What is Tawakul?

Has it ever crossed your mind about the meaning of Tawakul? Briefly enough, Tawakul means to trust Allah in every step in your life, to let go of the burdens you carry about your life to Allah, and finally, to surrender to the endless power of Almighty Allah.
ببساطه شديده التوكل هو تسليم الامر للخالق ألا و هو الله الواحد الأحد لأنه ليس لدينا كمسلمين ملجأ غيره فنلجأ اليه فى كل الاوقات, اوقات ضعفنا قبل اوقات قوتنا و قدرتنا.
Tawakul, in other words, is to allow yourself to apprehend that everything is in the hands of Allah so there will be no need to worry about your life, future, and destiny.

Why do Muslims opt for Tawakul?

Despite the fact that Allah has ordered Muslims to be dependant on him and to do Tawakul and it was not their choice originally, Muslims have found serenity, calmness, and prosperity in their religious spirit to loosen the tight ropes of life which are around their necks and hand it over to Allah and not worrying. Although it seems a lot easy to let go of everything, which is uncontrollable anyway, to Allah and focus more on what you can do as a Muslim, to be a “Muttawakel” “متوكل” or to do “Tawakul” “ان تتوكل علي الله ” is much challenging and compelling than it seems. Human nature tends to overthink, overthinking about the next minute, the next hour, the near future, the far future, overthinking about others, etc. and the loop does not end.
بمعني اخر ان الانسان مخلوق ضعيف لا يستطيع ان يترك طبيعته و يتخلي عن التفكير في كل شئ ، فمقدرته علي ان يترك التفكير في كل صغيره و كبيره سواء كانت لمستقبله او غيره تكون درجه صعبه من انفصاله عن طبيعته التي تميل للقلق و تميل للتفكير فى المستقبل او الماضي او غيره علي الرغم من أنه ليس بيديه أن يفعل شئ بل إن الأمر كله لله.
That is why “Tawakul” may seem a little bit harder than it seems, yet after all, it is all about trusting Allah’s plan and power in managing everything. Tawakul may also be seen as a shelter or a haven for those who seem helpless or cannot help themselves.

When do Muslims most need to adhere to “Tawakul”?

It is mostly seen in hard times. In hardships when people happen to feel helpless or unable to do anything or when they feel they need to be dependent on something, that is when they adhere to “Tawakul”. It is the times when people are the most vulnerable, fragile, and need comforting, only then do they start to remember the “tawakul”.
يلجئ المسلم لربه وقت الابتلاء او الشده او الضيق فكلها اوقات يحتاج المسلم إلي أن يرجع بين يدي خالقه ليشعر بالامان و الورع و الخشوع و يرجع الي اصل حاله و انه عبد لله حيث لا مفر من الله او ملجأ بدونه.
To let go of everything and start to pay more attention to how things are going to turn around for their benefit in the end, even if they don’t see it now, or even how ambiguous it is to them at the moment, Allah’s will is just above it all. As mentioned in the Quran before in Surat Al-Baqarah: verse 216: “But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah knows while you know not.”
وَعَسَى أَنْ تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ وَعَسَى أَنْ تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌّ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُون
Here, Allah is comforting us that no matter how life is, it shall be best for us.

Does that mean no need for hard work?

Absolutely not!! Tawakul shall never be confused with our duty to do our best, to always go for the extra mile, and do our best as Muslims. It should never be a reason behind laziness or procrastination. However, the relationship between both the hard work and Tawakul is inter-related. In other words, a Muslim should work hard, dream for what is good, beneficial, and fruitful for his life and religion indeed, yet, the overthinking if some things have not worked out as you want, or the excessive thinking about what may happen next or fear of the upcoming is all in the hands of Allah so there is nothing to do about. It is just uncontrollable and at the same time inevitable… here Tawakul interferes when you let things go after doing your best, after working hard for it, and after taking every precaution for that process to succeed. Then, only then, you should adhere to Tawakul. You should let it slip from your hands into Allah’s hand without any regret, worry, or remorse.
بمعني اخر، أن علينا ان نسلم امرنا الي الله و كما نقول في دعائنا اللهم اخرجني من حولي و قوتي الي حولك و قوتك ،التي هي اعظم و ارحم مما نحن عليه لأنفسنا. نجد في نهايه المطاف أن كل شئ بيد الله و لا مفر مما هو مكتوب لنا إنما نحن نعيش ما كتبه الله لنا فالتوكل امر شأنه عظيم عند الله.
To be more precise, Tawakul is not either an escape from responsibility. Getting away from responsibility is not what Tawakul is, it is entirely the opposite, it is about waiting for the fruitful results of what you achieved.

