What It Really Means to Be Trusting Allah

A letter to my daughter. 

We often follow the easy path and rush to see the results. With little or no resistance in our paths, we lose the chance to learn about great virtues whether it’s patience, confidence, resilience or anything else. We never learn about truly trusting Allah. If we never rely on Allah and taste the joy of trusting Allah, how will we ever know how it feels? 

Trusting Allah Starts with What You Feed Your Soul

Here’s a story that my father used to tell my siblings and me when we were children: 

A man once came to a scholar and said to him,  

“More than anything, I want to have a dream of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). How can I do this?”

The scholar thought for a moment, then told him, 

“Go home and eat a big dinner of extremely salty fish. Add as much salt as you can to your dish, but do not drink a single sip of water for the rest of the day. “ 

The man was incredibly excited. He rushed to the supermarket and bought up the saltiest fish he could find to have for dinner. During dinner, his senses were overwhelmed with the saltiness of the fish. He really wanted a glass of water, but he remembered what the scholar had told him and stayed away from it. 

For the rest of the day, he was miserable. The saltiness scratched at his throat, and he felt more parched than ever. All he could think about was how good it would feel to down a cup of ice-cold water.  

Still, he did not drink any water. It is because he was trusting Allah that He would show him a dream of meeting Prophet (saw). 

When he went to bed, he tossed and turned because of his thirst but eventually fell into a fitful sleep. Then he dreamt he was standing under a beautiful waterfall – it soaked him from head to toe, and he cupped his hands together to drink from the sweet, pure water. 

The man woke up in the morning, startled. He quickly rushed to the scholar and said with impatience:

“You said that if I followed your instructions, I would dream of the Prophet, but I didn’t! Water was the only thing I dreamt of all night.” 

The scholar turned to him and said,  

“When something occupies your mind, actions, and senses all day, you will naturally dream about it at night. You were preoccupied with your wish to drink water, so you dreamt of it. If you become preoccupied with learning about the Prophet and following his Sunnah, that is what will occupy your dreams, too.” 

The Power of Trusting Allah in Everyday Moments

It’s all about what you indulge in the most. It’s like your thoughts get absorbed in you and appear as dreams when you fall asleep.  

If you want something, strive for it and rely on Allah to grant your wish. Trusting Allah is a powerful tool to help you in your journey whether it is the journey of worldly success or the success of hereafter. 

Lessons From the Story:

I take two lessons from this story:

One: Your Habits Shape Your Personality: 

Whatever occupies your day in terms of actions, words, and thoughts, will not only leak into your dreams and the subconscious spaces of your mind, but it will also become who you are. So, if you think good, you will become a person that spreads goodness in the world and vice versa.  

In addition, guard your actions and words carefully. Sometimes we tend to believe that whatever is in our hearts is what dictates the kind of people we are.  

While that is true in the sense that our actions are judged according to our intentions, our hearts are extremely malleable. The heart quickly rusts if left alone. 

It is just as our beloved messenger (saw) said: 

“For everything there is a polish, and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of Allah.” (Shu’ab al-Imān 503)

And we must know that remembrance of Allah is not merely dhikr but also trusting Allah always and doing as much good as we can. Every good deed is charity and a reflection of remembrance of Allah. We must form a habit of trusting Allah and in its entirety rely on Allah in everything we do. 

Doing good can come as a result of having a sincere heart, this is true. But doing good can also be about someone wanting to have a sincere heart. You can’t stop doing good because you don’t feel the results.  

Trusting Allah Even When You Don't See Results

Spiritual guidance doesn’t simply come knocking at our door. When we put in the time to pray, read, learn, and reflect, and have dedication, that’s when we see the fruits of our labour. Relying on Allah means not be hasty for results.  

Two: Avoiding Hard Paths Means Missing Growth

Sometimes we aim for lofty and noble goals, but we aren’t willing to put in the time or effort to make those things a reality. We want to take the path of least resistance (even though it’s the resistance that often teaches us the most valuable lessons). 

The path that has little or no resistance will make us reach our goal easily, but it won't teach us the valuable lessons of hope, patience, resilience and other virtues that we observe in the face of difficulty.  

We won’t learn anything about trusting Allah if we never experience a situation that demands us to rely on Allah. 

Those in history who have been the most successful – regardless of whether we are speaking about financial success or spiritual success – have often gone through serious difficulties that took years to overcome. 

It is because they were trusting Allah that they kept going. Their dedication to their work or their path, and their willingness to keep moving forward even when logic told them they should give up, was paramount to their success.  

We need the same level of Tawakkul. We need the same strength of trusting Allah. We need to rely on Allah while following the path of Prophets and other great people of the past.  

It takes time and effort to reach the summits of progress and success that we admire from down below. We are advised to rely on Allah while waiting for the fruit of our labour.  

The Prophet (saw) said:

"The supplication of a servant will continue to be accepted as long as he does not ask for something sinful or for breaking family ties, and as long as he is not hasty."  (Sahih Muslim)

The companions asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what does being hasty mean?" 

He replied: 

"He says, ‘I have supplicated again and again, but I have not seen it being answered,’ so he gives up and stops making dua." (Sahih Muslim)

Conclusion 

We always ask Allah (swt) to make our paths easy and to grant us success – but we also have to be willing to take the concrete actions necessary to achieve what we seek.

Anas ibn Malik reported:

A man said,

“O Messenger of Allah, should I tie my camel and trust in Allah, or should I untie her and trust in Allah?”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

“Tie her and trust in Allah.” 

 

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