What do I need to know about Rizq?
What do I need to know about Rizq?
We spend our lives chasing our rizq. Trying to make ends meet, to increase our wealth and spending it. What do we need to keep in mind?
The Prophet (peace be on him) said, ‘Oh people, nothing makes you closer to Allah Almighty, and closer to jannah and further from hell than what I have commanded you to do. And there’s nothing that makes you close to hell and further from jannah than what I have forbade you to do. (Bayhaqqi)
The Messenger of Allah, (peace be on him) said,
O people, fear Allah and be moderate in seeking a living, for no soul will die until it has received all its provision, even if it is slow in coming. So fear Allah and be moderate in seeking provision; take that which is permissible and leave that which is forbidden. (ibn Majah)
Whereas My blessings keep descending to My servants, their evil-deeds keep rising to me. While I draw close to them with my blessings and bounties they distance themselves from me by their disobedience. (Bayhaqi)
Addressing every single one of us, the Prophet (peace be on him) taught us, with the comprehensive speech he was blessed with, how to seek our rizq, (provision).
When he appeals to the ummah with the words ‘ya ayuhan-nas’, (oh people), our response and our motto has to be: ‘We hear and we obey’.
Rizq is Protected
It’s very clear that that no one can take your rizq:
No soul will die until it receives its provisions fully.
What is yours is yours. Don’t worry about it. What has been destined to you is locked for you. Your name is stamped on your provisions. No one can take any bit of it from you. Therefore if you do not receive something, it was not your rizq. You cannot say it was yours, but has been taken away.
Yet sometimes we feel aggrieved that someone has taken our rizq – for example, someone has opened a shop next to ours and taken our clients. Forget about it. Allah Almighty has promised that your rizq is destined for you. It cannot be pinched by anyone.
Delayed Rizq
One of Allah’s tests are that at times our rizq is delayed. This means we have to wait and wait and wait. Within a matter of seconds, shaytan introduces haram options to get your rizq. Desperation can lead us to succumb to his suggestion, even though we may have been struggling to reject them and fighting his whispers. And so through desperation, and giving in to temptation we can become trapped in hell. Therefore prophetic advice is to have patience, and not let the occasional delay of your provision drive you to haram means. You should only ever seek your rizq through the halal way.
Fear Allah Almighty
Patience is boosted by imaan. It is a simple equation: the greater the imaan in your life, the more patience you have. Do not let shaytan manipulate your emotions. Have trust in Allah Almighty, and have trust in destiny. This is part of your imaan. Isn’t it?
Seek your Rizq
Destiny (qadr) is the last pillar of imaan. Destiny does not mean sitting down, and doing nothing. Don’t misunderstand this concept. You have to seek your rizq – but in halal ways. Not through dodgy shortcuts. If it is not in line with what pleases Allah Almighty, don’t do it.
The Prophet (peace be on him) is reassuring us through the revelation, which he received from Jibril ruh al quddus, that no soul shall die until it has received every single part of its rizq.
Ibn Majah narrated, ‘Take what is permissible and leave what is prohibited’. If you follow this, you will be guided, or the other leads to punishment in dunya and akhirah.’
- Your rizq is destined. No one can can take it from you.
- Do your best to seek rizq in the halal way.
- Have patience. Do not respond to the temptations of the shaytan and dunya.
- Always trust Allah Almighty. No matter how difficult. Even when you are desperate, that He will provide for you in the halal way.
Increasing your Rizq
Seeking the halal is ta’a (obedience) and Allah will increase your rizq and put barakah in it. Salah alone does not delete all sins. However, according to some narrations, seeking the halal does. If you are among those who are obeying Allah, through halal means, (which is obedience), it will delete those sins for you.
If you are not following this concept, then you are driving yourself and your family in wrong direction. The Messenger of Allah (peace be on him) 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 tayyibat [all kinds of halal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds. [23:51]
And the Almighty has said:
O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you. [2:172]
Then he mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled 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? [Muslim]
Acceptance of Du’a is Connected to Halal Rizq
Saad ibn Abi Waqqas once stood up and asked:
‘O Messenger of Allah! Ask Allah to make me one whose supplication is heard?’
At this the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
‘O Saad, consume lawful things and your supplications will be heard, and by Him in Whose hands is the soul of Muhammad, when a man puts into his stomach a morsel of what is forbidden his prayers are not accepted for forty days, and a servant of Allah whose body is nourished by usury or by what is forbidden becomes more deserving of the Hell fire.’
(Tabarani in Al-Mu’jam Al-Awsat)
If your du’as are not being answered it could be that you are not eating halal or you have some doubtful elements in your provisions. So be careful.
Share your Rizq
The Prophet (peace be on him) said:
The son of Adam will not be dismissed from his Lord on the Day of Resurrection until he is questioned about five issues: his life and how he lived it, his youth and how he used it, his wealth and how he earned it and he spent it, and how he acted on his knowledge. (Tirmidhi)
As the ummah is being oppressed everywhere, when we are asked by Allah Almighty where we spent our wealth, if we give to good causes, at least we will be able to say: ‘I was doing my best to help my brothers and sisters, those who were suffering.’
Please donate to those who are suffering day and night. We ask Allah Almighty to give the ummah relief against those who are oppressing them everywhere.
We ask Allah Almighty to enable us to be amongst those who are always obeying him and seeking the halal means and may He put the barakah in the halal. Ameen.
Khutbah delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Transcribed by Raaniya Majid
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.
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