and hatred forever, until you believe in Allah alone’—except for Abraham’s words to his father, ‘I will surely seek forgiveness for you, but I have no power to protect you from Allah at all.’ ‘Our Lord, in You we have placed our trust, to You we turn in repentance, and to You is the final return.’”

Someone who performs an action he has been commanded to perform but neglects the reliance upon Allah that he has been commanded to observe is not more sinful than someone who observes the commanded reliance upon Allah but neglects the means he has been commanded to employ. Both fall short of some of their obligations. Although their sins are of the same kind, one may be more blameworthy in some cases, and the other in others. Moreover, reliance upon Allah is itself one of the means.

Abū Dāwūd narrated in his Sunan:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, adjudicated between two men. The man against whom he ruled said, ‘Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Allah censures inaction, but you must be resourceful. If a matter overcomes you, then say: “Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.”’”

In Sahīh Muslim, Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, though there is good in both. Strive for what benefits you, seek Allah’s help, and do not give up. If something befalls you, do not say, ‘If only I had done this, such and such would have happened.’ Rather, say, ‘Allah has decreed, and He has done what He willed,’ for ‘if only’ opens the way for Satan’s work.”

His words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “Strive for what benefits you, seek Allah’s help, and do not give up,” command the use of the prescribed means, namely, striving for what is beneficial. He also commanded, along with