Your Rizq is Written - Ustadh Anas Tayib

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ — فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Purpose of Our Creation

Allah says in Surah al-Dhariyat — a verse which is known to all, repeated often in classes and upon the minbar:

Allah says: I have not created the jinn nor mankind — إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ — except to worship Me. This is the purpose of our creation. Allah made it clear. We do not need to search for the reason and our purpose — Allah outlined it to us in His Book: except to worship Me. Nothing else should matter compared to the purpose of your creation, which is to worship Allah.

But as human beings we become distracted. That purpose that we have, we are turned away from it. And one of the greatest distractions a person has from the ibadah of Allah — from the worship of Allah — is attaining the dunya, being distracted by the destruction of the dunya, hoping for provision, being busy with how to earn. And Allah says right after this verse:

Allah settles the matter right after mentioning the purpose of worship. مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ — Allah says: I do not want any provision from you. Allah is in no need of us. وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ — nor do I want them to feed Me. Rather, إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ — it is Allah that is the Provider. Allah provides. ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ — the Possessor of might and strength.

Why does Allah mention this? It is as if to say: focus on the reason of your creation. Do not worry about rizq and provision, for that is with Allah. Allah has taken care of it. Allah has removed your worries from it. He has guaranteed your rizq — so leave it to Allah and focus on the reason of your creation.

Your Rizq is in the Heavens — A Powerful Oath

And Allah says in the same surah, in the earlier verses, that indeed in the heavens is your rizq, is your provision. The rizq here is matar — rain. Allah sends rain down which brings out crops and vegetation, which is rizq — this is the provision of Allah. And that which you are promised is also in the heavens: meaning that which you are promised from reward, that which you are promised from punishment — all of it is in the heavens.

And Allah, confirming this statement in the next verse — and reflecting on this verse is something which is fascinating, looking at the way Allah mentions this, the amount of emphasis He puts on this concept — Allah first says that the rizq is affirmed in the heavens. He sends it down. That which you are promised from punishment and reward is also guaranteed. And then Allah, strengthening that, swears — He takes an oath by Himself, by His Lordship. Allah swears by the Lord of the heavens and the earth. What is the truth? What is haq? That which was mentioned before — that the rizq is in the heavens, that Allah will surely bring what He promises from punishment and reward, and that the Day of Judgement is the truth.

And woe to the one whom Allah swears to and they don't believe Him. That is one confirmation, one emphasis — Allah takes an oath. And Allah is in no need of taking an oath. Allah could speak and say something and it is believed, it is the truth. Who is more truthful in statement than Allah? Allah's statement is the truth. But He doesn't just leave it with that — Allah swears to remove any doubt.

Then Allah says إِنَّهُ — and إِنَّ is a tool of emphasis. Anything that you say إِنَّ before, you are emphasizing that statement. Then Allah says لَحَقٌّ — and in the Arabic language, that lām is lām al-tawkīd, another emphasis, another confirmation: it is the truth, there is no doubt in it.

And after Allah mentions all these different types of emphasis, He concludes with one which humans can perceive — something which is tangible. Allah says: this statement is the truth just as you speak. Is it not true that you speak? Is it not true that you utter words? Am I not speaking right now? Allah says: just as you speak, then this which I promise you is also a reality.

I ask you by Allah — is there any doubt left that Allah will provide? Allah took it upon Himself. He has guaranteed it. He has made it His task. And it is from His rububiyyah — that Allah is al-Rabb. One of the tasks of rububiyyah that Allah has taken upon Himself is to provide. Not just al-Rāziq — al-Razzāq: the One who provides abundantly and constantly.

Devotion to Worship Over the Dunya

Once the Prophet was sat with the companions and he started to recite the verses of Surah al-Shura. Allah says:

The one who seeks out and wants and desires the harvest — meaning the reward — harth al-ākhirah: the one who wants the reward of the ākhirah, meaning Allah's reward, he wants thawāb from Allah, he wants to be rewarded by his Lord — Allah says: We will increase him. You do a good deed for the sake of Allah, Allah multiplies it by ten, by numbers which are greater. We will increase him.

As for the one that seeks out the reward of the dunya — and here it means the one that seeks it out and loses out on his ākhirah, who seeks it in means which are displeasing to Allah, the one who in seeking the dunya neglects the ākhirah, whose whole objective and worry is to attain the dunya — Allah says: We will give him from it the thing which he has been guaranteed, that which has been ordained to him by Allah from Qadr. As for the ākhirah, he has no portion of it whatsoever. He will be given in the dunya — he will be given what he sought out. Allah says We will give it to him; he won't be withheld from it just because he didn't seek out the ākhirah. Allah is just.

Allah says in another verse: they won't be deprived. Those who seek the dunya will be given it. As for the ākhirah, they will have nothing in it — they won't have any reward, they will lose out on it completely.

