Friday, March 27, 2015

And everyone has their own destined Rizq

It was already five to six o'clock in the morning. The sky has turned from dark black gradually to a light blue hue. Today is definitely not normal for me being up early in the morning - not 'rejuvenating' back after fajr. With a plate of spaghetti finished on the coffee table, my Quran on the ironing board, it truly is unusual for me to even have a heavy meal before the start of the day.

I pulled open the oven door open and took the tray of baked cookies out, left them out to cool and continued reading the article suggested by a sister on Whatsapp. 

"Dakwah tidak dihampari dengan karpet merah."

That reality is something I am so clearly accustomed to. Yet, sometimes when fatigue and indecisiveness comes knocking at my door, the struggle to put priority has always been an inevitable encounter. It was funny that I smiled at the end of the post, acknowledging how much I understand what the writer is trying to convey - eventhough I might not be as 'hardworking' as he is. I glanced over at the time on my phone and quickly got up to do the dishes. Calculating the approximate time I need to get the 'unusual' morning chores done, I knew exactly that these words need to be written. Because as far as I know, the desire to write and express comes as fast as it goes. Thus before this one goes away, I need to type it down.

Flashbacks of yesterday came daunting over me, but despite of the misery I initially thought I was caged in, I felt that this is my rizq. This path is my rizq, and everything else that comes in it is a rizq and not a tsunami of unfortunate events.

Really, who would start a business because they needed money to go 'grab' people and show them a better path in life? Why go through such an effort for people who mindlessly break your heart every now and then? Why decide to still strive through such 'trivial' matters when piles and piles of lecture notes, medical text books and anatomy dissection have yet to be covered? 

These questions are all notable in our head - especially to people who understand the term Dakwah and Tarbiyyah.

You see, this is not about exclusion nor is it about classifying groups of people. This is about our perspective of life and how we view Allah's rizq upon us.

We don't have money? 
That's our rizq
We have money? 
That's our rizq
We have so much money? 
That's our rizq
We lost one of our legs? 
That's our rizq
We lost both of our legs? 
That's our rizq
We have both of our legs? 
That's our rizq

*smiles*

You and me and everyone else have different sets of rizq bestowed upon us. Anything that happens in our lives are a rizq. As humans, we use these amount of rizq to categorize people - let's say for zakat and welfare care. That, if used properly can be helpful but unintentionally it creates a barrier between the classes and soon, we'll find ourselves comparing each other for whatever reasons there may be.


"And Allah has favoured some of you over others in provision. But those who were favoured would not hand over their provision to those whom their right hand possess so they would be equal to them therein. Then is it the favour of Allah they reject?"
(Surah An-Nahl,16:71)

When we get too consume with status and wealth, we tend to overlook what Allah has decreed to 'share' and delegate the nikmah. That's when all this stingy-ness and 'being thrifty' beging to sprout. That's when spite and envy shrouds our thoughts. That's when sadness and misery dictate our emotions.

And at the end, we lose the essence of what rizq really is all about.

Actually rizq doesn't literally, only mean good things. It can be bad things, it can be haram things. Rizq means something that Allah gifts to his slaves. So it could be from a halal source or a haram source because everything comes from Him and originates from His decree.

Now what about the rizq that we all thought was only of good things and not the bad things?
That, my friend is clearly a misconception - or might I say an incomplete way of explaining what rizq is. Based on my shallow knowledge, rizq are subdivided into two; general and specific. 

General: Whatever that Allah gives to His slave irregardless of how they treat Allah as their master. (i.e, could be a disbeliever but gets sooo much fortune, could be from a haram source, given to cats and cows and humans the same, etc)
Specific: Gifts that will benefit both in Dunya and the hereafter which is learned from the Prophet (pbuh) and is only gifted to those who are of taqwa.
1. Knowledge that is good for nurturing the heart and imaan.
2. Wealth that comes from a halal source.

I bet by now you can guess what I'm relating this post to.

*smiles*

There's no point if you have all the diamonds and gems in the whole world when you have nothing you can put forth to Allah on Judgement Day.
There's no point if you have a large company at the back of your class rooting for you when you have no-one to give syafaat for you in Mahsyar.
There's no point to enjoy Dunya if in return, we suffer in Jahannam.


"This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah."
(Surah Al-Baqarah,2:2)

And we've got the best Rizq of Islam and Imaan. And with that we all can go 'home' inshaAllah. Ain't that enough to make us happy?
Reference: https://shirotholmustaqim.wordpress.com/2013/12/19/makna-ar-razzaq-maha-memberi-rizki/

To read about Allah's other asma' click on the links below
Al-Latif
Al-Wahid
Al-Muhaimin
Al-Mu'min
Al-Muqit
Al-Haq
As-Sami'
Al-Qawwiy
Al-Jabbar
Al-Wasi'