Tie your camel whilst having faith Vs Tie your camel and then have faith

The word و in Arabic gives the meaning of “and” -in some instances and in other instances it is regarded as و حاليا ,a waaw that brings the meaning of being conditional “whilst”.

We often err in translating it as “and” or “then” which gives the meaning of something following up to the first statement.

Allah has created sickness and He has created cure . He has the power to remove sickness and He has the power to cure without a means. Yet like everything in this world :

The sickness is designed to test you.

The cure is designed to test you.

The preventative measures are designed to test you.

The test is always on the direction of your faith and reliance.

He has placed shifaa in medicine ,in food and in natural remedies. Those of us who are anti medicine place our complete trust in natural remedies. And then those of us who believe in modern medicine place our complete trust only in medicine. Allah has placed shifaa in both at times and sometimes it doesn’t matter the amount of medicine or Natural Remediesyou take He will not allow that medicine or Natural Remedy to have any effect.

Like all other tests that take you to Allah , He has made the creation of those things that bring cure so strong that you quickly become attached to the means. As your head aches you think I need a panado. As your throat aches you reach unthinkingly for the lemon and ginger water. But that little waaw is steering you to understand,that these are all under the control of Allah. He places cure within them and He removes the cure from them as He pleases.

اعتقل وتوكل

Tie your camel(Take your Precautions) whilst having faith

As you take precautions your faith has to be integrated into your precaution. As you place a mask on your face , you have to focus your mind and heart.This mask is the means to prevent sickness yet Allah places the effect within that mask. The pandemic has made us look at precautions and we become so confused. We begin to fight each other on the validity of those precautions. But the answer is simple. Modern medicine or Natural Remedies. Both are means created by Allah. Both have to serve to build your faith in Allah. Whichever of the two you use, your faith has to accompany it. The means can never be bigger than the Rabb who created it.