Tawakol: God Controls All My Life's Affairs & I Am Fine With That | Sidi Ahmed Khan

We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wa thana'uhu. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the Lord of all of the worlds. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving us the great blessings of the ni'am of Islam, the ni'am of family, the ni'am of health. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for giving us a deen, a religion so beautiful, so complete that no other religion compares to the religion of Islam today. And the deen that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us is a deen which is there to preserve our health, to preserve our iman, and also to preserve the the psychological, the emotional mental disorders and issues that come upon us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through these teachings in the Quran and in the Hadith is giving the believers remedies for how to overcome the difficulties that life throws at them. And one of the most important recurring themes that occur in the Quran is the theme of tawakkul. The theme of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminding the believer that ultimately, at the end of the day, I am the one who is responsible for your affairs, and so trust in me, the one who is the one who the world belongs in my dominion, and the one who has all authority. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a series of verses in Surat at-Talaq, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives the believer the key to surviving throughout throughout this world, reminding the believer that I am the one who is in charge. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala begins by saying wa man yattaqillaha yaj'al lahu makhraja. Wa yarzuqhu min haythu la yahtasib. Wa man yatawakkal 'alallahi fahuwa hasbuh. Allah subhanahu wa Ta'ala in this ayat is saying that whoever has taqwa of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, whoever is aware that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is there in the moment that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is there with you. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says, "I will grant you an exit strategy." Maulana Rumi Rahimahullah said that in times in life you as you're going there is an obstacle that comes in front of you and you can no longer go straight. He said then the believer turns to the right and sees that there's another wall that comes up and he sees that he's trapped. He says then he turns around to go the opposite direction, but then another wall comes. And so his last option then is to go left. But Maulana Rumi says that another obstacle comes and now the believer is trapped from every direction. But he said the believer must remember that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who can create another direction and grant him an escape and an opening where he never thought it was possible. And so in the next ayat Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala explains this reality when he says Wa Yarzuqhu min haithu la yahtasib that Allah gives wealth to the individual in ways he thought there was no way he could have received that wealth. That he never possibly could have thought that this wealth or this help could have come from this avenue, but all of that success came because of the taqwa because the believer remembered that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who gives. And just as Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who gives, he's also the one who takes. But to our affairs belong in the hands of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala and the Quran is so beautiful because because the Quran tells us all of these remarkable stories and one of the major themes that these stories have is that these pious righteous individuals are always facing obstacles and have obstacles that come to them that rationally it seems that they cannot be overcome. But because of their deep faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, their deep tawakkul, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants them openings from where a rational individual or a rational way of thinking will thought that this would have been impossible. And the first story that comes to mind is the story of Musa alayhis salaam. Years of persecution Pharaoh had done upon the Israelites. And Musa alayhis salaam with his brother Harun had come and had entered into this discourse with Pharaoh until finally they were able to escape from Egypt with the Israelites and they had reached the Red Sea. And when they had reached the Red Sea, they saw that the army of Pharaoh was chasing after them. And they had only two directions in front of them. Either they had the Red Sea in front or they had Pharaoh's army behind. There was no other option. And the Israelites when they saw that they were stuck in this situation, immediately they panicked. They said inna al mudrakun. That we are going to be overtaken. But their leader, Musa alayhis salaam, did not panic. Even though he saw that there was the Red Sea in front of him and the Pharaoh behind, he knew that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was with him. Inna ma'iya rabbi sayahdin. He said, "My Lord is with me and my Lord will give me the answer." Rationally, there's no answer as to what a person should do in that situation. Either you go into the sea and you drown or you just, you know, a tiny handful of Israelites go to war with the biggest genocidal maniac in the history of humanity. Neither option seemed good. But Musa Alayhis Salaam had that deep trust in Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala that somehow, although I don't know, Allah will grant me an opening. And what an opening Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala granted him. And ultimately the people of Musa were the winner and the people of Firaun were losers. In the story of the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam in the beautiful story of the Hijrah, when he Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam and Abu Bakr RadiAllahu Anhu were going and they were stopped in the cave and the Quraysh had come to them. The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam reminded his beloved companion that that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala was with them. And that is the level of tawakkul because tawakkul is trusting in Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala when one enters into the unknown. When one sees that there is no option in front of them, no solution, but still having that deep trust in Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, that is the tawakkul. That when one can't see any any strategy. When Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam is thrown into the fire, we see that he doesn't panic because he knows that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is there. And so Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who grants us the ability at surviving these the difficulties that that in life that face us and he continues in his in his blessed Quran when Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says after those ayat "Wa man yatawakkal ala Allah fa huwa hasbu." And whoever has that deep trust in Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, that will suffice them. Because at the end of the day, just as Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who gives us blessings, Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the one who withholds, and Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala only does things for hikmah. And so, tawakkul is when we enter into stations of fear, when we don't know whether that job is going we're going we're going to acquire that job, or when we see that we're entering a stage in our life in which we don't know how we're going to make it out, Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is reminding us that in those times, that's when you have