Blog · From Episode 2 of the Podcast
Worried About Money? Who Really Provides for Us
A short summary of Episode 2, in plain words, with examples from our daily life.
In the heaven is your provision, and everything that is promised to you.
[51:22]
Episode 2 · The World and the Quran · 19 October 2026 · 16 min
Worried About Money? What the Quran Says About Rising Prices
This post is a written summary of Episode 2 of our podcast. You can read it here, and listen to the full episode whenever you have time.
In Short
Prices are rising, and many of us are afraid there will not be enough. The Quran tells us that the promise of poverty comes from the devil, while God promises forgiveness and grace. God is the One who provides, and a hard year is a test that does not last forever. So we keep working and save without hoarding. We still give, and we bring our worry back to God in prayer.
Picture the checkout at the grocery store. The list is the same as last month, but the total is higher. Then we fill the car, and that costs more too. Many of us know the small knot in the stomach that comes next.
In Episode 2, we asked what the Quran says to someone who is afraid there will not be enough. Let's go through what we learned together, in four parts.
Where the Fear Comes From
First, a quick look at the news. The war in the Gulf region cut the oil that ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil went above one hundred dollars a barrel. Almost everything we buy travels by truck, ship or plane. So when fuel goes up, nearly everything goes up after it. In the United States, prices in September were 3.7 percent higher than a year before.
The fear is not the same size in every country. But the feeling inside us is the same. That feeling is what the Quran speaks to:
The devil promises you poverty and commands you to commit evil, while GOD promises you forgiveness from Him and grace. GOD is Bounteous, Omniscient.[2:268]
Many of us think the fear comes from our bank balance. The numbers are real. But the voice that says we will lose everything is not neutral. God tells us whose voice it is.
Please look at what comes next in the verse. The devil also “commands you to commit evil” [2:268]. Fear opens the door, and wrong actions follow. Think of a shop worker who is scared about the rent. He might cheat a customer to make a little extra. Someone else might stop giving to anyone at all.
God's promise is the opposite. He promises us “forgiveness from Him and grace” [2:268]. So there are two promises in front of us, and we choose which one we listen to. So far, we have seen where the fear comes from. Next, let's look at who really feeds us.
God Is the One Who Provides
When the rent is due, God's promise can feel far away. The Quran answers with a guarantee:
Think about the birds outside the kitchen window. A bird has no pantry and no savings account. It wakes up with nothing stored, goes out, and comes back fed. It still has to go out and look. But the food is from God. Jesus taught the same lesson about the birds, in the Gospel of Matthew.
God also tells us where our provision comes from: “In the heaven is your provision, and everything that is promised to you.” [51:22] Our pay reaches us through our job, but God is the One who sends it.
If God provides, why do people lose their jobs and go hungry? The Quran does not promise that we will never have less. It tells us plainly that some years will be hard:
We will surely test you through some fear, hunger, and loss of money, lives, and crops. Give good news to the steadfast.[2:155]
That “We” is God speaking. Loss of money is right there in the verse. God told us ahead of time. A hard year does not mean He forgot us. He tests us through it, and the next verses show how to pass the test:
If everything belongs to God, then nothing was ever fully ours to lose. That does not take the pain away. But it puts the loss in its right size.
God also tells us that hard times do not come alone. He says “With pain there is gain.” [94:5] Then He says it a second time [94:6]. So far, we have seen that God is the One who provides, and that a hard year is a test. Next, let's look at what we do with our money when it is tight.
Giving and Saving When Money Is Tight
When things go well, many of us say God blessed us. When things go badly, we may quietly think He is punishing us. The Quran describes that exact feeling:
When the human being is tested by his Lord, through blessings and joy, he says, “My Lord is generous towards me.”[89:15]
But if He tests him through reduction in provisions, he says, “My Lord is humiliating me!”[89:16]
Wrong! It is you who brought it on yourselves by not regarding the orphan.[89:17]
And not advocating charity towards the poor.[89:18]
God says this view is wrong. Having more is a test, and having less is a test. Then He turns our eyes to the orphan and the poor. So instead of asking why this is happening to us, we look at how we treat people who have less.
