The Twelveth Door of Sustenance

Holding Fast to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah
Holding fast to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah is considered one of the doors from the doors of sustenance. As Allaah (subhana wa ta’ala) said about the people of the Book : ‘that only if they had established the Toraah and the Injeel (what was revealed to them from their Lord) they would have eaten from above them and from under their feet.’
So then we have mentioned 12 doors and means from the means of rizq and from this 11 are spiritual and one was physical or material. Material means we mentioned that we should do work that is halaal, not to waste the time of salaah, he sells or buys or manufactures. We have mentioned 11 of which are abstract and now we mentioned the last which is physical.
Whoever likes that his rizq is widened for him and his life is expanded then he should join family ties. Joining the ties is increase in one’s rizq.
Another Hadith of Anas: There used to be 2 brothers at the time of the Messenger and one of them used to work to earn a living and the other one used to go and seek knowledge from the Prophet and he used to worship Allaah. So the one who earned a living complained about his brother to the Prophet and so the Prophet said : ‘May be you are giving sustenance to him. i.e may be Allaah made your sustenance plentiful because of you spending upon your brother.’ So the sheikh reiterated saying: maybe you are given rizq because of him. And he said that this might enter under the category of spending on the student on knowledge. So one of the ways of joining ties of relationships is to spend. With this the Sheikh ends the remainder some of the many means of attaining sustenance and getting relief from distress. Wa sallaahu ala nabee ina Muhammad wa ‘ala Aaalihi wasahbihi wa sallam.
So I finally advice myself and you with the taqwa of Allaah (subhana wa ta’ala) and to hold fast to the Book of Allaah and to the Sunnah of the Messenger . May Allaah give us all tawfeeq and He affirms us on His deen and makes us upon the Book and the Sunnah.
May Allaah reward the sister who Transcribed from the Audio

Excerpt from Means of Sustenance: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wassaabee

Courtesy:AbdurRahman.org

The Eleventh Door of Sustenance

Material Means
The Sheikh says from those means are those material means like for instance being a farmer, a merchant or a manufacturer – any means from the material means as long as you don’t destroy yourself. You were not created for the purpose of the Dunya. You were created for the purpose of Allaah (azzawajal) i.e for the purpose of worship and the most important thing is satisfaction and continence, i.e self-control with regards to passions and seeking self-sufficiency from Allaah and satisfaction in Him. And you know that some people only have a motor and Allaah made his sustenance from that –– the sustenance of his family, that one motor. And some of them a donkey, and some people from villages have only one donkey and he spends from that for his whole family. Some a camel, some an ox —- he tilts for the people and supports the family. And for some of them an electric tool, or pliers and support from this a whole family. Some of them have 3, 4, 5, items in his possessions, he sells and spends on his family. And others have miswaak and he spends on his family. And another has perfume of antimony (khul) and he spends on his family. So it is more a means that you work by. As you would say :
‘O Allaah this is the dua and it is upon You to answer it.’

In the same way you say : ‘O Allaah this is the means and it is upon You to provide for me.’
You don’t depend upon the means. Because if you depend upon the means and only the means then you would have depended or put your trust in other than Allaah — and this is not permissible. This is a mere means. If it wasn’t for the fact that Allaah ordered us to take towards the means, we would have not taken towards it. However, it is an order of Allaah and look at Maryam (alaihassalam) while she was in her post-natal bleeding, Allaah says to her:

‘And shake the trunk of the date palm towards you and it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you.‘
In this state of pregnancy while being weak and with that He still said : ‘Shake the trunk of the date palm towards you.’ There must be working by the means. Work by the means. We are not dervishes — people that do nothing. We are Muslims and people of daleel and people of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. We work by the means — in a safe correct means that which does not come in conflict with the deen. i.e. the means is not something unlegislated by Allaah.
One person who might say, ‘we steal’ and this is a means. The other may say, ‘we fornicate’ and this is a means. Another sells intoxicants and says ‘this is a means.’ These means are unlegislated, forbidden or asks for bribes or robs or plunders and says ‘this is a means’ or cheats and deceives and says ‘this is a means.’ No, there must be with regards to the means that they have to be legislated from what Allaah has made halaal, not being any disobedience in it, not having any opposition to the deen of Allaah. He mentioned the ayah :
The sheikh reiterates that every time Zakariya (alaihissalatu wassalam) entered the mihrab — the praying place of the private room, he found her supplied with sustenance even though Allaah told us this about her. He found with her sustenance. He (Zakariya) said : O Maryam, from where did you get this?

