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The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “Allah Almighty says: ‘O son of Adam, devote yourself to My worship, and I will fill your heart with sufficiency and remove your poverty; but if you do not do that, I will fill your heart with worldly concerns and will not remove your poverty.’” [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi; Sahīh (authentic)] In another Hadīth, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah’s Hand is full, and this is not affected by the continuous spending day and night. Do you see what He has spent since He created the heavens and the earth? Yet all that has not decreased what is in His Hand.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri - this is his wording - and Muslim]
The heavens and the earth are sustained by Him, and He sets aright the affairs of this world and the Hereafter. Everything is submissive to Him and subject to His authority.
Sovereignty belongs to Him, and in His Hand are all the keys and destinies of all things, and to Him is the final destination of His servants. All glory and dominion belong to Him. None can withhold what He gives, and none can give what He withholds.
Would the Generous, All-Powerful, Most Merciful Lord, and the Keeper be unable to drive to you food and drink to sustain your life?!
It gives us pleasure to spend some time with one of Allah’s beautiful names, namely “Al-Muqīt”.
Allah Almighty says: {Whoever intercedes in a good cause will have a share in its reward, but whoever intercedes in an evil cause will have a share in its burden. And Allah is ever Watchful over all things.} [Surat an-Nisā’: 85]
“Al-Muqīt” is the Supreme Determiner Who created sustenance.
“Al-Muqīt” is also the All-Preserver Who gives according to the amount needed for preservation.
Our Lord, Exalted be He, is the One Who drives to every living being its sustenance, and He directs this matter as He wills, according to His wisdom and grace.
Every created being needs a certain sustenance. Our bodies need food and drink, and our souls need knowledge. The sustenance of the angels, on the other hand, is glorification of Allah.
Allah Almighty is the Keeper and Preserver of His servants. He watches over their conditions and is All-Aware of them.
The Almighty Lord takes care of the interests of His creatures. He gives them food and provides for them.
The best provision indeed is the mind. Whoever is endowed with a good mind has been honored by his Lord.
My Lord, You are the Owner of grace that encompasses all creation.
Your supreme generosity reaches all that exists.
If another being were to own Your treasures,
which increase as You spend therefrom, he would have acted stingily.
My Lord, I seek refuge with You from our bad deeds,
and from depriving us of Your favors and blessings.
Do not be concerned about what Allah Almighty has guaranteed for you for He describes Himself as the Keeper and the All-Provider.
“Al-Muqīt” is more specific than “Ar-Razzāq”, for Al-Muqīt gives us food that nourishes our bodies, while Ar-Razzāq gives us all what we possess, food and everything else
As long as we are alive, sustenance and provision will surely come to us. If, out of His wisdom, He closes a certain door before you, He opens another, out of His mercy.
Think about the fetus. Its sustenance, which is blood, reaches it through one way: the navel. Then, after it comes out of its mother’s womb, this way is severed and two other ways are opened for him in its place, through which better and more pleasant sustenance comes: pure and palatable milk. Then, after the phase of suckling is over, four new ways open for him, from which he gets two kinds of food and two kinds of drink. The two kinds of food come from animals and plants, whereas the two kinds of drink are water and milk.
Then, after he dies, these four ways are closed and the eight gates of Paradise are opened for the believers and they can enter from whichever gate they wish.
Indeed, the blessings of Allah Almighty are countless and numberless: {...If you try to count the blessings of Allah, you cannot count them. Indeed, mankind is highly unjust and ungrateful.} [Surat Ibrāhim: 34]
Our Lord bestows favors upon us even though He does not need us, fear us, or expect anything in return from us. Rather, He gives us out of benevolence, bounty, and kindness from Him. {I have not created the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I seek no provision from them, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allah Who is the All-Provider, Lord of Power, the Strong.} [Surat adh-Dhāriyāt: 56-58] Many people are ungrateful, however. {They know Allah’s favors, yet they deny them, and most of them are ungrateful.} [Surat an-Nahl: 83]
He gives you although you have no right upon Him, and after that you deny His rights! He bestows favors upon you without you doing Him any favor, and then you show ingratitude to Him! {Woe to man; how ungrateful he is!} [Surat ‘Abasa: 17]
The blessings of Allah Almighty reach you in a successive manner. When you ask from Him, He gives you; when you supplicate Him, He responds to you; and when you seek His help, He extends help to you. You cannot become self-sufficient except through Him. Hence, if you give thanks for these blessings, you still need to thank Him for another blessing; that He has enabled you to show gratitude. {And [remember] when your Lord declared, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely give you more...} [Surat Ibrāhim: 7]
If man had a valley of gold, he would wish to have two valleys.
Happiness does not lie in having abundant worldly possessions. In fact, happiness comes when a person only has food for his day, good health, and security. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “Whoever among you wakes up in the morning – secure in his dwelling, healthy in his body, and has his food for the day, it is as if the whole world has been given to him.” [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi; Hasan (sound)]
The believer feels reassured for he knows that Allah is the Keeper and the Provider and that his sustenance is predestined, so he will not die until he has taken it in full. Therefore, he makes his effort while relying upon his Lord and disowning his own power and ability. His heart is deeply attached to Allah, the Keeper, the All-Provider. He knows that he has no true power or strength except through Allah Almighty.
The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) reported that Allah Almighty said: “O My servants, all of you are hungry except those I feed; so, ask Me for food and I will feed you.” [Narrated by Muslim]
Ibn Rajab (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “One of the righteous predecessors used to ask Allah in his prayer for all his needs, even the salt for his dough and the fodder for his sheep.”
If a person recalls Allah’s name “Al-Muqīt”, feels that He is always with Him, and puts his trust in His provision, he will attain eternal bliss, which is content in this world and in the Hereafter.
Yet, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) warned us not to give the food needed by one’s family to others in pursuit of Allah’s reward, for this charity turns into a sin when a person neglects those under his care and upon whom he is required to spend, including his dependents and slaves. Indeed, expenditure is linked to the rights of people, and a person’s dependents are more in need for his spending and their right upon him is stronger. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “It is a sufficient sin for a man to neglect those he maintains.” [Abu Dāwūd; Hasan (sound)]
Out of his great concern and care for his family, the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to store for them the food of a whole year. It is reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to sell the palm-trees of Banu al-Nadīr and store for his family their food for a whole year. [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to supplicate Allah Almighty saying: “Allāhumma ij‘al rizqa āli Muhammad qūtan (O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad sufficient for them).” [Narrated by Muslim] It means: Make their sustenance sufficient for them so that they do not get affected by poverty or humiliated by having to beg others. Also, do not give them worldly abundance lest they should incline to it, for the worldly life is transient while the Hereafter is everlasting. So, he preferred the everlasting over the transient. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him and those who follow his guidance till the Day of Judgment.
‘O Allah, we implore You by Your name “Al-Muqīt” to provide for us from Your vast bounty and help us remember and worship You properly and be grateful servants to You.