In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
It is Allah alone who provides sustenance for all His creatures, each according to his need. He created His creatures and He guaranteed to give them their due provision. The provision is of two types: those related to the body, such as food, drink, clothes, etc, and those related to spirit and mind, such as knowledge, purity of hearts and souls.
Allah says,
(qur'an Adh-Dhariyat 51:22-23)
وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ ﴿٢٢﴾ فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَا أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ
And in heaven is your provision, and that you are promised. (22) So by the Lord of heaven and earth, it is as surely true as that you have speech. (23)
Narrated `Abdullah bin Mus'ud: Allah's Messenger, the true and truly inspired said:
(The matter of the Creation of) a human being is put together in the womb of the mother in forty days, and then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period, and then a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then Allah sends an angel who is ordered to write four things. He is ordered to write down his (i.e. the new creature's) deeds, his livelihood, his (time of) death, and whether he will be blessed or wretched (in religion). Then the soul is breathed into him. So, a man amongst you may do (good deeds till there is only a cubit between him and Paradise and then what has been written for him decides his behavior and he starts doing (evil) deeds characteristic of the people of the (Hell) Fire. And similarly a man amongst you may do (evil) deeds till there is only a cubit between him and the (Hell) Fire, and then what has been written for him decides his behavior, and he starts doing deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise.(Bukhari)
Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
At every womb Allah appoints an angel who says, 'O Lord! A drop of semen, O Lord! A clot. O Lord! A little lump of flesh." Then if Allah wishes (to complete) its creation, the angel asks, (O Lord!) Will it be a male or female, a wretched or a blessed, and how much will his provision be? And what will his age be?' So all that is written while the child is still in the mother's womb.(Bukhari)
Although people know that their sustenance is guaranteed by Allah, they act on the contrary. They are diverted by what is guaranteed to them from what is required of them, and it is this that leads them to fall into error and sins. This is clearly manifested when they serve others in derogation of Allah, the Only Creator, and the Only Bestower of Sustenance, Ar-Razzaq.
Ar-Razzaq is He Who assigns propery and wealth to the rich among people, as well as He assigns to the poor among us the honor of observing the Glory and Majesty of Allah. He is the One Who feeds souls by helping them to devote themselves to Him Alone, and purifies the hearts of those righteous, by affirming their faith and trust in Him. He provides such of His servants as He pleases the favor of satisfaction and contentment with whatever is granted to them, no matter how little, and thus they come to be free from injustice, resentment, jealousy and hatred.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُلُوا مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِلَّـهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ(Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:172)
O believers, eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you, and give thanks to God, if it be Him that you serve.
وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّـهِ رِزْقُهَا وَيَعْلَمُ مُسْتَقَرَّهَا وَمُسْتَوْدَعَهَا ۚ كُلٌّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ
No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God; He knows its lodging-place and its repository. All is in a Manifest Book. (Qur'an Hud 11:6)
The one who celebrate the Praises of Allah by this Name Ar-Razzaq comes to live in abundance of sustenance, and Allah Almighty confers upon him of His favors and Graces, be they open or hidden. One should be well pleased and content by whatever sustenance is assigned to him by Allah Almighty, no matter how little it is compared to others, for all of that is due to Allah's Perfect Wisdom which is beyond our reason to perceive. One should not ask but Him for sustenance, since there is none but He, in Whom we should put our trust.
The one who understands well the reality of the fact that Allah is the Only Bestower of Sustenance will have no concerns about the matter of livelihood.
One of the indigent complained to 'Umar Al-Khattab, the Commander of the Believers, that he had so many dependents. 'Umar said to him: "Go to your home and consider your dependents: and drive out anyone of them who sustenance is incumbent upon you (and not upon Allah)."
Just because your provision is guaranteed, it doesn't mean you can sit doing nothing. Allah Almighty, at the same time, enjoins upon man to work hard in order to gain his earnings, through lawful means.
Allah says,
هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ ذَلُولًا فَامْشُوا فِي مَنَاكِبِهَا وَكُلُوا مِن رِّزْقِهِ ۖ وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ(Qur'an Al-Mulk 67:15)
It is He who made the earth submissive to you; therefore walk in its tracts, and eat of His provision; to Him is the Uprising.
Therefore, one should labor in search of his sustenance, following the legal and lawful methods to get it, no matter how difficult they might be. What is lawful can be more difficult than what is unlawful.
No one can increase it or decrease it what Allah has assigned for us. Knowing this leads to honesty in our dealings, as cheating and lying cannot give us more than is coming our way.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said:
Had you relied on Allah as He should be relied upon He would provide for you as He provides for the birds; they leave the nest hungry and return satisfied.(Tirmidhi)
We take the means to earn our living, but it is not because they govern our provision, but they are undertaken out of slavehood. Allah has cloaked the world in wisdom. Effects are connected to their causes, and undertaking these causes is acknowledging the Wisdom of Allah, obeying His commands and following the way of the Prophets.
People with responsibilities are obliged to work to fulfill their obligations. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “It is a sufficient sin for a man to squander those under his care.”
Eating the lawful is of the most emphasized obligations. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said:
Meat that grows from the unlawful does not enter the Garden; the Fire is more worthy of it.
It is of the most important means to have our supplications answered. The Messenger of Allah, sallAllaahu alayhi wa sallam, said:
Allah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allah has commanded the Believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers. So the Almighty has said: "O (you) Messengers! Eat of the tayyibaat [all kinds of halal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds." [Qur'an 23:51] and the Almighty has said: "O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you" [Qur'an 2:172] Then he mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying "O Lord! O Lord!", while his food is haram (unlawful), his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he has been nourished with haram, so how can [his supplication] be answered?![Narrated by Muslim.]
When Allah Almighty loves one of His servants, He makes people's needs of him so much, and, at the same time, gives him the love of fulfilling them. "It should be know that people's needs entrusted to you to fulfill are out of Allah's Favors and Graces upon you. Therefore, do not be exhausted by them because by doing so, you, indeed, become tired of Allah's Favors."
O Allah! O Allah! O Allah! O Latif! (The One Who knows the finest mysteries and secrets of things) O Razzaq! (The Bestwower of Sustenance) O Qawiyy! (The All-Powerful) O Aziz! (The Exalted and Might): to You do belong the keys of the treasures of both the heavens and the earth: it is You Who enlarge sustenance for such of Your servants as You please, and restrict it for such of Your servants as You please. So O Allah, enlarge livelihood for us out of Your sustenance such as to enable us to have access to Your Mercy, and out of Your Mercy such to keep us away from your Wrath and Anger, and out of Your Forbearance such as to have Your Pardon extend over us; and end our lives with happiness with which You end the lives of Your devotees; and make the best and the happiest of our days that on which we will meet You; and remove us in the world from the fire of lusts and desires, and admit us with the help of Your Bounty and Generosity, to the large fields of mercy.
Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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