Allah's Expansion and Restriction of Provision

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 2 January 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Our shaykh made us see Sūrat al-Shūrā in a different way today, but I paused at the words of Allah, blessed and exalted: ﴿وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِن يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَّا يَشَاءُ ۚ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ﴾ ("And if Allah had extended provision for His servants, they would have committed tyranny throughout the earth. But He sends down in measure whatever He wills. Indeed He is, of His servants, Aware and Seeing")^[1]

Expansion and Tyranny

The word "basaṭa" (extended) indicates that there is an unlimited opening, and that as far as the eye can see you could find provision in your hands, and that this, in principle, does not incapacitate the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He. And among His signs: ﴿وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ الْجَوَارِ فِي الْبَحْرِ كَالْأَعْلَامِ ۝ إِن يَشَأْ يُسْكِنِ الرِّيحَ فَيَظْلَلْنَ رَوَاكِدَ﴾ ("And among His signs are the ships in the sea like mountains. If He wills, He stills the wind, and they remain motionless")^[2]. And His power, glorified is He, He does with it whatever He wills in His dominion and His creation. So the expansion of provision is not a matter that incapacitates the Lord of the worlds; rather it is easy for Him, glorified is He.

Well, why does He not give all people everything they want? Here you stop for a moment to review yourself: what is it that pains you? You will see that what pains you most is that you do not get what you want; and what pains people most is that they do not get what they want. But our Lord, glorified is He, tells us something of the utmost precision, and makes you stand before the utmost lesson, saying: ﴿لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾ ("they would have committed tyranny throughout the earth"). Why did He choose the word baghy (tyranny) specifically? Why did He not say, for example: they would have spread corruption, or they would have wronged? Because baghy begins in the self; it is a kind of transgression, they will overstep the limits of Allah, blessed and exalted, but this overstepping begins from inside the souls. So the first thing that changes in people when blessing is present is their souls. You find a person poor, humble, gentle, soft, pliant, serving, his hand in the hands of people; a blessing comes to him suddenly and he is another person; he speaks to you through his nose, looks at you from above, says nothing to you except such and such. Allahu akbar, what happened?

Examples From Our Lives

Among the very well-known examples in our lives here in America is that some of our brothers and sisters are in the best of states among themselves as spouses in their own countries, and then when they come to America, how does the situation become? You see the man sometimes breaking loose, we ask Allah for safety, protection, wellbeing, mercy and gentleness, O Lord of the worlds. So you see our friend breaking loose; the world is open and there is no watcher. Allah has extended provision. You say to me: is this provision? I say: what we mean in the story is the giving itself: ﴿لَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا﴾, for his psychology has changed. And this one commits a sin. But look at his wife, and you see that psychologically she has changed and has grown strong against the man, and she has gained a sting, and she has become able to call the police (911), so she has the ability to seek help against him and against her children through the police, for example. ﴿وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ﴾.

And our friend was a man of prayer who performed it on time and in the mosque and in congregation, and when the world was opened to him he became deluded by it and abandoned obedience, and the situation even developed with him until he began to take drugs, for example, or to immerse himself in some sin, or began to cheat in his trade and selling because he wants more money.

Why "His Servants"?

And I pause at the word ﴿لِعِبَادِهِ﴾ ("for His servants"): why was it not "his slaves" (ʿabīdih), for example, or "for the people"? The choice of the word ʿibād rather than ʿabīd or another word is to bring these people closer to Allah, glorified and exalted. You imagine, for example, that you do not give more money to your son; your son asks you: give me money, and you say to him: no, that's enough. He says to you: why? You say: my son, all this money in the end is for whom? For you. Everything you save is for your children after you. So you say to him: I am not withholding from you because you are far from me, but I am withholding from you because you are my son. So the tie of kinship became what prevents you from giving him. How does this speech work? Of course, because you fear for him. And had it been someone else you would have given him, for the matter does not incapacitate you, but you fear for him the loosening of his state, the disturbance of his conscience, and the ruin of his way of life. So you withhold from him, and make what is in his hands come out in measure, coming out only in a very small amount; you want him to hold a little money and spend a little so that his soul remains upright.

So when He, glorified is He, says ﴿لِعِبَادِهِ﴾, that indicates our greater closeness to Him, glorified is He, and that when He withholds from you, He does not withhold to be stingy with you, but out of compassion for you, mercy toward you, gentleness toward you and His care, mighty and majestic, for you. So if one of us sees himself as having little blessing, or not getting the provision psychologically and personally required for him, let him know that this is a gentleness from Allah, and that this small blessing may be given by its Lord, glorified is He, a barakah that makes him independent of much of what is in the hands of others.

