Continuing from the last issue with Tawakkul…

Tawakkul has three fundamental principles: Ma'rifat, Haalat and A’maal.

This consists of Tauheed of Allah Ta'ala which means:

Besides Allah there is no object of worship; He is Incomparable; He has no partner; All sovereignty belongs to Him; All praise and glory belongs to Him; He has power over all things. This conception of Tauheed acknow-ledges that Allah Ta'ala possesses such perfect power and wisdom which make Him worthy of all praise and glory. Sincere and honest belief in this conception of Tauheed grounds true Imaan in the heart. The effect of Imaan grounding itself in the heart is Tawakkul. The condition essential for achieving this tawakkul is sincere acknowledgement of Tauheed. The meaning of sincere acknowledgement is that this Tauheed pervades the heart so much that there remains no room in one's heart to entertain any other concept.

The Haal of Tawakkul is to resign oneself to Allah Ta'ala. Assign all affairs to Him and maintain the heart in the state of peace and tranquillity. It envisages diversion from all and everything other than Allah Ta'ala. Upon Allah Ta'ala being made the Wakeel one resigns in full confidence. Allah Ta'ala, the Wakeel is full of Wisdom and is the Benefactor and Protector of the one who has reposed tawakkul in him. There is therefore no need for the heart to toss in doubt and uncertainty. He will not allow your enemy to vanquish you. In this way when one fully realizes that rizq (sustenance), maut (death), hayaat (life) and all affairs of creation are within the direct power and control of Allah Ta'ala, then there is absolutely no cause for the heart to labour in uncertainty and suffer any lack of confidence.

The ignorant labour under the misconception that Tawakkul entails abstention from effort, the means and material agencies. This idea of tawakkul is highly erroneous. Tawakkul does not advocate shunning or abstaining from the material agencies which Allah Ta'ala has created and made subservient to man. Shunning the legitimate use of the material means and agencies for legitimate purposes and needs is not lawful according to the Shariat.

The way in which to acquire Tawakkul is by contemplating the bounties of Allah Ta'ala, His Promises and one's past success.

Qana'at or contentment in this regard means abstention from desires. Contemplating about the transitory and perishable nature of the world inculcates Qana'at.

Hilm or perseverance means to hold in check the nafs in the face of events which are distasteful to one. This quality of Hilm is acquired by the eradication of anger. One has to contemplate constantly about the remedies for anger. This will be explained in the chapter on Akhlaq-e-Razeelah (The Despicable Attributes).

Allah Ta'ala says:

Rasoolulah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said:

In man are two conflicting forces. The one force impels him towards Deen and righteousness while the other drives him towards base desires. Asserting the Deeni force and subduing the force of lust is called Sabr. In the state of Sabr, the Deeni force in man asserts its dominance over the lowly force of base desire. Its definition is given as follows:

There are three kinds of Sabr.

1. SABR ALAL AMAL

2. SABR FIL AMAL

3. SABR ANIL AMAL

This means to be firm and constant in practising righteous deeds.

This means to have sabr while engaging in the righteous deed. The nafs is held in control and prevented from diversion while engaged in the act of virtue. Acts of Ibadat have to be discharged adequately by the observance of the principles and rules pertaining to such acts. Full attention has to be directed towards the act.