Trust in God (tawakkul)

Tawakkul (trust in God) is, in the forty-ninth hadith of Ibn Rajab's additions, the worship of the heart by which provision is obtained: "If you truly trusted in God as He should be trusted, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds: they go out hungry in the morning and return full in the evening." ¹

True trust is the heart's reliance on God for obtaining what is sought, while taking the means, as the bird goes out in the morning, and not the abandonment of striving. The birds themselves go out and return, combining work with commitment. ¹

It is connected with faith in the museum's classification.

The Sheikh holds that hope in God is closer than fear of Him, and says that God has counted everything in a book that neither errs nor forgets, whereas we forget ².

The Sheikh mentions people who entrusted their affairs to God and then asks the listener what he himself does; he returns to four places that, as he said before, look dark and narrow yet hold all the good, and says a person has two kinds of sight, the sight of the eye and the sight of insight (needs_source) ³.

He says that whoever has God with him has everyone with him, and whoever has God against him has everyone against him, and he notes that God is with those who are God-fearing and with the doers of good ⁴.

The Sheikh speaks of an employee's worry that his manager will be displeased with him or let him go if he falls short, then says we need a faith like children's faith, and gives the example of an infant who wakes and calls for his father and is reassured ⁵.

He asks why a child of one or two years is at ease, and answers that God created his heart without muddy thinking, so he is like a fisherman whose provision comes while he waits patiently, and he asks the one who returns anxious whether he did not come back with a catch ⁶.

The Sheikh calls on a person to follow his Lord and not anyone else out of tribal loyalty, to leave the matter of the universe to its Creator and to entrust the affair to his Lord ⁷.

He calls for relying on God rather than on a strong tribe, a prominent family or a minister, and mentions young men each boasting that his father is the chief of police, the head of an office, or some other figure ⁸.

The Sheikh says that trust in God is of two kinds: trust in God for worldly needs, and trust in God for what He loves and approves, namely faith, certainty, struggle and calling to God ^{9 10}.

He says the second kind is the greater, and that whoever trusts God in it as He deserves is sufficed by the first kind ¹¹.

He says the greatest trust is trust in God when bearing harm, in calling to God, in following the Prophet ﷺ and in struggling against falsehood, and he calls this the hardest thing ^{12 13}.

He says that trust alongside taking the means means trusting the Causer of causes, not the means themselves: one studies, then relies on God for success ¹⁴.

He says that the reality of trust is the heart's reliance on God alone, and that taking the means does not harm it while the heart does not lean on them ¹⁵.

He says one should not rely on a person who may die, leave or forget, but on God, who endures and does not pass away; he quotes a verse, not named by him ^{16 17}.

The Sheikh says that a person is at his best in relief when he despairs of worldly means and entrusts his affair to God ¹⁸. He recounts that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) slept under a palm tree, safe and at ease, and he takes this as a sign of trust in God ¹⁹.

The Sheikh holds that the more certain a servant is of his Lord, the more he takes up the causes while not letting his heart rest on them (needs_source) ²⁰. He holds, as his own opinion, that prayer alone is not enough, and that the servant must begin with action and the taking of means ²¹.

He says that true reliance on God brings steadiness, and that when something unusual happens one seeks refuge in God from Satan while still using the lawful means. ²² He mentions a hadith about the birds, and recounts Umar's remark to a man who sat in the mosque relying on others: work is the basis. ²³ He distinguishes tawakkul from using it as an excuse for idleness, and gives the example of a doctor who diagnoses and treats the illness and then leaves the cure to God. ²⁴ He cites a verse that God is sufficient for whoever relies on Him (the verse is not cited by number in the recording). ²⁵

The Sheikh says that Hatim saw people hoarding worldly goods, and taught them contentment because what is with God remains. ²⁶ He counts among Hatim's lessons, as the eighth, that a person should rely on God and not on people. ²⁷ He says that people rely on their uncles, relatives and officials, and that those they rely on fall from office or die. ²⁸

He says that death is by God's decree, not caused by illness or old age: healthy people die without a cause, and sick people live long. ²⁹ He says that Jabir committed his affair to God, and that God lends us the body as a trust and may take it back. ³⁰ He holds that the believer accepts what God has decreed, that trials are tests, and that the richest are those who are safe, healthy and have their daily food. ³¹ He holds that a person should know that what reached him would not have missed him, and what missed him would not have reached him, and he regards grief over worldly losses as one of the causes of constriction. ³²

He says that lack of reliance on God creates anxiety, that one should not worry about tomorrow, and that when trouble comes one should pray (needs_source: the link between anxiety and lack of reliance is not sourced in the recording). ³⁴ He says that a person's provision and lifespan are written by an angel at a fixed stage in the womb, so one should not fret about years ahead, and he describes the stages of the womb in periods of forty days (needs_source: the figures and the saying are not sourced in the recording). ³⁵