"Everything other than Allah is in need of Him. As mentioned in the Qur’an: “O Mankind you are all in need of Allah.” For example we need Allah to maintain our health, wealth, to increase us in knowledge."

Legally speaking a ‘Faqir’ is someone who is entitled to Zakah. Later on the term was used for the Sufi dervishes as they were called.  The ‘Fuqara’ is a term for those who are travelling to Allah, who are trying to realise that state of need which is integral in every human being but which we forget about. We forget that we need Allah because we have everything around us and everything is running smoothly. This is the case of most unbelievers in the West when the economy flourishes and people have jobs, good incomes, homes, and they live life without too much trouble. They do not think they need Allah because they believe that nature gave them everything or they struggled to get everything themselves, so they delete religion from their agenda. But when they face adversity or they suffer they have to turn to someone to call upon, so they look for Allah or religion in general.

Our job is to realise within ourselves this state of need before calamities befall us. So that we turn to Allah in times of prosperity and that we feel we cannot proceed in our lives even for a second without His support (madad) - even if we feel that our parents are providing everything for us because He may turn everything against us. He is the one who is holding the treasures of the world. This is the meaning of ‘faqir’ – the one who is in need of Allah, the one who realises he is an ‘abd’ a servant/slave and not the Master. Even if we are Presidents or Kings, we are servants of people and servants of Allah. The higher our rank, the greater our responsibility towards others. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: ’The master of any people is their servant.’

If you want to receive the bounties of Allah and use them dutifully you must be His servant. If not then you have no right to use what He subjugated to you in the earth. Everything is subjugated to us, at our service, but on one condition: that we are His servants. The Qur'an:  “Don’t you see that Allah has subjugated to you everything on the earth and in the heavens and bestowed upon you His bounties outwardly and inwardly in the most perfect way?” The best bounties are in deen, iman, yaqeen, zikr, ibadah, in knowing Him and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

Ibrahim ibn Adham said: ‘If you want to disobey Allah, don’t let Him see you; If you want to disobey Allah, don’t eat from his rizq; If you want to disobey Allah, go somewhere else (don’t disobey Him on His earth).’

Everything belongs to Allah. In order to use everything provided to us by Him we must be in ‘muqaam al-uboodiya’ and this is the muqaam of need because the servant is in need of His Master - minute by minute. For example if you are working as a servant in someone’s house, your job is scheduled for you and your food is provided. Therefore you should not worry about your food because it is guaranteed. Instead we should worry about whether we are doing our job. Our case is the opposite. Allah guaranteed for us our rizq and asked us for certain obligations. We worry about our rizq and neglect our obligations. We should be concerned about the obligations He asked us to perform and relax about the rizq that He guaranteed. Our rizq is guaranteed in the Qur’an: “in the Heavens your rizq and everything you are promised …By the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth the provision for everyone is indeed true ...” Here Allah makes an oath by Himself (the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth) to emphasis the point that everyone’s rizq is guaranteed. The reaction of a Bedouin who heard this verse was: Who angered Allah that He made this oath? It means people doubt whether He will provide for them or not. So Allah made this oath regarding rizq. So we should not worry about our rizq. Allah will not forget about us. Instead we should worry about our obligations towards Him (prayer, fasting, hajj etc) such as the job of the servant is that they perform their job without mistake.

People vary in observing what they are doing. Some people reflect on what they have been doing on an annual basis e.g. business people when reviewing their accounts, budgets and balance at the end of the fiscal year. Others on a monthly basis e.g. office employees who are paid monthly, some weekly and others on a daily basis e.g. grocers. People in their relationship with Allah are of similar types. Some do business with Allah on an annual basis. They forget about him from one year to another till Ramadhan comes. Others on a weekly basis e.g. those who come to Jumma prayer but then do not turn to Him and forget Him during the rest of the week. Some reflect on a daily basis because they pray in the mosque. Others reflect from one prayer to another i.e. they pray fajr and then zuhr and then reflect on what they have been doing between the two prayers.  The Awliya observe how they precede in their lives with every breath. This is the difference between them and the ordinary people. Will we be rewarded for this breath or will it bring punishment against us. Did this breath serve the cause of creation? Did it bring you closer to Allah? This is important to understand because it is part of our life, our capital. We have to invest our capital in this life.

We have grown up with the habit of taking. Naturally people are recipients rather than givers. To give needs struggle but to take does not. If you were to give money away to people they would never ask you any questions about why you are giving it, they will just take it. But if you want to borrow money from someone, then they will ask you many questions - why you need it, when will you repay it. We are inclined to take – we are business orientated and that is why Allah addresses us in business terms to encourage us to give because of our inclination to take and not to give unless we get something back. For example when Allah encourages us to give He says: “Who is going to give Allah a good loan?” Because naturally you do not want to give something if you get nothing in return. Therefore Allah says give me a loan because with a loan you will get your money back. Allah guarantees the loan and says He will “double it for you many doubles”, and in a hadith it is mentioned 700 doubles. Look at a chess board with its 8 x 8 squares, if we put 1 dollar on the first square and then double it every square, i.e. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, etc, by the 31st square you would have greater than a billion dollars.

Poverty is not a problem. The problem is your attitude. Wealth is not the solution. There is no way to get enough of the dunya – you will become exhausted. At what level of wealth will we think we have enough? If you have a little wealth i.e. you are safe, healthy, have a comfortable bed, have something to eat, then there is no difference between you and a millionaire – you are king of the world.  The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:” Whoever spends the night safe in your home, healthy having enough food for the following day, it is as though you have all the world.” Because at the end of the day no-one wishes for more than this. So the millions of dollars in the bank are worthless.

What helps you is your reliance on Allah. He is the source of wealth and affluence.  If we want anything, we should ask Him.  Ibn ‘Atta said:’ O my Lord the one who has lost You, what else has he found? And the one who has found You what else has he lost?’