"A tremendous station in the religion and has a lofty status for those traveling to Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala is Tawakkul on Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala," said the Moon when she came on that night, after, as usual, saying Basmalah and greeting with Salaam.
"Tawakkul is the vessel of Iman and the foundation of obedience and worship. The establishment of the religion is built on sincere trust in the Rabb of all that exists since the servant has no strength or power except by Allah. All matters are in His hands and all servants are under His direction and subjugation. Whatever Allah wills, exists, and whatever He doesn't, will not. The affair from the beginning to the end belongs to Allah.
Tawakkul in the Arabic language is reliance and entrustment, hence tawakkul on Allah, the One free from imperfection, is to rely upon Him and entrust the affairs to Him; and it is an obligation. It is necessary that his sincerity is for Allah.
According to Shaykh Shalih Al-Fawzan (Shalih bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan), Tawakkul on Allah means: entrusting matters to Him and relying on Him in all affairs, and entrusting matters to Allah and not turning to other than Him.
Tawakkul on Allah is in matters of Aqeedah whereby the slave does not turn to other than Allah with his heart; thus he is always relying upon Allah, entrusting his matter to Him in regards to all his affairs.
The station of Tawakkul on Allah, according to Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaq Ibn ‘Abdul-Muhsin al- ‘Abbad al-Badr, is built upon one having an excellent understanding of Allah. Yet whoever doesn't learn of His Rabb's perfection and greatness, the execution of His supreme will, the comprehensiveness of His power, His full knowledge, the completeness of His will and the execution of His Divine Decree will not be on a proper state as it relates to Tawakkul on Allah.
So, Tawakkul on Allah is built upon having an excellent understanding of Allah. Based upon this, every time the servant's Iman of Allah strengthens and his understanding of Allah becomes correct, his Tawakkul on Allah strengthens and his resorting to Allah becomes greater. He entrusts all his affairs to Allah, and he resorts to Allah in every one of his affairs, interests and needs, both the religious and worldly affairs.
Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala has made trusting in Allah a condition for the wellness of one's Iman and Islam. Ibn Katheer in his Tafseer, mentions that when the Children of Israel declined to obey Allah and follow His Messenger Musa, two righteous men among them, on whom Allah had bestowed a great bounty and who were afraid of Allah and His punishment, encouraged them to go forward. It was also said that these men were respected and honored by their people. These two men were Yuwsha` [Joshua], the son of Nun, and Kalib [Caleb], the son of Yufna, as Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, `Atiyyah, As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and several other Salaf and latter scholars stated. Allah says,
قَالَ رَجُلَانِ مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ يَخَافُوْنَ اَنْعَمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِمَا ادْخُلُوْا عَلَيْهِمُ الْبَابَۚ فَاِذَا دَخَلْتُمُوْهُ فَاِنَّكُمْ غٰلِبُوْنَ ەۙ وَعَلَى اللّٰهِ فَتَوَكَّلُوْٓا اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِيْنَ
'Said two men from those who feared [to disobey] upon whom Allāh had bestowed favor, "Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, you will be predominant [i.e., If you obey the command of Allāh trusting in Him, He will fulfill His promise to you]. And upon Allāh rely, if you should be believers.' [QS. Al-Ma'idah (5):23]
The scholars say, 'the advance of 'and in Allah..' implies restriction, and that means: place your Tawakkul on Allah and not in anything else.' So Allah restricted Tawakkul in Him and nothing else. 'And in Allah...' meaning: not in anything else, 'put your trust if you are believers indeed.' Therefore, He made the sign of faith and Tawheed [to single out Allah in worship]: Tawakkul on Allah.
And also, Allah says,
وَقَالَ مُوْسٰى يٰقَوْمِ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ اٰمَنْتُمْ بِاللّٰهِ فَعَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلُوْٓا اِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُّسْلِمِيْنَ
'And Moses said, 'O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you should be Muslims [i.e., submitting to Him]'.' [QS. Yunus (10):84]
Allah orders his servants to have Tawakkul (i.e., trust & reliance) on Him. He also mentions it as a description of His believing servants and His close friends. He mentions that from the greatest are seeking refuge in Him by having dependency on Him within their hearts, entrusting Allah with all their affairs and being truthful in seeking refuge in Him.
Now the question is, when you have delegated someone to carry out and achieve a matter of yours from, for example, purchasing goods for you or renting something for you or disputing on your behalf, does that mean that you have put your Tawakkul in other than Allah?
The answer is No. It is the issue of Tawkeel (delegation). Representation is not Tawakkul. Tawakkul is reliance and entrustment, and this is to none other than Allah. As for Tawkeel (delegation), then it is deputing another person to attain something sought from those permissible sought-out matters which he is able to, so this is a mean from the means (of attaining something), so you appoint a wakeel (delegate) from the aspect of a mean, and you place your Tawakkul on Allah in achieving the intent from the aspect of worship, and you do not place your Tawakkul in your wakeel, you only place your Tawakkul on Allah.
