What is the difference between zuhd (asceticism) and tawakkul (reliance on Allah), and between tawakkul and tawakkul (passive reliance)?
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The questioner : Regarding the difference between zuhd and tawakkul, with explanation, meaning in the hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Ali: ; if a person had some money in his pocket and gave it in charity and nothing remained with him, in this situation, would he be considered a person of zuhd or one who relies on Allah... What is the difference? We know that... if he goes to the desert... and stays there for a long time, he is one who practices tawakkul (passive reliance). So what is the difference...
The Shaykh : The difference varies first...
The questioner : I will record the question.
The Shaykh : Yes, record it.
The questioner : Regarding the difference between zuhd and tawakkul...
The Shaykh : Are you saying zuhd and tawakkul, or tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith of Ali that we mentioned earlier, if I had as much gold as Mount Uhud...
The Shaykh : This relates to tawakkul and zuhd.
The Shaykh : And tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul is when a man spends what is in his pocket and goes without taking the means.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, are you observing with me what the difference is between tawakkul and tawakkul?
The questioner : Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh: And that is...
The questioner : Tawakkul upon Allah is that one takes the means.
The Shaykh : Good, and tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul does not take the means.
The Shaykh : Good, so why did you mention tawakkul together with zuhd?
The questioner : Because zuhd is a person who wants to be ascetic in this world, should he not... or does he just go like that for nothing?
The Shaykh : There is no detail here, but this does not require you to mention tawakkul with zuhd at all. Tawakkul is when a person sits in his house and says, "O Allah, provide for me," and the answer of 'Umar comes: "You know that the sky does not rain gold or silver." This is tawakkul. But a person who has strong faith in Allah the Exalted and has some dinars, qirshs, or fils, or whatever, his faith in Allah the Exalted carries him to give in charity these large or small amounts of money he has. This never meets, neither in the morning nor in the evening as they say, with tawakkul. Rather, this meets with tawakkul upon Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. Otherwise, do you think the Messenger was one who practiced tawakkul?
The questioner : No, of course he was one who relied on Allah.
The Shaykh : So there is no connection at all between correct zuhd and tawakkul. But here is something a person must observe: this zuhd that you mentioned a type of it regarding our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) varies according to people. It is not permissible for every person, nor is it recommended for him to give away all his wealth as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did or indicated in that hadith. Rather, this is for people whose faith and reliance on Allah have reached a level that all of humanity cannot reach. We know, for example, in the authentic hadith, when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq gave in charity what he had, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: ماذا تركت لأهلك ولعيالك What have you left for your family and your dependents? He said: "I have left for them Allah and His Messenger." This is also a virtue and excellence that was exclusive to the first man after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) among his Companions.
But look now at what corresponds to this regarding the story of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas when he fell ill during the Farewell Pilgrimage and feared that he would die there, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) visited him and said to him that أريد أن أوصي بمالي ، قال : لا ، قال فالنصف ، قال : لا ، قال : فالثلث ، قال : الثلث والثلث كثير إنك أن تدع ورثتك أغنياء خير لك من أن تدعهم يتكففون أيدي الناس I want to bequeath my wealth. He said: No. He said: Then half. He said: No. He said: Then one-third. He said: One-third is a lot. It is better for you to leave your heirs wealthy than to leave them begging from people.. So here this hadith gives us a difference between a person who is a provider and whose family is not of the strength of faith in reliance on Allah such that if he gives away all his wealth as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq did, they would say, "What did our father do? He left us poor afterwards," and they would not say, "May Allah reward our father with good, we have Allah after him," as is also narrated, although this is not narrated with hadith chains, regarding the story of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz when he took over the caliphate, all the money that was with his wife Fatimah he returned to what? The treasury of the Muslims. If Fatimah had not been like Fatimah the daughter of the Messenger, there would have been an incident between the husband and wife. And so, in brief, zuhd has no limit first, and then it varies according to people second. So if a person is a provider and has a family and knows that they have not been given a share of zuhd, it is not permissible for him to give away all his wealth and leave them poor, and perhaps the matter will reach him that they fall into what resembles disbelief, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as we know from authentic hadiths, sought refuge from disbelief and poverty, because poverty is sometimes a cause that leads to disbelief, although the hadith that comes in this meaning كاد الفقر أن يكون كفرا Poverty is almost disbelief. is not authentic in its chain. This is what comes to my mind as an answer to the question of zuhd.
The student : So 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), when he wanted to die, is this story authentic or not, when one of the ministers or one of the men said to him, "Why do you not leave some money for your sons?" He said, "If my sons are righteous, then Allah takes care of the righteous, and if my sons are not righteous... my wealth to the unrighteous?" Is there a resemblance here to Abu Bakr who did not leave anything for his sons?
The Shaykh : I said he resembled Abu Bakr, and he did not resemble whom?
The questioner : Ah
The Shaykh : I said he resembled Abu Bakr and did not resemble
The questioner : And did not leave anything of his wealth.
The Shaykh : Yes, and did not leave. Good, first, is 'Umar our proof?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : This is a personal action, and as we said, it is a specific case and does not have generality.
The phone is ringing
The Shaykh : "Yes," is there something? We say that this is an action by Ibn 'Umar, whether he hit the mark or missed, we are not obligated in it. We brought the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. The hadith of Sa'd is the opposite of what 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz did completely, but perhaps 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz saw something, so that was his starting point based on what he saw. So this does not concern us at all regarding the rulings of the Shari'ah at all.
The questioner : We conclude that the ruling of the Shari'ah is that a man leaves one-third.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : We conclude that the ruling of the Shari'ah is that a man leaves one-third.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, correct.
