Balancing Trust in Allah with the Stress of Daily Responsibilities 

Parenting Perspective 

Tawakkul is not about closing your eyes and hoping everything will work out. It is about walking through life with both hands open, one doing the work, and the other lifted in Dua. Many parents misunderstand Tawakkul as a passive state and then feel guilty when stress shows up in the reality of bills, deadlines, tantrums, and fatigue. But stress is not a sign of weak faith, it is a natural human response to the pressure of responsibility. 

Real Tawakkul means recognising that while you are expected to plan, strive, and show up, you are not expected to carry the outcome alone. 

What Tawakkul Looks Like in a Parent’s Life 

• You prepare meals but still say ‘Bismillah’ before your child eats because you know it is not your preparation that nourishes, it is Allah Almighty who allows it to benefit. 

• You handle the school forms, the lunch boxes, the medicine doses, but make Dua for ease, health, and Barakah. Because you accept your role as a means, not the source. 

• You lose your temper, apologise, and then cry in Sujood for patience. Because Tawakkul is not about flawless execution, but about always returning to Allah with your rawest sincerity. 

Stress will come and go but Tawakkul is what anchors you through it. 

Spiritual Insight 

One of the most powerful images of Tawakkul comes from the noble Quran’s reminder that trust must follow effort, not replace it. 

A Reminder That Striving and Tawakkul are Companions 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Aalai Imran (3), verse 159: 

“…Then put your reliance upon Allah (Almighty); indeed, Allah (Almighty) loves those who are totally reliant on Him.” 

Notice the sequence first and make the decision, then trust. This affirms that striving and Tawakkul are not opposites, but they are companions. 

The Prophetic Model: The Effort and Trust of the Birds 

It is recorded in Jami at-Tirmidhi that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

“If you were to rely upon Allah with the reliance, He is due, He would provide for you just as He provides for the birds: they go out in the morning with empty stomachs and return full.” 

[Jami at-Tirmidhi, 2344] 

The hadith relates the struggles of humans to those of birds. The birds leave the nest, and they move, search for food. They do not panic over what they cannot see. Their effort is real, but so is their trust. In a similar manner, trust by humans is also required in Allah Almighty as He is the provider and He sees all.  

Parenting is a constant act of ‘leaving the nest’ each morning, into uncertainty, into exhaustion, into faith. When you remember that your job is to take the step, and Allah’s is to open the path, you will find that Tawakkul does not compete with your responsibilities, but it comforts them. It also turns even your smallest parenting acts into sacred acts of surrender.