"If knowledge is useful without actions. Allah, the Exalted would never have dispraised the people of the book. And if actions where useful without devotion, He would never have dispraised the hypocrites."

Shaykh Muhammad Ibn ‘Abdul-Wahhaab al-Wasaabee states, “If the Muslim knows the legislated means and doors towards gaining sustenance of which Allaah has mentioned in the Qur’aan and the Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has mentioned and carries these legislated means out, he will have gained what has been promised to him
Sometimes these doors are called ‘the door towards attaining sustenance or the means of sustenance’. From the doors are:

1. Al-Istiaqaamah (Steadfastness in the Religion) – Allaah says ‘and if o nly they had believed in Allaah and had Istiqaamah o n the right way, we would surely have bestowed upon them water (rain) in abundance.’ So Istiqaamah o n the book and the Sunnah and holding o nto them wholeheartedly is a door from the doors of relief from discomfort, a door from the doors of sustenance.

2. ‘Eemaan (Faith) – al-’Eemaan is a door from the doors of relief of difficulty, a door from the doors towards attaining rizq (provision). ‘Eemaan in Allaah and his books, and his angels, the last day, qadr (divine decree), its good and it’s bad, the Qur’aan, the Rasool (Messenger), the pure prophetic Sunnah and what it contains.

3. Taqwaa (Fear and consciousness of Allaah) - ‘And if the people of the towns had Taqwaa and had piety, certainly we would have opened for them blessings from the heavens and the earth. But they belied the Messengers so we took them with punishment for what they used to earn..’ Whoever has Taqwaa of Allaah, Allaah provides for him from where he would never have expected, where his mind would never have though about. However, Taqwaa of Allaah provided these means for him and gave him ease.

4. Tawakkal ilallaah (having trust in Allaah) – If you placed your trust in Allaah, a true trust in Allaah, Allaah would have provided for you like the bird who goes out in the morning hungry and returns in the evening full. Having trust in Allaah, not o n o neself, not o n the pocket, not o n the job, not o n the friend, not o n the merchant, not o n the car or the store you might own. That is just a means that you work with, however it is obligatory for your heart to be dependant o n Allaah.

5. Ash-Shukr (Giving thanks) – Not giving shukr decreases o ne’s good deeds, if you give thanks to Allaah, Allaah will increase you and Allaah does not go back o n a promise. Always make your tongue used to giving thanks to Allaah, even a little. ‘Do work, O family of Daawood with thanks, and few of my servants are thankful.’

6. Dhikr (Acts of Obedience and Remembrance) – A person who remains upon the remembrance of Allaah will have a pleasant life, whoever turns away from remembrance will have a wretched life.

7. Zakaat (Charity) – It is upon the Muslim to fear Allaah with Zakaat, it is from the five pillars of Islaam. Give Zakaat from the apparent and the non-apparent, from the jewellery and possessions.

8. Sadaqaat (non-obligatory charity) – Spending o n o ne’s parents, family and companions. The angels make du’aa for the o ne who spends, that Allaah replenishes them, and another makes du’aa that the o ne who refrains from spending that his wealth is destroyed. Allaah says ‘whoever does even an atoms worth he will see it’ and ‘whoever spends in the path of Allaah, Allaah will replace it’.

9. Du’aa (Supplication) – Allaah says, ‘Call o n me and I will answer you’. Allaah orders us to supplicate; supplication should be made for o ne’s rizq. ‘O Allaah give us the good in this life and the hereafter and save us from the hereafter’. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) used to say this du’aa.

10. al-Birr (The Righteous) - A door from the doors of relief, ‘Verily the pious people will be in the paradise and the evil doers will be in the hellfire’ Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim (Rahimahullaah) stated that this ayah refers to the dunyaa (worldly life), the barzakh (the period between death and the day of resurrection) and the Aakhirah (hereafter) contrary to what people comprehend…

11. Material Means – The means from the material means are also from the means of sustenance but self-control must be observed, knowing that dependency is upon Allaah alone. It is merely a means by which you work. We Should say ‘O Allaah, this is the means by which you provide for me’ if it wasn’t for the fact that Allaah provided we wouldn’t have used it. When Maryam (‘alayhis-Salaam) was in her post-natal bleeding, Allaah says ‘And shake the trunk of the date palm before you and it will provide ripe dates for
you’. We are not dervishes who do nothing, we work by the means but we do not go by means which are unlegislated by Allaah. Many of those who are obsessed with their means fall to diabetes and Cancer, their minds obsessed with their work.

12. Holding Fast to the Book and the Sunnah – ‘And if only they had established the Toraah and the Injeel, they would have eaten from above them and under their feet’ If this is in regards to those who should have held o n to the scriptures then it is pivotal to hold o n to the book and the Sunnah. We have mentioned 11 of which are abstract and now we mention the last which is physical.