The questioner : And this is a lot.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
If I had as much gold as Mount Uhud, I would not wish for three days to pass with me having anything of it.
لو كان عندي مثل جبل أحد ذهبا ما تمنيت ان يمضي على ثلاث ايام وعندي منه شيءThe Shaykh : The difference varies first...
The questioner : I will record the question.
The Shaykh : Yes, record it.
The questioner : Regarding the difference between zuhd and tawakkul...
The Shaykh : Are you saying zuhd and tawakkul, or tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the hadith of Ali that we mentioned earlier, if I had as much gold as Mount Uhud...
The Shaykh : This relates to tawakkul and zuhd.
The Shaykh : And tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul is when a man spends what is in his pocket and goes without taking the means.
The Shaykh : Excuse me, are you observing with me what the difference is between tawakkul and tawakkul?
The questioner : Yes, exactly.
The Shaykh: And that is...
The questioner : Tawakkul upon Allah is that one takes the means.
The Shaykh : Good, and tawakkul?
The questioner : Tawakkul does not take the means.
The Shaykh : Good, so why did you mention tawakkul together with zuhd?
The questioner : Because zuhd is a person who wants to be ascetic in this world, should he not... or does he just go like that for nothing?
The Shaykh : There is no detail here, but this does not require you to mention tawakkul with zuhd at all. Tawakkul is when a person sits in his house and says, "O Allah, provide for me," and the answer of 'Umar comes: "You know that the sky does not rain gold or silver." This is tawakkul. But a person who has strong faith in Allah the Exalted and has some dinars, qirshs, or fils, or whatever, his faith in Allah the Exalted carries him to give in charity these large or small amounts of money he has. This never meets, neither in the morning nor in the evening as they say, with tawakkul. Rather, this meets with tawakkul upon Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. Otherwise, do you think the Messenger was one who practiced tawakkul?
The questioner : No, of course he was one who relied on Allah.
The Shaykh : So there is no connection at all between correct zuhd and tawakkul. But here is something a person must observe: this zuhd that you mentioned a type of it regarding our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) varies according to people. It is not permissible for every person, nor is it recommended for him to give away all his wealth as the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did or indicated in that hadith. Rather, this is for people whose faith and reliance on Allah have reached a level that all of humanity cannot reach. We know, for example, in the authentic hadith, when Abu Bakr al-Siddiq gave in charity what he had, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: ماذا تركت لأهلك ولعيالك What have you left for your family and your dependents? He said: "I have left for them Allah and His Messenger." This is also a virtue and excellence that was exclusive to the first man after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) among his Companions.
But look now at what corresponds to this regarding the story of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas when he fell ill during the Farewell Pilgrimage and feared that he would die there, so the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) visited him and said to him that أريد أن أوصي بمالي ، قال : لا ، قال فالنصف ، قال : لا ، قال : فالثلث ، قال : الثلث والثلث كثير إنك أن تدع ورثتك أغنياء خير لك من أن تدعهم يتكففون أيدي الناس I want to bequeath my wealth. He said: No. He said: Then half. He said: No. He said: Then one-third. He said: One-third is a lot. It is better for you to leave your heirs wealthy than to leave them begging from people.. So here this hadith gives us a difference between a person who is a provider and whose family is not of the strength of faith in reliance on Allah such that if he gives away all his wealth as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq did, they would say, "What did our father do? He left us poor afterwards," and they would not say, "May Allah reward our father with good, we have Allah after him," as is also narrated, although this is not narrated with hadith chains, regarding the story of 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz when he took over the caliphate, all the money that was with his wife Fatimah he returned to what? The treasury of the Muslims. If Fatimah had not been like Fatimah the daughter of the Messenger, there would have been an incident between the husband and wife. And so, in brief, zuhd has no limit first, and then it varies according to people second. So if a person is a provider and has a family and knows that they have not been given a share of zuhd, it is not permissible for him to give away all his wealth and leave them poor, and perhaps the matter will reach him that they fall into what resembles disbelief, because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as we know from authentic hadiths, sought refuge from disbelief and poverty, because poverty is sometimes a cause that leads to disbelief, although the hadith that comes in this meaning كاد الفقر أن يكون كفرا Poverty is almost disbelief. is not authentic in its chain. This is what comes to my mind as an answer to the question of zuhd.
The student : So 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), when he wanted to die, is this story authentic or not, when one of the ministers or one of the men said to him, "Why do you not leave some money for your sons?" He said, "If my sons are righteous, then Allah takes care of the righteous, and if my sons are not righteous... my wealth to the unrighteous?" Is there a resemblance here to Abu Bakr who did not leave anything for his sons?
The Shaykh : I said he resembled Abu Bakr, and he did not resemble whom?
The questioner : Ah
The Shaykh : I said he resembled Abu Bakr and did not resemble
The questioner : And did not leave anything of his wealth.
The Shaykh : Yes, and did not leave. Good, first, is 'Umar our proof?
The questioner: No.
The Shaykh : This is a personal action, and as we said, it is a specific case and does not have generality.
The phone is ringing
The Shaykh : "Yes," is there something? We say that this is an action by Ibn 'Umar, whether he hit the mark or missed, we are not obligated in it. We brought the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. The hadith of Sa'd is the opposite of what 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz did completely, but perhaps 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz saw something, so that was his starting point based on what he saw. So this does not concern us at all regarding the rulings of the Shari'ah at all.
The questioner : We conclude that the ruling of the Shari'ah is that a man leaves one-third.
The Shaykh : How?
The questioner : We conclude that the ruling of the Shari'ah is that a man leaves one-third.
The Shaykh : Yes, yes, correct.
The questioner : And this is a lot.
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.
The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : And beware of that.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.