tawakkul. And if an individual has tawakkul in that state, then Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala will grant him the opening. And so, our beloved Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in a beautiful Hadith explicates the nature of tawakkul and Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala providing risk. That our Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, "Law annakum kuntum tawakkaluna al Allahi haqqa tawakkulihi, la ruziqtum kama turzaqut tayru taghdu khisaman wa taruhu bitanan." The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam beautifully states that if you had true tawakkul of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, the right that Allah is deserving of, he said, "Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala will grant you your risk and your wealth just like he does for the bird who goes out early in the morning with nothing, but yet always returns at night with its provision." And the analogy is very beautiful because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is reminding us to look at nature. Look at what Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala has created, and look at how they are in total submission to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. They are always praising Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, but they have that deep trust that somehow Allah is going to provide for me. And so, the bird that wakes up in the morning not knowing where it's going to get its provision for its children has that tawakkul that somehow Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala will provide and they always return back with that provision. And so this is a good mithal, a good analogy for the believer to think about. That if the if nature is going out with no idea as to how Allah is going to give it wealth, how Allah is going to give it health, how Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is going to protect its children or to protect itself, then for insan this really should be a a moment of con- contemplation for us. For us to realize that if Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is going to provide for them, then Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala will provide for us as well. And there's a beautiful story of one of one of our top grammarians, Ibn Babshad, who one day was on top of his roof and he noticed that there was a cat that was watching him and a cat that was asking for food. And so he went and he threw a morsel. And immediately the cat put the food in its mouth and it ran and it disappeared. But in a very short while the cat returned. And he assumed that the cat was hungry so he threw another morsel to the cat. And immediately the cat took it and ran, but then it came back right away. And so he threw it the third time and again the cat left and came back. And he said there's something strange going on with this cat. So he said I'm going to throw it the fourth time and then I'm going to follow this cat and I'm going to see where is it going? What's it doing with this food? And so as he threw the morsel, he began following the cat through the alleyways and ended up in this broken-down home. But when he got inside the home, he saw that there was this cat that was blind and that was crippled that had all this food in front of it. And he said that if Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala could provide his rizq to this blind crippled cat, then how would Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not provide for me? Ibn Ata'illah rahimahullah in his book of the Hikam, he has a section there where he begins to inform the believer that true understanding of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala really comes when the believer recognizes that just as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who gives to them, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is also the one that takes. And he said the door to really acquiring that deep knowledge of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is to understand that when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes, he is also giving. And sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives to the believer, and in that giving, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is taking. And in the Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala beautifully explains this where he says wa asa an takrahu shayan wa huwa khairun lakum. Wa asa an tuhibbu shayan wa huwa sharrun lakum. Wallahu ya'lamu wa antum la ta'lamun. That at the end of the day, insan always has ideas about what insan thinks is good for him. And we always have ideas as to what we think are evil for us. But what the scholar and what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is highlighting is remember that just as Allah is the one who gives us wealth, Allah gives us his rahma. Allah gives us health. He gives us family. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does all of that out of his wisdom. That the same Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the same rub, is the one who takes our health, the one who takes our wealth, the one who takes our family away. And in all of that is still Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's wisdom. The amount of risk that Allah gives us and the risk that he takes is all in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And our beloved prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam established as a as a as a principle in the religion that ajaban li amril mu'min. That how beautiful, how wondrous is the state affair of the believer. Everything that happens to the believer is good. The things that we think are The things that we perceive to be good, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us that maybe it's not. And so, don't don't despair when the things that you that you've been striving for, that you're not getting. And also, maybe the things that you dislike, maybe the job opportunities that right now you dislike or the career opportunities that you're frowning upon, maybe Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying in that is good for you. That don't be so quick to judge. Don't look to other people and see why do why do why do why do other people have more risk than we do. In that risk maybe is a test. And so, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is reminding us in this in surat at-talaq that whoever has taqwa of me, I will grant you an escape. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is putting the onus on him that if you are aware of me in whatever difficulty, whatever situation you're in, I will grant you an exit strategy from where you never could see it coming. And I will give you wealth in ways you never thought you could make money. For instance, a lot of people when it when it comes to entering into marriage or to having children, they always have financial concerns on their mind. But Allah subhana wa ta'ala is reminding the believer that I will provide for you and you will say, "How did it Where did this wealth come from? I never expected this." And then Allah subhana wa ta'ala to conclude it says, "Whoever has tawakkul of me wa man yatawakkal ala Allah fahuwa hasbu." That's it. You don't need anything else. If I'm on your side, you don't need the dunya. Because in the entirety of the heavens and the earth belongs my kingdom. So, may Allah subhana wa ta'ala make us amongst the people of tawakkul. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala allow us to be people who have ridha, contentment with the decree of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala rescue us from all of our shortcomings, our diseases, forgive us for all of our sins. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala uplift this ummah, the ummah here, the ummah around the globe. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala grant us success, and may Allah subhana wa ta'ala grant us entry into jannah.