So, according to Shaykh Shalih Al-Fawzan, delegating others in some actions does not violate Aqeedah and it is not Tawakkul in other than Allah. It is only working together on required matters. Allah says,
وَتَعَاوَنُوْا عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوٰىۖ وَلَا تَعَاوَنُوْا عَلَى الْاِثْمِ وَالْعُدْوَانِ ۖ
'... Help you one another in al-Birr (virtue and righteousness) and Taqwaa; but do not help one another in sin and transgression....' [QS. Al-Ma'idah (5):2]
So the wakeel (delegate) is only an assistant in the delegated matter, he fulfils his position and is a means, so just as carrying out the matter with an action is a cause, likewise, the delegate carrying it out is a cause from the many causes, and this does not fall under Tawakkul in other than Allah.
The polytheists did not commit Shirk [that is to direct anything from worship to other than Allah, be it an Angel from the Angels or a Prophet from the Prophets or righteous person from the righteous or a structure from the (various types of) structures or other than that from the creation, so whoever directs anything from worship to other than Allah, then it is the greatest act which Allah has prohibited] and disbelief with Allah except because they placed their Tawakkul in other than Him, and they entrusted their affairs to other than Allah; they believed that other than Allah fulfilled their needs, lightened their worries and repelled harm from them. Hence they depended on idols, statues, trees, stones, graves, tombs and the dead; relying on the creation in what only Allah has ability to do. They sought deliverance from them, sacrificed (animals) to them, made vows to them and directed various types of worship to them because they relied on them instead of Allah and they thought they would benefit them or harm them or carry out their needs; so due to that, they disbelieved in Allah by relying and depending on other than Him and directing their beliefs and acts of worship to other than Him. Therefore, the foundation of Shirk is placing Tawakkul in other than Allah and depending on other than Him.
As for whoever claims that he is a believer and a monotheist, yet he places his Tawakkul in other Allah, be it in stones, trees, idols, graves, dead people, etc. then indeed his saying is a lie and he is not a believer because he places his Tawakkul in other than Allah in his affairs. Likewise, Tawakkul on Allah is in fulfilling ones worldly needs in obtaining provision, preventing enemies and harm and injury from him.
Tawakkul on Allah is in the matters of the Deen and the world; so you rely on Allah in relation to your Aqeedah and Tawheed, and you rely on Allah in attaining your needs even if it was worldly needs like eating, drinking, clothing and achieving ones aims. Likewise, always make your Tawakkul on Allah and your reliance on Him in all your affairs.
Tawakkul is not limited to the matters of Aqeedah and matters of Tawheed, but rather it covers worldly matters and seeking provision. Do not rely on other than Allah to achieve your aims because all affairs are in the Hand of Allah in His Hand are the keys to the heavens and the earth, so it is obligatory that you place your Tawakkul in Him. Thus, the needs of the slaves are in His Hand, so how can man place Tawakkul in other than Allah, and rely on other than Allah in his Deen and worldly life? There is no doubt that this is from ignorance and turning away from Allah hence the station of Tawakkul is from the greatest stations of servitude.
Some people may understand that the meaning of Tawakkul on Allah is: ‘entrusting the affair to Allah and leaving the means’, and they leave the beneficial means which Allah made, so they discard them, then they wait for an outcome.
Some people may understand that the meaning of Tawakkul on Allah is: ‘entrusting the affair to Allah and leaving the means’, and they leave the beneficial means which Allah made, so they discard them, then they wait for an outcome.
Tawakkul on Allah does not mean leaving the means and entrusting the affairs to Allah. Consequently, we do not leave provision and say 'if Allah wanted provision for us, it would come to us while we were sitting; and we do not leave seeking knowledge and say 'if Allah wanted knowledge for us, it would come to us while we were sitting in our homes and leave all the beneficial matters which are necessary for us to take while saying 'if Allah had decreed it for us, it would come to us without carrying out the means... this is a great error!
It is necessary to combine between two matters: Tawakkul on Allah and carrying out useful means. Man carries out the means in seeking provision while he places his Tawakkul on Allah in attaining the objective. This is indicated in a Hadeeth recorded by at-Tirmidhee and others, on the authority of Anas bin Malik who said that a man asked the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), “O Messenger ofAllah! Should I tie it (my riding-beast) and place my tawakkul on Allah, or should I leave it free and place my tawakkul on Allah?' He (ﷺ) replied, 'Tie it and placeyour tawakkul on Allah.' [Shaykh al-Albani graded it Hasan]
Man sows the seed while placing his Tawakkul on Allah, in cultivating the seed and in its fruits, its preservation from diseases and in gaining its goodness and benefitting from it. There is no doubt that you must sow and plant your seed, water it, maintain it and place your Tawakkul on Allah in its preservation, development, cultivation and proficiency in attaining its fruits and benefitting by them.
Likewise, if a man leaves off marrying and says, 'this is from Tawakkul, if Allah wanted children for me, then they would come to me without the need of marriage.' This is an error, and a sensible person would not say that, never mind a believer!
Allah has made means for things. Marriage is a means for procreation and attaining children and Allah has commanded taking the means, so it is necessary that you carry out the means. Marriage is a means and it is from you, you carry it out and seek it, and as for attaining children then it is from Allah and it is the fruit, and the outcome is in the Hand of Allah; as for carrying out the means, then that is from you.
So, what about the fruits of Tawakkul? We'll discuss it on the next session, bi idhnillah."
