The Bird That Slept with Its Feet in the Air

There is the account of a bird that was seen lying down in its nest at night. Every bird goes to sleep the same way: it simply puts its head down and goes nicely to sleep, bismillāhi tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh, no problem. But this particular bird was unusual: it used to sleep on its back, with its feet up in the air. Its neighbours used to ask it what it was doing, and it would answer that it was just being cautious, just in case the heavens were going to fall while it slept — it wanted to be ready to hold them up. This is the state of the majority of Muslims today: they misunderstand the concept of tawakkul. Tawakkul is doing one's part first, and leaving the consequences and the results to Allah (swt) — whatever the endeavour, whatever the project, and whoever a person is. Allah (swt) has bound everyone by certain laws, unchanging laws. One of these laws is called gravity: gravity pulls; never in the history of mankind has gravity pushed a person up. That is a law on this earth — if a person is moving, there is gravity. So if a person jumps from a plane saying bismillāhi tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh, off he goes — what will happen? The gravity that Allah (swt) set will catch him and will punish him; his remains will be found scattered around the earth.

Tawakkul, in the true sense of the word, is when a person puts the parachute on, makes sure the harness is a hundred per cent trustworthy and certified to carry his weight, does not jump onto fire, jumps instead onto a place that is smooth and will not hurt him, and jumps with an instructor of experience who tells him it is time. Once all of this is ready — the training, the harness, the parachute, the instructor — he jumps, saying bismillāhi tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh. Taking the means, resorting to the asbāb, the causes, is the first step of tawakkul.

If a person is a student, he should never expect to pass a class or a subject without going to school, attending his classes, and handing in all the required assessments — his assignments, his tasks, his other projects. Once he does this, day and night, putting in the effort and studying hard, and exam time comes, and he puts in his best effort, plans for the exam, rehearses and exercises through practice tests, times himself properly, gets extra tuition, gets help, disciplines himself — then when he sits that exam, and somebody asks him how he went, he says: "alḥamdulillāh, but tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh. I have done my best; I have done what a student is supposed to do, and therefore I leave the rest to Allah." This is tawakkul.

If a person is a farmer, he needs land; he needs to plough that land at a certain time of the year; he needs to put the seed into the soil; he needs to water it at certain intervals, in certain quantities; he needs to do everything properly, give the fertiliser and all the necessary chemicals the authorities require. Once this is done, he sits down in a corner and says: "yā Rabbī, I have done my part, now I rely on You." This is called reliance; this is called tawakkul. No matter what a person does in life, there are always governing laws of Allah (swt) that must first be fulfilled and applied, and only then does tawakkul in Allah (swt) follow. Someone driving a car might be asked: what are you doing? "I am driving a car." Have you got a licence? The police is going to catch you. And still the answer comes: "tawakkaltu ʿalā Allāh" — that is stupidity; he has got rocks in his head. Drunk, naʿūdhu billāh, and saying the same words — it is against the law; if caught with no licence and half drunk, the āyat al-kursī that was read is not going to help; the fine will still come, and it is one's own fault. Saying "I relied on Allah but Allah never helped me" is, naʿūdhu billāh, disbelief in this regard — it is not reliance. A person needs to hold on to the asbāb, the causes, the means, and the One who moves those causes and brings about their effect, which is Allah (swt), musabbib al-asbāb, the one who causes the causes — and only when trust is placed in Him after everything else is done right, and the rest is left to Him, is a person truly among al-mutawakkilūn, those who rely on Allah (swt) after fulfilling the conditions.