Planning and Deliberation

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْد، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Need for Planning in Our Ummah

Brothers and sisters in Islam, our khutbah today is a reminder about planning and preparation. And this is something that we are in need of in every aspect of our personal life and our public life. We see many times we don't plan in advance, so our only course of action is to be reactionary.

Every time the Muslims in Palestine are being massacred, then we try to reach out to officials and people in charge. But when nothing is happening to that degree, there are no groups that are aggressively approaching senators or congressmen, there is no group that is aggressively lobbying for Palestine. It's only when they're being attacked and massacred that people try to bring it to the public view.

In a similar way, when it comes to elections, so many people now are panicking and complaining about what is happening in the government — but what about voting? What about doing something about it before it happens? Even in simple things, when we construct masajid, we don't consider the future growth of the community. So you visit masajid around the country and you'll see they built a structure that is insanely small, and now they have to demolish it in order to build something bigger. But why don't we project the growth of communities? Why don't we plan and prepare properly?

And this is a lesson that was given to us a very long time ago.

Allah's Creation in Six Periods — A Lesson in Deliberation

In the Qur'an, Allah says:

Indeed, your Lord is Allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then He settled upon His Throne.

The jumhur, the majority of the ulama, say the six days are like our six days in length. Others have the opinion that each of the six days was a thousand years long. And others explain that al-ayyam in Arabic doesn't necessarily have to mean days, but it can mean periods of time — and Allah knows how long each period is.

So six of these periods of time. But the question is: why would Allah create the heavens and the earth in six periods of time? We know that Allah has the power and the capacity to create something instantly:

If Allah wants something, He just says to it, "Be" — and it becomes.

There are many ayat like this about Allah saying كُن فَيَكُونُ — Allah will say "Be" and the thing becomes. So why did Allah take — for lack of a better term — take His time in creating the heavens and the earth?

There are a number of explanations, but we'll take this one from Ibn al-Jawzi, rahimahullah, from his tafsir. He says: "He — meaning Allah — taught deliberation to His slaves." Because if the One who does not make mistakes created the universe in a deliberate manner, then it is more appropriate for those who are susceptible to making mistakes to do things in a deliberate manner. For us, who do make mistakes, we should plan, we should prepare, and we should do things in a deliberate manner.

Planning in the Seerah of the Prophet ﷺ

The Marketplace of Madinah

We also see this planning and preparation in the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. When the Prophet ﷺ came to Al-Madinah, the Jews of Al-Madinah were in control of the markets. They could monopolize, they could raise the prices however they wanted, and the Muslims were at their mercy. So they didn't just sit and complain about how they had no control and the finances were not in their hands.

The Prophet ﷺ had people physically going around the city of Al-Madinah looking for an appropriate location to start their own marketplace. And when we talk about the size of these marketplaces — the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa had one huge marketplace where they sold food, wheat, barley, and dates, and they had up to 300 stores selling gold, 300 jewelers. But the Prophet ﷺ had them look, found a location, and even put a perimeter around it. Then he chose a second location, right at the entrance of the city.

They didn't just sit back and complain. The Prophet ﷺ taught his ummah to go out and do something about it.

The Hijrah — A Masterclass in Planning

Let's look at the example of the hijrah of the Prophet ﷺ. Many people think that whoever got his things together would just start heading to Madinah. But it was very carefully planned. No one just left to Madinah from Mecca. People would come, they would go in organized groups. No group would leave before getting permission from the Prophet ﷺ. And then they would leave under cover of night. Everyone who left — it was planned.

The hijrah itself took place on a Friday. The Thursday before, as you know from the story, the leaders of the Quraysh gathered together and decided to have the Prophet ﷺ killed — by members of different tribes, so that the blood would be dispersed amongst them and their responsibility.

So Jibreel ﷺ came to the Prophet ﷺ and said:

"Do not spend the night in your bed tonight."

So the Prophet ﷺ had to go quickly to Abu Bakr and inform him that they had to make the hijrah. Now look at the precautions and measures taken here.

The first thing: the Prophet ﷺ went to Abu Bakr at the time of Zahira — a time he did not usually visit Abu Bakr. The second thing: at the time of Zahira, it is so intensely hot that there is not even a living animal outside. So he chose a time when there was less traffic and less chance of being seen. On top of that, he covered his face and then covered his head, and made it to the house of Abu Bakr without anyone seeing him.

When he entered, he said: أَخْرِجْ مَنْ عِنْدَكَ — "Send away whoever is with you, I want to speak to you in private." So Abu Bakr said, "It's okay to speak in front of them — they are my family, may my mother and father be sacrificed for you, they won't say anything about it."

Look at all these precautionary measures. The Prophet ﷺ then told Abu Bakr the plan: to leave immediately for Madinah. And Abu Bakr said, "Take one of these two rides of mine." You see this trickle-down of preparation? Even Abu Bakr was fully prepared. Why? Because once he was packed and ready, he had come and asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission to go to Madinah. And the Prophet ﷺ told him to wait — "Perhaps Allah will choose a companion for you."

So Abu Bakr understood that he might be the one to accompany the Prophet ﷺ on the hijrah. So what did he do? He didn't just sit and wait. He had two camels ready to travel at any moment. And how do you do that with camels? It's the equivalent of having a car with a full tank of gas, with the oil changed, ready to go. He had them not overworked, with water and food available to them so they were fully satiated. He had them prepared ahead of time. So when the Prophet ﷺ came to him — suddenly, unannounced — he was ready, with two rides ready.