She said : From Allaah. Verily, Allaah provides sustenance to whom He wills without limit.
Excerpt from Means of Sustenance: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wassaabee

Courtesy:AbdurRahman.org

The Tenth Door of Sustenance

al-Birr (Righteousness)
‘Al-Birr al Waalidain’ — being righteous towards the parents, its affair is great. And it is a door from the doors of relief from grief, and it is a door from the doors of rizq and it is a means from the means of rizq. Allaahu (azzawajal) says:

“Innal abraara lafee na’eem. Wa innal fujjaara lafee jaheem.’’ — ‘Verily the (Abraar) the pious people are going to be in Paradise and the (Fujjaar) the wicked, evil doers will be in the Hellfire.’
Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim (Rahimahullaah) mentions in his book ‘Madaarij as-Saalikeen’ – the people who check the course — in the first volume that the one that thinks that Naeem and Jaheem i.e the Paradise and the Fire in this ayah will only be on the Day of Judgement, then he has misconstrued the ayah. The ayah is general. So the abraar are in Naeem’ in the Dunya (worldly life), and the Barzaakh (the period between death and the day of resurrection) and the Aaakhirah (Hereafter). And the Fujjaar – the wicked, evil doers are in Jaheem in the Dunya (worldly life), in the Barzaakh and in the Aakhirah.
And from the Naeem, the pleasantry of the Dunya is good provision, halaal provision, pure sustenance, that is a help for you to do righteous deeds. In that case, then be righteous to your parents and ya subhanAllaah. This is something that is tested and proven to be true. Just by if you did good to your parents and by being righteous to them, help them and ask from them du’aa except that Allaah will provide for you good and fast sustenance as the Prophet said in Saheeh al-Jaami : ‘there are two subjects whose punishments are made to come fast. Al-Baghi i.e infringement upon people’s rights and ‘uqooq’ i.e being disobedient to the parents.
The one who infringes on the rights of the people, infringes on the rights of the people with oppression, infringes on the rights of the people by insult, infringes on their rights by striking physically, infringes on their rights with transgression and taking their money or striking their bodies or insulting their honour. This ‘baab’ or affair — its punishment comes in this life and fast, i.e. before the Aakhirah and just like this ‘al-Uqooq’ – disobedience to the parents. The punishment of disobedience to parents comes fast and the opposite is the same al-Birr and Adl and Insaaf. i.e justice / equity.
Insha-Allaah you will take the reward now and later. This is the developed understanding of the Hadith and the ayah:

“Innal abraara lafee na’eem” – Verily the pious people or the people that are the righteous are in the Paradise. So there are ‘’Naeem’’ in their Dunya and their Aakhirah. And from the Naeem is self-contentment. Even if what is in his position is minute. Allaah has given him ‘an-Naeem’ in the dunya – he feels contentment with that. He is not like the one that was victim to bankruptcy, feels that he has nothing in his pocket – bankruptcy, he has a lot of burden, always thinking, always angry.
Excerpt from Means of Sustenance: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wassaabee

Courtesy:AbdurRahman.org

The Ninth Door of Sustenance

ad-Du’aa (Supplication)
Don’t forget ad-Du’aa O’ Servants of Allah. Its affair is enormous. And your Lord said: ‘Call on me and I will answer you’.

Du’aa is if you said something like:

‘Allahummar-ziqni’ — O Allaah provide for me.

Rizqan Halaalan’ – a Halaal rizq.

‘Tayyiban’ – pure

‘Mubarakan’ — blessed

‘And make what you provided for us something a means of help – that would help us in your obedience.’
‘O Allaah it is your rizq that is pure and halaal.’

