*Summary of Iṣlāḥī Majlis by Shaykhul-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍrat Mawlāna Ādam ibn Yūsuf Ṣāḥib دامت بركاته*
16th August 2020 | 26th Dhul Ḥijjah 1441AH
مولاي صل وسلم دائمًا أبدًا
على حبيبك خير الخلق كلهم
*حديث عمر رضي الله عنه قال: سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: لو أنكم تتوكلون على الله حق توكله لرزقكم كما يرزق الطير، تغدو خماصاً وتروح بطاناً (رواه الترمذي)*
_'Umar (رضي الله عنه) said: I heard Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "If you all depended on Allah ﷻ with due reliance, He would certainly give you provision as He gives it to the birds. They go forth hungry in the morning hungry and return with full bellies at dusk."_ (Tirmidhī)
This ḥadīth is about tawakkul (conviction and reliance on Allah ﷻ)
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗸𝘂𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 *?*
Allah ﷻ says:
*(إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ)*
_And Allah ﷻ loves those who rely upon Him. (Al Āl Imrān:159)_
Imam Al-Ghazāli (رَحِمَهُ ٱللّٰهُ) defines tawakkul as:
"Man makes effort from his side to earn sustenance via ḥalāl means and then he places his faith on Allah ﷻ to Be The Provider."
We must never think that we achieve our sustenance through our own earning. Rather, we strive from our side to earn a livelihood and Allah ﷻ is The One providing for us. There may be a row of shops that sell the same goods of the same quality but it is Allah ﷻ who brings means of sustenance for all of them.
The companions (رضي الله عنه) had tawakkul and yet they also strove and made an effort in trade and business. Allah ﷻ makes mention of them in the Qur'ān in Sūrah Nūr. Verse 37 viz:
*(رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ)*
_"Men whom neither trade nor business diverts from the remembrance of Allah ﷻ."_
Meaning trade or business did not make the companions heedless from the zikr of Allah ﷻ and from ṣalāh.
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗸𝘂𝗹
A scholar was once delivering a speech on tawakkul and how Allah ﷻ is The Ultimate Provider of sustenance. In his audience, there was a man who clearly did not understand this correctly. He wanted to have tawakkul so planned the following, "Today I will not go to work. Instead,, I will go to the jungle and have faith in Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ will provide for me (without my efforts).’ He stayed there for a whole day and camped near a well where he knew travellers passed by, with the hope that someone from amongst them will see him and maybe give him food. After a whole day of sitting, it was getting late and the travellers had not offered him their food. Then, another traveller passed by, filled his water vessel and sat down to eat. As the traveller was halfway through, this man began worrying, "Perhaps nobody else will return here and I will not get any food, so maybe I should draw the attention of this traveller so that he may offer me some food.’ He coughed out aloud to get the travellers attention. The traveller looked at him and offered him food. The man ate and later went back to the scholar uttering, ‘Ya Shaykh, in your talk about tawakkul, you had forgotten to mention that tawakkul is attained with a cough!’
(On a separate note, Haḍrat mentioned: ‘I have noticed that in ṣalāh many people just cough away for no reason. Many also laugh loudly. This is against the sunnah of Rasūlullah ﷺ. Whilst praying salah we must adopt a respectful attitude. We must not cough unnecessarily and we must also try to prevent ourselves from yawning.’)
In summary; to earn wealth we must strive with our own efforts too. This is not contrary to the meaning of tawakkul at all. The Anbiyā' (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ) also strived with effort and conducted business dealings. In fact, The Beloved Messenger ﷺ also participated in business dealings for Lady Khadija (رضي الله عنها) before prophethood. If Allah ﷻ blesses us with financial stability we must not think it’s all due to our earning and effort, rather it is from Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ is The Provider for everyone. Allah ﷻ provides to man, animals and all Allah’s ﷻ creation. An elephant's single meal is 20 times more compared to the average portion of one human. Yet Allah ﷻ still feeds this huge elephant as well as all other creatures, every single day.
𝗙𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀
• Earn ḥalāl (lawful) sustenance and have faith in Allah ﷻ
•Do not earn sustenance through ḥarām (unlawful) means
•Remember, one can not attain inner peace when our sustenance is through ḥarām means.
•The wealth earned through ḥalāl will result in a connection with the Almighty and hence we will be able to engage more in the remembrance of Allah ﷻ.
```May Allah ﷻ grant us the ability to practise on everything that has been said. Āmīn```
