Who Has Your Trust?

Salaam Minara Family,

“All Praise Be To Allah In Every Situation!!!”

Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels also known as Marcellus Williams

The last statement of our unjustly lynched Muslim brother, Marcellus Williams, is a powerfully staggering echo of tawakkul ala Allah.

What does tawakkul mean?

Tawakkul means to trust. It means to trust Allah so intimately, with conviction, confidence and quiet consideration of the avenues Allah has made available to us, all the while submitting to Allah because He knows best.

Marcellus accepted his fate all the while expressing praise for Allah and His plan. This confidence in and intimate knowledge of His Creator transformed his heart and allowed him to relinquish what we can only imagine to be the agony of a life spent unjustly behind bars to Allah. What happened to him was not a result of his mistake and neither was his fate a punishment for mistakes.

This was the poetry of his tawakkul and now he has returned to his Creator insha Allah a martyr. May Allah compensate him beyond what the human imagination can dream.

What can we take away from this? Well, when a problem crops up in your life, engage in problem-solving and avail yourself of the resources - people and objects - at hand and once your efforts have been exhausted to the very best of your ability, leave it there comfortable in the knowledge that Allah will absolutely look after you. Bad will be averted and goodness will prevail 💓. Prayers may be delayed but never rejected. And Allah will never leave you because He is always near.

There, that’s it. That is tawakkul, trust!

Have you heard of the Istikhara prayer? This is a great example of tawakkul in the form of physical worship.

Istikhara means to seek that which is good.

When a Muslim makes an important decision, offering the Istikhara prayer comes highly recommended. The intention behind it is seeking Allah’s guidance in making the best choice. This does not necessarily translate to Allah sending a secret message with a big YES or NO placard 🙂 but actually is an expression of a person’s trust in Allah that in seeking His assistance, Allah will create a feeling or inclination towards the best choice.

Perhaps your heart is already set on a course of action. But you still make Istikhara. Why? You seek barakah and goodness in the choice you’ve made. The prayer is now an expression of contented submission:

’Oh my Allah, I’ve done my bit. Now I leave it to You.’

The Istikhara prayer is simple. Read two rakat salah as you would any nafl prayer [Surah Fatiha and surah of your choice in each rakat]. After making salaam, recite the Istikhara du’a below in which you will explicitly state your need.

English Translation:

Dear Allah, I’m asking You for goodness through Your [Infinite] Knowledge, and I’m asking You for strength through Your Divine Ability, and I’m asking You from Your Infinite Grace. Because You’re completely able to do, while I simply cannot. You know everything, and I do not, and You know everything that’s unseen. Allah, if You know that this decision [mention need here] is good for me in terms of my religiosity, my worldly life, and afterlife, then decree it, facilitate it for me with ease, and bless me through it. But if You know that this has bad consequences on my religiosity, my worldly life, and afterlife, then get it away from me and get me away from it, and [instead of that] decree what’s better for me, whatever it may be, and make me content with it.

⏲️The best time to read the Istikhara prayer is before bed, though any time is permitted.

“Have they not seen the birds suspended in the open sky? None holds them up except Allah. Surely in this are signs for those who believe.”

an-Nahl [16:79]

Subhan Allah these tiny little organisms soaring so gracefully in the skies, without - quite literally - a care in the world.

What do we learn from this verse?

مسخرات pronounced musakharât [suspended] reveals that Allah holds up the birds in the sky. It is by His command only that they remain propelled in the sky and by His command only that they fly. It is Him who directs them when they migrate so that they find their way without getting lost.

Allah provides for the birds the conditions that are best for their lives. This beautiful, petite creation are inspired by Allah to use their physical shape and unique movements to take off, fly and land. They spread their wings in upward and downward motions all the while knowing that it is not their movement that allows them to traverse the clouds or be ‘suspended’ in the sky but rather the metaphorical marionette strings of Allah that upholds them and inspires them to fly.

It is also Him who brings these petite, vulnerable birds their food. They leave their nests in the morning hungry, and return with their bellies full. And every time they leave, they are carried by the conviction that their Creator will not leave them wanting and in need.

So in the stories of the birds is a message for us dear friends about the sublime concept of tawakkul ala Allah.

Hasbiya llah wa n’im al-Wakil

‘I trust fully in You and You are truly my Confidant.’

May this statement of conviction be your companion in the cadence of your life, in moments of both ease and turbulence to balance and restabilise the realities you live and endure. May we embody the birds in their sweet conviction that Allah is enough for us and in Marcellus’s that Allah’s plan is of a greater good.

With prayers and duas,

The Minara Team