Trusting in Allah and Abiding By the Necessary Means – Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan
Furthermore, relying upon Allah does not mean that you abandon the means and entrust all of your affairs to Allah.
So (for example) you should not abandon seeking (your daily)
sustenance, saying: “If Allah wanted us to have sustenance, it would
come to us even if we are sitting.” We should also not abandon seeking
knowledge, saying: “If Allah wanted us to have knowledge, it would come
to us even if we are sitting in our homes.” This also applies to
abandoning all of the other necessary things that we must have, saying:
“If Allah had decreed it for us, it would come to us without us
embarking on the means for it.” This is extremely wrong.
So there must be a combination of the two:
1. Putting one’s trust in Allah and
2. Abiding by the necessary means.
So a person must embark on the means when
seeking after sustenance, whilst at the same time putting his trust in
Allah to achieve his objective.
A person plants crops while putting his
trust in Allah that his crops will grow and produce fruit. At the same
time, he protects his crops from threats. In order for you to reap the
benefits of the crops and for them to be useful to you, you must plant
the crops, sow the seeds, water them and care for them. At the same
time, you should put your trust in Allah that He will protect them, make
them grow, allow them produce fruit, enable you to reap their benefits
and use them.
Similar to this is when a person forsakes
marriage, saying: “This is part of putting one’s trust in Allah since if
Allah intended children for me, they would come to me without me
getting married.”
We say: This is wrong. No one with any common sense, let alone a believer, says such a thing. Allah has placed means for all things. Marriage is a means for procreating and producing offspring. Allah has ordered us to abide by the means, so you must implement the means.
Marriage is a means and it comes from your actions. You are the one who
does it and who seeks after it. As for the actual achievement of
children, that comes from Allah. And that is the fruit of marriage. So the result is in the Hand of Allah, but as for the means, it comes from you.
So there must be a combination of the two:
1. Embarking on the means while
2. Relying on Allah.
As for one who relies solely on
the means without putting his trust in Allah or who relies solely on
putting his trust in Allah without implementing the means, both of them
are wrong and in error.
This is why the scholars, may Allah have mercy on them, said: “Relying solely upon the means is shirk (polytheism), while abandoning the means is a defamation of the Religion.”
This is since the Religion commands us to abide by the means. So
denying and abandoning the means is a defamation of the Religion and a
failure to enact what Allah has ordered.
Allah says:
“So seek provision from Allah and worship Him (alone).”
[Al-`Ankaboot: 17]
His statement: “So seek provision from Allah and worship Him (alone)” means:
“Look for sustenance and do not sit
around in the masaajid claiming that you are putting your trust in
Allah. Do not sit in your homes and claim that your daily sustenance
will come to you.”
This is wrong and a true believer does not say such things.
When ‘Umar (radiallaahu ‘anhu) once saw a
group of people that claimed they were putting their trust in Allah
while at the same time they were abandoning the means, he said to them:
“Who are you people?” They replied: “We are the Mutawakkiloon (those who
put their trust in Allah).” So he said: “No, rather you are Muta’akkiloon (those who look to be fed)” – meaning: You want to be dependent upon the people.
Allah says:
“So when the (Friday) prayer is completed, spread throughout the land and seek after Allah’s Bounty.”
[Surah Al-Jumu’ah: 10]
This means: Buy and sell and seek your sustenance by implementing the practical means.
Allah orders them (in this ayah) to perform worship and to pray at the
proper time and designated location, which is the masjid. Then He orders
them to seek sustenance in its designated location, which is outside of
the masjid:
“So when the (Friday) prayer is completed, spread throughout the land.”
This is since remembering Allah is a means for obtaining sustenance as well. In fact, it is the greatest means for attaining sustenance and facilitating matters.
Allah says:
“And whoever is dutiful to Allah,
He makes a way out for him (from every difficulty). And He will provide
for him from places he never could imagine. And whoever puts his trust
in Allah, He will suffice him. Verily, Allah will accomplish His
purpose. Indeed, Allah has set a measure for all things.”
[Surah At-Talaaq: 2-3]
‘Umar (radiallaahu ‘anhu) went on to say:
“You know for sure that the sky does not send down silver and gold.”
He reprimanded this group that had sat down to worship and become dependent upon others.
He presented them with this gem of advice, saying to them:
“You know for sure that the sky does not send down silver and gold.”
Gold and silver can only be achieved through hard effort, seeking after sustenance and implementing the means. As
for the one who claims that he is putting his trust in Allah but yet
denies the means, it should be said to him that he is debilitated –
meaning that he is lazy. This comes from the word debility,
which refers here to laziness and inactivity. The Prophet (sallallaahu
‘alayhi wa sallam) would seek refuge in Allah from debility and
laziness. [1]
A person may have no recourse in being
debilitated due to the lack of the functionality of one of his body
parts or one of his senses. Such a person is excused. He is debilitated
and deserves assistance. As for debility that comes about due to
laziness, inactivity and failing to abide by the means, whilst one
believes that he is relying upon Allah, such debility is condemnable.
