He was devastated. His only source of nourishment had disappeared.
It was all he knew, and now it was gone.
Suddenly, the world grew cold, and only strangers surrounded him.
The newborn child screamed. He thought his life was over.
What the child did not realize was that there was someone taking care of him. There was a plan for him. And in place of everything that had been taken away, his Protector would provide something better.
The nourishment he had once received only through blood would soon come through his mother’s milk. And the lifeless walls of the womb — once thought to be his only protection — would soon be replaced by the comfort of his family’s arms.
But yet, to the newborn child, it would seem he had lost everything.
Many of us find ourselves like this child. There are times when we feel we have lost everything, or things look broken and nothing like we wished they would be. At times we even feel as though we’ve been abandoned and nothing is working out the way we planned.
Tawakkul & Trust in Allah
But just like that newborn child, things are often not what they seem, and tawakkul (putting one’s trust in Allah) is realizing that our Protector has a plan for us. Tawakkul is having complete trust that Allah’s plan is the best plan.
Tawakkul is having full faith that Allah will take care of you — even when things look impossible. It is standing in front of the Red Sea — as Prophet Musa did — with an army behind you, and yet not even flinching, knowing that Allah will get you through. It is having full faith that when Allah takes away the umbilical cord, He will replace it with milk.
There can be no faith without tawakkul; and if there is true faith, tawakkul must always follow.
If one truly understands the reality and the power of Allah, one will realize that it is in fact an infirmity of the human mind to not rely on Allah. Nothing in the entire universe happens except by the permission of Allah. Not even a leaf falls from a tree without His leave.
So how could we not but put our entire trust in Him?
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said what means:
If you trust Allah with the right kind of tawakkul, He will provide you sustenance as He provides for the birds: They go out in the morning with empty stomachs and come back in the evening with full stomachs. (At-Tirmithi, 2344)
And just as He does for the birds and the newborn child, Allah provides for us from places we could never imagine.
