What is Tawakul (Reliance upon Allah)

 

Q: Salams sheikh what is tawkul?

A: 

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين، سيدنا ونبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. وبعد

Tawakul comes from the Arabic root word Wakl which linguistically means to entrust or to authorize someone. As for the Islamic terminology (Istilahi): Is to consign ones affairs to Allah, and to take from the means which Allah has created for him to peruse his request, and to be pleased with Allah's predestined outcome.

Hence this is what is evident in the Quran and Sunnah, Allah says: 

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ

"Allah-there is no deity (truly worthy of worship) except Him, and upon Allah let the believers rely (Tawakaloun)." [64:13] 

As for the Sunnah,`Abdullah bin Hubairah said: I heard Abu Tameem al-Jaishani say: I heard `Umar bin al Khattab (رضي الله عنه) say: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: “If you really put your trust in Allah, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds. Do you not see that they go out with empty stomachs and come back with full stomachs? " [Musnad Ahmad, 373. Book 2, Hadith 275]

Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (d. 795H) explains this Hadith: "Indeed know, that the fulfilment of Tawakul does not contradict one from striving for the connected motives in which Allah has predestined form His Sunnah that occurs within His creation. Verily Allah the All-Mighty commands us to take from all motives along with commanding one to put his faith in Allah, for indeed by striving to seek the motives is via the bodily limbs which is a form of obedience to Allah, and by having reliance in Allah via the heart is having true faith in it." [Jama' al-Ulum wal-Hukum, Dar Ibn Kathir, Beirut, 1st ed, (2008), Hadith: 49, P.916]

To summaries, Tawakul can be understood in the following points: 

1- To have Faith in Allah and relying upon Him that He is the One which provides, and with Him is the Power and Control of all affairs. Example asking Allah to grant you a Halal job and relying on that He will provide for you.

2- To take from those motives in which Allah provides one with to rely upon him, the example here, is one searching for a job in which he asked Allah for, by applying for work at several places until his predestined job is answered by Allah. For verily Allah has ordained this and is fulfilled by one obeying him through the means in which Allah provides him with.

3- To be pleased with Allah's outcome, this is a part of that which Allah has pre-ordained, this is whether it was a struggle in achieving one's task or whether it was achieved with ease, either way one must be pleased with Allah's decree which was achieved through His Grace. 

والله اعلم.