The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) sought refuge from this as
well as from cowardice, miserliness, overwhelming debt and the
subjugation of people.
Some people would go on the pilgrimage
(Hajj) with Muslims and not bring any provisions or supplies with them.
They would do this claiming that they were putting their trust in Allah
and that they would be provided for without them having to bring
provisions along with them.
So Allah said:
“And take provision with you for the journey, but indeed the best provision is Taqwaa (righteousness)”
[Surah Al-Baqarah: 197],
ordering them to take provisions.
Provisions are of two types: the provision of this world and the provision of the Hereafter.
The provision of the worldly life comes in
the form of food, drink, clothes, and all of the other things that a
person needs when he travels.
As for the provision for the journey in the Hereafter, then it is Taqwa.
Allah says:
“But indeed the best provision is Taqwa.”
[Surah Al-Baqarah: 197]
So take provisions for your worldly life
and take provisions for your Hereafter. Take provisions for your worldly
life with food, drink and the necessary supplies for traveling so that
you will not need to depend on others. And take provisions for your
Hereafter with Taqwa, which can be defined as implementing Allah’s
commandments while abandoning His prohibitions.
So what is meant by Taqwa is
taking a wiqaayah, or a defense that protects you from Allah’s
punishment and anger, and protects you from the Fire. Such a
defense can only be achieved by performing righteous actions. And with
the Taqwa of Allah you will be able to save yourself from the Hellfire,
as Allah says:
“Then We shall save those who used
to fear Allah and were dutiful to Him. And We shall leave the
wrongdoers therein (humbled) to their knees (in Hell).”
[Surah Maryam: 72]
So therefore, nothing grants salvation except for righteous deeds. Faith
in Allah and righteous deeds are the provisions of the Hereafter, and
they are a protection from His anger, His fire and His punishment.
The servant is commanded to seek after the requirements of his
religious and worldly affairs. He is obligated to seek after the
requirements of his affairs of this life and the next. He is obligated to put his trust in Allah and to implement the means. So there must be a combination of this and that.
No one should understand the
meaning of relying upon Allah to be: abandoning the require means. This
is wrong. Nor should anyone understand that implementing the means
suffices over putting one’s trust in Allah. Rather, both – (1) relying
upon Allah and (2) implementing the required means – must be present.
The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:
“If you were to put your trust
in Allah as He deserves, He would surely provide for you just as He
provides for the birds: They set out in the morning with empty stomachs
and return at the end of the day full.”
[Reported by Ahmad and At-Tirmidhee, who declared it sound] [2]
His (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) statement:
“If you were to put your trust in Allah”
means: If you were to rely on Him, cling your hopes to Him, and trust in His promise,
“He would surely provide for you just as He provides for the birds: They set out in the morning with empty stomachs.”
The birds go out at the beginning of the
day seeking sustenance. They set out from their nests with their
stomachs empty, i.e. hungry, and return at the end of the day full, i.e.
with their stomachs filled with sustenance.
Notice how a bird does not sit back and
remain in its nest. Rather, it seeks after the means by leaving its nest
and going to the places where it can find its daily sustenance.
So the birds – due to their natures which
Allah created them upon – are aware that they must abide by the means,
and as a result they go out to seek sustenance. As a result, Allah
provides for these birds and they return home with stomachs full of
Allah’s sustenance.
Therefore, O son of Aadam, if you were to
act in the same way as these birds do, Allah would provide for you just
as He provides for them. On the other hand, if a person fails to do
this, he will encounter discrepancies and deficiencies. So if he relies
upon only the means, Allah will entrust him to that as is stated in a
hadeeth:
“Whoever is dependent upon something will be entrusted to it.” [3]
It may also be that a person relies on the
means but yet these means are unproductive and produce no benefit. On
the other hand, if he disregards the means, yet puts his trust in Allah,
or so he thinks, he has made a mistake and not acted in accordance with
what Allah has commanded. This is since Allah has ordered us to
implement the means.
He says:
“And prepare against them all you can of power including steeds of war to threaten the enemy of Allah and your enemy.”
[Surah Al-Anfaal: 60]
Allah has the ability to aid the Muslims and destroy the disbelievers, as He says:
“Thus (you are commanded). But if it had been Allah’s Will, He Himself could certainly have punished them (without you).”
[Surah Muhammad: 4]
Source:
Haqeeqat-ut-Tawakkul (pg. 15-25)
Footnotes:
1. Refer to the Saheeh of Imaam al-Bukhari 7/158) from the narration of Anas bin Maalik.
2. Reported by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad
(1/30), at-Tirmidhee in his Sunan (7/92), Ibn Maajah in his Sunan
(2/1394), and al-Haakim in his Mustadrak (4/318), all of them from the
narration of ‘Umar bin al-Khattaab
3. Reported by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad
(4/310), at-Tirmidhee in his Sunan (6/262), Ibn Maajah in his Sunan
(2/1394), and al-Haakim in his Mustadrak (4/216), all of them from the
narration of ‘Abdullaah bin ‘Ukaim
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