We are often reminded of verses that speak about how Allah grants ease with hardship, how Allah will relieve us from any difficulty we are facing as long as we trust Him and seek His help, but it is natural for us to wonder when this ease or relief will come.
Having such doubts does not mean we have no iman. Rather, when faced with difficulty of any type, it is common for man to have his faith shaken. There are those that are able to get back up with increased vigor and fall back on Allah to rise up from the trial that they are undergoing. Then, there are those who crumble and fall down with the slightest test.
You often hear the shuyook and various public speakers talk about relying upon Allah and how, having true tawakkul will help us cross any type of barrier and obstacle we face in our lives. All of us want to be people of taqwa, and have our hearts filled with imaan. We want to be of those who have immense tawakkul – complete reliance upon Allah. So, what does it mean to rely upon Allah? How can we nurture unshakable amount of faith and trust in Allah, irrespective of how big or small the trial is?
Read below to find out in sha Allah.
Meaning of tawakkul
The word tawakkul is derived from وکالت (wakalat), meaning ‘taking for oneself a representative’. A good representative will possess the following four characteristics:
- Awareness
- Trustworthiness
- Strength
- Sympathy
Now, can you think of someone who has all these qualities? Someone who is so strong, powerful and trustworthy that he is able to do all things; so much so that he can completely turn things in your favor and help you out of your distress no matter how huge your difficulty is? What if I told you Allah can do all this and more, because He is Al wakeel – the ultimate Trustee.
What tawakkul can do….
Do you go through moments of anxiety and unease, wondering what if something does not work out or go as planned? Whether it is about taking decisions in our personal life (like finding the right house, marrying our dream spouse, etc.) or our professional lives (hunting for the dream job, new business, alternative career options, etc.); all of us go through moments of intense nervousness mixed with endless worries because let’s face it, the future is unseen and looks scary and daunting.
We so desperately yearn to see how our lives will be 5 years from now, or even just 5 days from now, and the uncertainty of the future can make our hearts beat faster, and make us feel sick in our stomach.
What if this person is not the right one for me, even though I want to marry him/her so badly?
What if I don’t get this job…what will my future look like?
Who is going to pay the bills?
How do I take care of my family?
What will the medical report show; will it reveal a life threatening illness?
What if I can’t ever have kids?
Do these situations sound familiar? All of us have gone through or are going through emotions that make us fret and worry about something that’s going to happen in the future.
What if I told you that there is someone, who can not only take care of every single affair of yours, but also set it right for you, make you victorious and replace whatever was taken from you with something much better and more everlasting!
Tawakkul is to tie your heart with firm conviction that Allah alone is in control…not you, not your emotions or anybody else, just Allah alone .
Don’t trust me? Well, let’s look at the verses and ahadeeth below:
Grant You Provision
Worried about your job, or where you will find your rizq from? Check out this hadeeth?
Ahmad and At-Tirmidhi narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “If you truly put your trust on Allah, he would provide you (sustenance) as He provides the birds; where they leave in the morning with empty stomach and return back with full stomach.”
The question is, do you trust Allah like how the birds trust Him?
He IS Enough
You don’t need the world to chime in with their approval. As long as you trust in Allah and take all the efforts that are needed to acquire something, Allah will help you out and make a way for you when there seems to be no way, because He says He is sufficient, what more do you need?
“…And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him.” (Quran, 65:3)
Stop worrying
Ibn Ata’illah said, “Relieve yourself of worry after you have planned; do not concern yourself with what Allah has undertaken on your behalf.”
You see, this burden of worry and fear that you are carrying, there is no need for you to carry it in your heart and mind. All that is expected of you is to raise your hands up and make dua to Allah, and leave it to Him. As long as you are doing all that it takes to relieve yourself, know that He will take care of the rest. But you are too concerned with all the things that are going wrong that you fail to see how He is setting things right .
Tawakkul Is To Strive
Tawakkul does not mean trusting Allah and not doing your part. When your heart is filled with firm conviction that Allah is in control, you will find your limbs filled with imaan and zeal like never before. You will find yourself striving with all means possible to put whatever effort you can, from your end, and then trusting Allah that He will help you and set things right for you.
Anas ibn Malik reported: A man said, “O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I leave her untied and trust in Allah?” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Tie her and trust in Allah.” [Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2517]
What Happens When You Have Tawakkul
- Reliance upon Allah alone will remind your heart that He alone is in control of everything.
- Independent of others – While it is totally permissible to seek help from others, your heart will know that ultimate help comes from Allah alone, and people are just a means to deliver this help from Allah. They are not the sole sources of help. This will give you the much needed confidence you need to trust your affairs to Allah and not rest the power on fellow humans.
- No worries or fears – When you have trust in Allah, you will find a strange sense of peace, tranquility and contentment enter your heart. You will not find depression or sadness creeping in your heart because you know Allah will take care of you!
You might also like: Tawakul: A Medicine for Worry & Anxiety
An Important Dua
The Prophet ﷺ used to supplicate:
“O Allah! Grant us such fear of You as will come between us and acts of disobedience to You; such obedience to You as will bring us to Your Garden; and such certainty that the calamities of this world will be made easy for us by You. “[Tirmidhi]
Remember, as long as you have Allah on your side, you don’t have to worry about anything in this dunya, because there is no power or might bigger than Allah!
Tawakkul, the faith in Allah, the acknowledgement that He alone has suzerainty over all the resources, that He is the just Lord , that He never ever let the honest slaves down that He loves to secure us from unknown harms and deliver us to a true state of happiness and contentment have been explained with great lucidity. Jazakallah.
ASSALAAMU ALAIKUM WRAHMATULLAH WABARAKATUHU
JAZAK ALLAHU KHAIRAN!Very inspiring!
I remembered a little of the incidence, heard long before.When NABI KAREEM SALAL LAHO ALAIHE WASSALAM for the first time met JIBRAEEL ALAIHIS SALAAM(1 st surah Iqra) SALAL LAHO ALAHE WASSALAAM was so frightened,but Hazrat Khadija(peace be upon her) ,told that nothing bad would happen,since ,RASOOL ALLAH SALAL LOHO ALAIHE WASSALAM was having the best nature and was always good to others.
Since his (RASOOL ALLAH SALAL LAHO ALIHE WASSALAM) life was example for all of us. If we don’t do bad to others in any way,instead do good,insha ALLAH TALA nothing bad will happen to any of us.For the time being each one is tried with different hardships,but having patience and prayers makes one victorious,as ALLAH SUBHANO WATA AALA IS WITH THOSE WHO HAVE PATIENCE.
Helping our fellow brothers and sisters in the state of hardship,even with kind words,really give peace of mind.
MAY ALLAH SUBHANO WATA AALA protect each one from hardships Aameen
ASSALAAMU ALAIKUM WARAHMATULLAH WABARAKATUHU
Assalaamu alaykum warahmatullah wabarakato.
thank you so much SHEIKH about the wonderful explaination of TAWAKKUL.
MA SHAA ALLAH
you are very right. ALHAMDULLILAH