Types of Tawakul:

It can be classified into 3 main categories based on our use and need for such gift which Allah gave us.

1. To adhere to Tawakul in the things which you cannot control.
   التوكل في الأمور التي لا يقدر عليها إلا الله
2. To be a Muttawakel in things that can be fairly controllable such as having high hopes in some specific situations of life or high expectations towards some people.
   ا لتوكل في الأسباب الظاهرة، كمن يعلق آماله ورجاءه على أحد من الخلق فيما أقدره الله عليه
3. To be a Muttawakel on other people here means to be dependant on other people due to differences in our capabilities that Allah has created causing these differences so that some people are able to do what others can not, consequently, it is inevitable asking favors from others since Allah has given different gifts and نعم to different people.
   التوكل على المخلوق في فعل ما يقدر عليه بأن يوكله

Who are the people which take Tawakul as their curriculum in life?

Tawakul is just another gift or نعمه Allah has given us in order to endure and have the resilience to survive.
عن الطريق التوكل علي الله و تسليم امورنا كلها له، ينعم علينا الله هبه و نعمه تجعلنا اكثر ايمانا و اكثر عزيمه من عند الله
When it comes to utilizing this opportunity, Allah has mentioned the ample types of people who he expects to be from the Muttawakelon المتوكلون علي الله
Already mentioned in the Quran the most beloved people by Allah who are the ones who adhere to Tawakul, is the Mo’menoon المؤمنون
AlMo’menoon: mentioned multiple times in the Quran that firstly, Almo’menoon are the people who adhere to Tawakul, and secondly, is that Allah loves AlMutawakel
لقد كتب فى القران عده مرات كلمه “التوكل” و لكن اكثر ما اقترن معها هم المؤمنون وانهم هم من يتوكلوا علي الله مثلما كان فى سوره ابراهيم :
“وعلي الله فليتوكل المؤمنون”
و في سوره الانفال مره اخري:
“إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَى رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ”
ومره ثالثه فى سوره المائده : “وعلي الله توكلوا ان كنتم مؤمنين”
ومره اخري فى سوره ال عمران:
ٱلَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّ ٱلنَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُواْ لَكُمْ فَٱخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَٰنًا وَقَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا ٱللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ ٱلْوَكِيلُ
كل الايات تعطينا و تؤكد لنا معني من هم المؤمنون بالتحديد و ما صفاتهم و ما علاقتهم بالمتوكلين إمعانا و تأكيدا لأهميه و عظمه منزله التوكل عند الله فهي بمثابه تسليم الامر لله و خضوع له و إقرار مننا كمسلمين أنه هو الواحد الأحد لا إله الا هو.

What can we learn from Tawakul?

If it is one crucial thing we shall learn when we adhere to Tawakul, it shall be learning that Allah is our only savior, rescuer, protector, and the knowing of everything. When we feel helpless, we shall depend on him. When we feel hopeless, Allah is our only savior. So Tawakul is about handing over the leadership to Allah since he is all-knowing. A hadeeth was recorded to fatherly elaborate on the intricate details of Tawakul, a man came and wanted to leave his camel alone and loose without tying it to anything thinking that he is adhering to Tawakul, trusting Allah so Allah shall protect his camel from straying away in the desert or being stolen, yet the prophet Mohammed PBUH, has asked him to tether his camel and then move by. The words of the prophet Mohammed were crystal clear saying, “Trust in Allah but tether your camel”. – قال رجُلٌ لِلنَّبيِّ صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم : أُرسِلُ ناقتي وأتوكَّلُ ؟ قال : ( اعقِلْها وتوكَّلْ )

In the end, we may conclude that Tawakul is handing the lead to Allah and letting go of what is uncontrollable to Allah yet after always going for the extra mile and doing our best.