Planning in Islam - Shaykh Aqeel Mahmood

Planning and Preparation in Islam

Before the month begins and before the month starts, so that we can start to prepare ourselves for this blessed month. But today, brothers and sisters, I want to talk to you about the importance, generally speaking, of preparation and planning in Islam, from an Islamic perspective. When we have a project at work, or an essay to prepare, or to write for university or for college or whatever it may be, sometimes these projects or these things that we have to prepare — they start the preparation to these things many months before the deadline itself.

They start maybe five or six months before the deadline, when that project is about to start or when it should start. And when we look at Islam, and we look at the speech of Allah in the Qur'an, and we look at the lives of the prophets of the past, we see that they also had a vision and they would also plan and prepare things in advance — but with something which is even more important. And that is the worship of Allah and increasing in good deeds.

When we prepare things, when we plan things at work or at school, then those things, for most of the time, they're things for this dunya — they're not things for the akhirah. Yet, how many of us, when we think about the month of Ramadan, how many of us, when we think about good deeds and acts that we can do for the sake of Allah, how many of us prepare well in advance? We know that the scholars of the past, they would supplicate to Allah for the first six months after the end of the month of Ramadan, asking Allah to accept that month of Ramadan which had passed them. And then the next six months, before the month of Ramadan would start, they would be preparing and planning for Ramadan.

And they would be making du'a that Allah gives them enough life so that they're able to witness the month of Ramadan for another time.

The Story of Musa and the Lesson of Planning

When we look in the Qur'an, brothers and sisters, we see one of the famous stories of one of the prophets of Allah — Musa alayhi salam, Kalimullah, the one who spoke directly to Allah. Musa alayhi salam, when he spoke to Allah, Allah ordered him to go to Fir'aun and call him to the worship of Allah.

And when he was given this huge task — even though he was one of those prophets of Allah who was from the ulil 'azm, those five great prophets of Allah — even though he was one of the great prophets of Allah, he knew and he understood the fact that he was inadequate to do this by himself. And so he supplicated to Allah. He's asking Allah for help in this mission which has been given by Allah.

And from this is the first lesson that we can take. Whenever we intend to do something, whenever we plan to do something, we should always supplicate to Allah to make our affairs easy for us in whatever we're planning, in whatever we're preparing.

Not only with regards to matters of the dunya. Sometimes we ask Allah and we make du'a to Allah that things are successful with regards to our family, or with regards to work, or deadlines that need to be met. But how many of us supplicate to Allah, asking Allah to make it easy for us to worship Him? That Allah gives us the ability to reach the deadlines — our own deadlines that we've set for ourselves with regards to acts of worship.

Worship and Seeking Help — Surah Al-Fatihah

Allah in Surah Al-Fatihah says:

You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help.

Now why does Allah say "worship" and then mention "help" after worship, even though asking for help is itself a form of worship? Because an individual cannot do anything except with the help of Allah. Especially with regards to acts of worship. And this is why after salah, we say:

O my Lord, help me in Your remembrance, and in thanking You, and in perfecting my worship of You.

So we recognize, brothers and sisters, that if there's anything that we should be making du'a and supplicating to Allah for, then it should be for the worship of Allah.

The Du'a of Musa — Recognizing Weaknesses

Musa alayhi salam is also supplicating to Allah after being given this grand, difficult mission — a mission that would be difficult for any human being on this earth. And so he says:

O my Lord, expand for me my chest, and make this affair easy for me, and release the knot from my tongue, so that they may understand my speech.

Because this is something which is a huge task for him to do. And so he knows that help is only from Allah in this regard. It is said that Musa alayhi salam had a speech impediment and was not able to speak as eloquently as others. And so now he's looking at his own deficiencies, his own weaknesses, and recognizing them.

You know, when we do acts of worship, there may be some acts of worship which are easier for us to do than others. And maybe with the month of Ramadan approaching, for some of us fasting may be difficult — generally speaking, or because it's in the summer months. So recognizing this weakness that we may have: how many of us are supplicating to Allah, asking Allah to make the month of Ramadan easy for us to fast in?

