Rizq in light of the Holy Quran and Hadith

Dear friends,

In shaa Allah, in this article, I would try to address an important topic that concerns everyone in our daily life - RIZQ. Today, we live in an age that is dominated by love for money, infatuation with wealth, and fear and anxiety for the provision. The most widely talked about topic in the media, at the gatherings in tea/coffee shops, at the dinner tables at home and in restaurants, and in public places is Money. One measures happiness and aspiration in terms of the economic goals he can achieve. It is a common goal of the education system from school education to the university level of education to groom the students for careers. Students are taught that the most important thing that matters for seeking education is the future employment. People neither see the universities as the centers of scholarship nor attend the universities to seek knowledge. They only seek degrees that help them better their job prospects. The focus of the whole society is economics/money. It would not be wrong to say that money/economics/wealth has become Deen of the modern age. A person's success is defined by the job that he/she gets and the wealth he/she accumulates. Today, wealth equals status and power. The whole system is built on it. If we walk past the prominent buildings, we find them to belong to financial industry: banks, insurance firms, money exchanges, stock exchanges and so on. Nearly everyone is in thrall to this system - rich and poor, Muslim and non-Muslim, almost everyone is under the delusion that their livelihood is dependent, somehow, upon the system as it is set up. Almost everyone is worried about his/her future financial stability, the ability to maintain the lifestyle, and means to accumulate the wealth.

People think and worry about money as if it is everything for them. But, in reality, it is the least worrying and worthy thing in the life. For RIZQ is not something which is in any one's hands. Rather, it is solely and only in the hands of our Lord. Allah SWT says in Surah Hud (11), Ayat 6:

In translation (Sahih International):

And there is no (moving) creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. All is in clear register.

The sustenance of all animals and creatures that Allah SWT provides for is described as RIZQ. Every creature, small or big, whether it lives under the sea (water) or on the land, Allah JJ provides it with its daily sustenance. RIZQ is a very beautiful Arabic word that actually accommodates several related meanings. On hearing this word, RIZQ, we instinctively ‘understand’ what it means. Here RIZQ means ‘daily sustenance and provision’.

Friends,

Describing our sustenance and our provisions, Allah uses the word ‘RIZQ’. It is also mentioned several times in the Quran. For example in Surat Al Baqara (2), Ayat 57, Allah SWT says:

In translation (Sahih International):

And we shaded you with clouds and sent down to you manna and quails, (saying), “Eat from the good things with which We have provided you.” And they wronged Us not – but they were [only] wronging themselves.

In this context, RIZQ can mean everything that Allah SWT has provided us of food and drinks for our sustenance/survival/living.

RIZQ also means our livelihood and wealth and this is probably what we commonly understand as what RIZQ means. For example: When Allah SWT forbids the act of killing one’s children for the fear of poverty. In Surat Al-Anaam, Ayat 151 Allah says:

In translation (Sahih International):

“And do not kill your children out of poverty; We will provide (the means) for you {Narzuqukum} and for them.

While Allah asks Prophet SAW to say to people the things that Allah has forbidden. From them, killing children for the fear of RIZQ is also forbidden.

So, these are potential meanings of RIZQ: Sustenance, Provisions, and Wealth. Sometimes, it is also translated as ‘bounties’. In Surat Al-Baqarah (2), Ayat 254, Allah SWT says:

In translation (Sahih International):

O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers – they are the wrongdoers.

Dear friends,

When Abu Musa al-Ash'ari and his people emigrated to Madina, they arrived with their stores and provisions having been completely exhausted, so they sent a man from among them to the Prophet to ask for some food. When the man came to the door of the Prophet and was about to knock, he heard the Prophet reciting the aya mentioned above,

وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي ٱلأرْضِ إِلاَّ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا

 "There is no creature on the earth except that Allah undertakes to provide for it.", so he said to himself. "Surely our people are no lower in the eyes of Allah than the beasts", so he went back to them without having spoken to the Prophet and said, 

أبشروا أتاكم الغوث

 “Good news! Help has come!" When they heard that, they thought he must have spoken to the Prophet and the Prophet had promised him something. And while they were speaking with him, two men appeared bearing a huge platter of bread and meat which they set before them. So they ate their fill and then, seeing that so much food was left, they said, 

لو أنا رددنا هذا الطعام إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ليقضي به حاجته

 ‘We must send this food back to the messenger of Allah so he can also eat his fill.’ So they instructed the two men to take it back to the Messenger of Allah. Then, when they came to the Messenger of Allah, thy said to him, 

 يا رسول الله ما رأينا طعاماً أكثر ولا أطيب من طعام أرسلت به

 ‘Messenger of Allah, we have never seen food more plentiful or more delicious than the food you sent us.' The Messenger replied that he had not sent them any food, so they told him they had sent a man from among them to ask him for it. So the Messenger of Allah spoke to the man and when he heard his story, said,

ذلك شيء رزقكموه الله

 ‘That is something Allah provided you with.’ There is no point worrying about rizq, because your rizq is coming to you regardless of what you say and do. Indeed, you could not even escape from it were you to want to. The Prophet said,

 لو أن أحدكم فرّ من رزقه لتبعه كما يتبعه الموت

‘If you were to try to run away from your provision, your provision would come after you just like death.’ There is no point chasing after it, because it is chasing after you. Your provision is waiting for you from before the day you were born, and you will receive it in full in the course of your life.

