Source:
An-Nahj al-Asmaa Fii Sharh Asmaa Allah-ul-Husna by Shaikh Muhammad Al-Humood Al-Najdi.
The Name Arrazzaq is mentioned once in the Qur’an. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Adh-Dhariyat (51:58):
إنّ اللهَ هو الرزّاقُ ذو القّوةِ المتين
“Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.”
The Name is mentioned in the plural form five times, such as Allah’s statement in Surat Al-Ma’idah (5:114):
وارْزُقنا وأنت خَيرُ الرّازقين
“And provide sustenance for You are the Best of Sustainers.”
The meaning of these two Names:
Ibn Jarir (Rahimahullaah) said: “Allah is Arrazzaq who sustains His creation and guarantees and warrants for them the Provision.”
Al-Khattabi (Rahimahullaah) said: “He Who provides the sustenance and His provision and Mercy extends all His creation; the believer and unbeliever, the friend and the enemy. He brings the sustenance to the weak who have no means of earning, as Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Al-Ankabut (29:60):
وكَأًيّن مِنّ دابّةٍ لاَّ تَحْمِلُ رِزْقَها الله يرزُقُها وإيّاكم
“And so many a moving (living) creature there is, that carries not its own provision! Allah provides for it and for you.”
Shaikh As-Sa’di (Rahimahullaah) said: “The One Who Provides for all of His servants, there is no creature on the earth that Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) does not provide for. His providing for His servants is of two types:
1- The general provision which extends to the righteous and the sinner, the first and the last. This is the provision that is required by the body.
2- The Specific provision which is granted to the hearts, nourishing them with knowledge and faith. Also the lawful provision that has been appointed for the benefit of the religion, this being specific to the believers and appointed in accordance to their different levels and what His Wisdom and Mercy dictates.” [Tayseer Al-Kareem 5/302]
The impact of believing in these Names:
1- Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) alone and none other than He provides the provision. He (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Fatir (35:3):
يا أيٌّها الّناسُ اذكُرُوا نِعْمَتِ اللهِ عليكُمْ هل من خَالقٍ غَيرُ اللهِ يرزُقُكُم من السّماء والأرضِ لا إلهَ إلا هُوَ فأَنَّى تُؤْفَكُون
“O Mankind! Remember the grace of Allah upon you! Is there any creator other than Allah who provides for you from the sky and the earth? How then are you turning away (from Him).”
And He (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Saba’ (34:24):
قُل مَن يرزقُكُم مِنَ السماوات والأرضِ قُلِ اللهُ وأنّا أو إيَّاكُم لَعَلَى هُدىً أو في ضلالٍ مبين
“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 plain error.’”
Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) is giving the evidence to His slaves about His Oneness and that none deserves to be worshipped except Him. He is the Only One Who creates and sustains and no one else. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) denied upon the polytheists their worshipping of Idols, who do not own any provision for them, nor cause harm or benefit them, and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat An-Nahl (16:73):
ويعبدون من دُونِ الله مالا يَملكُ لهم رزقاً من السماوات والأرض شيئاً ولا يستطيعون
“And they worship others besides Allah, such as do not and cannot own any provision for them from the heavens or the earth.”
Then Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in verse (16:74):
فلا تضربوا لله الأمثال إنّ الله يعلمُ وأنتم لا تعلمون
“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.”
Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) knows and witnesses that La ilaha illa Howa (none has right to be worshipped except Him) Who creates and gives the provision and you ignorantly associate other gods beside Him. [Jamie’ Al-Bayan 29/6]
Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) also said in Surat Ar-Rum (30:40):
اللهُ الذي خَلَقَكُم ثُمّ رَزَقَكُم ثم يُمِيِتُكُم ثم يُحْييكُم هل من شُركَائِكُم من يفعل من ذلكم من شيءٍ سبحانه وتعالى عَمّا يشركون
“Allah is He Who created you, then provided 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).”
This means, your partners possess no power to do anything of that. Moreover, if Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) prevents the provision from the people, no one has the power to grant it to them without Allah’s permission. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Fatir (35:2):
ما يفتح الله للناس مِن رحمةِ فلا مُمْسِكَ لها وما يُمْسِكْ فلا مُرْسِلَ له مِن بَعْدِه وهو العزيز الحكيم
“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 All-Mighty, the All-Wise.”
Al-Bukhari and Muslim reported that Al-Mughira bin Shu’ba (Radia Allaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Prophet (Salla Allaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) used to say after every compulsory Salat (prayer):
لا إله إلاّ الله وحده لا شريك له . له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيء قدير . اللهم لا مانع لما أعطيت ولا مُعْطِي لما منعتَ ولا ينفع ذا الجدّ
مِنْك الجد
“La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu laa sharika lahu, Lahul-Mulku walahul-Hamdu wa huwa alaa kulli shay’in Qadeer. Allahumma laa maani’a lima a’taita wa laa mu’tiya lima mana’ta, wa laa yanfa’u dhal-jaddi minkal-jadd.”
