The Levels Of Tawakkul: Trust and Reliance on Allah 

All praise is due to Allah and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (Peace be upon him). The basis for this paper is the concept of Tawakkul, its levels and its benefits.

Tawakkul itself translates as ‘trust and reliance’ which means that in a way, it is quite dualistic and has two different facets which are not independent of each other, but are interlinked. The ayah which first comes to mind when we think of Tawakkul (or trust and reliance in Allah) is,

The root of Tawakkul is ‘reliance’ or ‘dependence’. We say that we depend on Allah (The Most High) for everything, and place reliance on Him. This is the reality of Tawakkul in that we place our trust and reliance on Allah (The Most High), in terms of both our worldly affairs, as well as our Deen. As well as using our visceral, or tangible means of attaining that which we want to attain.

Tawakkul therefore involves belief, dependence, and action. This is because in order to gain at least some level of Tawakkul, the slave needs to be aware of the fact that all the matters of this world and the Hereafter lie in the Hands of Allah (The Most High). Nothing occurs except by His Permission and His Leave. It is worth noting that depending upon Allah in attaining one’s provision is itself a form of worship, and is from the completion and perfection of one’s Iman.

It is a realization of the verse from Umm-ul-Quran, ‘You alone we worship, You alone we ask for help’ and is a requirement of one’s Iman because depending on other than Allah (Almighty) for that which Allah (The Most High) alone can provide, or (in the case of a tribulation, Allah alone can save a person from), is major Shirk. As Allah (The Most High) says

. We also know that He states in Surah Al-Anfal, referring to the qualities of Al-Mu’minoon (the believers):

Another such reference which we spend our nights reading, is contained in Surah Al-Mulk,

We also have many, many examples from our Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) including examples of certain supplications which he made. In an authentic hadith contained in Bukhari and Muslim, Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) used to supplicate

What this demonstrates is just how necessary this trust and reliance on Allah is, whereby we make Allah the disposer of our affairs. As it becomes clear from the aforementioned hadith, Tawakkul is interlinked, interfused even, with submission to Allah, and belief in Allah.

This becomes apparent in the hadith, ‘O Allah! To You I have submitted, and in You do I believe, and in You I put my trust’. In a single breath the Prophet (Peace be upon him) refers to submission, Iman, and Tawakkul. In another hadith showing the importance of Tawakkul and its benefits in this world and the Hereafter, Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said,

According to the renowned author of Riyadh As Saliheen, this Hadith has been interpreted to mean that it is those people who put their trust in Allah who will be in Jannah. Under this interpretation, there seems to be direct correlation between the way the people of Tawakkul lived their lives in this world, and their reward.

It is the people of Tawakkul who would never have worried about their provisions, food, and means of subsistence, and are like the birds who do not collect any food to keep in reserve but go out every morning in search of food, hoping for and believing in Allah’s provision, and then returning home to their nests fully satisfied.

Those who have Tawakkul do not abandon material resources, the ‘tying of the camel’, as it were. We all know the Hadith in which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said to the Bedouin who had left his camel without tying it, to ‘tie your camel and place your trust in Allah’.

 The people of Tawakkul know the balance between action and trust in Allah (The Most High). Before we move onto the next section of this paper, it is worth noting what one of our famous scholars of the past has said about Tawakkul. In Madaarij us-Saalikeen, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) notes:

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[1] Quran, 65:3.

[2] Quran, 11:23.

[3] Quran, 8:2.

[4] Quran, 67:29.

by Aslom Ullah