Distance Yourself from a Bad Death

The Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “He who desires that his life be prolonged, his Rizq be expanded and he be distanced from a bad death, should be afraid of Allah and should take care of his relatives.” [Musnad Ahmed]

Two things (fearing Allah and taking care of relatives) result in three benefits:

1. A longer life,
2. Greater Rizq,
3. A good death.

Rizq is usually taken to mean livelihood but it is inclusive of much more. It includes all that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) bestows on one of His creatures. Thus, in a person’s Rizq is their wealth, their children, their natural abilities, such as intelligence, etc.

Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is Al-Ghani. Al-Ghani means “The Rich One”: He Who does not depend for anything on anyone, He is entirely self-sufficient. In fact, He is the means of enrichment of all others.

Whichever human being does good, does so for his/her own benefit. If everyone on earth were to become fully conscious of Allah’s rights, obey Him and thus do good, it would not increase His kingdom. And if all human beings were to become disobedient to Him, that too would only be their own loss and it would not decrease His kingdom or harm Him in the least. Despite Allah’s independence of His creation, He is not unmindful of them and it does not prevent Him from being merciful towards us.