As world markets suffer from the ongoing global financial crisis and housing markets slump, as jobs are lost and unemployment rates rise, as businesses close down and people don’t have a source of income, you worry.

You worry about the growing global recession and its challenges. And you worry about your family, your kids, how to provide for them, how to put food on the table, how to pay the bills….

In times such as these, this is a reminder for my brothers and sisters, as the reminder always benefits the believers.
“But continue to remind. Certainly, reminders benefit the believers.” (Surah adh-Dhaariyaat: 55)

Keep Your Iman Strong
1. Remember …. nothing happens except by the will and decree of Allah:
Belief in al-qadar (the Divine decree) is one of the pillars of our Iman, and no one’s faith is complete without it. So if you lost your job, it was by the Will and Decree of Allah. Allah says: “No calamity befalls on the earth or in yourselves, but it is inscribed in the Book of Decrees (al-Lawh al-Mahfooz) before We bring it into existence. Verily, that is easy for Allah” (al-Hadeed:22)

Also, the Prophet (sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam) said: “Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you, and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship.” (Tirmidhi-Saheeh)

2. It is Allah that provides for you and NOT your employer;
Remember that Allah is al-Razzaaq (the Provider) and the Best of those who provide. It was Allah who was providing you before you lost your job, and it is still He who will give you after you lost it. The one who fed you when you were in your mother’s womb will also feed you when you are an adult. And it was not you who was putting food on the table for your family. Rather, it was Allah using you as a means to provide for them.

“Except for Allah, is there any other Creator who provides for you out of heaven and earth? There is no god except He. Where then do you turn?” (Surah Faatir:3)

3. Know that your provision was written for you before you were even born:
Allah had sent an angel to write down your provision for you when you were just a few days old in your mother’s womb, and you will get it, no matter what. “(the angel) says, ‘O Lord, male or female? Doomed or blessed? What is his provision? What is his lifespan?’ And that is written in his mother’s womb.” (Bukhari)

There is nothing that can take your provision away. And you will not die until you have had your full provision. The Prophet (sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) said: “The Holy Spirit (Jibreel) has inspired to me that no soul will die until it has completed its appointed term and received its provision in full, so fear Allah and do not be desperate in seeking provision, and no one of you should be tempted to seek provision by means of sinning if it is slow in coming to him, for that which is with Allah can only be attained by obeying Him.” (Saheeh al-Jaami, 2085)