The Prophet recited these verses to the companions and then said that Allah said:

(Reported by al-Tabarani and others, from the hadith of Abu Umama al-Bahili — see al-Mu'jam al-Kabir of al-Tabarani)

O son of Adam, devote yourself to My worship. Prefer My worship over the dunya. Seek out My ibadah and do not be distracted by the dunya from My worship. Free yourself to worship Me — I will fill your chest with richness. The richness that Allah provides is that you are content; the richness that Allah provides is that you are pleased with anything that Allah has given you, that you free yourself for the worship of Allah.

This does not mean that you just stay in the masjid all day, only worship Allah, and do nothing else. No — it means that you worship Allah and you are not distracted by the dunya. You still enjoy from the bliss and the blessings of the dunya, but you don't become distracted from the wājibāt and the things that Allah has asked you to do.

Allah will fill your chest with richness and will alleviate your poverty. Allah will remove poverty from you. Even if Allah gives you a little amount, He will put barakah in it for you.

If you do not do that — if you do not free your heart for the worship of Allah — Allah says: I will fill your heart with busyness. I will fill your heart with distraction, with problems. So many things happen to you and occur to you, one by one, nothing seems to be resolved. And I will not alleviate your poverty — meaning you strive, you exhaust all your efforts to attain the dunya, it will never satisfy you. You will still feel poor and poverty in your heart. Nothing that you do from attaining the dunya will benefit you. You will continually continue and continue — and in the end you will only receive what Allah already wrote for you. And He will fill your heart with problems. You will never be at rest. You will always want more and more.

This is the one that is thinking about the dunya so constantly that they distract themselves from the ākhirah. They leave off the salah, they commit haram — they do all these things — while Allah established for them a halal alternative, a way of attaining rizq which is pleasing to Him, a way of combining between attaining rizq and pleasing Allah. But they turned away from it. They looked at the dunya — it filled their eyes — but the dunya will never fill their hearts.

Your Rizq is Written — Seek It Through Obedience

Imam al-Tabarani narrates — and others — from the hadith of Abu Umama that the Prophet said, addressing the companions:

(Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and others, from the hadith of Abu Umama al-Bahili)

Jibreel revealed into my heart that no nafs — no single person — will die except that you complete your ajal, the appointed time that Allah has set for you, the lifespan that Allah has given to you. Until you complete it and receive it, you will not die. And until you take from your rizq completely — everything that was written for you, that Allah has given you — until you have taken every last bit, Allah will not take your life. Meaning your rizq is written for you. You will never miss out on it. In fact, you will never die until you receive it in full.

Then the Prophet says: and be graceful in the way that you attain this rizq — meaning do not attain it through haram. Allah has already written it for you; you will receive it no matter what. You could receive it in haram, or you could receive it in halal, in a way which is pleasing to Allah. You will receive it — how you receive it is up to you. Whether you go through the boundaries of Allah, surpass them, and commit haram to attain it — or whether you are patient and wait for Allah to provide you from halal — you will receive it regardless.

That is why he says: attain this rizq in a way which is pleasing to Allah. Do not let the delay of provision — meaning a person is waiting for their rizq, they feel like it's delayed, it's not coming to them — do not let that push you to seek out that rizq through the disobedience of Allah. That you think to yourself: the halal is taking long, the halal is difficult, there are so many obstacles — but the haram is available, it is easy. So you leave off the halal, leave off waiting for it and being patient with it, and you hasten towards attaining that rizq that was already written for you through a means which is haram.

Then the Prophet says: you will not gain that which is with Allah from provision except by obeying Him. Once you obey Allah, that is when you receive and benefit from the rizq of Allah. And even if you do receive something after seeking it out through haram, it will seem like it's yours, it will seem like it was meant to be — but as we said, the heart will remain without rest, and the barakah will be taken away.

So the Prophet guides us to the means which is pleasing to Allah, which gives you more tranquility and peace and even increases your rizq by barakah — and that is to attain it in a way which pleases Allah.

Taqwa and Tawakkul — The Keys to Rizq

As Allah says in Surah al-Talaq:

وَمَن يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ — whoever has taqwa of Allah — يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا — Allah will give him a way out. وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ — and Allah will provide for him from places which he cannot perceive. وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ — and whoever relies upon Allah in anything, in rizq — فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ — then Allah suffices him. إِنَّ اللَّهَ بَالِغُ أَمْرِهِ — anything which Allah ordains, Allah will make it happen. قَدْ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدْرًا — Allah has placed for everything a decree. For your rizq there is a decree written by Allah — so attain it in a way which pleases Allah.

وَلَا يَحْمِلَنَّكُمُ اسْتِبْطَاءُ الرِّزْقِ عَلَى أَن تَطْلُبُوهُ بِمَعْصِيَةِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ لَا يُنَالُ إِلَّا بِطَاعَتِهِ

We ask Allah to allow us to attain rizq and search for rizq in a way which pleases Him.

Du'a — Closing Supplication