The third category comprises those who turn away from worshipping Allah and from seeking His help; they are the worst of all. The fourth, and praiseworthy, category is the state of those who have fully realised the meaning of the words, “You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help,” and of His statement in Sūrah Hūd, “So worship Him and put your trust in Him.” Such people rely on Him in obeying Him. They testify that He is their only God—whom none may lawfully be worshipped but Him—and that obedience to His Messenger is obligatory. They acknowledge that He is their Lord, beside whom they have no protector or intercessor, and that He is the Originator: “Whatever mercy Allah opens up for people, none can withhold it, and whatever He withholds, none can release thereafter” (Fāṭir 35:2); “If Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it except Him, and if He intends good for you, none can repel His favour” (Yūnus 10:107); “Say, ‘Have you considered those you invoke besides Allah? If Allah intended me harm, could they remove His harm, or if He intended me mercy, could they withhold His mercy?’” (al-Zumar 39:38).

For this reason a number of scholars have said: “Fixating on secondary causes is shirk (a breach of pure monotheism), while erasing the fact that causes are causes is a defect in reason, and ignoring causes altogether is a blemish in the revealed law. The tawakkul that is commanded is that which brings together the requirements of tawḥīd, sound intellect, and the Sharīʿah.”

It has therefore been clarified that whoever imagines tawakkul to be one of the stations meant only for the common folk has made a grave mistake—even if he is a prominent shaykh, such as the author of ʿIlal al-Maqāmāt, who is among the most eminent masters; the author of Maḥāsin al-Majālis adopted this view from him and exposed the weakness of his proof. Whoever holds this opinion claims that tawakkul brings benefit only to ordinary people and supposes that it has no role in attaining the ultimate goal. This is the attitude of those who treat duʿāʾ (supplication) the same way. It is like someone who views all prescribed deeds in that light: for example, a person who busies himself with “reliance” while neglecting the lawful means that are acts of worship and commanded obedience. Such a person errs by abandoning the means that Allah has commanded and which are included in His words, “So worship Him and put your trust in Him” (Hūd 11:123), just as the first person erred by abandoning the obligatory tawakkul contained in the same verse.

It may be said: whoever places his trust in Allah and calls upon Him only to obtain matters that are merely permissible is among the general masses; if his reliance and supplication aim at securing recommended or obligatory matters, he belongs to the elect; whereas he who seeks, through prayer and reliance, to obtain forbidden things wrongs his own soul. The one who turns away from tawakkul altogether is disobedient to Allah and His Messenger—indeed, he has stepped outside the very reality of faith. How, then, can this station be reserved for the elite?

Allah the Exalted says (Yūnus 10:84): “Moses said, ‘O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then put your trust in Him, if you are truly Muslims.’” He also says (Āl ʿImrān 3:160): “If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; but if He forsakes you, who is there to help you after Him?” And Abraham said, “Upon Allah let the believers place their trust” (Ibrāhīm 14:11). And He, Exalted is He, says