Lesson 3 of 6 · Tie the camel, and what tawakkul does not cover
The same order, in the verses
Read the sequence in the first verse. Consult, decide, then rely. Reliance is placed after the deliberating and not instead of it. The second verse is about as direct as the point gets, and the verse immediately after it adds that the labour will be seen, which is worth having if your work feels invisible to everyone including you. And the third is worth handling honestly: it is often quoted as a general slogan, and its context is the moral state of a people rather than a study timetable, so take from it only the principle that human action is part of how change happens.
Ibn al-Qayyim reports the matter as settled the opposite way from how it usually reaches students. In Madarij as-Salikin: وأجمع القوم على أن التوكل لا ينافي القيام بالأسباب فلا يصح التوكل إلا مع القيام بها وإلا فهو بطالة وتوكل فاسد. The English is ours, a rendering rather than a stored translation: the people are agreed that tawakkul does not contradict taking the means, so tawakkul is not sound except together with taking them, and otherwise it is idleness and a corrupt tawakkul. The word he uses for the alternative is bataalah, idleness.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Read the sequence in this verse. Consult, decide, then rely. Reliance is placed after the deliberating and not instead of it.
فَبِمَا رَحۡمَةࣲ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمۡۖ وَلَوۡ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلۡقَلۡبِ لَٱنفَضُّواْ مِنۡ حَوۡلِكَۖ فَٱعۡفُ عَنۡهُمۡ وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرۡ لَهُمۡ وَشَاوِرۡهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَمۡرِۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمۡتَ فَتَوَكَّلۡ عَلَى ٱللَّهِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
By an act of mercy from God, you [Prophet] were gentle in your dealings with them- had you been harsh, or hard-hearted, they would have dispersed and left you- so pardon them and ask forgiveness for them. Consult with them about matters, then, when you have decided on a course of action, put your trust in God: God loves those who put their trust in Him
Qur’an 3:159
About as direct as this point gets, and it is why reliance cannot be the thing that replaces the work.
وَأَن لَّيۡسَ لِلۡإِنسَٰنِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ
that man will only have what he has worked towards
Qur’an 53:39
The verse immediately after adds that the working is not invisible, which is worth having if your work currently feels invisible to everyone including you.
وَأَنَّ سَعۡيَهُۥ سَوۡفَ يُرَىٰ
that his labour will be seen
Qur’an 53:40
The third, and it needs handling honestly. It is often quoted as a general slogan, and its context is the moral state of a people rather than a study timetable. Take from it only the principle that human action is part of how change happens.
لَهُۥ مُعَقِّبَٰتࣱ مِّنۢ بَيۡنِ يَدَيۡهِ وَمِنۡ خَلۡفِهِۦ يَحۡفَظُونَهُۥ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ ٱللَّهِۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمۡۗ وَإِذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِقَوۡمࣲ سُوٓءࣰ ا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُۥۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ مِن وَالٍ
each person has guardian angels before him and behind, watching over him by God’s command. God does not change the condition of a people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves, but if He wills harm on a people, no one can ward it off–– apart from Him, they have no protector
Qur’an 13:11
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.