Answer to Question
Rizq is all that which is financed by
To: Mohd Temiza
(Translated)

Question:

Dear Sheikh and Eminent Scholar:

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rahamtullah Wa Barakatuh,

If you would be kind enough to answer a question for me that I did not get a satisfactory answer for, I ask Allah that I get the answer from you.

Is sustenance limited to money only, meaning everything that can be owned for a Shariah reason? Or is the money of money, transferable or untransferable money part of the rizq, and does not contain all types of rizq (sustenance)? For example, is a good wife rizq (sustenance)? Is health, success and righteous offspring rizq (sustenance) as well?

May Allah reward you on our behalf

Mohammad Al Harithy.

Answer:

Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh

Rizq (sustenance) is all that is supported by:

1- In “Lisan Al-Arab”: [And the Rizq of provision, which is the source of your saying, “Allah provided for him” ... Rain may be called rizq, this is in the saying of Allah:

[وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا]“…and [in] what Allah sends down from the sky of provision and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness…” [Al-Jathiya: 5] Allah (swt) says: [وَفِي السَّمَاء رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ] “And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]” [Adh-Dhariyat: 20] Mujahid said it is the rain and this is the expansion of the language ... and the rizq of the soldiers are their ambitions, they have sought provision (irtazaqu), Al-Razqa (with fatha) is for the singular and the plural is Al-Razaqat, and it is the ambitions of soldiers…Irtazaq is when the soldiers gain their rizq. The meaning of Allah’s saying: [وتَجْعَلونَ رِزْقَكُم أنكم تُكَذِّبونَ]“And make [the thanks for] your provision that you deny [the Provider]?” [Al-Waqi’a: 82] Is to be thankful of one’s riziq, like their saying “we were sent down heavy rain like. It is like His saying: [وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ]“And ask the city” [Yusuf: 82] meaning its people. The Amir provided his soldiers, so they were provided (irtazaqu irtizaqan), and it is said that the soldiers were provided with one razqa only, and they were provided with two razqatain, i.e., twice. Ibn Barri...]

2- In Al Muheet Dictionary it states: [Rizq (by kasra) means what is benefited by it, such as the mercenary, and the rain, and the plural is arzaq, and (by fatha) the real source, and the only one with the letter -Ha, its plural is razaqat, it is (Mutaharrik), it refers to the ambitions of the soldiers. Allah razaqahu means He (swt) provided him with a provision), and so-and-so thanked him, is provision (azdiya), and from this the verse: [وتَجْعَلونَ رِزْقَكُم أنكم تُكَذِّبونَ]“And make [the thanks for] your provision that you deny [the Provider]?” [Al-Waqi’a: 82].

3- In Al-Sihah in the language: [Al-Rizq: what one benefits from, and the plural is Al-Arzaq. And rizq (sustenance) is giving, and it is the source of your saying: “Allah has provided for him”. Al-Razqa is by fatha, for the singular, the plural is Al-Razaqat, which are the ambitions of the soldiers. Irtazaqa the soldiers means the that the soldiers took their provisions. Allah’s saying: [وتَجْعَلونَ رِزْقَكُم أنكم تُكَذِّبونَ]“And make [the thanks for] your provision that you deny [the Provider]?” [Al-Waqi’a: 82] i.e. the gratitude of your sustenance. This is like his saying,]وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ] “And ask the city” [Yusuf: 82] meaning its people. And rain may be called rizq, and that is the saying of Allah (swt):

[وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ]“…and [in] what Allah sends down from the sky of provision and gives life thereby to the earth …” [Al-Jathiya: 5].

Allah (swt) says: [وَفِي السَّمَاء رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ] “And on the earth are signs for the certain [in faith]” [Adh-Dhariyat: 20].

This is the expansion of the language.]

4- Al-Kurassa says about rizq (sustenance): [As for the issue of rizq (sustenance), the numerous verses are definitive and leave no room for the one who believes in the Qur’an unless he believes that sustenance is in the hands of Allah (swt), He gives it to whomever He wills. The issue of rizq (sustenance) is not the issue of Al-Qadar. Al-Qadar is that Allah knows that a certain matter will happen before the occurrence of that matter, so it has been written and has been ordained. As for rizq (sustenance) it is not only that Allah knows that so-and-so will have provision, so He has written and ordained it, but rather in addition to that, He ordained provision, for the Provider (Ar-Raziq) is Allah and not the servant. This is what the verses indicate:

[لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقاً نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَى]“We ask you not for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness” [Ta-Ha: 132]

[وَكُلُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ حَلَالاً طَيِّباً وَاتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ الَّذِي أَنتُم بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ] “And eat of what Allah has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And fear Allah, in whom you are believers” [Al-Ma’ida: 88]

[اللَّهُ لَطِيفٌ بِعِبَادِهِ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْقَوِيُّ الْعَزِيزُ] “Allah is Subtle with His servants; He gives provisions to whom He wills. And He is the Powerful, the Exalted in Might” [Ash-Shura: 19].

5- As for what you mentioned other than what is provided, such as: good offspring, health and wellness, and everything that falls within the sphere that controls you, i.e., it is not your voluntary work, it is in Qada, and this includes sustenance (rizq) and all the actions that occur from you or against you without your choice... It was stated in Al-Kurrasa on the subject of Al-Qada Wa Al-Qadar under the title: “The Right Opinion on the Issue of the Actions of People,” the following:

[The correct opinion on this issue with regard to the actions of people is that man lives in two spheres: one of them he controls, which is the sphere that in it falls his actions and within it is the scope of the actions that he performs of his own free will occur. The other sphere dominates him and it is the sphere in which he falls within it. Actions in it have nothing to do with him, whether they occurred from him or him. In this sphere falls the actions that he is not in control of, whether they fall from him or upon him. The actions that occur in the sphere that dominates him has nothing to do with him and their presence do not concern him. They are of two types: a section that is required by the law of the universe, and a section in which the actions that are not within his power and which he cannot repel and are not required by the law of the universe. As for what is required by the law of the universe, he is subject to it and therefore proceeds according to it with no choice, because he lives within the universe and moves with life according to a specific system that does not lag behind. Thus, the actions fall in this sphere outside of his control, and he has not forced nor has a choice in them.

All these actions that took place in the sphere that dominates man are what is called Qada, because only Allah (swt) is the One who has decreed them. Therefore, the slave of Allah is not held accountable for these actions, no matter how good or bad they hold, or loved or hated by man. I.e., no matter how good or bad they hold according to man’s interpretation to them, because man has no effect on them and does not know about them, nor about how to find them, and he does not have the power to stop them or bringing them at all, and man must believe in this decree that it is from Allah (swt)].

I hope this is sufficient and Allah Knows Best, He is Most Wise.

Your Brother,

Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

11 Safar Al-Khair 1444 AH

7/9/2022 CE

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