The Best of Planners - Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood

The Best of Planners

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, we ask His help and we ask His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides is not misguided, and whoever He misguides is not guided. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, there is no partner for Him. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord Who created you from one soul, and He created from it a wife, and He spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for help and mercy. Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

As for what follows, the best speech is the Book of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of affairs are the newly invented matters, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

A Personal Story: When Plans Change

A few months ago, I was asked to do a khutbah in a masjid in a different city on this very same day. And I took that khutbah, and we agreed on the date of doing the khutbah on this very same day, today. Two days ago, I checked to confirm the khutbah that I was supposed to deliver. And I found that the brother had sent me a message straight after he had sent me the first message. But I never saw them because I was busy. And he said that that khutbah had been taken. Today's khutbah had been taken by somebody else, and he offered another date. And this is two days ago. So I said to him, subhanAllah, I just saw your message — am I still doing the khutbah this day? I don't know if I'm doing it or not. Can you tell me? So he said, no, the khutbah has been taken. We'll give you another khutbah for another day.

Yesterday, the brother texted me again. And he says to me that the khatib isn't able to do the khutbah today. So can you do the khutbah? And this was yesterday. Before he texted me asking me if I can do the khutbah today, I had already made arrangements of something that I was going to do after today's Jumu'ah khutbah. Which meant that I wasn't able to go there and do the khutbah. And so subhanAllah, when he texted me and mentioned this to me, I thought about whether I should go or not. I was contemplating. To the extent that — as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would do and would say to his companions, as the companions themselves would say — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would teach us istikhara in all of our affairs. He would teach us to make istikhara in every single thing, in every single thing of our affairs. Everything. And he would teach us istikhara just like he would teach us a surah from the Qur'an. Meaning it was emphasized that whenever a person would decide to do something, he would make istikhara. And so I made istikhara whether I should do that khutbah or not. And I'm telling you this because there are some fawa'id and there is some benefit in it.

So I decided not to take that khutbah. I was meant to come here today and sit where you're sitting right now and listen to the khatib. And I found out that the khatib isn't well — and we ask Allah that He cures him. So it just happened today that I got the call that they need someone to do the khutbah today because the khatib isn't well.

Allah is the Best of Planners

Allah says in the Qur'an:

They plan and Allah plans. And Allah is the best of planners.

You know, we make plans and we note them down in our mobile phones. We note them down in our diaries. And we make plans for the next four months, for the next six months, for the next year — what we're going to be doing, where we're going to be going, what masjids we're going to be visiting. Yet subhanAllah, when a person makes these plans, plans will change. Maybe some of you didn't intend to come here, just like I didn't intend to do the khutbah today. Maybe some of you were intending to go somewhere else. Maybe some of you weren't expecting certain things to happen today in the morning when you woke up, but they happened.

They plan and Allah Himself plans. And Allah is the best of planners.

The Hijrah: Planning and Trust in Allah

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he was in Mecca, calling the people to Islam, calling the people to Tawheed — for 13 years he called the people to Tawheed. And the situation became such that he wasn't able to stay in the city of Mecca anymore. And he decided that he had to leave the city of Mecca and make hijrah and go to the city of Medina.

Before he left, he was making plans and he was making arrangements — when he would go, how he would go. And he was waiting for the right opportunity. Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu had no idea that he would be accompanying the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet he himself made plans. He made arrangements. He prepared a riding beast. He prepared provisions for the journey. Even though he didn't know he was going to go with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. But he had that hope. He had that hope in Allah. That Allah would make him a companion on this journey with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ prepared provisions. He prepared for the journey. He prepared the route. He prepared and hired a guide to take him and Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu on this journey. He made all of these preparations. And who was he? The best of creation. Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The best and greatest of creation. The one whom Allah knew what he was thinking. He knew what he was thinking.

