Ar Razzaaq
The Total Provider
The Provider, the Sustainer, the One who creates sustenance for all His creations.
Ar-Razzaaq is the One who creates all means of nourishment and gives every creature its livelihood. He is the provider of growth for all things good for the body, the soul, and the mind, and His providing never pauses.
Mentions of Ar Razzaaq
From the Quran & Hadith
From the root ra-zay-qaf (ر ز ق), which carries the classical Arabic connotations of receiving something beneficial, especially as a gift; being provided with the necessities of life; and receiving a portion, share, or lot. Rizq is far wider than money: it is everything by which a creature subsists.
Rizq is wider than money
Rizq has layers. The outward layer is material: food, shelter, income, health. But rizq also applies to inward sustenance, that which feeds your soul, your heart, your faith, your understanding. When you count on Allah's blessings, seek the rizq that will purify your soul and guide you, and increase your imaan for it is nobler. The inward sustenance is ever-lasting; material provision, although necessary, is only temporary.
Ar-Razzaaq and Al-Wahhaab
The two Names are often confused. Al-Wahhaab bestows gifts: free, unearned, no action required from the receiver. Rizq is different: it is what has been allocated to you by your Creator, and effort is generally the door through which it arrives. The farmer ploughs, the trader travels, the student studies; the outcome was written, but the means are commanded. Two Names, two ends of how goodness reaches you.
Is your rizq already decreed?
Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ described how, before a soul is breathed into a person, an angel is ordered to write four things, among them his provision and his life span (Sahih al-Bukhari 6594). So why work, and why make dua? Because we do not know what was written, and because we are commanded to take the means. You might read this, ask Allah, and He increases what has been portioned for you: it was written that you would ask. The believer proceeds exactly as before, doing good deeds, making dua, putting his best foot forward, and leaves the rest with Allah.
A lesson in order comes from Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him). Addressing his people, he describes his Lord: 'who created me, and He guides me; who feeds me and gives me drink; and when I am ill, it is He who cures me' (Quran 26:78-80). Appreciation for existence and guidance comes first; the outward rizq of food, drink, and health follows. That order is the believer's order.
Wa mā khalaqtu-l-jinna wa-l-insa illā li-yaʿbudūn. Mā urīdu minhum min rizqin wa mā urīdu an yuṭʿimūn. Inna-llāha huwa-r-Razzāqu dhu-l-quwwati-l-matīn.
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allah who is the Continual Provider, the firm possessor of strength.”
Qul man yarzuqukum mina-s-samāwāti wa-l-arḍ, quli-llāh.
“Say, Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth? Say, Allah.”
Amman hādha-lladhī yarzuqukum in amsaka rizqah, bal lajjū fī ʿutuwwin wa nufūr.
“Or who is it that could provide for you if He withheld His provision? But they have persisted in insolence and aversion.”
Abdullah ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ described the writing of four matters for every soul before it is breathed into: its deeds, its provision, its life span, and whether it will be wretched or blessed.
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'Look at those below you and do not look at those above you, for it is more suitable that you not consider as less the blessing of Allah.'
At some biological level, we all carry the looming anxiety of not having enough: losing the job, being unable to pay the bills, not having enough to eat. The release comes from knowing Allah is Ar-Razzaaq. There is not a single creature He does not provide for. Understanding this frees a person from the shackles of any unjust authority, because people can be coerced into compromising their morals to secure sustenance; the one who knows Ar-Razzaaq will avoid acting that way, knowing the absolute authority over his provision is Allah, not an employer. The hadith about looking at those below you has multiplied in relevance a thousandfold in the age of social media, where we scroll through the highlight reel of everyone's best life and shaitan plants seeds of doubt about our own garden. For those seeking tranquility, contentment with what Allah has already provided is the door: 'And do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to some categories of them, the splendor of worldly life by which We test them. And the provision of your Lord is better and more enduring' (Quran 20:131).
Allāhumma-kfinī bi-ḥalālika ʿan ḥarāmik, wa aghninī bi-faḍlika ʿamman siwāk
O Allah, suffice me with what You have made lawful instead of what You have made unlawful, and make me independent of all besides You.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6594
- Sahih al-Bukhari 6490
- Quran 20:131
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