Arabiq Online - Arabic of the Qur'an

Sūra Hūd 11:6

Our word today is from Surah al-Hud, ayah 6, which today’s juz’ starts with:

وَمَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ فِيْ الْأَرْضِ إلَّا عَلَى اللهِ رِزْقُهَا

And there is no moving creature on the earth but that its sustenance is upon Allah. 

The word رِزْق is divine provision that Allah has guaranteed for everyone. He mentions in the Qur’an how He spreads His sustenance, or straitens it, how He grants it in abundance to whoever He wishes. We know that the tiniest of creatures crawling on land as well as on the bottom of the pitch black ocean floor are granted their sustenance. 

But what about all the poor ‘people’ on this earth? The homeless, the destitute, the orphans? The hungry? What about their rizq? Why does He not feed them?

This is the refrain of people who are averse to sharing their wealth with others. They say: أنُطْعِمُ مَنْ لَوْ يَشَاءُ اللهُ أَطْعَمَه؟  Should we feed the one whom if Allah had willed, He could have fed him himself?

What we fail to realize is that Allah has given some people charge and responsibility for the rizq of others. He has given them wealth in order that they may be custodians and distributors of that rizq, and that it’s a divine privilege to be in that position.