How was the tawakkul of prophet muhammad to allah? What is the tawakkul?
Tawakkul is another moral principle which is the manifestation of strong faith and trust in Allah. Tawakkul means that after taking all the apparent measures and making all the necessary efforts to only rely and submit to Allah instead of the measures and efforts.
Tawakkul never means to give up working and holding up to the causes, and then to declare “I trust in Allah.” It does not mean laziness. In fact, when someone asked the Prophet (pbuh) whether he should trust in Allah with or without tying his ride, he (pbuh) told the man that “first tie your ride and then trust in Allah” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 60)
Tawakkul is something related to the end of an action not its beginning. Prayer has two different aspects: verbal and practical. To do everything to achieve one’s wishes is considered practical prayer; and to orally ask for them from Allah after doing everything needed to be done is called verbal prayer. Tawakkul, which encompasses both verbal and practical prayers, is the result of all the lofty feelings, such as leaving selfishness, pride, and arrogance and then realizing nothingness, weakness, and reliance only on Allah. Tawakkul originates from the faith that all power belongs to Allah and everything happens by His command.
One of the beautiful names of Allah is Wakil, which means the One who straightens the deeds of those who entrust them to Him, the One who can be relied on, and the One who controls and manages everything. Such an authority must be Eternal and All-Powerful. Relying upon beings and worldly property which are transient and weak are temporal and deceiving ambitions which end up with regret. Allah the Almighty leaves those who trust other beings alone with their trustees. This is why Allah the Almighty gives the following orders:
“And put your trust in Him Who lives and dies not; and celebrate his praise …” (al-Furqan 25; 58)
“…Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah…” (Al-i Imran 3; 159) And saying that “…And on Allah let all men of faith put their trust.” (Ibrahim 14; 11) Lord the Almighty commands His servants not to rely on anything else. Because “…And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, He will suffice him…” (al-Talaq 65; 3)
Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) informs us that Allah the Almighty will protect His trusting servants both in this world and in the Hereafter and place them in His Heaven without questioning as follows:
“Previous ummahs were shown to me. I saw a prophet who had three-five followers with him. I saw a prophet with one or two followers. I saw another prophet who had nobody with him. Then I met a big crowd. I thought it was my ummah. I was told “it is the ummah of Moses; look up to horizon.” I looked and saw an enormous darkness. I was told that “These are your ummah. And there are seventy thousand people amongst them, who will enter Paradise unquestioned.”
Ibn Abbas (r.a.) said that at this point of his saying, the Prophet (pbuh) stood up and went home. Companions began to talk about who those believers could be. Some said “they were those who had been present at the Prophet’s sermons.” Some others said: “they were those who had been born after the advent of Islam and never knew about polytheism.” Other views, too, were presented. Just as they were discussing this matter, Allah’s Messenger came and asked:
“What are you conversing about?”
They said “we were talking about those who would enter Paradise without being questioned.” Upon this the Prophet (pbuh) told them:
“They are those who do not practice magic or let others do it, do not believe in curse, and rely upon their Lord.” ‘Ukkasha b. Mihsan al-Asadi then stood up wrapping the blanket around him and said:
“O Messenger of Allah, supplicate before Allah that He should make me one among them.” Upon this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“You are one of them.”
Then, another companion stood up and said:
“O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah that He should make me one among them.”
This time Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said:
“‘Ukkasha has preceded you in this matter.” (Muslim, Iman, 374)
This saying infers that those who do not rely upon unlawful factors but put their trust in Allah during hardships are given the good news of eternal happiness. The Prophet (pbuh), who formed tawakkul as a habit in his life, would often make the following invocation:
“O Allah, it is unto You that I surrender myself. I affirm my faith in You and repose my trust in You and turn to You in repentance and with Your help fought my adversaries. O Allah, I seek refuge in You with Your Power, lest You lead me astray. There is no god but You. You are ever-living that die not, while the Jinn and mankind die.” (Muslim, Dhikr, 67)
It is possible to see the reflections of the Prophet’s reliance on Allah in every aspect of his life. He would act in this spiritual mood while going in and out of his home, going to bed and waking up, and in short, he relied on Allah in taking every step of his life. Umm Salamah (r.a.) narrates that:
“The Apostle of Allah (pbuh) never went out of my house without raising his eye to the sky and saying:
“With the name of Allah! I trust in Allah. O Allah! I seek refuge in You! You lest I stray or be led astray, or slip or made to slip, or cause injustice, or suffer injustice, or do wrong, or have wrong done to me.” (Abu Dawud, Adab, 102-103; Tirmidhi, Daawat, 35)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) emphasized the significance of reliance to Allah and staying away from heedlessness. While believers were coming back from the expedition of Dhat al-Riqa’, midday came upon them while they were in a valley that had many thorny trees. Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) and the people dismounted and dispersed to rest in the shade of the trees. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) rested under a tree called samurah and hung his sword on it. Jabir (r.a.) narrates the rest of the incident as follows:
“We all took a nap and suddenly we heard Allah’s Apostle (pbuh) calling us. We woke up to see a bedouin with him. The Prophet said,
“This bedouin took out my sword while I was sleeping and when I woke up, I found the unsheathed sword in his hand and he challenged me saying,
“Who will save you from me?” I said thrice,
“Allah”
The Prophet did not punish him but sat down.” (Bukhari, Jihad, 84, 87; Muslim, Fadail, 13)
Even though Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) faced a near-death-situation, he did not fear because of his complete trust in his Lord Almighty and was able to say “Allah will save me.” The bedouin dropped his sword and submitted himself before the firmness and solemnity of the Prophet. And then Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) called his companions and personally showed them how reliance to Allah needed to be. On the other hand, he invited the bedouin to Islam instead of punishing him for his murder attempt. Because of the Prophet’s lofty approach, he could not help but say to his people later “I am coming from the presence of the best person.”
Companions saw the best manifestation of tawakkul from the Prophet himself, realized its true meaning, and applied it in their own lives. Yahia b. Murrah narrates:
“Ali (r.a.) used to go out to the mosque for night prayer (tahajjud) during his caliphate. One night we followed him for protection. After completing his prayer he came to us and asked:
“Why are you here?” We said:
“We keep guarding you.” He asked:
“Are you protecting me from the beings of heavens or from the creation on earth?” We said:
“From the people of earth” then Ali (r.a.) told us:
“Nothing happens on earth unless it was predestined in the heavens. Everyone has been given two guarding angels. They protect the person till the day destiny takes its toll. Then they leave him/her alone with his/her destiny. There is Allah the Almighty’s protection on me, too. This protection will end when my time comes. A servant cannot taste his/her faith unless he knows with certainty that the written destiny will surely happen and the unwritten things never happen.” (Ibn Asakir, XLII, 552)
Those who do not trust in Allah and forget Him and think that everything happens by their own acts will eventually face their destiny. However, it will be without gaining Allah’s contentment and passing their worldly test. Whereas, reliance on Allah gets the servant closer to his/her Lord and helps him/her live life easily and peacefully.
Source: An Excellent Exemplar, Osman Nuri Topbaş, Erkam Publications
