Class 6- Means of Increase in Provisions
Class 6
‘Means of Increase in Provisions’
Increase in Provisions
The top and the main reason people tend to commit Bidah or even Shirk is the desire for more provisions, whether it be children or wealth people are ready to do anything to get it for them forgetting that Allah is Ar-Razzaq and Islam is complete and that our Beloved Prophet ﷺ has passed on to us every information that was of benefit to with regards to our faith. So it is essential for us to learn the right ways to increase provisions but before that please note:
In the saheeh Sunnah there is no known prayer specifically for asking for increased provision.
Whether it be a specific kind of Salah or a specific number of times a dua is to be recited or calling Allah’s name some number of times, all of these are very common practices amongst Muslims these days. All of these has no basis from the Sunnah or the acts of the Sahaba or those who came after that these are all innovations that came from not even weak ahadeeth but fabricated ones.
All goodness is in following those who came before us, and all evil is in the innovations of those who came later.
The Standing Committee was asked about someone who remembers Allaah by saying “Ya Lateef” repeatedly. They replied: That is not permissible because it was not narrated from the Prophet ﷺ. Rather it was proven that he said: “Whoever innovates something in this matter of ours (i.e., Islam) that is not part of it, will have it rejected.” According to another version: “Whoever does any action that is not part of this matter of ours will have it rejected.” Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, 2/379
MEANS OF INCREASE IN PROVISIONS
There are some means of increasing provision that are prescribed in Islam, which we shall highlight here, so as to adopt the means that are prescribed and warn against innovations in religion. These include:
1. Istaghfaar (Seeking Forgiveness) The evidence is His, the Most High’s saying, citing the call of Nūḥ (alayhis salām) to his people: I said (to them): ‘Ask forgiveness from your Lord. Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving. He will send rain to you in abundance. And give you increase in wealth and children and bestow on you gardens and bestow on you rivers.‘ [Nūḥ (71:10-12)].
From the fruits of seeking forgiveness are the sending down of rain (which is a means through which sustenance is created and provided) and increase in wealth and children have been connected with the seeking of forgiveness
2. Tawbah (Repentance) Allah says (interpretation of the meaning in English is): -And (commanding you): “Seek the forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him in repentance that He may grant you good enjoyment for a term appointed and bestow His abounding grace to every owner of grace. But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a great day. [Hūd (11:3)].
And also His saying upon the tongue of Dāwūd (ʿalayhis salām): “And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord and then repent to Him, He will send you (from the sky) abundant rain, and add strength to your strength, so do not turn away as criminals, wrongdoers.” [Hūd (11:52)]
From the fruits of repentance are good enjoyment in this world, receiving increase in bounty and excellence from Allāh and sending of rain and providence from the sky.
Repentance has a number of conditions for it to be accepted and they are:
- Acknowledging that sin has been committed
- Remorse for falling into the sin
- Resolving not to return to the sin
- Rectifying any harm if it involved the rights of others
- Asking for forgiveness for this sin
- Having firm belief that Allāh is the Forgiver of sin
3. Taqwa (Piety) Due to the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: And whoever has taqwā of Allāh, He will make for him a way out (of difficulty) and provide for him from (sources) he could not imagine. [Ṭalāq (65:2-3)].
And also the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: And if the people of the towns had believed andhadtaqwa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn. [Aʿrāf (7:96)]
From the fruits of taqwā are removal from every difficulty, provision from where one would not imagine, opening up of blesings from the Earth and the heaven.
As for the definition of taqwā then it is, as related from Ṭalq bin Ḥabīb (raḥimahullāh): “To work in obedience to Allāh, upon light from Allāh, hoping for Allāh’s reward and to abandon disobedience to Allāh, upon light from Allāh, fearing the punishment of Allāh.” Siyar of al-Dhahabī (4/601).
The meaning of “upon light from Allāh” is upon knowledge and insight in His religion, that you obey Him and abandon disobedience to Him upon knowledge of what He ordered and prohibited.
4. Tawakkul (Reliance upon Allah) Due to the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: And who ever places his trust in Allāh, He will suffice him (in his needs). Verily, Allāh will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allah has set a measure for all things. [Ṭalāq (65:3)].
And the statement of the Messenger ﷺ, “If only you were to rely upon Allāh as He truly should be relied upon He would bestow you with sustenance just as the birds leave hungry in the morning and return full.” Reported by al-Tirmidhī, Aḥmad, Ibn Mājah.
From the fruits of relying upon Allāh are Allāh being sufficient for the servant (in all his needs), acquiring what a servant desires of goodness for himself, and sustenance being acquired with the ease with which the bird acquires sustenance.
It is from reliance (tawakkul) upon Allāh to use the legislated and lawful ways and means through which goals and objectives are attained. Thus, reliance is to make use of the ways and means and then rely upon Allāh for bringing about the fruits and effects of those ways and means, since He is the creator of all the ways and means (asbaab) and their effects (musabbabaat).
