Relying on Allah
Tawakkal (Relying on Allah)
Tawakkul (relying on Allah) is an important concept in Islam but what does it really mean? What are the implications for Muslim organisations?
My interest in tawakkal started when one of my ex-students started playing for a futsall team. This is a semi-professional team so they have a coach, they train three times a week and if you don't perform, you are off the team. At first, he played well. Then, some of the wors players on the team were dropped and they were replaced by some of the best futsall players in Selangor. All of a sudden, he could not play well anymore. He was afraid of being dropped from the team and that fear stopped him from playing well. That was the first time I thought abotu tawakkal in the context of a management situation.
If your employees are in fear, they can't perform. Theoretically, if they have tawakkal, they will not be in fear because they know that Allah is helping them
I spoke to various high-performing atheletes about this issue. In particular, I interviewed a 2nd dan Aikido master. His take was not that tawakkal was necessary for high performance but that it is necessary for people to continue improving themselves. A big problem in martial arts is those people who train, obtain a black belt and then stop. According to him, tawakkal would be very important so that people continue to strive and continue to push themselves to the limit. Ultimately, they can do so because they are not afraid because they trust in Allah.
So how do you develop tawakkal? Well, sufing the internet and listening to one good Islamic talk every week seems like a good place to start.
My interest in tawakkal started when one of my ex-students started playing for a futsall team. This is a semi-professional team so they have a coach, they train three times a week and if you don't perform, you are off the team. At first, he played well. Then, some of the wors players on the team were dropped and they were replaced by some of the best futsall players in Selangor. All of a sudden, he could not play well anymore. He was afraid of being dropped from the team and that fear stopped him from playing well. That was the first time I thought abotu tawakkal in the context of a management situation.
If your employees are in fear, they can't perform. Theoretically, if they have tawakkal, they will not be in fear because they know that Allah is helping them
I spoke to various high-performing atheletes about this issue. In particular, I interviewed a 2nd dan Aikido master. His take was not that tawakkal was necessary for high performance but that it is necessary for people to continue improving themselves. A big problem in martial arts is those people who train, obtain a black belt and then stop. According to him, tawakkal would be very important so that people continue to strive and continue to push themselves to the limit. Ultimately, they can do so because they are not afraid because they trust in Allah.
So how do you develop tawakkal? Well, sufing the internet and listening to one good Islamic talk every week seems like a good place to start.
