Monotheistic Request

Jesus identified God as “the best of providers” (khayru l-rāziqīn), and with this expression, he also conveyed unity in providing (tawḥīd), because being “the best of providers” (khayru l-rāziqīn) does not mean that other individuals are providers in their own right and God is better than them, but rather means that all the providers of the world are manifestations of God’s providing, and God’s being a provider is manifest in all of them. Therefore, only God is the true and original provider.

The explanation is that God’s active attributes (awṣāf fiʿlī) have manifestations, such as provision (rizq), mercy (raḥm), judgment (faṣl), ruling (ḥukm), intercession (shafāʿa), and so on. Therefore, one can describe God as “the best of providers” (khayr al-rāziqīn), “the most merciful of the merciful” (arḥam al-rāḥimīn), “the best of judges” (khayr al-fāṣilīn), “the best of rulers” (khayr al-ḥākimīn), “the most interceding of intercessors” (ashfaʿ al-shāfiʿīn), and so on. But God’s exclusive attributes (awṣāf ikhtīṣāṣī) do not have manifestations, such as divinity (ulūhiyya), being worshipped (maʿbūdiyya), and so on. Therefore, one cannot say that God is “the best of gods” (khayr al-ālihah) or “the best of the worshipped” (khayr al-maʿbūdīn). Of course, God’s active attributes, as previously explained, have their true instance (miṣdāq aṣīl) exclusively in God; but other secondary (bil-tabaʿ), accidental (bil-ʿaraḍ), or metaphorical (bil-majāz) instances can be conceived. An examination of the expression of Jesus (a.s.) shows that he presented the beginning and substance of his request and that of his community in a monotheistic manner.