Reliance On God

Reliance on God (توكل على الله) does not mean abandoning ‘the means’ (أسباب):

ومرَّ الشعبِي بإبِل قد فشا فيها الجَرَبُ ، فقال لصاحبها : أما تداوي إبلك ؟
فقال : إن لنا عجوزًا نتَّكِلُ على دعائِها .
فقال : ” اجعل مع دعَائِهَا شيئا مِنَ القَطِرَانِ ”
. محاضرة الأدباء (1/73)

Imam al-Sha’bi walked past a camel that had some illness.
He asked the owner: “why don’t you treat your camel?”
The owner replied: “there is an old woman among us, we rely on her supplications for treatment.”
Imam Sha’bi said: “Rely on medical treatment, alongside her supplications.”

[“Muhadarat al-Udaba”, 1/73].

That is why the scholars say:
خُذْ بالأسباب كأنها كل شيء
وتوكل على الله كأن الأسباب لا شيء
“Rely on the “means”, as though the “means” are EVERYTHING.
Then alongside it, rely on Allah, as though the “means” alone are NOTHING!”