Sustenance and lifetime decided by Allaah

7-3-2012 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can man control the term of his life? Can he lengthen or shorten his age? Is sustenance determined only by Allaah The Almighty?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Both age and sustenance are in the hand of Allaah The Almighty who has predestined and determined them and, therefore, no one can increase or decrease them other than Him. In this regard, Allaah The Almighty Says (what means):

•        {But never will Allaah delay a soul when its time has come.} [Quran 63:11]

•        {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allaah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength.} [Quran 51: 56-58]

•        {And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allaah is its provision.} [Quran 11: 6]

•        {And how many a creature carries not its [own] provision. Allaah provides for it and for you. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing.} [Quran 29: 60]

•        {O mankind, remember the favor of Allaah upon you. Is there any creator other than Allaah who provides for you from the heaven and earth? There is no deity except Him, so how are you deluded?} [Quran 35: 3]

Indeed, Allaah The Almighty is the sole Creator and the Sustainer and this fact is unanimously agreed upon by all those who have sound reasoning among mankind.. Therefore, Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {Say, "Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who controls hearing and sight and who brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and who arranges [every] matter?" They will say, "Allaah," so say, "Then will you not fear Him?"} [Quran 10: 31]

Both the sustenance and age of man were preordained before his coming into this life and even before the soul was breathed into him. In this regard, it was reported on the authority of ‘Abdullaah Ibn Mas‘ood that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam , said that "the human is collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, then he becomes a clinging clot in a like period, then he becomes a little lump of flesh in a like period, then Allaah The Almighty sends an angel to him who is commanded to record four things: his deeds, his sustenance, his age and whether he is to be wretched or prosperous; then Allaah The Almighty breathes the soul into him". [Al-Bukhari & Muslim]

Allaah Knows best.