Allah says:

Verily, We see your face turning towards the heavens. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ hadn't said anything. You turn your face to the heavens. So We are going to give you the Qibla which you are pleased with. The Qibla which you want. Meaning We will change the Qibla — from Jerusalem to the city of Mecca, to the Ka'bah. Because this is what you want. Even though the Messenger of Allah ﷺ never said anything. He never even supplicated for this. He never asked for this. Yet Allah knew what he was feeling. He knew what he wanted without him even thinking about it.

So this man whom Allah loved the most — He would give him whatever he was even feeling, whatever he was thinking, without him even asking for it. You know when you sometimes know what a person wants because of the way he's looking at something — maybe your watch, maybe something that you have. And you see that he wants it. You know straight away. And so you give it to him. Because you love him. Because you want him to have it. Because you want him to feel that happiness. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was like this with regards to Allah.

So Allah is the best of planners. Yet the Messenger of Allah ﷺ still made preparations for this journey which he was going to partake in. He still made arrangements. He still made preparations. Even though he was under the guidance of Allah. Even though he was under the protection of Allah. Even though no matter what happened, Allah would protect him. And this shows us the importance of planning and preparing. The importance of making that effort. Because if a person makes that effort, then Allah will help him.

Remembrance, Tawakkul, and Effort

Allah says:

Remember Me and I will remember you. A person needs to take that step to remember Allah. And Allah's happiness upon the individual is something which only Allah knows — who He is happy with and who He isn't happy with. And because of His happiness for an individual, that makes us happy with Allah and happy with the decree of Allah. Allah says:

Allah says that He is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah. So a slave's pleasure with his Lord doesn't come first. Rather it is Allah's pleasure — Allah being pleased with the slave — that comes first and foremost, and then the happiness and the pleasure of the slave towards his Lord comes second. So how do we know that Allah is pleased with us? When a person does good deeds, when a person has taqwa in his heart, he fears Allah.

Every single one of us should make preparations. Every single one of us should prepare things, just like the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made preparations in his life before he left the city of Makkah. He never made an announcement. He never told anybody that he was leaving. He went in the darkness of the night. He prepared his animal. He prepared his route. He took a guide. And this shows us the importance of planning.

When a person plans, then he puts his trust in Allah. It's not a case of just putting your trust in Allah and not making the effort yourself. A person has to make the effort. That's part of his tawakkul — his trust in Allah. The companions, radhiallahu anhum ajma'een, asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whether it was better to tie up one's camel or to keep one's trust in Allah — whether it's best for a person to make preparations and to do whatever he can, or whether he should just put his trust in Allah. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, as reported in Tirmidhi:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2517)

Tie up the camel and trust in Allah. Do both of these things. Don't sit at home expecting for things to happen when you're not making the effort yourself. Don't expect money to fall from the skies if you're not going out and about working for that money, making an effort for the money and the wealth that you expect to come to you.

Planning for the Deen — Not Just the Dunya

On top of this, brothers and sisters, we have to look at what plans and what preparations we're making. Maybe we're thinking in six months' time, I'm going to travel here. Maybe some of us are thinking, where are we going to go in the summer holidays? Where am I going to take my family? What am I going to do with the kids? This week, which was holidays — maybe some of us thought, what are we going to do in these holidays with my children? What am I going to do? Where am I going to take them? How am I going to spend this time? And so we have plans with regards to our families. We have plans with regards to our work. We have plans with regards to where we're going to go, what we're going to do.

Yet how many of us make plans with regards to our deen? How many of us make plans with regards to our acts of worship? How many of us have goals and objectives and targets related to our own deen?

This dunya is something which is temporary. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2322; also recorded by Ibn Majah)

Everything in this world is cursed. This world and everything in it is cursed — except for the remembrance of Allah and what is connected to it, and the scholar and the student of knowledge. You know, sometimes we live in a bubble. And we think that pure happiness is in this world. And we don't want anything bad to happen. And when something bad happens to us, we become depressed. We become upset. Life throws things at us. And we become upset, we become miserable, we become depressed. But what does a person expect in this life — which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said is cursed? So a person is to be expecting anything to happen in this world. He is going to be tested. Things are going to happen to him which he is not going to be happy with. And it may be a test from Allah for the slave. This world is temporary.

