Sustenance

“‘Rizq,’ linguistically means sustenance, provision, or share; in terminological sense, it refers to everything that Almighty God bestows upon living beings for their benefit. According to the Ahl al-Sunnah (the Sunni way of belief), the terminological meaning of ‘rizq’ is the same as its linguistic meaning… Rizq encompasses a comprehensive meaning, including blessings such as spouses and children. In fact, the Qur’an describes the bestowal of blessings like houris, young servants, and offspring as provisions. It is understood from this that rizq does not only pertain to wealth but includes everything that living beings benefit from.”

“Literally meaning providing, sustaining, and maintaining, tarziq is also among the Attributes of action. Everything from food and beverages to whatever we need for our physical, mental, and spiritual life is included in the meaning of the word rizq (provision) and, therefore, everything is provided by God, the All-Providing.”¹⁾

“Only He Who gives life, a most brilliant miracle of the Eternally Besought One’s Art and a wonder of the Lord’s Wisdom, sustains life with provision. Do you need convincing? The weakest and simplest animals are the best fed; like fish and worms in fruit. The least capable and most vulnerable creatures, such as babies or new-born animals, get the best food.”²⁾

“All animate beings are given some form of appropriate sustenance. Indeed, the weakest and most powerless receive the best sustenance; every troubled one finds its remedy almost on hand. Such bountiful largesse given with such noble magnanimity betokens a giving hand of Infinite Munificence.”³⁾

“All allowed nourishment is obtained through neediness. The decisive argument for this is how powerless infants enjoy the best livelihood, while strong, wild beasts suffer all kinds of want; how unintelligent fish grow fat, while cunning foxes and monkeys grow thin, in quest of their livelihood. There appears to be an inverse relationship between sustenance received on the one hand, and force and will on the other. The more one relies on force and will, the greater difficulty he or she will have in obtaining sustenance.”⁴⁾

“There are two sorts of sustenance.

One is the sustenance that is absolutely essential to life. The verse above (11: 6) proclaims that God has guaranteed this for every living being. Unless people interfere with this sustenance by the misuse of their free will, their essential sustenance will find them. They will not feel compelled to sacrifice either their religion or their honor.

The second sort is sustenance that is superfluous. Through the abuse of our willpower, faculties, and neediness, inessential needs have become essential ones, and because of invented customs, we have become addicted to them. As this sort of sustenance is not guaranteed by the Lord, it is also extremely expensive to obtain at our time. Many can only procure such inauspicious goods either by sacrificing their honor and accepting humiliation, or by stooping to assuming a manner as if begging or kissing the feet of some vile person, or by sacrificing the religious, sacred values which are the light of eternal life.”⁵⁾

“The Divine Name the All-Merciful, the greatest Name of the Sacred Divine Essence coming after God (His proper Name and the greatest of the Greatest Names) relates to provision. The first and most manifest meaning of the All-Merciful is the All-Provider.”⁶⁾

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