“None have the right to be worshipped but Allah and He has no partner in Lordship or in Worship or in the Names and the Qualities and for Him is the Kingdom and all the praises and thanks are for Him and He is Omnipotent. O Allah! Nobody can hold back what You give and nobody can give what You hold back. Hard efforts by anyone (or good luck or riches) for anything can not benefit one against Your will.”
2- Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) undertakes and guarantees to provide whomever in the heavens and the earth. He said in Surat Hud (11:6):
وما من دابّةٍ إلاّ على الله رِزْقُها
“And no living creature on earth but its provision is due from Allah.”
And He (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Al-Ankabut (29:60):
وكأيّن من دابّةٍ لَّا تِّحْمِلُ رِزْقها اللّهُ يَزْزُقُهُا وإيّاكم
“And so many a moving creature carries not its own provision!”
Ibn Kathir (Rahimahullaah) said: “It does not have the ability to gather its provision and save it for tomorrow.”
الله يَرْزُقُها وإيّاكم
“Allah provides for it and for you.”
“This means, Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) allots its provision to it even though it is weak, and makes it easy for it. He sends provisions to every creature in the appropriate manner, even the ants in the depths of the earth, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea.” [Tafseer Ibn Kathir]
3- Al-Qurtubi (Rahimahullaah) said: “The difference between Qut and Rizq is that Qut in Arabic language, literally, means every food which provides the body with strength and nourishes it, while the Rizq is more general, it includes everything owned by the slave from food to everything other than food”.
The Prophet (salla Allaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) told us about the ways of benefiting from the Rizq (provision) in his statement: “Man says, ‘My property, my property!’ But O son of Adam, what is you that is out of your property only which you ate and it vanished, which you wore and made it worn out and spent in charity and sent it ahead, and other than these is going and you are leaving it to people.” [Muslim]
Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) assured that no living creature on earth but its provision is due from Him and this Rizq (provision) will not be cut off except with the death of the creature.” [Al-Kitab Al-Asna]
4- Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) provides the sustenance without trouble or difficulty, on the contrary if all His creation asked Him, He would provide them without diminishing anything from His dominion. He (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Hadith Qudsi: “O My slaves, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were to assemble in one place and were to beg Me for whatever they desire and I were to bestow upon each of you all that you had asked for, that would not detract from My Treasures any more than a needle could diminish from the ocean, by putting it (the needle) in to it (the ocean).” [Muslim]
5- Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) does not particularize the provision for the believers only in this life, but the provision in this life is for both the believers and the disbelievers and this is out of Allah’s Graciousness and Generosity. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat Ash-Shura (42:19):
اللهُ لطيفٌ بعبادة يرزُقُ من يشاءُ وهو القوىٌّ العزيز
“Allah is very Gracious and Kind to his slaves. He gives provisions to whom He wills. He is All-Strong, the All-Mighty.”
Narrated by Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari (Radia Allaahu ‘anhu) that the Prophet (Salla Allaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: “None is more patient than Allah against the harmful annoying words He hears (from the people): They ascribe a son (offspring or children) to Him, yet He bestows upon them health and provision.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
6- Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) is the One Who controls the provisions of His slaves. He makes rich whom He wills and restricts the provision from whom He wills and that is in accordance to a perfect wisdom. Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said in Surat An-Nahl (16:71):
واللهُ فضّل بَعْضَكم على بعضٍ في الّرزق
“Allah has preferred some of you above others in wealth and properties.”
In Surat Al-Isra’ (17:30), Allah (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) said:
إنَّ رَّبكَ يَبْسُطُ الرزق لمن يشاءُ ويقدرُ إنِّه كان بعبادِهِ خبيراً بصيراً
“Truly, Your Lord enlarges the provision for whom He will and restricts (it for whom He will). Verily, He is Ever All-Knower, All-Seer of His slaves.”
Ibn Kathir (Rahimahullaah) said: “He knows and sees who deserves to be rich and who deserves to be poor. In some cases, richness may be decreed so that a person gets carried away, leading to his own doom. In other cases, poverty may be a punishment. We seek refuge with Allah from both.” [Tafseer Ibn Kathir] Ibn Kathir (Rahimahullaah) also said in his interpretation of Surat Ash-Shura (42:27):
ولو بسط الله الرزق لعباده لَبَغَوْا في الأرض
“And if Allah were to enlarge the provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth.”
“This means if He (Subhanaahu wa Ta’ala) gave them more provision than they need, this would make them rebel and transgress against one another in an arrogant and insolent manner.”[Tafseer Ibn Kathir]
ولكن يِنّزلُ بقدرٍ مَّا يشاءُ إِنّه بعباده خبيرٌ بصير
“But He sends down by measure as He wills. Verily, He is, in respect of His servants, the Well-Aware, the All-Seer.”
“This means, He gives them provision according to what is in their best interest, and He knows best about that. So He makes rich those who deserve to be rich, and He makes poor those who deserve to be poor.” [Tafseer Ibn Kathir]
Always feel free to share the khair!
