“Tawakkul” = Trust In God

There are steps that a faithful Muslim should undertake to reach the level of tawakkul (= trust in God):

First step

To know and believe that God is the Lord, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent, the Sovereign Who does whatever He wills, the Powerful over everything. Nothing can exist without His permission, and nobody can attain any of His Knowledge save that which He wills.

Second step

To assert that God has established the law of cause and effect in the world.

One should be certain that trust in God is one of the causes he should use to get any effect, like someone cannot satisfy his appetite without eating. God has given every thing due order and proportion; it means He has made the law of nature for all creation. So if anyone wants to get an effect, he should use a proper cause, that is, pray to God to make it easy and successful. God says in the Qur’an:

“(God is) who creates (every thing), and thereupon forms it in what it is meant to be, and who determines the nature (of all that exists), and thereupon guides it (towards its fulfillment)” (87:2-3).

Third step

After doing his best in using the causes for the goal he wishes to achieve, one should be content. Whatever result he gets, it will be the best for him, as it is what God wants him to get, and God knows better what is beyond the appearance of that result. One, who places his trust fully in God, should therefore presume that the choice of God is certainly the best for him.

God says: “.. It could be that you dislike a thing which is good for you; and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you; God knows, and you know not” (2:216).

That is why the Prophet (peace and God’s blessings upon him) used to teach his followers a special prayer for when any of them is about to undertake an enterprise or to do something important:

 Jabir bin Abdullah narrated: The messenger of God used to teach us the prayer of seeking guidance in all matters we intend to do. He used to say:

“When anyone of you will begin an enterprise, let him perform two rak’ah of optional prayer other than the obligatory prayers, and then supplicate: O God, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your great Bounty, for You are Capable whereas I am not, and You know and I do not, and You are the Knower of hidden things. O God, if You know that this matter (and name it) is good for me in respect of my Faith, my livelihood and the consequences of my affairs then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. But if you know this matter (and name it) to be bad for my Faith, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be content with it. And let the supplication specify the object”  (Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Collections of Hadith).

It is clear then, that tawakkul (trust in God) is the opposite of sluggishness or laziness, because it is the culmination of great efforts and high ambition. And that is why God says:

“…verily, God loves those who place their trust in Him” (3:159).