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You become hungry and thirsty and then your hunger and thirst are quenched; you become needy and then your needs are fulfilled; you suffer sleeplessness, and then you are able to sleep; you get sick and you then recover; debts are repaid; sustenance becomes abundant; prisoners get released; and darkness goes away, {...But perhaps Allah will bring conquest or a decision from Him...} [Surat al-Mā’idah: 52]
If needs, grave matters, and distressful issues, debts, and financial difficulties come to you from all directions, you have to turn to the All-Provider, Who removes grief and anguish and answers the supplication of the distressed.
Get close to the All-Provider and ponder this name, which brings a sense of tranquility and reassurance.
{Indeed, it is Allah Who is the All-Provider, the Possessor of Power, the Strong} [Surat adh-Dhāriyāt: 58]
Our Lord is the All-Provider. He undertakes to provide for His servants, sustains the creation, and encompasses all in His sustenance and mercy. He does not discriminate in this regard between believers and allies and disbelievers and enemies. In fact, He sends sustenance to the weak and the strong alike, and He sends it to the embryo in its mother’s womb, the bird in its nest, the snake in its burrow, and the fish in the sea. {And how many a creature carries not its [own] provision. Allah provides for it and for you. And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.} [Surat al-‘Ankabūt: 60]
This name occurs in the Qur’an once in the singular form and five times in the plural form.
“Ar-Razzāq” comes in a superlative form so as to reassure us and make us know that He is a generous Lord and thus our hearts get attached to Him.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: “A man became needy and he got out to the wilderness. Thereupon, his wife said: ‘O Allah, provide for us so that we can make dough and bread.’
When he returned, he found the bowl full of dough, something was being roasted in the furnace, and the hand mill was operating. He asked: ‘Where has this come from?’ She replied: ‘From the provision of Allah.’ He swept what was around the hand mill.
Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: ‘If he had left it, it would have continued to revolve - or grind - till the Day of Judgment.’” [Narrated by Al-Tabarāni in Al-Mu‘jam Al-Awsat; Sahīh (authentic)]
If the sustenance of a person lied within a rock
stationed in the sea, hard and smooth,
it would split open
so that it could give him what is contained therein.
Or if it lied between the teeth of a predator,
Allah would cause it to come out.
Indeed, a person either goes to the sustenance predestined for him in the Preserved Tablet;
otherwise, it would come to him.
The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah has appointed an angel in charge of the womb, and the angel says: ‘O Lord, a sperm drop! O Lord, a clot! O Lord, a piece of flesh.’ Then, when Allah wills to complete its creation, the angel asks: ‘O Lord, a male or female? Wretched or blissful? How much will his sustenance be? How long will he live?’ All that is written while the fetus is still in its mother’s womb.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
So, your sustenance is guaranteed. Pursuit of it does not make it more sure, neither does the hatred of anyone prevent it from coming.
In another Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, sustenance goes after the person just as his destiny goes after him.” [Narrated by Ibn Hibbān; Sahīh (authentic)]
The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is also authentically reported to have said: “No soul will die without receiving its sustenance in full.” [Narrated by Ibn Mājah; Sahīh (authentic)]
Allah Almighty sends down the provisions in an exact measure. He is the All-Knowing of the conditions of His servants and what is best for them. {And if Allah had extended [excessively] provision for His servants, they would have committed tyranny throughout the earth. But He sends [it] down in an amount which He wills. Indeed He is All-Aware, All-Seeing of His servants.} [Surat ash-Shūra: 27] Ibn Kathīr (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “He is All-Aware and All-Seeing as to who deserves opulence and who deserves poverty.”
The sustenance of Allah Almighty is inexhaustible, and He gives it without suffering any trouble, difficulty, or hardship.
In a Qudsi Hadīth, Allah Almighty said: “O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give everyone what they requested, that would not decrease what I possess, except what is decreased of the ocean when a needle is dipped into it.” [Narrated by Muslim]
Although Allah Almighty provides for all His creation, He is also vast in forbearance. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “No one is more patient when hearing abuse than Allah; they falsely attribute a son to Him, but He grants them safety and sustenance.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
Abundant sustenance does not denote love from Allah Almighty. The disbelievers and the ignorant mistakenly think so, i.e. that when a person is given abundant provisions, this means Allah loves and is pleased with him. Allah Almighty says: {And they said: “We are more [than the believers] in wealth and children, and we are not to be punished.” Say: “Indeed, my Lord extends provision for whom He wills or restricts it, but most people do not know.”} [Surat Saba’: 35-36]
Conversely, little sustenance does not mean humiliation by Allah. {And as for man, when his Lord tries him and [thus] is generous to him and favors him, he says: “My Lord has honored me.” But when He puts him to trial and restricts his provision, he says: “My Lord has humiliated me.” No!} [Surat al-Fajr: 15-17]
One of the best ways for attaining happiness and tranquility is to rely upon the Almighty Lord, the Provider, and trust Him with regard to sustenance, care, and protection. {Indeed, my protector is Allah, Who has sent down the Book; and He is the ally of the righteous.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 196]
When Allah takes care of someone, He puts piety in his heart, which is one of the greatest means of sustenance, far better than all economic theories. {And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied [the messengers], so We seized them for what they earned.} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 96] {...And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out, and will provide for him from where he does not expect...} [Surat at-Talāq: 2-3]
It is an immutable law of Allah in this world that sustenance is linked to obedience to Him: {And if only they had upheld [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to them from their Lord, they would have consumed [provision] from above them and from beneath their feet...} [Surat al-Mā’idah: 66]
Conversely, sins preclude sustenance and remove the blessing: {Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by [reason of] what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return.} [Surat ar-Rūm: 41]
Good morals, being secure in your homeland, enjoying good health, having enough food for your day, meeting a loved one, the existence of your brother, the laughter of your child, having a righteous wife and a good friend, feeling tranquil, having eyes that can see, a tongue that can speak, and ears that can hear, sleeping tight, and greater having your parents or one of them alive.
You may be endowed with a good character, and another person endowed with wealth.
And the provision of one may be knowledge, and the provision of another could be noble morals.
We should be on our guard against the devil’s attempt to intimidate us with regard to sustenance. Allah Almighty says: {Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 268]
One of the righteous predecessors said: “People have believed Satan and have belied Allah with regard to sustenance!”
People do not like poverty,
though poverty is better than opulence that makes them transgress.
Self-contentment is sufficient for a person;
yet if he does not have that, nothing will ever be sufficient for him.
O Allah, provide us with guidance, piety, chastity, and self-sufficiency; You are the Best of providers.