بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
The Name of Allah Ar-Razzaq
Recap
Allah is the One that sustains and guarantees provision for all of creation. He provides for the believer and disbeliever; the enemy and the friend. He drives the means of earning to the weak who have no means. He is Ar-Razzaq who gives provision after provision; sustenance followed by sustenance. His providing has not ceased ever since He created the creation. His provision is of two kinds:
1) General Provision
This is for all of creation and it is the provision and nourishment of the body.
2) Special Provision
This is particular to the believers and it is the nourishment of the hearts with faith and knowledge. It is also inclusive of lawful earnings which aid the Religion of a person.
Continuation: The Impact of these Names on our Belief
- Taken from Fiqh Al-Asmaa by Shaikh Abdul-Razzaq Al-Badr
#1 - Allah reminds His servants in many verses in the Quran that He alone is their Provider / Sustainer who guarantees their food and Rizq. This word “Rizq” has been mentioned in two contexts in the Qur’an:
1) In the context of favouring and reminding of His bestowal of favours
2) In the context of Allah commanding His creation with certain acts of worship.
E.g. The Command of Tawheed
In Surah ar-Rum [30:40]:
اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ رَزَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ۖ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَائِكُم مَّن يَفْعَلُ مِن ذَٰلِكُم مِّن شَيْءٍ ۚ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
“Allah is He Who created you, then provided food for you, then will cause you to die, then (again) He will give you life (on the Day of Resurrection). Is there any of your (so-called) partners (of Allah) that do anything of that ? Glory be to Him! And Exalted be He above all that (evil) they associate (with Him).”
The partners you associate with Allah possess no power to do any of the above. Look at those who are worshipped besides Allah. Look at Jesus عليه السلام. Who created him? When he was born, who gave him sustenance? Can he cause death or give life? Allah is the only One who creates, provides, causes death, and gives life. Therefore, He alone deserves to be worshipped.
Moreover, if Allah withholds provision from people, none has the power to grant it to them without His permission. Allah says in Surah Fatir [35:2]:
مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّحْمَةٍ فَلَا مُمْسِكَ لَهَا ۖ وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلَا مُرْسِلَ لَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
“Whatever of mercy (i.e.of good), Allah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter. And He is the AllMighty, the AllWise.”
Al-Mugheera bin Shu’ba رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ used to say after he concluded every prayer:
لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك وله الحمد، وهو على كل شيء قدير. اللهم لا مانع لما أعطيت، ولا معطي لما منعت، ولا ينفع ذا الجد منك الجد
La ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul-mulku, wa lahul-hamdu, wa Huwa 'ala kulli shai'in Qadir. Allahumma la mani'a lima a'tayta, wa la mu'tiya lima mana'ta, wa la yanfa'u dhal-jaddi, minkal-jadd
There is no true god except Allah. He is One and He has no partner with Him, His is the sovereignty and His is the praise, and He is Omnipotent. O Allah! None can hold back that which You bestow and none can bestow that which You hold back; and the greatness of the great will be of no avail to them against You
[Bukhari and Muslim]
Allah alone is the Provider. He is the only one who created us and He is the only one who provides for us, thus He is the only One we have to dedicate and attach our hearts to. This is Tawheed. The name Ar-Razzaq corrects our Tawheed.
In Surah Fatir [35:3]:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ هَلْ مِنْ خَالِقٍ غَيْرُ اللَّهِ يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُؤْفَكُونَ
“O mankind! Remember the Grace of Allah upon you! Is there any creator other than Allah who provides for you from the sky (rain) and the earth? La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He). How then are you turning away (from Him)?”
And in Surah Saba [34:24]:
قُلْ مَن يَرْزُقُكُم مِّنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ قُلِ اللَّهُ ۖ وَإِنَّا أَوْ إِيَّاكُمْ لَعَلَىٰ هُدًى أَوْ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ
“Say (O Muhammad to these polytheists, pagans, etc.) "Who gives you provision from the heavens and the earth?" Say: "Allah, And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in a plain error."
Because Allah is the only one who provides for us, He is the only one who deserves to be worshipped.
Why do the polytheists worship idols? They think that their idols can provide for them, protect them, repel harm from them, and bring them good. Allah says in Surah an-Nahl [16:73-74]:
وَيَعْبُدُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَمْلِكُ لَهُمْ رِزْقًا مِّنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ
“And they worship others besides Allah, such as do not and cannot own any provision for them from the heavens or the earth.”
فَلَا تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الْأَمْثَالَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ
“So put not forward similitudes for Allah (as there is nothing similar to Him, nor He resembles anything). Truly! Allah knows and you know not.”
Attributing blessings to other than Allah is Minor Shirk
In Surah an-Nahl [16:83]:
يَعْرِفُونَ نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُنكِرُونَهَا وَأَكْثَرُهُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
“They recognise the Grace of Allah, yet they deny it (by worshipping others besides Allah) and most of them are disbelievers”
Surah An-Nahl talks about the blessings of Allah. After Allah mentioned many favours in detail; He mentioned the above verse.
