Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut-Tahrir
To the Questions of his Facebook Page Followers "Fiqhi"
Answer to a Question
To Mohd Temiza
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh, O eminent scholar,
If you would be so kind as to answer a question for which I have not found a satisfying answer; I ask Allah that the answer be found through you.
The question: Is Rizq (provision) limited to money only, in the sense of everything that can be owned through a Shari’ah-compliant reason? Or is money, including cash and movable or immovable property, only a part of Rizq, and does not encompass all types of Rizq? For example, is a righteous wife considered Rizq? Are health, success, and righteous offspring also considered part of Rizq?
May Allah reward you with the best of rewards.
Mohammad Al-Harthi
Answer:
Wa Alaikum Assalam Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakatuh.
Rizq is everything that is possessed as wealth (yatamawwalu bihi):
1- It is stated in Lisan al-Arab: [Al-Rizq is the gift (Al-'Ata'), and it is the root of your saying: Allah provided for him (razaqahu)... Rain may also be called Rizq, as in the Almighty's saying:
وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا
"And what Allah has sent down from the heavens of provision and given life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness." (QS. Al-Jathiyah [45]: 5)
And the Almighty said:
وَفِي السَّمَاء رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ
"And in the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised." (QS. Adh-Dhariyat [51]: 22)
Mujahid said it refers to rain, and this is an expansion in the language... The ar-zaq of the soldiers are their provisions, and they have received their rizq. Al-Razqah (with a fatha) refers to a single instance, and the plural is al-razaqat, which are the provisions of the soldiers... And the Almighty's saying:
وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ
"And make [the thanks for] your provision that you deny [the Provider]?" (QS. Al-Waqi'ah [56]: 82)
Meaning: the thanks for your provision, similar to their saying 'we were given rain by the setting of the Pleiades,' and it is like His saying:
وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ
"And ask the city." (QS. Yusuf [12]: 82)
Meaning its people. The Ameer provided for his soldiers, so they received their provision (irtazaqu)... Ibn Barri...]
2- It is stated in Al-Qamus al-Muhit: [Al-Rizq (with a kasra) is what is benefited from, like al-murtazaq, and rain; its plural is arzaq. (With a fatha) it is the actual verbal noun, and the single instance is razqah (with a ha), plural razaqat (with haraka), which are the provisions of the soldiers. Allah provided for him (razaqahu), i.e., delivered rizq to him...]
3- It is stated in As-Sihah fi al-Lughah: [Al-Rizq: what is benefited from, plural arzaq. Al-Rizq is the gift, and it is the root of your saying: Allah provided for him. Al-Razqah (with a fatha) is a single instance, plural razaqat, which are the provisions of the soldiers... Rain may be called Rizq, and that is the saying of the Almighty:
وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن رِّزْقٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ
"And what Allah has sent down from the heavens of provision and given life thereby to the earth." (QS. Al-Jathiyah [45]: 5)
And the Almighty said:
وَفِي السَّمَاء رِزْقُكُمْ
"And in the heaven is your provision." (QS. Adh-Dhariyat [51]: 22)
And this is an expansion in the language.]
4- It is stated in Al-Kurrasah (The Booklet) regarding Rizq: [As for the issue of Rizq, many verses with definitive meanings (qat’i al-dalalah) leave no room for anyone who believes in the Qur’an except to believe that Rizq is in the Hand of Allah, which He gives to whom He wills. The issue of Rizq is different from the issue of Qadar (Fate). Qadar means that Allah knows that such-and-such a matter will occur before it happens, so it has been written and decreed. As for Rizq, it is not only that Allah knows that so-and-so will be provided for, thus it is written and decreed; rather, in addition to that—i.e., in addition to Him having decreed the provision—the Provider (Al-Raziq) is Allah and not the servant. This is what the verses indicate:
لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقاً نَّحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِتَّقْوَى
"We do not ask you for provision; We provide for you, and the [best] outcome is for [those of] righteousness." (QS. Ta-Ha [20]: 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." (QS. Al-Ma'idah [5]: 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." (QS. Ash-Shura [42]: 19)]
5- As for what you mentioned other than what is possessed as wealth, such as righteous offspring, health, well-being, and everything that falls within the sphere that dominates you—meaning it is not your elective action—this falls within the sphere of Qada (Divine Decree). This includes Rizq and all actions that occur from you or upon you without your choice... It is stated in Al-Kurrasah regarding the subject of Qada and Qadar under the title "The Correct View on the Issue of the Servants' Actions":
[The correct view on this issue regarding the actions of the servants is that man lives in two spheres: one which he dominates, which is the sphere that falls within the scope of his conduct and within which his actions occur by his own choice; and another sphere that dominates him, which is the sphere within which he exists and within which occur actions that he has no control over, whether they occur from him or upon him. The actions that occur in the sphere that dominates him, he has no control over them and no role in their existence. They are of two types: a type required by the system of existence, and a type where actions occur that are not within his power and which he cannot repel, and are not required by the system of existence. As for what is required by the system of existence, he is subject to it and thus proceeds according to it in a compulsory manner, because he moves with the universe and life according to a specific system that does not fail. Therefore, the actions in this sphere occur without his will, and he is driven (musayyar) in them and not given choice (mukhayyar)...
All these actions that occurred in the sphere that dominates man are what is called Qada, because Allah alone is the One who decreed them (qadaha). Therefore, the servant is not held accountable for these actions regardless of whether they contain benefit or harm, love or hate for man—i.e., regardless of whether they are good or evil according to man’s interpretation—because man has no effect on them, knows nothing of them, nor of how they were brought into existence, and possesses no power to repel them or bring them about at all. Man must believe that this Qada is from Allah the Almighty...]
I hope this is sufficient, and Allah is All-Knowing and All-Wise.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
11 Safar al-Khayr 1444 AH Corresponding to 07/09/2022 CE
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