So Musa alayhi salam is recognizing his own weaknesses and then asking Allah to make those weaknesses his strengths. Likewise, brothers and sisters, when we think of our own weaknesses and shortcomings, we should ask Allah to rectify them and make those weaknesses strengths as opposed to weaknesses.

Seeking Help from Others — Harun alayhi salam

Then Musa alayhi salam makes another supplication. Because he realizes that this task isn't something which he can do on his own. And many times, whenever we're given a task or a mission or a job or an assignment, sometimes we feel like it's only us, that I'm on my own and nobody else can help me. Yet when we look at Musa alayhi salam, he understands that in some situations he's going to need help from other people — people that he trusts, people that he recognizes have strengths that maybe he himself doesn't have. And so he says:

And make for me a helper from my family — Harun, my brother.

And so he's recognizing that he's not strong enough in certain areas to carry out this mission on his own, and that he needs the help of somebody else — especially his brother Harun alayhi salam, who is said to have been more eloquent than Musa alayhi salam. And we notice here that Musa alayhi salam isn't embarrassed or ashamed to ask Allah for help with regards to this specific mission. Likewise, brothers and sisters, we ourselves shouldn't be embarrassed when we ask Allah for help, or even when we ask our friends and family members for help when it comes to specific acts of worship.

Allah responds and says to him:

You have been given what you asked for, O Musa.

Allah uses the word سُؤْل, which carries a different meaning to أَسْئِلَة — the plural of questions. سُؤْل here means: "I have responded to these requests of yours — and these things you have asked of Me are things which are easy for Me to grant." And so Allah responds to the supplication of Musa alayhi salam and gives him what he desires.

Du'a for Both the Dunya and the Akhirah

We learn from this story, brothers and sisters, the importance of planning and preparing when it comes to doing acts of worship — whether it's in the month of Ramadan or outside of it, whether related to worship or to matters of the dunya. And this is why it's important for an individual to supplicate to Allah not only with regards to matters of the dunya — family, wealth, health — but also with regards to acts of worship and the akhirah. As Allah says that there are some people who make du'a only for the dunya:

And they have no share in the Hereafter.

And then there are others who make du'a for the dunya and for the akhirah as well, and they say:

O our Lord, give us good in this dunya, and give us good in the hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the hellfire.

The Vision of the Prophets

We notice the other prophets of Allah, and how they were also given this gift of having a vision — being able to look ahead. Allah says:

And remember Our servants Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Ya'qub — those who possessed strength and vision.

They were given strength and they were given absar — they had vision. They were able to think ahead.

Ibrahim and the Building of the Ka'bah

What is the example of Ibrahim alayhi salam? We look at how he was given the command of rebuilding the house of Allah:

And when Ibrahim raised the foundations of the House with Ismail, saying: "O our Lord, accept this from us. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing."

Now at that moment in time, when he's building the Ka'bah, there is nobody who is going to come to worship Allah. He is the only believer on the face of the earth along with his family. Yet he understood and he realized that if his actions are sincere — and this is why he says رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا — "O our Lord, accept this deed from us." Because without sincerity in a person's actions, those actions are going to be corrupted. Those actions aren't going to be worth anything. And those actions won't take anyone far — neither in the dunya nor in the akhirah.

And today we see every single day, not a moment passes by except people are performing Tawaf around the house of Allah — responding to the call of Ibrahim alayhi salam when he built the house of Allah.

Ya'qub and the Dream of Yusuf

This very same ayah mentions Ibrahim, Ishaq, and Ya'qub alayhi salam. We know that Ya'qub alayhi salam was fond of his son and loved Yusuf alayhi salam more than his other children — and this is something which is natural. And so Yusuf alayhi salam, when he had the dream that he had:

I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon — I saw them prostrating to me.

