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Giving Sustenance and Life are Prerogatives of
Allah
Shaykh Usaamah Al Khayyaat [(Shawwaal 27, 1423 (January
11, 2002)]
All praise is
due to Allaah, Lord of all the worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the
Prophet, his household and companions.
Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah and be
conscious of Him. That is the path of the wise people. It is through the
fear of Allaah that man is saved from evils, admitted into Paradise and
protected from Hell.
Brethren in Faith! In view of
degenerating and weakening of the souls, there are two things that are
very influential in the life of man and which get him into awkward
situations that do not befit the honourable position in which Allaah has
placed him and that negates the preference He gave him above all other
creatures. The two things are: fear of diminution or termination of his
sustenance and the fear of death and reduced lifespan.
It has been
part of the excellent qualities of this religion that it takes an adequate
care and proffers perfect remedy for this problem so that it would not
weigh the Muslim down and make him an unfortunate victim of weak
certainty, hopelessness and defective faith. That is why Allaah puts
tranquillity into the hearts of His sincere slaves and removes all that
can cause these two undesirable things from them. He arrogates to Himself
the power of giving provisions and determining the death and life of His
creatures so that His slaves would not make a request regarding them to
anyone but Him and in order that they may depend on Him alone and seek for
their needs from Him alone. They will then have a certainty that will make
them pass the stages of their lives in peace and security; fearing no one
but Allaah. Their souls will then be elevated and will not submit or
surrender to any other being but Him.
In the area of sustenance, Allaah
truthfully assures His slaves when He says,
“And in the heaven is your
provision and that which you are promised. Then by the Lord of the heaven
and the earth, it is the truth (i.e. what has been promised to you), just
as it is in the truth that you speak.”
(Adh-Dhaariyaat
51:22-23)
While recounting His favours on His
slaves, and assuring them that He is the only Creator and Provider and the
Giver of life and death, He says,
“Allaah is He Who created you,
then provided food for you, then will cause you to die, then again He
will give you life (on the Day of Resurrection). Is there any of your
(so-called) partners (of Allaah) that do anything of that? Glory be to
Him! And Exalted is He above all that (evil) they associate (with Him).”
(Ar-Room 30:40)
This verse indicate that we should
seek for sustenance from and worship Allaah alone. Allaah says,
“So seek your provision from
Allaah (Alone), worship Him and be grateful to Him.”
(Al-‘Ankaboot
29:17)
The Messenger of Allaah explained
this further when he said, “And know that, if the nation were to gather
together to benefit you with anything they would benefit you only with
something that Allaah has already decreed for you, and that if they gather
together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with
something that Allaah has already decreed for you. The pens have been
lifted and the paper have dried.” (Ahmad and At-Tirmidhee)
Further, Allaah also explains to us
that He has decreed the lifespan of every living being and written that in
a preserved Book; and that nothing can cause increase or decrease to it.
He said,
“And no person can ever die except
by Allaah’s Leave and at the appointed term.”
(Aal ‘Imraan 3:
145)
Yet, in spite of all this reality and
clear promise from Allaah, lack of certainty which is the bane of many
people diverts them from these promise and makes them forget Allaah’s
assurance that He alone possesses the power to grant means of sustenance
and life and that no one besides Him has power over any of that. It is
also unfortunate that some people do humble themselves before fellow human
beings, go to any length in other to curry their favour by unnecessarily
praising them to the highest heaven and raising them to the position of
the righteous people with no justification. They add to all this by shying
away from telling the truth thereby making themselves eligible for the
curse and the wrath of Allaah. The Messenger of Allaah said, “Whoever
seeks for Allaah’s pleasure through acts that people find displeasing,
Allaah will be pleased with him and cause people also to be pleased with
him. And whoever seeks men’s pleasure through acts that displease Allaah,
Allaah will be displeased with him and cause men also to be displeased
with him.” (At-Tirmidhee). Flattering people with the aim of getting a
favour from them is a despicable and ugly behaviour that wise people would
not taint themselves with, particularly when it involves defaming others
and slandering them.
Fear Allaah then, dear brethren, put
your trust in Him and remember that the provision and lifespan of every
individual are determined by Allaah alone, that no living being will die
until it exhausts the provision and lifespan that have been prescribed for
it and that it is only Allaah Who suffices His slaves. He says,
“Is not Allaah Sufficient for His
slaves? Yet they try to frighten you with those (whom they worship)
besides Him! And whoever Allaah sends astray, for him there will be no
guide.”
(Az-Zumar
39:36)
Brethren in
Islaam! Man, as one of the scholars has observed, whenever he does a deed
that pleases Allaah, He helps him, provides for him and suffices him. But
when a man starts doing acts that displease Allaah, fears men more than
Allaah and asks them benefits beside Allaah, that means he has no
certainty of faith and is ignorant of the fact that it is the Will of
Allaah that happens and the if He does not will something it will never
happen, for, there is no Lord worthy of worship except Him.
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