Allah is sufficient for me, there is no God but He; on Him do I rely, and He is the Lord of Mighty power.
Allah SWT teaches us so we could draw upon the experiences of those who constantly turned to Allah SWT when facing situations in life which were testing or at other times when they had a period of ease. The constant, in both situations was that they were always deeply connected with Allah and turned to Allah SWT for everything.
The roots of tawakul are deeply embedded in our understanding of what tawheed is. Tawheed is the affirmation that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah and from this derives the knowledge that 'You alone we worship'. Ibn Qayyem RA mentions four principles of 'You alone we worship', in his book Madarij Al-salikeen, to explain this. Believing with certainty in what Allah SWT and His messenger taught us and is pleased with, conviction in what our heart and tongue says, and the translation of this conviction on our limbs, our actions. People of uboodiyah (servitude to Allah) would possess all these levels. So, what they believe, what they say, and what they do is all in alignment with Allah SWT's commands. They understand Allah SWT's lordship and they submit.
Our heart if it is not fully connected to Allah SWT with utmost certainty and respect, the action of the tongue and the limbs are incomplete and lack the humility required before Allah SWT. Actions of the limbs are for example salah (prayer), reading Quran, helping people, jummah prayers etc. These actions in my humble opinion are a consequence of the submission or prostration of the heart first otherwise they become empty gestures of the limbs devoid of any connection of the heart. That is why the Prophet SAW said that there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good and if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart. (Sahih Al Bukhari: 52)
Allah Ta'aala says about his righteous slaves:
'And the slaves of the Most Beneficent (Allah) are those who walk on the earth with humility and sedateness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply with mild words of gentleness. And those who spend the night before their Lord, prostrating and standing. And those who say, 'Our Lord avert from us the torment of the Hellfire, verily its torment is ever an inseparable, permanent punishment'
Allah Ta'aala says:
وتوكل على الله و كفى الله وكيلا
And rely upon Allah and sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs.
Yahya Bin Muadh states that tawakul is to be understood as three characteristics which the awliya of Allah (friends of Allah) possess, trusting Allah SWT, turning to Allah, and knowing that Allah is sufficient in all affairs. In other words, trust in Allah, submission then entrusting.
Other definitions are that it's the cleansing of the heart from associating partners with Allah SWT. Some said that tawakul is submission to Allah SWT's commands and decree, to be devoted in worship and to have full trust in Allah SWT. Tawakul is also being pleased with Allah's pleasure and having good thoughts of Allah SWT.
The question then arises why it is important to develop the trait of tawakul. Ibn Qayyem RA explains many virtues or benefits of tawakkul:
Tawakul is a means of provision. Often, we understand provision (rizq) as material provisions. But provisions is a comprehensive term which includes everything that could benefit eg knowledge is a spiritual provision.
Umar ibn al khattab reported: The messenger of Allah, peace and blessings upon him, said, "If you were to rely upon Allah with reliance due to Him, He would provide for you just as he provides for the birds. They go out in the morning with empty stomachs and return full." (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi)
Tawakul is the greatest shield to repel evil from others in the form of oppression.
Ibn Qayyim RA talks about a principle in his book Zaad Al-Maadth, whereby we understand how harm comes to us and its reasons. He stipulates that Allah SWT created everything in perfection and it was free from harm at the beginning of creation. It was perfect in its benefits, but later harm entered in animals and fruits. For example, Truffles, some fruit by its nature grows on a fungus and has healing properties but its harm depends on how we consume it.
These defects entered for numerous reasons, such as it's coming into contact or mixing of things. If they were not tampered with and left as Allah SWT intended, then they would not have become corrupted. Similarly, the actions of human beings towards the prophets brought about diseases, droughts, extreme weathers and famines. Our actions led to removal of these blessings from earth.
Imam Ahmad reported in his musnad, "There was found in the treasure house of Banu Umayyah a grain of wheat the size of a date stone in a container, on which was written, this will grow in times of injustice."