‘O Allaah make me be free with your halaal — from having to deal with anything that is haraam. To be free from needing anything except your bounty.’
You have supplicated to Allaah asking for good sustenance because he ordered you to supplicate. Allaah ordered you to supplicate and He has promised you that He will answer. And what do you think, du’aa is for something else and not for rizq? No, it is even for rizq.
Allaah mentions from the supplications from His righteous slaves : ‘O Allaah give us in this world the good and in the Hereafter the good and save us from Fire.’ – And from the good of the Dunya is halaal sustenance that helps you in the obedience of Allaah. And the Hadith of Anas in the saheehain that he said: ‘Every time the Prophet used to make dua, he used to make dua with this du’aa:

‘Rabbana Aaathina fid-Dunyaa hasana wafil Aaakhirathi hasana wa kina azaabannaar.’ — ‘O Allaah give us the good in this world and the good in the Hereafter and save us from the Hell-Fire.’
So, du’aa its affair is great. So supplicate to your Lord to give you good sustenance and halaal provision and pure sustenance, blessed provision and beneficial sustenance and you should ask Him to satisfy you with halaal and not with haraam and to make you satisfied with His bounties and not in need of others.
The Prophet used to say in between the two sajdaas in salaah:

Rabbigh firli warhamni, wajburni, ….

“O Allaah forgive me and have mercy on me, make me firm, guide me, comfort me and sustain me.”

Between the two sajdaas in every salaah and sometimes he would say

“Rabbighfir lee, Rabbigh firlee — O Allaah forgive me, O Allaah forgive me.’’
Look at how many hadiths with regard to seeking rizq or sustenance from Allaah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) and this is considered from the means as you have heard from the legislated means.
Excerpt from Means of Sustenance: Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wassaabee

Courtesy:AbdurRahman.org

The Eighth Door of Sustenance

​As-Sadaqaat (non-obligatory charity)
Charitable donations, and nafaqaath (regular spending) – you spend on yourself, on your wife, on your children, on your father and your mother, on your uncles and aunts, on your righteous neighbours, on sons and daughters, relatives, widows and orphans – this type of charity, the affair of this is great with Allaah. This is a means of accumulation of provision, a door from the doors of sustenance.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم  said:

“There is no day on which the people get up but two angels come down and one of them says, ‘O Allaah, give in compensation to the one who spends (in charity),’ and the other says, ‘O Allaah, destroy the one who withholds.’”

[Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1374; Muslim, 1010.]
So try and not make a day pass from you from the days of Allaah except that you stretch your hand as much as it is in your ability to do, even if it is a little.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: ‘Fear Allaah even if it is with half a date. ’[Muttafaqun alai – agreed upon]

And Allaah (subhana wa ta’ala) says:  fa mai ya’mal misqaala zarrathin kharrai yara. Wamai ya’mal misqaala zarrathin sharrai yara’ — ‘that whoever does an atoms worth of good will see it.’

And Allaah (subhana wa ta’ala) also says, ‘Whatever you spend in the way of Allaah, He will replace it and He is the best of the Providers.’

What is the meaning of ‘He will replace it?’ i.e He will give you what is better than it. Don’t think that is the end & that it has gone from you. It will return to you with that which is better, insha-Allaah.
The Sheikh says again : Whatever you have spent, then Allaah will replace it for you and He is the Best of Providers. And he says again that : O Allaah give the person that spends a replacement that is replaced for him with good, O Lord of the worlds.
And in the hadith of Abu Huraira (radiallaahu anhu) that Muslim related that the Messenger of Allaah said: that there were people from people that were from before you a man who had a garden. And another man heard a cry from the sky, an angel from the clouds who said, ‘give water to the garden of so and so.’ So he poured into it some water into one of the irrigation holes and then the water ran into that garden. So the person who owned the garden, he had a shovel in his hand and he was fixing the water and fixing the dirt and this man said to the man who owned the garden, ‘may Allaah have mercy upon you. What is your name?’

He said: I am so and so, the son of so and so. Then he said: ‘Why do you ask?’

He said: ” I heard a voice from the clouds saying, ‘give water to the garden of so and so. May Allaah have mercy on you. What do you do with this?’

So the owner of the garden says : ‘When I plant and then I harvest, I take one-third for me and my family and  I put one-third to roll it back into my garden and I give one-third  in charity.
Excerpt from Means of Sustenance : Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wassaabee

Courtesy: AbdurRahman.org