Another example: one man receives little, and another receives much. Which of them has more? But the first, the one with little, has a wife who is content and well-pleasing, good of soul, who is satisfied with what is in her hand and manages the affairs of the house well, neither extravagant in what her hand spends nor in what her children spend; so at the end of the month he finds a surplus in his hands. And the one with much has a wife who is the opposite, who drives him to borrow beyond what he earns. And all month the one with little looks at those with thousands and says: if I had what he has I would have done this and that, but he does not know that the Lord of Might, glorified is He, has honored him in another respect with a gift He has not honored any of these with, and that the difference is in the numbers only.

﴿وَلَٰكِن يُنَزِّلُ﴾

Our Lord says: ﴿وَلَٰكِن يُنَزِّلُ﴾ ("But He sends down"). When I hear the word "yunazzil" (sends down); this sending down, from where to where? From right to left, or from above to below? So I understood that provision does not come from the hands of people but comes from Allah, glorified and exalted. And according to your trust in the Giver is your contentment with what He gives. I am completely confident that when you took out of your pocket just now such-and-such for me, you would not be stingy with me, that you love me and want what is good for me and are tenderly concerned for me; so what you brought me I am pleased with. So if you know that provision does not come from people but is sent down, ﴿وَلَٰكِن يُنَزِّلُ﴾, you understand that the giving is from the One, the Unique, the Singular, the Eternal Refuge, who did not beget and was not begotten, who is not stingy with His servants and does not stint them, but gives them what is for their good.

The Patient and the Doctor

The patient in the hospital does not eat what he desires, otherwise the doctor's presence would be pointless. And you sometimes find the doctor asking the wife who enters to see the patient, or his children, and saying: please, let me see what you have with you? He is not searching for drugs here; rather he is searching for something more serious, we seek refuge in Allah: a crust of bread which, if the patient ate it, he would die. So you can imagine that when the Lord of Might, glorified is He, says: ﴿بِقَدَرٍ مَّا يَشَاءُ﴾ ("in measure whatever He wills"), the matter is that we look at this measuring in terms of what comes, and do not look at the recipient of the giving. In this state you are not fit to drink a glass of water that would harm you. I am in the hospital bedridden, the doctor comes and gives me food with which a cup of water is not suitable, and says: don't drink this whole amount, it may destroy everything we have done; a glass of water, yes! So when I look at the receiving vessel I understand that I am not fit for this quantity at this stage. So my Lord's giving suits me, and the scarcity is not in what comes, but the inability is in the one given.

So our Lord says: and had Allah extended provision in its kinds; the provision of security, the provision of tranquillity, the provision of wellbeing, the provision of ideas and intellect, the provision of the ability to speak, the provision of an audience and listeners; for the provisions of Allah in their many kinds in life: ﴿لَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَٰكِن يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَّا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ﴾. He, glorified is He, did not say: He is Aware of what He gives; for the story is not in the first place about the numbers that come, they are easy for Allah to give to whomever He wills, in His hand are the treasuries of the heavens and the earth. The great wealth you dream of is an easy matter for Allah, but Allah is, of His servants, of the place of reception, Aware and Seeing; He knows whether this is suitable for you or not suitable for you.

Contentment and Gratitude

The gist of the matter: praise be to Allah for all that is in our hands. And the lesson is that you look at the blessing in your hands with an eye of contentment, acceptance, praise and gratitude to the Lord of the worlds, whether He gave me or withheld from me. That is why you see that among what we say about the Lord of the worlds is that He is the Withholder and the Extender (al-Qābiḍ al-Bāsiṭ); I understood how to thank my Lord that He extends provision, but He also withholds, and I thank Him for that too, yes, because the withholding is in its place and in its time. And He is the Abaser and the Exalter, the Honorer and the Humiliator (al-Khāfiḍ al-Rāfiʿ al-Muʿizz al-Mudhill), glorified, majestic in His height.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the All-Powerful, to make us content with what He has given us, to extend to us the provision of wellbeing in faith as He extends to us the provision of wellbeing in bodies, wealth and circumstances, to write good for us and to bestow on us more contentment and tranquillity. May Allah keep your hearts safe, preserve your wellbeing, keep you constant in obedience to Him and in His security; may Allah bless you, and may Allah reward you with goodness.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Shūrā: 27. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Shūrā: 32–33. The speaker mentioned the two verses as evidence of Allah's power, and there is a disturbance in the transcript at the close of the discussion of the second verse, so only what was coherent is kept here.