The Meaning of Tawakkul: Do Your Part, Then Trust in Allah - Maulana Syed Muhammad Rizvi

Friday Juma KhutbaSeptember 4th, 2026- Tawakkul means doing your own part in whatever you plan or intend, then trusting in Allah's help to overcome the challenges you face, while accepting that the eventual result rests in Allah's will.- The days of Milad un-Nabi (s) call attention to the Prophet's own example of placing his trust in Allah.- During the Battle of Dhatu 'r-Riqa', the army stopped to rest in a valley, and the companions withdrew so the Prophet could rest in the shade of a tree, where he left his sword standing against the trunk.- An enemy found the Prophet alone and asleep, took his sword, and stood over him intending to kill him, but the Prophet woke and calmly sat up.- When asked "Who will protect you from me?" the Prophet answered only, "Allah! Allah! Allah!"- The attacker felt a push to his chest, the sword slipped from his hand, and the Prophet took it up and asked him in turn, "Who will protect you against me?"- Rather than force conversion, the Prophet released the man after he pledged never to fight him nor join any group that fought him.- The man returned to his people declaring he had come from the best of people, and in another narration he accepted Islam.- This episode demonstrates both the power of tawakkul in Allah and the mercy of the Prophet, who did not compel belief.- There can never be peace if justice is not implemented for all nations, and justice cannot prevail when powerful nations are never held accountable while international law is used only against those who oppose them.- Where justice is absent, the world is left with strife in one form or another.- On 1st September, an American missile struck a home in a small Iranian fishing town on the Strait of Hormuz where dozens had gathered for a fisherman's daughter's wedding, killing at least four and wounding 67.- A 2013 review by a UAE English-language newspaper documented at least eight US attacks on wedding parties or processions between 2001 and 2013, killing 300 people, with six strikes in Afghanistan, one in Iraq, and one in Yemen; one Yemeni survivor said what began as a wedding suddenly became a funeral.- The US refuses responsibility for such deaths: the US Vice President insisted America never targets civilians and never has, before conceding that sometimes things happen; after the Minab girls' school bombing, 46 Democratic senators demanded answers from Defense Secretary Hegseth by a March 18 deadline he never met, and the Pentagon completed an April investigation whose findings remain unreleased to Congress and the public.- In his epistle to Malik al-Ashtar, Imam Ali (a) relates hearing the Messenger of Allah (s) say on more than one occasion that no community can ever attain sanctity if the weak within it cannot secure their right from the strong without being treated roughly.Donate towards our programs today: https://jaffari.org/donate/Jaffari Community Centre (JCC Live)