Tawakkul or Fatalism

Umar Bin Khattaab (radi Allahu anhu) heard the Messenger of Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) saying, “If you trust Allah with the right kind of Tawakkul, He will provide you sustenance as He provides for the birds – they go out in the morning with empty stomachs and come back in the evening with full stomachs.” [Tirmidhi]

A bird sitting in its nest, praising Allah (subhana wa ta’ala), will not have its stomach filled. It has to go out to seek food. It is only the bird that after glorifying Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) goes out and makes an effort to find food, that comes back full.  

Belief in Allah's qada and qadar does not preclude action. Hazrat Umar (radi Allahu anhu) asked a group of people sitting around: “Who are you?” They replied: “We are resigned to the will of Allah and have placed our trust (made Tawakkul) in Him.” These people refused to bother with trying to earn a living using Tawakkul as an excuse. Umar (radi Allahu anhu) hit them and told them not to twist the concept of Tawakkul. He said, “You lie! Such a person is resigned to the will of Allah who sows the seed and then places his trust in Him. It is not Tawakkul to sit with idle hands. Gold and silver do not descend from the sky.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ahmed's White Palace

“Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) addressed the people asking three times, ‘Yaum al-khalas, and what is yaum al-khalas. Yaum al-khalas, and what is yaum al-khalas.’ Somebody asked, ‘What is this yaum al-khalas?’ The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, ‘Dajjal will come and climb Mount Uhud. Then he will say to his friends, ‘Do you see that white palace (qasre abyad)? That is Ahmed’s masjid.’ Then he will come towards Madina Munawwara but on every path he takes he will encounter an angel with an unsheathed sword. Then he will go towards Sabghatul Jarf and will strike his camp and Madina Munawwara will be jolted thrice as a result of which every munafiq (hypocrite) man and woman and fasiq (habitually sinning) man and woman will leave Madina and go with him. In this way Madina will be purified of sinners and this is yaum al-khalas (the day of relief).’” [Hakim in Mustadrak] This hadith is Sahih on the conditions of Imam Muslim. Imam Dhahabi has corrobora
Read more

Ridiculing Allah’s Commands

Abu Hurairah (radi Allahu anhu) narrated that the Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “It was said to the children of Israel, ‘Enter the gate (of the town), prostrate (in humility) and say: Hittatun (repentance) i.e., O Allah! Forgive our sins.’ But they entered by dragging themselves on their buttocks, so they did something different (from what they had been ordered to do) and said, ‘Hittatun,’ but added, ‘A grain in a hair.’” [Sahih Bukhari] The Bani Israil have distinguished themselves in history as the most disobedient and rebellious of people. They have, however, already met with the consequences of their behaviour. So then why are their stories narrated to us in the Quran and hadith in such a large number? This is because Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) knew that we, the last nation, would insist on following in their footsteps. Thus, He made clear to us with their examples which actions earn Allah’s wrath and punishment and which actions are worth emulating. This incident is
Read more

Up to a Third

In the year of Hajjatul-Wada, Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) paid a Sahabah a visit while he was suffering from an ailment that had brought him to the verge of death. He said, “O Allah's Apostle! My sickness has reduced me to the (bad) state that you see, and I am a rich man, but have no heirs except one daughter. Shall I give 2/3 of my property in charity?” The Prophet replied, “No.” The Sahabah said, “Then 1/2 of it?” The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Even 1/3 is too much, for, to leave your inheritors wealthy is better than to leave them in poverty, begging from people. And (know that) whatever you spend in Allah's Cause, you will get reward for it, even for the morsel of food which you put in your wife's mouth.” [Bukhari] From this hadith we learn that we may will away a maximum of a third of our wealth. The other two thirds must be distributed according to the rules of inheritance laid down by Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). Another thing we learn
Read more