Verses about trusting in God (tawakkul) in the Quran
The root of tawakkul occurs in thirty-eight verses, and four fixed formulas carry most of them. The verses arranged by what they do - command, description, the words of prophets, and consequence - with both tafsir traditions on Ibrahim 12 and At-Talaq 3.
The count first
The root of tawakkul — in all its forms: tawakkal, yatawakkal, natawakkal, tawakkaltu, tawakkalna, al-mutawakkilun — occurs in thirty-eight verses of the Quran, counted on the King Fahd Complex text this site displays.
The first thing those verses show is that they are fixed formulas repeated word for word, not scattered expressions:
- "And upon Allah let the believers rely" — in seven verses: 3:122, 3:160, 5:11, 9:51, 14:11, 58:10, 64:13.
- "And upon their Lord they rely" — in five verses: 8:2, 16:42, 16:99, 29:59, 42:36.
- "And upon Him let those who would rely, rely" — in only two verses: 12:67 and 14:12.
- "Upon Him I have relied" — in five verses, every one of them spoken by a prophet: 9:129, 11:88, 12:67, 13:30, 42:10.
So the Quran says this one thing in four settled phrases, and repeats them in very different situations: in battle, in dispute, in provision, in preaching.
One: the verses that command it
In most places the command is addressed to the Prophet alone:
And rely upon Allah; and sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.
And rely upon the Exalted in Might, the Merciful,
And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die, and exalt [Allah] with His praise. And sufficient is He to be, with the sins of His servants, Acquainted -
So rely upon Allah; indeed, you are upon the clear truth.
And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.
Notice that in each of these the command to rely is paired with a name of God that fits the situation: the Ever-Living who does not die, the Exalted in Might and the Merciful, the Hearing and the Knowing. Reliance in the text is therefore not a cutting off from means; it is dependence on someone known by an attribute. And in the Al-Anfal verse the command to rely comes after the command to incline towards peace — after an arrangement, not instead of one.
Two: reliance as a description of the believers
The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely -
Reliance is the last of three traits: hearts that tremble at the mention of God, faith increased by the recitation, and reliance upon the Lord.
[They are] those who endured patiently and upon their Lord relied.
Who have been patient and upon their Lord rely.
These two verses are identical in wording, and in both reliance is paired with patience — with patience named first.
So whatever thing you have been given - it is but [for] enjoyment of the worldly life. But what is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who have believed and upon their Lord rely
Three: reliance in the words of prophets
Most of the Quran's verses on reliance report a prophet saying it in the face of his people.
Nuh:
And recite to them the news of Noah, when he said to his people, "O my people, if my residence and my reminding of the signs of Allah has become burdensome upon you - then I have relied upon Allah. So resolve upon your plan and [call upon] your associates. Then let not your plan be obscure to you. Then carry it out upon me and do not give me respite.
Hud:
Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock. Indeed, my Lord is on a path [that is] straight."
Musa and his people:
And Moses said, "O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then rely upon Him, if you should be Muslims." So they said, "Upon Allah do we rely. Our Lord, make us not [objects of] trial for the wrongdoing people
Ya'qub — and this is the most precise of these places in joining arrangement to reliance:
And he said, "O my sons, do not enter from one gate but enter from different gates; and I cannot avail you against [the decree of] Allah at all. The decision is only for Allah; upon Him I have relied, and upon Him let those who would rely [indeed] rely."
He orders his sons to enter by different gates — that is an arrangement — and then says "upon Him I have relied." One verse holds both in a single breath, which is the practical answer to anyone who takes reliance to mean abandoning effort. That story has its own article: The story of Yusuf.
All the messengers, in Surah Ibrahim:
Their messengers said to them, "We are only men like you, but Allah confers favor upon whom He wills of His servants. It has never been for us to bring you evidence except by permission of Allah. And upon Allah let the believers rely. And why should we not rely upon Allah while He has guided us to our [good] ways. And we will surely be patient against whatever harm you should cause us. And upon Allah let those who would rely [indeed] rely."
Ibrahim 11 — 12
Four: what reliance leads to
And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah - then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.
Indeed, there is for him no authority over those who have believed and rely upon their Lord.
If Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who is there that can aid you after Him? And upon Allah let the believers rely.
Three consequences in the text: sufficiency, the denial of Satan's authority, and a victory tied to God's will rather than to the strength of the one relying.
The phrase "Sufficient for me is Allah" occurs in two verses — 9:129 and 39:38 — and "sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs" in five: 4:81, 4:132, 4:171, 33:3, 33:48.
Two of these verses in tafsir
Ibrahim 12
At-Tafsir al-Muyassar, issued by the King Fahd Complex, reads it as a question with its own answer: how should we not depend upon God, when He is the one who showed us the way of deliverance from His punishment by following the rulings of His religion? And we will be patient with your harming us; and upon God alone must the believers depend.
Al-Fayd al-Kashani, in Tafsir as-Safi, is terser: "And what reason have we not to rely upon Allah" — that is, what excuse have we not to rely — "while He has guided us to our ways", the ways by which we know Him and know that all matters are in His hand.
Al-Allamah at-Tabataba'i, in Tafsir al-Mizan, makes the verse a second argument for the obligation of reliance, built on effects rather than on examining the cause: the statement of the argument is that God's guiding us to our ways is evidence that reliance upon Him is obligatory, because He does not betray His servants and wills nothing for them but good.
He then holds that real reliance entails faith: the one who relies with the reality of reliance cannot be other than a believer, for he acknowledges that the whole matter belongs to God, so he can do nothing but obey Him in what He commands, abstain from what He forbids, be pleased with what pleases Him and displeased with what displeases Him — and that is faith.
At-Talaq 3
Al-Muyassar on the sufficiency: whoever relies upon God, He suffices him in everything that concerns him, in all his affairs.
As-Safi relays what is reported about how wide the verse is: "I know a verse which, if people took hold of it, would suffice them" — "and whoever fears Allah" — and he kept repeating it; and from Nahj al-Balaghah: a way out of trials, and a light out of darkness.
That verse has its own article — Whoever fears Allah, He will make a way out — and a page carrying its text with every tafsir the site holds: Whoever relies upon God.
(The tafsir passages here are given in our own English; the Arabic article quotes them verbatim.)
Where the readings agree
- Reliance in these verses is dependence on God together with action, not instead of it. Yusuf 67 and Al-Anfal 61 are the clearest on that.
- Reliance is tied to faith: it is a description of the believers in five verses, in identical wording.
- Its stated consequence is God's sufficiency for the one who relies, on the text of At-Talaq 3.
- Most verses of reliance in the Quran are on the tongues of prophets under persecution, not in ease.
- Patience is paired with reliance in two verses in identical wording, and patience is named first in both.
Where they differ
- How the case is built. Al-Muyassar explains the meaning: depending on God for victory and for provision. Al-Mizan builds an argument: God's guidance is itself the proof that reliance is obligatory, so there is no excuse for abandoning it. As-Safi compresses it into a question: what excuse have we not to rely?
- How tightly reliance is bound to faith. Al-Mizan makes the link necessary. Al-Muyassar and as-Safi note the pairing without that conclusion.
- Attention to reward. As-Safi carries much on the merit of the verse and the breadth of relief in it; al-Muyassar explains the wording; al-Mizan turns to what reliance really is.
This article does not adjudicate between them.
What these verses do not say
- They do not say reliance means abandoning effort; Ya'qub's verse orders a precaution in the very same sentence.
- They do not say the one who relies will suffer no harm; the Ibrahim verse joins reliance to patience under harm in the same sentence.
- They prescribe no number and no particular formula of remembrance for reliance.
- And Aal Imran 160 ties victory to God's will — "if Allah should aid you, no one can overcome you" — so reliance in the text is dependence, not a guarantee of a particular outcome.
Sources
- The Quran text — the King Fahd Complex text (Hafs from Asim), on which every count here is made.
- English translation — Sahih International, the translation the site serves.
- At-Tafsir al-Muyassar — a panel of scholars, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Quran.
- Tafsir as-Safi — al-Fayd al-Kashani.
- Tafsir al-Mizan — Sayyid Muhammad Husayn at-Tabataba'i.