Sustenance and its relation to Lordship: A reading in light of Qur'anic texts and Prophetic traditions

Ali Hammoud Al-Ebadi

Summary
The concept of sustenance (rizq) is one of the important concepts in system of theology, as sustenance is one of the matters that humans deals with directly and continuously, and this forms an important element in the relation between man and his Lord.A part of this paper is devoted to defining the concept of sustenance and its divisions, and show the connection between monotheism in Lordship (al-rububiyah) and sustenance, saying that livelihood is one of the applications of monotheism in Lordship, as sustenance is a kind of management for creation. In addition this, answers have been given to a number of questions regarding the matter of sustenance, such as how the inequality between different people’s livelihoods would agree with divine justice. And other questions of the like.One of the most important results of this paper is that the system of sustenance in the contingent world is based on the best and most preferable system, and there is no better system than this. Another result is that livelihood is one of the applications of monotheism in Lordship; therefore, sustenance is absolutely attributed to Almighty God.

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