5. Performing Hajj and ‘Umrah often, following one with the other The evidence is the saying of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: “Follow up between (the performance) of Hajj and ʿUmrah for they remove poverty and sins just like the bellow (of the furnace) removes the dross from iron, gold and silver. And a righteous Hajj has no other reward but Paradise.” Reported by Aḥmad and declared ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī.
6. Upholding Ties of Kinship The evidence is the saying of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: “Whoever is pleased that his sustenance is enlargened and his life is extended then let him maintain the ties of kinship.” Reported by al-Bukhārī.
7. Giving a great deal of charity Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say: Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and (also) restricts (it) for him, and whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allah’s Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers” [Saba’ 34:39].
Muslim (2588) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah ﷺsaid: “Charity does not decrease wealth.”
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: They (the scholars) mentioned two meanings of this hadeeth, one of which is that (the wealth) will be blessed (as a result of giving charity) and harm will be warded off from it, so the apparent decrease will be compensated for by means of hidden blessing (barakah). This is something that is well known from experience. The second is that even if it appears to be decreased outwardly, there will be compensation for that in the reward that results from it, and it will be increased manifold. End quote.
8. Kindness to the Poor & Weak The evidence is the saying of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ: “Are you aided and granted sustenance except by way of the poor, weak ones amongst you?” Reported by al- Bukhārī.
And also his ﷺ saying: “Seek (closeness to) me through your poor, weak ones for you are granted sustenance and aided through your poor, weak ones.” (Reported by al-Tirmidhī)
9. Hijrah for His Sake The evidence is the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: He who emigrates (from his home) in the cause of Allah, will find on earth many dwelling places and plenty to live by. [Nisāʾ (4:100)]
The one who emigrates in Allāh’s cause will find goodness and blessing and also plentifulness in the means of living.
10. Dua The evidence is the saying of Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ: “I seek refuge with you from the trial of poverty” Related by al-Bukhārī.
And also his saying, “Seek refuge in Allāh from poverty, scarcity and humiliation, and that you oppress (others) or are oppressed.” Related by al-Nasāʾī, Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah.
And the Dua this course is based on which the Prophet ﷺ used to recite in his morning and evening adhkar. “Allaahumma inni as’aluka ‘ilman naafi’an, wa rizqan tayyiban, wa ‘amalan mutaqabbalan (O Allaah, I ask you for beneficial knowledge, good (halaal) provision and accepted good deeds).” [Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah].
Supplication is from the keys of opening upon sustenance and it also repels poverty and tribulations
11. Dhikr (Rememberance of Allah) The evidence is the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: “But whosoever turns away from My remembrance verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection. “ [Ṭā Ha (20:114)]
And also the saying of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ: “No people sit together, remembering Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, except that the Angels surround them and envelope them with mercy and tranquility descends upon them and Allāh mentions them to those who are with Him.” Reported by Muslim. From the fruits of remembrance (dhikr) is a life of ease. Constant remembrance of Allāh brings about ease and spaciousness in provision and livelihood.
12. Earnestness in Seeking Provisions The evidence is as narrated by Ṣakhr al-Ghāmidī that Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ said: “O Allāh bless my ummah in its embarkment (of their affairs) in the earlier (part of the day).” Related by Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Mājah and others, declared ṣaḥīḥ by al-Albānī in Ṣaḥīḥ Ibn Mājah.
And whenever he ﷺ would send people on a mission or dispatch an army, he would send them in the first part of the day. And Ṣakhr himself was a trader and would send out his workers in the first part of the day, so he was successful and his wealth increased greatly.
13. Shukr (Gratefulness) The evidence is the saying of Allāh, the Exalted: “And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: “If you are grateful (give thanks), I will give you more (of My blessings), but if you are thankless (ungrateful), My punishment is indeed severe.” [Ibrāhīm (14:7)].
And He, the Exalted, also said: “Indeed there was for Sabaʾ (Sheba) a sign in their dwelling place, – two gardens on the right hand and on the left (and it was said to them) “Eat of the provision of your Lord, and be grateful to Him, a fair land and an Oft-Forgiving Lord.” But they turned away (from the obedience of Allah), so We sent against them a flood released from the dam, and We converted their two gardens into gardens producing bitter bad fruit, and tamarisks, and some few lote-trees. Like this We requited them because they were ungrateful disbelievers. And never do We requit in such a way except those who are ungrateful, (disbelievers). “ [Sabaʾ (34:15-17)]
Being grateful for the blessings and favours of Allāh leads to an increase in the favours and their persistence. Being ungrateful is a cause of punishment and ending of the blessings and favours as occurred to the people of Sabaʾ. And being grateful is giving obedience to Allāh in what He commanded and refraining from disobedience to Allāh in what He prohibited
14. Being easy-going with a debtor who is facing hardship It was narrated that Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allaah ﷺ said: “…Whoever is easy-going with a debtor who is facing hardship, Allaah will make it easy for him in this world and in the Hereafter…” (Narrated by Muslim, 2699).
May Allah give us all good Provisions along with the Hidayah to use it Halal ways and spend it in His Cause.