How to empower ourselves through concepts of tawakkul [reliance] and khulus [sincerity], or sabr [patience] in Islam?
Maulana Baig: In empowering ourselves, we need to understand the meaning of power. Lets say theres a rich person but he is in need of financial institutions. He needs them to keep his wealth rolling. If he is poor, he is not in need of anyone and is content and living on his own. Power is not having wealth; rather power is not being in need of anyone else. When you are not in need of anyone else, you are stronger than the person who is in need of others even when they have money. This is why Allah mentions things like trusting Allah, and having iman [faith]. The reason these things are mentioned is that when we see that someone trusts Allah, they make themselves self-sufficient; they make it so they arent in need of others. When you see a momin [believer] or individual, their strength is in the fact that they are not in need of others. But when you desire something of this dunya [world], wealth or a house, you will see that you will always need others in order to achieve that. You will