His father hearing this dream, and first of all this shows us the close relationship that the father and son had — only someone who is very close to you would you tell something as intimate as the dreams you've had during the night. Ya'qub alayhi salam, recognizing the jealousy that his brothers might have if they heard about this dream — because there were eleven of them — knew that if they had heard about this dream, they would have caused harm to him. And so he said:

Do not mention this dream to your brothers, lest they plot against you.

And we know what happened with Yusuf alayhi salam and his brothers even though that dream wasn't mentioned to them. One can only imagine if they knew about the dream, what they would have plotted had they known about it.

Planning in the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad

We also have examples from our beloved messenger, the last and final messenger, Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ. We know that before he made the hijrah from the city of Mecca to Medina, he had met with the people from the Ansar. He made a treaty with them — the treaty of Aqabah — in which he agreed with them that they would protect him if he decided to go and live in the city of Medina.

The second year in which he met with the people of the Ansar — and this was just prior to the hijrah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — he met with about 75 people from the Ansar of Medina. And he agreed with them that they would obey him if he was to be with them and that they would support him. And this is before the hijrah itself. And so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is already planning, already thinking ahead about what he would do if he was in a situation where he wasn't able to live in Mecca anymore. Yet he's already planning — already thinking about things two years before he makes the hijrah to Medina.

We also know, for example, when he was in Ta'if, calling its people to the worship of Allah, and they sent their children out to stone him. When he was leaving, the angels came down — the Angel of the Mountains. And the angel said: if you wish, I will cause these mountains to come together, destroying the city of Ta'if. And so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said no — because I hope that in the future there will be people coming out of Ta'if who will say La ilaha illallah. And this was indeed the case — it happened in fact in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he conquered the city of Ta'if. And today if you go to Ta'if, you see the scholars of Saudi Arabia moving there in the summer because of the heat, actually residing in Ta'if. You go to the city of Ta'if in the summer, and you see camps where they recite the Qur'an and memorize the Qur'an over a course of two or three months. And so you see the vision of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

When he made the hijrah to the city of Medina, he prepared in advance — thinking about how he was going to undertake this journey, the route he was going to take, who he was going to have with him as a companion, and how he would cover his tracks when he was actually making his way. When he left the city of Mecca, he never left via the normal route towards the city of Medina.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also planned and prepared his return to Mecca many years later. When he left the city of Medina with his army, he never even told them where he was going initially, so that when he arrived in Mecca it would be a surprise. And even when he left Medina, he took a different route as if he was going in the opposite direction of Mecca. So people had no idea where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was going. And then when he arrived in Mecca, Abu Sufyan and others had no idea who this army was that was arriving — they thought it was other tribes that had come to support them, rather than the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

So we can see from these examples, brothers and sisters, the importance of planning and preparing. We ask Allah that He gives us the ability to do so. I say this and ask Allah to forgive me. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and his family and companions.

Second Part: The Virtue and Purpose of Fasting

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Chief of the Prophets and Messengers, our Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.

We were talking about the importance of planning in Islam and thinking things ahead of the time that we intend to do them. And we were talking about how, with regards to acts of the dunya — related to family or work or other things — we tend to prepare well in advance, maybe even six months before we actually do something. Yet how many of us think and contemplate and plan and prepare things with regards to our acts of worship, especially considering the fact that the month of Ramadan is just around the corner.

We mentioned examples from the time of the prophets of Allah. We talked about how Musa alayhi salam, when given the task to go to Fir'aun, recognized his shortcomings and weaknesses and asked Allah to help him overcome them: expand for me my chest, make this affair easy for me, loosen the knot from my tongue, give me eloquence in speech, and give me a helper from my family, Harun alayhi salam. And Allah gave him all of these things.

