It si derived from one of the Attribution of Allah (Al-Wakil).
Simply refers to the administration of each and every needs of His creations without causing any harm.
However, some of His action upon men is sometimes misunderstood by
some people as an act which torture people’s feeling. As for an example, a married
couples who had just having their first baby and suddenly, He takes the baby
away from the family. Now this situation seems to be injustice to some people,
but if we are ones who trust in Allah’s decision, we know that there are
reasons behind all of His action.
The baby, if he survive, might one day cause harm to people, and
might become someone who disbelieve in Allah, who disobey his parents, who
might leads to unethical practices. When the parents consented that there is
hidden meaning in Allah’s action and trust in Him all along, they will then be
rewarded with blessing from Him.
Let us recall the incidents which happen to our beloved prophet,
Saidina Rasulillah S.A.W. In the early
propagation of Islam, Saidina Rasulillah S.A.W was supported by two well-known
figures, Saidatina Khadijah rdh. and Saidina Abi Talib rdh. However, in the
time that he need them the most, Allah The Almighty taken away their lives,
leaving the prophet alone.
What was done by our prophet back then when these situations happen
to him?
Instead, he becomes more determine on his goal. He willingly went
to Thaif to propagate Islam which situated almost 100 kilometer from his
hometown. This is the act of tawakkal.
Technically, it means to do all the things that Allah had summon
mankind and being dependent only on Him without taking into consideration to be
dependent on, other than Him.
One good example is the act of prophet Ibrahim A.S, when he was
about to be thrown into a cloud of fire of Namrud.
When Ibrahim was in his teenagers, he was accused for destroying
the Idols of his people. He was brought into accusation with tied hand in front
of his people who were led by Namrud.
فَقَالَ
إِنِّى سَقِيمٌ - فَتَوَلَّوْاْ عَنْهُ مُدْبِرِينَ - فَرَاغَ إِلَى ءَالِهَتِهِمْ
فَقَالَ أَلا تَأْكُلُونَ - مَا لَكُمْ لاَ تَنطِقُونَ - فَرَاغَ عَلَيْهِمْ
ضَرْباً بِالْيَمِينِ - فَأَقْبَلُواْ إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ - قَالَ أَتَعْبُدُونَ
مَا تَنْحِتُونَ - وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ - قَالُواْ ابْنُواْ
لَهُ بُنْيَـناً فَأَلْقُوهُ فِى الْجَحِيمِ - فَأَرَادُواْ بِهِ كَيْداً
فَجَعَلْنَـهُمُ الاٌّسْفَلِينَ
(37:88-98)
(89. And he
said: "Verily, I am sick.'') (90. So they turned away from him and
departed.) (91. Then he turned to their gods and said: "Will you not
eat'') (92."What is the matter with you that you speak not'') (93. Then he
turned upon them, striking (them) with (his) right hand.) (94. Then they came
hastily towards him.) (95. He said: "Worship you that which you
(yourselves) carve'') (96."While Allah has created you and what you
make!'') (97. They said: "Build for him a building and throw him into the
blazing fire!'') (98. So, they plotted a plot against him, but We made them the
lowest.)
Ibrahim, peace
be upon him, said this to his people so that he could stay behind in the city
when they went out for their festival. The time was approaching for them to go
out to celebrate a festival of theirs, and he wanted to be alone with their
gods so that he could break them, so he told them something that was true, for
he was indeed sick of the implications of what they believed in.
When Ibrahim was put on the giant catapult, Jibril A.S came to him
to give him help. Instead of accepting the offer, Ibrahim confessed “Let it be
Allah who saves us, as He is the ultimate Defender.”
Hasbiyallah wa ni’mal wakil
Blessed with His guidance, the fire that was said to be perfectly
light up does not even burn single hair of Ibrahim’s body.
قُلْنَا ينَارُ كُونِى
بَرْداً وَسَلَـمَا عَلَى إِبْرَهِيمَ (21:69)
We said:
"O fire! Be you cool and safety for Ibrahim!''
Ayah(s)
on the summon towards the course of tawakkal.
1 To
Saidina Rasulillah S.A.W
فَتَوَكَّلْ
عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّكَ عَلَى الْحَقِّ الْمُبِينِ (3:79)
So, put your
trust in Allah; surely, you are on manifest truth
وَتَوَكَّلْ
عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلاً
(33:3)
And put your
trust in Allah, and sufficient is Allah as a Trustee
2 To
His Prophets and Messenger
وَمَا لَنَآ
أَلاَّ نَتَوَكَّلَ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَقَدْ هَدَانَا سُبُلَنَا (14:12)
"And why should we not put our trust in Allah while He indeed
has guided us in our ways And we shall certainly bear with patience all the
hurt you may cause us, and in Allah (alone) let those who trust, put their
trust.''
