When the Rizq (sustenance) is mentioned, bodily eating and drinking comes to our mind. I wonder whether there is spiritual Rizq or not?

The Details of the Question
When the Rizq (sustenance) is mentioned, bodily eating and drinking comes to our mind. I wonder whether there is spiritual Rizq or not?
The Answer

Dear Brother / Sister,

The Rizq (sustenance) is all what Almighty God has granted for His living creatures to benefit from. Rizq is not composed of the things that are eaten or drunk only. Everything that is being benefited from is called Rizq.

Earthly Rizq includes all kinds of things such as food and drink, cloth and usable goods, money, jewelry, offspring, bodily power for work, knowledge, property and wealth.

Spiritual Rizq includes the things that are the substances of the spirit and the heart. Primarily the belief, all feelings that belong to man’s spiritual life and the needs of those feeling are all spiritual Rizq.

The Rizq of the spirits of man and Jinn is knowledge that leads them to bliss. The most glorious and basic spiritual Rizq is ma'rifat-ullah; that is to say, knowing of God (SWT). After this, other information regarding the basics of belief comes such as worship of Allah, respecting the rights of His slaves and information on knowing the high ethics. The fruit of all of those things is the happiness of eternal life. 

Bread, cheese, clothes, shoes, wristwatches, computers, glasses and communication devices are material Rizq; the love of God, prophet and religion, belief and worshipping are spiritual Rizq. Doubtlessly, love of homeland and job are considered as spiritual Rizq, too.

Colors and good flavors are also in the category of spiritual Rizq. God wants us to realize these benefactions. For example, in the 12th verse of ar-Rahman, there is a description of corn with leaves and sweet-smelling plants; and in the 76th verse it is narrated that there are green cushions and marvelous carpets. Even if mountains, seas, sky, gardens on earth and the scenes of parks and forests do not belong to our personal property, they are the examples of Rizq that satisfy the emotional spirits.

So to speak, we can consider both man and the Qur’an as a synthesis. Even man’s slightest and insignificant demands are answered by the holy Qur’an. Many of our senses that even we are not aware of are being satisfied with Qur’an. The persistent call of the Qur’an for the recitation of itself and our prophet’s (PBUH) motivation for this cause emphasizes the importance of this.

Just as our stomach demands Rizq, so too do our eyes and ears demand Rizq. The things for eating, drinking, seeing or hearing were created in order to satisfy and answer them. For example, the spirit of man needs the pleasure giving sound of the recitation of the Qur’an. The mind of man needs the verses that are related to thinking and addressing the mind. The verses that are related with science satisfie the need of man’s hunger of knowledge and the verses that are related with human relations help shaping the social life. The heart, the spirit even the imagination are in need of Rizq and appropriate Rizq has been prepared for them.

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