A very interesting explanation put forward by Ibn Qayyim RA, was that when nations were punished eg the people of Aad and Thamud, Noah, Lut, it was due to their evil deeds. Some remnants of these punishments were left on earth, and whenever anyone repeats these sins, they will be afflicted again. For example, Nabi SAW said the plague was remnants of the punishments which was sent to Bani Israel. Another example is of tornados and winds now and again, which destroys cities due to the remnants of the winds which were leashed on people of Aad for seven days and seven nights.
When we oppress people and cheat them out of zakat, charity or fail to have ihsan, the consequence is Allah withholds rains from the sky resulting in famines and droughts. When people cheat the poor it would lead to oppression by unjust rulers, who have no mercy and it affects even those who are innocent in the society. This is how Allah shows us our deeds in different forms. General diseases could take the form of anxiety and sadness in the souls which doesn't leave them, this could be on an individual level or societal. Protection from shaytan may be withheld, and devils are left free to attack the souls of a believer by changing their creation. This could be due to their evil and rejecting guidance.
If we focus on current world situations, we observe that people have lost the ability to differentiate between right and wrong and are in a state of confusion. Such a person follows the crowds without thinking or turning to guidance given by Allah SWT.
Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her, also narrated, "The Messenger of Allah said: 'At the end of this ummah, there will be collapse, transformation and wrongdoings. I said, 'O Messenger of Allah, will they be destroyed whilst there are also righteous among them?' He said, 'Yes when evil is dominant'."
When we look around our societies we see oppression everywhere, corruption is rife and disobedience to Allah is common practice. We must fear Allah and rectify and purify our souls and prevent evil actions from becoming the acceptable norms in the societies. The danger of not speaking out against oppression and evil is that everyone could suffer from the punishments sent by Allah SWT.
When a trial comes, how should we respond? We should take the means that Allah SWT has provided and study the life of the prophets to infer lessons and take guidance on how to deal with it by taking the necessary means. We do not sit idly and do nothing. Because we have tawakul upon Allah our hearts must remain steadfast knowing that nothing happens without the will of Allah SWT.
We must have knowledge of Allah and his attributes, establish tawheed, grow our love for Allah and His Messenger SAW, submit our hearts and dispose of our affairs to Allah SWT.
Those who trust Allah witness Allah's help and miracles. Allah SWT split the sea for Musa AS and Bani Israel to save them. When Hajar was left with her thirsty baby in the desert by prophet Ibrahim following Allah's command and there was no water she trusted Allah SWT, she strove to seek and use the means and ran several times between mountains of safa and Marwa. Allah aided her by sending angel Jibraeel to strike the earth to bring our water. And to this day people are benefitting from the zam zam water. She trusted on Allah and Allah rewarded her. Yunus AS in the belly of the whale put his trust in Allah SWT and was delivered by Allah SWT. In Sura Mujadila when a woman complained of her husband Allah SWT heard her plea. Allah SWT is closer than our jugular vein. He is always near it is the servants who forget and go far.
In the face of trials remain firm, keep your heart soft and compassionate. A soft heart is capable of absorbing much more and remains fertile to grow and benefit others. Allah SWT has designed us to have emotions. Musa AS's mother when she placed her son in the river Nile in a basket, experienced her heart to be inflamed and overwhelmed with the burden of her decision. However, when she trusted Allah SWT, peace and tranquility descended upon her heart. We must face our challenges in life and make dua to Allah SWT and hand over matters to Allah SWT. However, our emotions need to remain in control and must not control our ultimate actions.
In the face of challenges, we must remain patient. Each person is tested differently according to their ability. Those who are struggling with wars, famines, loss of livelihoods, fear are in an intense test and those who are in ease are also in a test to step up and help the less fortunate. We are all on a journey towards Allah SWT and we shouldn't allow the ease we are in and become complacent.
To Allah we belong and to Allah SWT is our return.