3 To
the Companions
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ
إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُواْ لَكُمْ فَاخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَـناً
وَقَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ (3:173)
Those to whom the people said,
"Verily, the people have gathered against you, therefore, fear them.'' But
it (only) increased them in faith, and they said: "Allah is Sufficient for
us, and He is the Best Disposer of affairs.''
To His Auliya’ (Chosen People)
رَّبَّنَا
عَلَيْكَ تَوَكَّلْنَا وَإِلَيْكَ أَنَبْنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ (60:4)
"Our Lord! In You we put our trust, and to You we turn in
repentance, and to You is the final Return.''
Elaboration
on the attitude of the Believers who trust in Allah
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ
ءَايَـتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَـناً وَعَلَى
رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
(8:2)
The believers are only those who, when
Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Ayat are recited
unto them, they increase their faith; and they put their trust in their Lord
ALLAH’S LOVE TOWARDS PEOPLE WHO TRUST IN HIM
It is clearly stated in one of the Ayah in the Quran which
specifically refers to those Allah love and care for them.
فَبِمَا
رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ وَلَوْ كُنْتَ فَظّاً غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ
لاَنْفَضُّواْ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ
فِى الاٌّمْرِ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ
الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
(3:159)
And by the mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you
been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you; so
pardon them, and ask forgiveness for them; and consult them in the affairs.
Then when you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah
loves those who put their trust (in Him)
Allah created mankind with senses and feeling which was also known
as al-Hidayah al-Hawas. He let men to be able to success as well as to fail. He
also judged that men can rule on something, but through all these fates, He
only let it to ones who is able to stand it as mentioned in the following ayah,
لاَ يُكَلّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ
وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ
(2:285)
Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for
that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he
has earned.
The more Allah’s love towards His servant, the more
tests He would give on him.
MISUNDERSTANDING ON THE CONCEPT OF TAWAKKAL
Nowadays, we can see that not all Muslims understand the concept of
tawakkal. They believe that without hard work, they could achieve excellent. In
brief, a student who wish to get flying colors in all the semesters should not just
fooling around, sitting or playing without striving in his studies. He must work
hard in order to attain success and after all of this preparation,
he must pray to ALLAH SWT that he could achieve excellent result. He can only rely
on ALLAH SWT after struggling in his study. He must believe that Allah is the
one who gives rewards and all of his effort towards success based on the ayah,
وَلَوْ شِئْنَا
لاّتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا وَلَـكِنْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ مِنْى لاّمْلأَنَّ
جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
(32:13)
And if We had willed,
surely We would have given every person his guidance, but the Word from Me took
effect, that I will fill Hell with Jinn and mankind together
It means that, those who want to be guided by Him, want to be
rewarded by Him, he must struggle to achieve it. That is the true concept of Tawakkal.
It is about relying on the power of ALLAH SWT to get the best result after we
struggle and work for it. Without hard work and struggle, our fate could not be
changed at all as ALLAH SWT mention in Quran al – Karim that HE will not change
the fate of the man, until the man change his fate himself unless it is His
wills that it happen. It was clearly stated that to get a good and excellent
result we cannot just relying on ALLAH without struggle but we must struggle
and strive towards excellence first before ALLAH help us to achieve it. Without
struggling ALLAH cannot help us as we did not help ourselves.
If ALLAH SWT did not give a good result after we have striven and
give our best, then we must believe that all that happen will have a good
reason as ALLAH SWT mention,
“So, verily, with every
difficulty, there is relief” [94: 5]
ALLAH
SWT did not give us what we want, but HE give us what we need.
Prior to my understanding, I would like to stress that the act of
tawakkal does not simply refer to the act of relying on Allah without
applying any effort on the thing that we wish. The act of tawakkal is
important that He gives specific command on different Ayahs in the Quran
towards different category of mankind regarding tawakkal. We are relying
on Allah on everything that we are doing such as breath, eat and sleep. It’s
just that the concept of tawakkal is referring to the effort done before
achieving any of the will with the help from Him.
وَمَا لَنَآ أَلاَّ
نَتَوَكَّلَ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَقَدْ هَدَانَا سُبُلَنَا وَلَنَصْبِرَنَّ عَلَى مَآ
آذَيْتُمُونَا وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُتَوَكِّلُونَ
(14:12)
"And why should we not put our trust in Allah
while He indeed has guided us in our ways And we shall certainly bear with patience
all the hurt you may cause us, and in Allah (alone) let those who trust, put
their trust.''
Wallahu’alam
