VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS

CHAPTER 36

TRUST (TAWAKKUL)

IN ALLAH

THE ESSENCE OF TRUST

Know that trust (tawakkul) in God is agitation without rest and rest without agitation. This means that abundance and scarcity are one and the same for you.

Scholars have given many definitions to trust:

1. Trust in God is to prostrate your body in worship, to attach your heart to His lordship and to find solace in sufficiency.
2. Trust in God is to give up planning for yourself.
3. Trust in God is reliance on what is in God’s hand and despairing of whatever is in the hands of men.
4. Trust in God is contentment with Almighty Allah together with reliance upon Him.
5. The angel Jabrail said, “Trust in God is despairing of creatures and the realisation that no creation of Allah whatsoever can harm, bring benefit, provide or prevent. The precondition of trust is the heart’s turning away from everything except Allah.”

Trust in God is the attribute of the prophets, peace be upon them. Surrender (taslim) was the attribute of the prophet Ibrahim . Assigning one’s affairs to God] (tafwiz) the attribute of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. One who trusts in God is like an infant, who knows of nothing in which he can seek shelter except his mother’s breast. Likewise is one who trusts in God. He is guided only to his Almighty Lord].

FEATURES OF ONE WHO TRUSTS IN ALLAH

One who places trust in Allah can be recognised by distinguishing features. He does not ask. He does not turn anything away when given. He does not hold on to what was given to him. The best state of one who trusts is to be before Almighty Allah exactly as a dead body is before the corpse-washer. Because, you see, the deceased makes no movement nor has a will of its own. Cease planning and completely trust in the choice of Allah. You know that Almighty Allah was for you earlier than you yourself were for your nafs. Just as Allah was for you before your creation, so He will be for you after your death. You should elevate people from troubles - this is a criterion of muridin and perfected people. Just as material bodies are weighed, so the spiritual states and qualities of people are weighed and evaluated. Do not worry about the means of existence! Almighty Allah was for you even before your birth, so how could He forget you after you were born. Do not trouble by doing for yourself what others have done on your behalf.

Bishr al-Hafi said, “Some lie, saying that they trust in Allah. If they trusted in Allah, they would be contented with whatever He does with them."

USING REASONS DOES NOT CONTRADICT TRUST

Trust in God is the spiritual state of the Prophet ﷺ, and earning a means of existence by his labour is his path (Sunna). Whoever adheres to this state will never abandon his Sunna. Whoever condemns activity in earning a livelihood condemns the Sunna of the Prophet ﷺ. One who criticises trust in God criticises faith (iman). Know that the locus of trust in God is the heart. Outward action does not preclude trust in God in the heart].

Narrated from the companion, Anas ibn Malik : "A man came riding his camel to the Prophet ﷺ and asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, should I leave my camel untied and trust in Allah?’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘Tie up your camel and trust in Allah.’"

Ibrahim al-Khawwas was one of the people who put their trust in God. Nevertheless, he would never be without thread, a needle, scissors and a small vessel for ablutions. He used to say, "If you see a murid without a vessel for ablutions, thread and a needle, then you should worry about the completeness of his prayer."

Trust in God does not imply disregarding causations and neglecting prudency in matters. Rather, a wise person should focus on matters by being vigilant about them and seek the means and reasons that people usually employ to accomplish their objectives.

Proceeding from that said above, trust is one of the necessities of faith. Therefore, if trust is absent, then faith is also absent. This is because faith is monotheism and whoever relies on other than God does not solidify his faith in Oneness in reality, even if he asserts it with the tongue. By trust it is not intended the disregarding of causes and relying on what comes from creatures.

The remedy that leads a person to trust in God is zeal in five things: the first is the realisation that Almighty Allah is aware of your condition; the second is the conviction of the totality of the power of the Almighty; the third is the conviction that Allah is pure of forgetfulness and omission; the fourth is the realisation that He is free from breaking a promise and the fifth is the conviction that the Creator is the Most Generous and that He gives us everything we need without our requesting it.

GOLDEN WORDS ABOUT TRUST

Many statements have been narrated clarifying the essence of trust:

1. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Whoever wants to be the strongest of people, let him put his trust in Allah."
2. Yahya ibn Mu`adh was asked, “When is a man trusting in Allah?” He replied: "When he is contented with Almighty Allah as his guardian." [1].
3. When Ibn Ataillah was asked about the essence of trust in God, he replied, “It is that an anxious desire for things of the world should not appear in you, despite the severity of your need for them and that you should always remain truly content with God, despite your dependence on those things (asbab [2]).“
4. Abu Hatim al-Sijistani observed, “The condition of trust in God is what Abu Turab al-Nakhshabi has noted, ‘Casting down the body in worship, attaching the heart to lordship, and being serene as to the matter of sufficiency. If something is given, he is thankful, and if it is withheld, he is patient’."
5. Dhul-Nun al-Misri said, “Trust in God is abandoning the stratagems of the nafs and stripping off reliance on one’s own power and strength, for the servant is only capable of trust in God when he knows that Almighty Allah knows and sees all of his states."
6. It was also said, “Trust in God is restricting concern for livelihood to one day and refraining from aspirations for the morrow.”
7. Sahl ibn Abdullah said, "Trust in God is abandoning oneself to God in whatever He wishes."
8. It was also said, “Trusting in Allah (tawakkul) is a quality of believers. Surrender (taslim) is a quality of Allah’s beloved servants (awliya), and assigning one’s affairs to Allah (tafwiz) is the quality of those who assert His unity. Therefore, trust in God is the quality of common people, surrender is the quality of the elite and assigning one’s affairs to Allah is the quality of the elite of the elite.”
9. Dhul-Nun al-Misri noted, “Trust in God is deposing all masters (other than God) and cutting one’s attachment to all causes [other than God.” [3] And when a questioner asked further in this regard, the scholar continued, “It is casting the nafs into servitude to God, and ridding it of any pretension to lordship."

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[1]          That all his affairs are created and performed only by Allah.

[2]          This refers to work, some occupation and physical activity in order to obtain sustenance.

[3]          Being sure that Allah creates everything and that means themselves have no weight. And all one receives is from Allah.

FROM THE BOOK “VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS” BY SHEIKH AHMAD-AFANDI MUFTI DAGESTAN