all consolation; there is no need to ever worry about sustenance. Allah will provide for us as long as we make the efforts He has ordered us to make. Islam is a package deal; we cant expect to be taken care of while disobeying Allah. The good life is promised to those who truly believe and work righteousness. {Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.} (16:97)
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 06:32:59 +0000
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