Never Worrying Over What Is Already Guaranteed

The second reason Ibrahim (peace be upon him) gave was that he had never, ever worried over what Allah (swt) had already guaranteed him of his rizq; it had never even crossed his mind to worry. And he used to make abundant shukr to the blessing, the niʿmah, that Allah (swt) gave him, so that Allah (swt) used to increase that blessing upon him. He came, eventually, to complain to Jibrīl (peace be upon him) of the opposite difficulty: so much wealth now, he said, that he did not know what to do with it — so many sheep, so many cows, so much of everything else, so much property, that he did not know what to do with it.

Jibrīl gave him a small piece of guidance. He hardly ever used to eat alone — he would always eat with somebody else — but on the occasions when he did eat alone, he was to walk about while he ate. He did so, and made himself a large bib besides, so that not a single crumb should ever drop to the ground; and when, on one occasion, one crumb did drop and could not be found, however hard he searched for it, he placed stones around that spot so that no one might ever come and step on those breadcrumbs. When Jibrīl next came to him and asked what had happened, Ibrahim told him that his wealth had increased even further; asked whether he had done the very thing he had been told to do, he answered that he had, down to the placing of the stones out of respect for the crumb — and Jibrīl told him, then, to go and enjoy his wealth, for in all of this he was making shukr to Allah (swt), appreciating what Allah (swt) had given him, and was not ungrateful.

The amount of food that is wasted today, through people's own fridges, is considerable: food bought from the supermarket, filling the vegetable section and every other section, left two or three weeks unused, after which it becomes all rotten and is chucked into the rubbish bin. Allah (swt) is going to question a person for this. It is no wonder, then, that there is no barakah in earnings, in homes, where it is said that ends cannot be made to meet — because so much is wasted.