On Reliance on God

Chapter 31 The Book of Assistance, On Reliance On God(Tawakkal)

BismilLah

-Syeikh began by asking us to think what are the connections between sabr, syukur zuhud and tawakkal.
- Stations (maqaam) have three elements in it: ‘ilm, ‘amal and haal (knowledge, state and action).
- Imam Ghazali said tawakkal is manzilu min manaazilu deen (Manzil being a place to rest or relax, a station, home) wa maqaam min maqamat muqeenun (those with certainty, syukur and tawakkal have the same origin but with different maqam and Imam Bukhari and Imam Haddad put syukur before tawakkal in their books) bal huwa min ma’ali (higher) darajat muqtaribeena (those who seek to come close) wa ufi nafsi ghamidoon min haythu ‘ilm wa syaqul ‘amal– it is ghamid: difficult to comprehend in knowledge and difficult in action.
- Imam Malik was the first muhaddith to organise his book in chapters. He collected ahadith and prayed istikhara before placing the hadith in which chapter.
- In Ihya’ of Imam Ghazali, he placed tawakkal in book 5 (last quarter: munjiyaat) chapter 4 and named it Kitab tawhid and tawakkal.
- The first section in Al-Hikam is fiqh al-asbab ie the mean.

- Tawakkal came from the root word wakala. It means handing over responsibility and depending on their judgement. Wakala is translated as an agent in english.
- According to Imam Ghazali the reality of a mutawakkil connected to his heart. It is like I’timadul haj ie handing over stone to someone in haj.
- Four qualities to have tawakkal on someone:
- muntahal hidaya (upmost guidance) – the one who guide
- have the power
- fisaha (eloquence) with action
- syafaqa (compassion, affable)
- There is a hadith quoted by many muhaddith amongst them Ibnu Majah and Ibnu Hambal who put it in the chapter of Zuhud:
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
Birds have tawakkal in Allah but they still went out in the morning. According to Ibnu Hajar tawakkal is not leaving the asbab and action. A man said that he did not leave the masjid because his rizq is from Allah. Ahmad Ibnu Hambal said that this man did not have knowledge.