The Parable of the Motorway

Imagine driving on the motorway at night. There are some cars in front of you and there are some cars behind you. And there is a car which has been travelling with you for a long time. You recognise the car — it's a black BMW. You recognise the car. It's as if it's going the same direction you're going. And it's travelling with you. Sometimes you're in front of it, sometimes you're behind it. And then that car takes an exit. And that car leaves.

This is like the dunya, brothers and sisters. This life — we're going to come across people that we're going to know. And they might accompany us on this journey. But they're eventually going to take their exit. They're eventually going to leave. They're taking their exit. They're taking their own route. They're taking their own journey. And they're going to go wherever they're going to go, whatever their destination is. Yet every single one of us is going to have our exit. We're all going to have our exit that we're going to take at one point or another in time.

The question is: what provisions have we prepared for that exit? What provisions have we prepared for that ultimate journey which is going to come to an end? And for the next journey which is going to start inevitably — what provisions have we made?

The Wisdom of Abu Darda

Abu Darda radhiallahu anhu, one day, was looking at the Ka'bah. He was in front of the Ka'bah, and he was with his students. And he told his students: "Do you make provisions whenever you travel?" And they said, "Yes." And so he said to them, "Then why don't you make provisions for that ultimate journey that you're going to partake in — in which there are no journeys after it? It is the ultimate journey. The journey of life itself."

How many of us are making preparations for the hereafter?

We plan and we make arrangements. But Allah Himself is also making plans for us. And we have no idea what His plans are. We have no idea where we're going to be today, let alone next week or next month. So a person needs to make the necessary arrangements.

Pray as if it is Your Last Prayer

A person should pray as if he's never ever going to pray again. Some time ago, one of our Yemeni brothers — he died here in Birmingham while making sajda. He died while prostrating, subhanAllah. A young brother, in his late 20s. He died while prostrating. And this in and of itself is a blessing from Allah. That man, when he woke up — that Muslim brother, may Allah grant him the highest parts of Jannah — when he woke up that day, he had no idea that he would be praying to Allah. He would be doing sajda. He would be making his adhkar. He would be asking Allah for things while prostrating. Because the closest a slave is to his Lord is while he is making sajda.

He had no idea that he would be making sajda, asking Allah for things — for that very same day, or for the following week, or for something in his life. Maybe he wasn't married, maybe he wanted to get married. Maybe he wanted a job, maybe he wanted to complete his studies. He had no idea that Allah was going to take his soul at that very moment. He had no idea. A man of 29 years old. Sometimes we live and we think we're going to live forever. But we have no guarantee of when death is going to come to us.

And Allah is the best of planners. There is no one who is a better planner than Allah.

The creation of Allah — how Allah has manufactured everything. And Allah has perfected every single thing. Every single thing in this universe is perfect. Right down to the plant which grows. Every single thing is under the guidance of Allah.

Second Part of the Khutbah

We were talking about making plans and planning things for the future. And many of us plan things with regards to our families, with regards to our careers, with regards to other things. But how many of us make plans for the akhirah? How many of us make plans for the Day of Judgment? How many of us make plans and have goals and objectives with regards to our acts of worship?

Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymin said once that if a person intends to do a good deed:

Then let him do it and don't hesitate — don't delay that good deed. Because you don't know when death is going to come to you. You don't know when that deed that you do is going to be the last deed that you do in your life. That Yemeni brother had no idea that that salah was going to be his last salah. A person has no idea what is going to be his last deed in his life.

Many of us have intentions of doing good deeds. Maybe some of us had the intention of giving wealth, giving charity for the sake of Allah. Maybe we've had this in our minds for the last week, for the last month, for the last six months. Maybe we've intended on giving charity — why haven't we given it? What has stopped you from giving this charity? Why haven't you given this charity, brothers and sisters? What are you waiting for? Don't delay in doing good deeds.

Allah says: race for the forgiveness of your Lord.