We mentioned the example of Ibrahim alayhi salam building the house of Allah — even though there was nobody else there who would visit the house of Allah and perform tawaf — yet he continued, recognizing that sincerity will pay off whether it's then or later. And also Yusuf alayhi salam and the dream which he was told by his father not to share with his brothers, for fear that they may do him harm. And we mentioned examples from the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — his visit to Ta'if, the hijrah itself, and meeting the Ansar two years before the hijrah.

The Hadith Qudsi on Fasting

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ mentioned in a Hadith Qudsi about the blessing of the act of fasting itself. He said that Allah said: "The actions of the son of Adam are for him, except for fasting — for fasting is for Me, and I will reward him for it."

And we talked about the importance of sincerity, brothers and sisters, when it comes to acts of worship. If a person isn't sincere with regards to his acts of worship, then those acts of worship won't take him far — neither in this life nor in the hereafter. And even if he does go far in this life, it's only because Allah will diminish his reward in the akhirah.

And so the individual, when he ponders over this hadith — how Allah has said that fasting, this act of fasting, whoever undertakes it, his reward is with Allah:

فَإِنَّهُ لِي وَأَنَا أَجْزِي بِهِ — Fasting is for Me and I will reward him for it.

This shows us, brothers and sisters, the status of the act of fasting for the sake of Allah. When a person fasts for the sake of Allah, it's different to other acts of worship. And this is why Allah specifically mentions fasting here in this hadith. Because when a person performs a prayer, or when a person gives charity, or goes for Hajj, you can see that individual doing those things. Whereas when a person fasts for the sake of Allah, it's something which a person can't see. You see a person walking down the street or going to the masjid — you can't tell whether he's fasting or not. It's something which is between him and Allah. And if he has the correct intention, and he's sincere, and he continues with the fast even though there's nobody else watching him, even though he may be at home and tempted to eat and drink, he still abstains — from food and drink and other forbidden activities — for the sake of Allah. And when he does this, he is rewarded by Allah.

The Prescription of Fasting — Surah Al-Baqarah

Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you, just as it was prescribed for those who came before you, so that you may attain taqwa.

And Allah, when He calls us, He calls us by the name of those who believe — يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — knowing and understanding that only those who have true belief, true faith — not just those who are Muslims, but those who are mu'mins, those who have real iman — those are the individuals who are truly going to undertake this task of fasting for the sake of Allah.

And كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ — "just as it was prescribed for those who came before you" — this shows us that fasting is something which is a tradition of the prophets of the past. And in the past, the prophets of Allah would fast not just from food and drink. And sometimes it wasn't from food and drink at all — but it was refraining and abstaining from speech. They wouldn't talk. And this was their fast for the sake of Allah. As Maryam alayha salam said to her people when she brought back 'Isa alayhi salam and they asked her about it:

I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful, so I will not speak to any human today.

And this shows us, brothers and sisters, the importance of the fact that when we fast in the month of Ramadan — or even outside of it — it's not just about staying away and abstaining from food and drink. There should be a difference in the way that we behave, in the things that we do, and there should be a difference in the things that we say. Whatever comes out of our mouths — the speech and language that we use — we will be held to account for. And considering the fact that we're going to be fasting, we need to be careful and aware of what comes out of our mouths, because we're in an act of worship which lasts from sunrise until sunset.

The Hadith on Evil Speech During Fasting

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

Whoever does not leave evil and false speech and acting upon it, then Allah has no need for this individual to leave his food and his drink.

Meaning there is no benefit in abstaining from food and drink if you're not going to abstain and stay away from evil speech — because you haven't benefited, you haven't learned the lesson and the whole purpose of fasting for the sake of Allah.

We ask Allah that He gives us life so that we're able to witness the month of Ramadan, and that Allah makes this Ramadan the greatest and the best Ramadan that we've ever experienced in our lives.

Indeed, Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and giving to relatives. And He forbids immorality, bad conduct, and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.

So remember Allah, the Great and Majestic — He will remember you. And be grateful to Him for His blessings — He will increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is the highest, the most worthy, and the greatest. And Allah knows what you do. Establish the prayer.