When money is tight, the natural thing is to stop giving. The Quran describes believers who did the opposite:
In fact, they readily give them priority over themselves, even when they themselves need what they give away. Indeed, those who overcome their natural stinginess are the successful ones.[59:9]
Picture a family at the kitchen table, with a tight budget for the month. They still set aside a little for a neighbour who has less. It shows that we trust God more than our money. God tells us that what we spend in His cause is like “a grain that produces seven spikes, with a hundred grains in each spike” [2:261]. One grain becomes seven hundred.
The opposite of giving is hoarding. God warns us, “You remain preoccupied with hoarding.” [102:1] Many of us remember the empty shelves at the start of the pandemic. Some people bought far more flour than they needed, and their neighbours found nothing left.
But what about saving? Many of our parents told us to keep something aside for a bad year. They were right. The best example is Joseph in Egypt. The king dreamed of seven fat cows and seven thin cows, and Joseph explained the dream:
He said, “What you cultivate during the next seven years, when the time of harvest comes, leave the grains in their spikes, except for what you eat. After that, seven years of drought will come, which will consume most of what you stored for them. After that, a year will come that brings relief for the people, and they will, once again, press juice.”[12:47-49]
The Torah tells the same story in the Book of Genesis:
Under the authority of Pharaoh, let them collect all the excess food from these good years, that they may come and lay up the grain to be preserved as food in the cities. This food will be a reserve for the land during the seven years of famine to come upon the land of Egypt. Then the country will not perish in the famine.”Genesis 41:35-36 · Berean Standard Bible
Please notice who Joseph saved for. He did not store the grain for himself. He stored it so the whole land would have food in the hard years. Saving for our family, or for a hard year, is wise. Hoarding is grabbing more than we need without caring who goes without.
The hard years also came to an end. After the drought, “a year will come that brings relief for the people” [12:49]. So far, we have seen how to give and how to save. Last of all, let's look at what we can do when the bills are due.
Doing Our Part and Trusting God
Trusting God does not mean doing nothing. Even on the day of the Friday prayer, God tells the believers they may go back out to work:
Once the prayer is completed, you may spread through the land to seek GOD's bounties, and continue to remember GOD frequently, that you may succeed.[62:10]
So going to work is seeking what God gives. If we lose a job, we have not lost our provider. We have lost one door, and we go and look for the next one.
Think of a neighbour who is looking for work. Each morning she sends out her résumé, and she prays. Both are part of trusting God. The Quran also gives us a good rule for the family budget. The believers “are neither extravagant, nor stingy; they give in moderation.” [25:67] After we do our part, we leave the result with God:
One last question came near the end. If we worry about money, does that mean we do not trust God? Many people feel guilty on top of feeling worried. God tells us how the human being is made:
God already knows we are anxious. Feeling worried is part of being human. What matters is what we do with the feeling. The worshipers keep coming back to God in the Contact Prayers (Salat), even on the days the worry is loud. The prayer does not always pay the bill. But it keeps the fear from making our choices for us.
So when the fear comes, let's remember the two promises in [2:268]. The promise of poverty comes from the devil. God promises forgiveness and grace.
Something to Try This Week
When the fear about money comes this week, please stop and remember [2:268]. Then let's ask whose promise we are listening to.
Then let's give something small to someone who has less, even when money is tight. It can be a meal, or an hour of help.
Quick Answers
Here are the questions from the episode, each with a short answer.
Why is everything costing more? Fuel went up, and the fear that follows has a source [2:268].
Where does the fear of poverty come from? The devil promises us poverty, while God promises forgiveness and grace [2:268].
Is our provision really guaranteed? Yes. God guarantees the provision of every creature on earth [11:6].
If God provides, why do people lose their jobs? Some loss of money is a test, and God told us about it ahead of time [2:155].
Does hardship last forever? No. With pain there is gain [94:5].
Is God punishing us when money is short? Having more and having less are both tests [89:15].
Why give when money is tight? God multiplies what we spend in His cause [2:261].
Is saving money the same as hoarding? No. Joseph saved in the good years so the whole land could eat [12:47-49].
What do we do when the bills are due? We keep working, and we spend in moderation [25:67].
Does worrying about money mean we do not trust God? No. God tells us the human being is anxious, and the worshipers bring that worry to prayer [70:19-23].
Shorts From This Episode
Each Short is one question from the episode, about a minute long. Please press one to watch it here.
Growth Prompt
Please take a few quiet minutes with [11:6]. Read it slowly, and think about the meals you have eaten this week. Each one reached you through work or through other people, but each one came from God.
When money is tight, where do I put my trust, in my savings or in God who provides?
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