The Prophet SAW said,

إن نفساً لن تموت حتى تستكمل رزقها،

 “No human being will die until he has received his provision in full.” This is a promise and a guarantee from Allah,

ولا يخلف الله الميعاد

 “Allah never breaks his covenant.” So why worry over something over which you have no control.

So, what is special about RIZQ?

It is very natural for most if not all people to be very motivated and devoted when it comes to maintaining two things: maintaining our lives and maintaining our livelihoods, or our ‘RIZQ’. Maintaining our livelihoods is one of the greatest efforts in our lives. One of the great deal that drives us and motivates us is earning and sustaining a living.

As a human being, it is our innate makeup that Allah has made us like that. Therefore, Allah SWT has established for us the rules that govern the concept of RIZQ. One of the important rules for us (Muslims) is to understand the fundamental concept: Where does this RIZQ come from? Other important rules include: How can we increase the bounties of Allah on us; Is it better for us to be rich/wealthy or not wealthy?; Should we work hard to get more money, or should we work for what is enough?; Is money in itself a good or a bad thing and; Is having more money better or worse for us? These are just a few important and legitimate issues for us to understand.

The first rule of RIZQ in our understanding as Muslims is that it is all solely and wholly in the hands of Allah SWT, and Allah SWT distributes His bounties on whoever Allah SWT chooses. This fundamental understanding can constitute part of the Tawheed as Muslims. Narrated from Ibn Abbass RA, the Hadith emphasizes that Allah SWT is the sole owner and Allah SWT is the sole provider. I present here one ayat from Quran but there are similar reminders and ayahs in the Holy Quran. In Surat Al-Baqarah (2), Ayat 212, Allah SWT says:

In translation (Sahih International):

“And Allah gives provision {yarzuku} to who He will without account (measure)”

This statement emphasizes out two things. First, it is Allah and only Allah SWT has the power to provide. {Wallahu Yarzuku}. Second, In Allah’s wisdom this provision includes everyone without exception. It includes believer and non-believer, Muslim and non-Muslim, male and female, old and young, educated and uneducated, honest and dishonest and so on.

{Yarzuku Ma’n’ Yashao Bi Ghairi Hisaab} “Provides to whom He wishes without account (measure).”

As Muslims, we should be very clear on this as sometimes unknowingly we question the wisdom of Allah SWT (Naoozo Billahi). The bounties of Allah are without any boundaries. In fact, in Surat Al-Baqara (2), Ibrahim Alaihi Salam, as a believer in Allah SWT, and out of his convictions to his belief, Ibrahim AS asks Allah SWT to provide only for the believers. Allah SWT, however, responds and tells us that the provisions from Allah are for all, including the disbelievers. It is not for us to questions this:

In translation (Sahih International):

And [mention] when Ibrahim said, “My Lord make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits – whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day.” [Allah] said, “And whoever disbelieves – I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination.”

This is a fundamental rule of RIZQ. This sometimes becomes difficult to comprehend when a person comes across someone who is blatant disbeliever or someone who though believes in Allah, but does not live according to the teachings and guidance of Allah SWT, and finds that they are in abundance. This becomes even much more difficult when the wealth is earned through means that Islam has declared Haram. The two temptations are firstly to question the wisdom of Allah by saying ‘why them’ and secondly to be tempted to think ‘why not me’. We must be careful brothers and sisters.

The examples of Haram income for us are plenty but the most obvious ones are for those of us who are prepared to work with ‘Riba’, to work in the ‘alcohol’ trade/industry, to cheat in various ways and so on. It can be hard when one sees how much wealth others have piled up, the luxurious cars they buy, the lavish lifestyles and luxurious houses. Instinctively, one may fall prey to question ‘why is Allah SWT so generous to those who do not believe in Him and to those who disobey Him?’

It is not for us to question the wisdom of Allah. We must force ourselves to understand that ‘RIZQ’ is in the hands of Allah SWT and Allah provides to whom He wills. In Surat Al-Imran (3), Ayat 26, Allah SWT says:

In translation (Sahih International):

Say: “O Allah, Owner of sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble who You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent.”

[Aqulu quoli hadha wa astaghfirullahi li walakum]