The Plan — Point by Point

The plan in bullet points: The Prophet ﷺ would not sleep in his house that night, because the Quraysh planned to assassinate him at the time of Fajr. So Ali ﷺ slept in his place. The Prophet ﷺ would stay with Abu Bakr for part of the night and then leave. There are people who wake up early, and people who sleep late — and there are some hours in the dead of night where neither are awake. That is when they left.

They left from the back of the house of Abu Bakr — because the Quraysh knew he was the Prophet's best friend and might check there, so they exited from the back. There are two routes to Madinah: one well-known, and the other difficult, heading toward the Red Sea. Because they would not be expected on that difficult route, that is the one the Prophet ﷺ chose.

They needed a dalil — a guide — who was trustworthy, experienced, knowledgeable, and someone the mushrikeen would not be suspicious of. So they chose Abdullah ibn Urayqit, who was not even Muslim at the time, so no one would suspect him. He agreed to do the job and they agreed to pay him for it.

They were in Mecca heading to Madinah, which is north — but the Prophet ﷺ went south for 5 miles (8 kilometers) first. Why? Because when the Quraysh found them missing, they would look on the road to Madinah — but the Prophet ﷺ went in the opposite direction.

Then they stayed in the Ghar of Thawr. And there is a distinction worth noting: al-kahf is a cave that is cavernous and huge, able to accommodate many people. But al-ghar is an opening barely enough for two people, barely three. So when you imagine they stayed in al-ghar for three days — with no space to move or stretch, incredibly confined — look at the patience required.

But why three days and not one? Because on the first day the search is intense, on the second day it is still intense but less so, and by the third day it begins to die down.

Now they needed someone to bring them news. So Abdullah ibn Abu Bakr, a young boy — but precocious, mentally ahead of his time — was at an age so young that the mushrikeen of Quraysh would speak freely in front of him without concern, while he understood everything. He would come at night, stay with them, and relay all the news of what was happening in Mecca.

At the same time, Amr ibn Fuhayrah, the freed servant of Abu Bakr, would bring the goats — and they would cover the tracks of the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr, as well as the tracks of Abdullah ibn Abu Bakr.

And for food and drink, Asma, the daughter of Abu Bakr, would bring food to them. No one would suspect her — first, she was a woman, and the Quraysh were probably watching the men. Second, no one would expect her to travel 8 kilometers (5 miles) outside the city and climb a mountain to bring food, because she was in her last trimester of pregnancy.

So you see — every part of the plan, carefully prepared by the Prophet ﷺ. These are just two examples, and at every stop of the seerah, you find careful planning and consideration by the Prophet ﷺ. This is a lesson for our ummah that we should have learned 1,400 years ago.

And this does not contradict putting your reliance upon Allah. As the scholars of Islam, rahimahumullah, very eloquently put it: Tawakkul is an action of the heart — which means you plan, you do everything possible, and all the while your heart is connected to Allah.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ جَمِيعِ الذُّنُوبِ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ — I ask Allah for His forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَمِينِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْد.

Abu Bakr's Movements on the Way to the Cave

On the way to the cave of Thawr, Abu Bakr narrates: For a while I would travel far behind the Prophet ﷺ, thinking — what if they catch up with us from behind? At least that way they catch me first, and the Prophet ﷺ will be alerted and get away. Then I think — what if they come from the right side? So I start to travel from his right side for a period. Then I think — what if they come from the left? So I start to travel far to his left. Then I think — what if there's an ambush ahead? So I travel way ahead of him.

And so Abu Bakr continued — right, left, back, front — while all the while the Prophet ﷺ was making dhikr of Allah, extremely calm, on his one path, while Abu Bakr was constantly shifting around him.

The Battle of Badr — Making Up for Lack of Preparation with Du'a

Fast forward to the Battle of Badr. The Prophet ﷺ was making du'a before the battle — raising his hands so high that his cloak fell off his back. Abu Bakr was the one who came and picked it up and placed it back on the shoulders of the Prophet ﷺ, saying, "Enough of you calling upon your Lord — Allah will give you what He promised you."

So the scholars asked: what is the difference? Why was it that during the hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ was calm while Abu Bakr worried — while at Badr, the Prophet ﷺ was making so much du'a that Abu Bakr had to reassure him?

The scholars said — and it goes back to the very point of our khutbah: for the hijrah, the Prophet ﷺ made every preparation that was humanly possible. Nothing was overlooked. Every preparation a human being could make, the Prophet ﷺ thought of it and prepared it. So there was nothing left to do but connect his heart with Allah and be calm.

But at the Battle of Badr, the Prophet ﷺ was not expecting a battle. He had taken 313 men to intercept a caravan guarded by 60 men — how much do you prepare for that? They didn't even bring heavy weaponry and armor. When it became a battle against an army three times their size, the Prophet ﷺ made up for the lack of preparation with a great deal of du'a to Allah.

Closing Du'a

With that, we ask Allah to make us of those who recognize the truth as clear truth and follow it, and to make us of those who recognize falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.

وَقُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ رَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