There are two matters that should be known:
a) The higher the faith of a person is, the more he will attribute blessings to Allah alone. Similarly, the lower the faith of a person, the more he will attribute blessings to other than Allah.
b) Attributing blessings to Allah is related to Tawheed Ar-Ruboobiyah. Ar-Ruboobiyah is derived from the name Ar-Rabb. Allah is our Rabb who nurtures us with His favours. He is the One who created us and He is the One who provides us with provision. If you attribute Allah’s favours to someone besides Him, it indicates a defect in your belief in the oneness of Allah’s Ruboobiyah and this accordingly affects your faith and worship of Allah.
E.g. We have an upright person – He prays, fasts, fulfils the duties towards Allah, his family, friends, etc. but in his heart he is a little attached to the means. He is afflicted with daughters who are not married and he is worried. He tells his wife to take his daughters to the ladies gatherings, let them beautify themselves, thinking that this will bring a husband for them, not Allah.
The provision is detained behind the means and Allah created us by nature to strive and take the means. We are ordered by the Shari’ah to take the means. However the problem is when a person is attached to the means, thinking that he will surely get the provision if he takes it. He does this instead of taking the means while his heart is attached to Allah; acknowledging that He is Ar-Razzaq and asking Him to bless the means for him.This is a deficiency in ones Tawheed.
If all people think in this way, it will affect the entire community. People will falsely assume that if they do not hasten towards the morsel they want, someone else will take it. They will fight for the provision which Allah has already written for them. It should be clear in our hearts that Allah guaranteed provision for everyone – if Allah wrote a morsel of food for you, you will get it.
There are two people. One goes from a city to another by bus while another goes by airplane. Those who take the bus usually rush because they are afraid someone will take their seat. The one who goes on the airplane knows his seat before he goes to the plane, so his walking to the plane is calm and in peace without fighting and pushing. He knows that no one will take his seat. This is the state of the believer in the Dunya. The believer walks in peace because he knows that no one can take his provision; it is reserved by Allah for him. So he walks without any push or any fight. However, the one whose belief is weak is like the one who takes the bus.
This does not mean you should abandon the means. We are commanded by Allah to take the means, but be at rest. Take them and ask Allah to bless them for you and do not fight the people for what you want.
In Surah Aal-Imran [3:133], Allah said in the context of forgiveness and Paradise:
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous”
But He said in the context of provision in Surah Al-Mulk [67:15]:
هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ ذَلُولًا فَامْشُوا فِي مَنَاكِبِهَا وَكُلُوا مِن رِّزْقِهِ ۖ وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ
“He it is, Who has made the earth subservient to you (i.e. easy for you to walk, to live and to do agriculture on it, etc.), so walk in the path thereof and eat of His provision, and to Him will be the Resurrection.”
E.g. Happiness is a provision from Allah and He created means to attain it. People equate happiness to having this world. If you have money, a house, enough money in the bank, you are a happy person, and if you lack any of these you are living in misery. Yet Allah did not mention happiness in the Qur’an except in the context of the people of Paradise. He said in Surah Hud [11:108]:
وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ سُعِدُوا فَفِي الْجَنَّةِ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَاءَ رَبُّكَ ۖ عَطَاءً غَيْرَ مَجْذُوذٍ
“And those who are happy, they will be in Paradise, abiding therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord will, a gift without an end.”
And He mentioned the means to happiness in Surah Muhammad [47:2]:
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَآمَنُوا بِمَا نُزِّلَ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَهُوَ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۙ كَفَّرَ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَأَصْلَحَ بَالَهُمْ
“But those who believe and do righteous good deeds, and believe in that which is sent down to Muhammad,, for it is the truth from their Lord, He will expiate from them their sins, and will make good their state.”
The means for peace of mind and rest in the heart:
a) Belief
b) Good Deeds
c) Believe in what was revealed upon Muhammad
How will Allah deal with them? "كفر عنهم سيئاتهم و يصلح بالهم”
He will expiate their sins and make their state good.
E.g. There are people whom when Allah gives them a blessing, say: “I got it because I put effort and worked for it.”
This was the same attitude Qarun had when he attributed his wealth to his knowledge. He thought that he attained his degree of highness over the people by his effort.
There are Seekers of Knowledge whom after Allah blessed them with knowledge say, “It is because I worked hard and studied day and night.” But who had opened your chest and made you love knowledge? Your sitting in this gathering is not except from Allah. He is the One who opened your chest and endeared knowledge to your heart. No one can open your heart and put the love of knowledge in it except Allah.
If a person always thinks: I built this house. I support these children. I give money to this helper. I got this position. How would his gratitude to Allah be? It would be deficient.
E.g. Whenever you a receive any gift who is the first person that comes to your heart? Allah or the one who had given you the gift? Do you think that Allah is the Provider and the person is only the means through which you received the gift? This is a test for your belief in Allah Ar-Razzaq. Our belief is shown in the first moment, who comes to your heart first.
E.g. She was sick. Allah made it easy for her to take a certain medicine or go to a certain doctor. She was cured. After she was cured she talks about the medicine, the doctor, the means, etc. although she knows that the cure is from Allah.
They know that no one had given them this except Allah. They know that had it not been for the provision from Allah they would not be able to live. They know it, but their attitude is that they deny it. In their hearts they believe that Allah is the Provider, but when they talk, they talk about the means. They attribute it to other than Allah, so they committed Shirk with their tongues.
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