Ar-Razzaq (The Supplier, The Provider)
Ar-Razzaq: It means the one that provides sustenance for all of His creatures and meets their needs. Allah is Razzaq and to provide sustenance is peculiar to Allah. He is the guarantor of the sustenance of all humans and animals. Sustenance is divided into two:
1- External sustenance like provisions and sustenance for the body.
2- Sustenance for spiritual faculties and feelings like spirit, heart and mind.
1- External sustenance like provisions and sustenance for the body;
He is the one that creates all of the material and spiritual sustenance for all of the living beings on the ground, in the air and in the sea, especially for the weak ones and the young animals out of dry and simple soil, non-living dry pieces of wood that are like bones. The soil virtually becomes a cauldron and all kinds of sustenance are cooked in it. The dry branches of all trees become the hands of mercy; those hands treat the best fruits.
The finest sustenance is the pure nutritious milk coming from between blood and excrement; blessed animals like sheep and goat become a milk fountain of mercy and give us the finest sustenance which is like elixir of life on behalf of ar-Razzaq and show the name Razzaq even to the blind eyes.
Suppose that we saw a dinner table with a few olives and some pieces of dry bread on it; could y be convinced that those olives and pieces of bread appeared on the table by coincidence? Definitely not. Even if the whole world came together, they could not convince us that this table came into being on its own.
Even a small table necessitates somebody that prepared it; is it possible for the table of the earth to emerge by chance?
It is such a table that the immense spring is the rose bunch of this table. There are numerous visitors at this table all the time. They are treated as they deserve. There are all kinds of food on this table. Billions of guests sit at that table all the time; when they become full, they leave the table but the table is never empty. Even a small table cannot be without an owner. Is it possible for the table of the earth to be without an owner?
Do not think that only humans and animals sit at that table. The species of trees and plants, which lack ability and will, also need sustenance. They trust in Allah and remain fixed but they are fed perfectly. They feed more young ones than animals. Their leaves, flowers and fruits are their young ones.
In spring, to clothe all trees with garments of Paradise resembling fine silk brocade like houris of Paradise, to decorate them with the ornaments of flowers and fruits, to give us various sweet and artistic fruits through their branches, which are their fine hands, to feed us with sweet honey through the hands of a poisonous insect, to extract milk for us among blood and excrement, to clothe us with soft silk garments through a handless insect, to keep a great treasure of mercy in a tiny seed, to make the seas a storehouse of fish and a jeweler's with pearls and coral, and to make everything, from chicken's egg to the rain coming from the sky, and all of the other bounties that we cannot count are all manifestations of Allah's name Razzaq.
That is, the seal of the name Razzaq is present on every morsel of food we eat. All of the living beings that leave their homes hungry in the morning and return home full glorify Allah Almighty with their tongue of disposition and virtually recite the following verse:
“How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is Allah Who feeds (both) them and you: for He hears and knows (all things).” (al-Ankabut: 60)
Allah, who is Razzaq and Rahim (the All Compassionate), created the eye, ear, heart, imagination, spirit, mind and other faculties in the form of the keys to His treasure of mercy and equipped man with them to give him more sustenance.
For instance, the eye is a key that opens the precious treasures of the face of the universe like beauty. The tongue is a key that opens the key to the realm of sounds. Similarly, each faculty is a key to a realm and man makes use of that realm through its key. That is, every organ and faculty is a manifestation of the name Razzaq since they are means of attaining bounties.
We make payments to the people who bring us the bounties of Allah; what price does Allah, who is the real owner of those bounties and who creates them out of nothing for us, demand from us for those bounties?
He wants three things from us: one is remembrance, one is thanks, and one is reflection. Saying, "Bismillah" (In the Name of Allah) at the start is remembrance, and, "Alhamdulillah" (All praise be to Allah) at the end is thanks. And perceiving and thinking of those bounties, which are valuable wonders of art, being miracles of power of the Razzaq and Karim (the Generous) and gifts of His mercy, is reflection.
2- Sustenance for spiritual faculties and feelings like spirit, heart and mind
Why does man like listening to nice things?
Why does he want to see beautiful places?
Why does he want to speak?
Why does he feel some pleasure that he cannot describe while listening to the Quran?
Why does he feel pleasure when he meditates on Allah’s name and attributes?
The answer to all of those questions is because the faculties find their sustenance at that moment?
The stomach wants its sustenance; similarly, the organs and faculties of man like the heart, spirit, mind, eye, ear and mouth want their sustenance from Allah, who is Razzaq and Rahim, and receive it by thanking Him. Each one is granted the sustenance they deserve from the treasure of mercy separately.
The sustenance of the ear is nice sounds; the sustenance of the eye is beautiful things; the sustenance of the heart is the Quran; the sustenance of the mind and spirit is mediation on Allah’s names and attributes, and so on…
The most important spiritual sustenance is righteous deeds. For, the righteous deeds of the world will be presented to their doers in the form of eternal sustenance in Paradise. After they are presented them, the people of Paradise will say, “The sustenance we eat now is the results of our righteous deeds in the world. That is, the righteous deeds become embodied and transform into sustenance in Paradise.”
The best righteous deed is salah (prayer). That is, a person who performs prayers is addressed by Allah’s name Razzaq when he prays. Similarly, those who read the Quran mentions Allah's names and attributes, gives sadaqah, circumambulate the Kaaba and perform other kinds of worship are mirrors of the name Razzaq.
Let us end this name with the following prayer:
“O Razzaq and Karim! O Rahman and Rahim! O our Sultan who feeds us with His bounties! Show us the source and origin of these examples and shadows you have shown us! Draw us nigh to your seat of rule; do not let us perish in these deserts! Have mercy on us! Feed us there on the delicious bounty you have caused us to taste here! Do not torment us with desperation and banishment! Amin!”
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