What does Ar-Razzaq mean?
Ar-Razzāq is the One who gives rizq (رِزْق), provision. The form razzāq is intensive: He provides constantly, abundantly and to everyone.
Rizq is wider than money. It includes food, health, time, family, friends, knowledge and faith. Scholars describe faith and beneficial knowledge as the greatest rizq of all.
The root of Ar-Razzaq
The root ر ز ق (rā, zāy, qāf) means to provide or sustain. Words from it include:
- رِزْق (rizq): provision
- رَزَقَ (razaqa): he provided
- الرَّازِق (ar-rāziq): the one who provides
- خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِين (khayr ar-rāziqīn): the best of providers, a description of Allah in Quran 62:11
Ar-Razzaq in the Quran
The name itself appears in Surah Adh-Dhariyat:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ“Indeed, it is Allah who is the Provider, the possessor of strength, the Firm.”
The Quran also says that no creature is left out of Allah’s care:
وَمَا مِن دَابَّةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَى اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا“And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision.”
And it links provision to taqwa: Allah provides for the one who is mindful of Him “from where he does not expect” (Quran 65:3).
Provision in the hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said that if people relied on Allah as they should, He would provide for them as He provides for the birds, which go out hungry in the morning and return full in the evening (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 2344).
He also taught that a person’s provision is written for them before birth (Sahih al-Bukhari 3208). This does not remove the need to work; it removes the need to worry.
Living by this name
Believing in Ar-Razzāq frees a person from envy, because another person’s blessing does not reduce their own. It also encourages lawful earning, because provision should be sought in ways that please the One who gives it.
After eating, the Sunnah dua thanks Allah “who fed me this and provided it for me (razaqanīhi)”, using the same root (Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi 3458).