Race and compete with one another when it comes to doing good deeds. Don't race with one another with regard to worldly things, because that's going to be never-ending. You're never going to catch up to the dunya. The scholars would say about this world that if a person tries to run after the dunya, the dunya will run away from him and he will never catch the dunya — he's always going to be running after it. And the one who stays away from the dunya, the one who avoids the dunya, the dunya is going to try to run after him — it's going to try to entice him.

Every single one of us has intentions to do good deeds. And there is no better time to do good deeds than right now, than today. Don't delay in doing your good deeds, brothers and sisters, because we have no idea when death is going to come to us.

Allah advised the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the Qur'an and He said:

Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you — until yaqeen comes to you. The scholars said: what is this yaqeen that Allah is talking about? They said yaqeen here means death in and of itself. It is talking about death. Worship your Lord until death comes to you. Because death is certain for every single one of us — it is going to take place. This is why it is called yaqeen in this ayah.

Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ know when death was going to come to him? He didn't know. He had no idea. So why was Allah saying this to him? To remind him and to tell him that he needs to continue to do good deeds — he needs to be continuous with regards to his worship to Allah, non-stop, continuously. There is no break for us. And I advise myself before I advise anybody else — we don't have any breaks. We don't have time to relax. This dunya is something which is temporary. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ himself was told to worship his Lord until death comes to him. We don't know when death is going to come to us.

So a person when he worships Allah, he should worship Allah to the best of his ability. Do whatever he can — whatever is in his capacity to do. Whether it's giving charity, whether it's fasting, whether it's praying, whether it's reciting the Qur'an, whether it's providing for his family, helping his fellow Muslim brother or sister. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699)

Allah helps His slave so long as the slave helps his fellow Muslim brother or sister.

So many of us can do good deeds. What type of good deed? That's for you to figure out for yourself. There may be certain deeds which are easier for you to do — certain things which you're able to do which another person might not be able to do, because Allah has blessed you with something that He hasn't blessed other people with. And this is for every single one of us to sit and to contemplate and to think about: what can I do to invest for the akhirah? What can I do so that when I take my exit, I've got provisions for the akhirah?

We ask Allah that He makes us from those people who plan things and also who do things for the benefit of ourselves, so that they are added to our scale of good deeds on the Day of Judgment.

Announcements

Just a few announcements:

Firstly, please donate generously on your way out. This masjid relies on the will of Allah and your financial support so that we can keep providing the activities for the community.

Tonight's Urdu lecture will take place after Salatul Isha.

Also, the Saturday lecture is entitled التَّوَّابُون — The Ones Who Repent — and will be delivered by Sheikh Abu Usama.

Sisters will be enrolling for new Tarbiyah courses: BOWDOWN — an eight-week course teaching Salah and its Fiqh — and Islam Essentials, a 15-week course which covers essential Islamic lessons. Enrollment will take place this Tuesday, the 24th of February, from 10am to 12pm. Places are limited and offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Also, JLMCC Young Ummah is proud to announce the launch of a new exciting course for 10 to 16-year-olds entitled On The Run: Navigating Through The Early Teens with Surah al-Kahf. It aims to address some of the challenges and issues that are faced by our younger brothers and sisters, using Surah al-Kahf as a guide. This four-hour course will take place on Sunday, the 8th of March, from 10am to 2pm. Registration is through Eventbrite — the link is on the Facebook page.

Also, our food bank service urgently requires food donations. We are currently running low on cooking sauces, nappies, squash drinks, cereal, coffee, and ladies' pads. Please leave your donations during office hours at the Masjid Reception. We are also looking to recruit volunteers to help with the running of the service — please leave your details at the office.

Also, Birmingham Healthy Minds have set up an awareness stall to promote their services. For more information, please do approach them.

Also, as you may be aware, there is a petition against the banning of halal slaughter. The deadline for the petition is this coming Monday. We do encourage you all to take some time to sign the petition and spread the word, as this is only in our benefit, insha'Allah.

Once again, please donate generously on the way out. Jazakum Allahu khayran.