To Plan or Not to Plan - Bilal Philips

hamdulillah or salat WA Salam o Rasul Allah all praise is due to Allah and may allows peace and blessings be on the last messenger of allah the topic of this presentation to plan or not to plan addresses a philosophical question which is in fact a part and parcel of our belief system if we believe in destiny where is the room for planning should we not just trust in Allah trust in God and be spontaneous just dealing with things as they come since everything is already written some mystics and philosophers even argue that the attribute in Arabic known as Ted veer or planning is one of the attributes of Allah and some include it amongst his names for example you find in the 32nd chapter of the Quran verse 5 the Deborah Amara - Seema Allah Allah he plans the affairs from the heavens to the earth so they argue that planning should really be left to him just as he describes himself as being al Allah the one who is worshipped and we live worship for him alone also he describes himself as a summon the one on whom all things depend so we depend on him we don't put ourselves in that situation where everybody depends on us alakay Hume is a self-sufficient almo he is the giver of life and all these attributes which we know belong only to God we cannot take these attributes on ourselves so this is a philosophical debate and discussion which some of held however in real life people plan even if it's just to go to the supermarket to get our food we make a list we plan out what it is we are going there for and we buy in accordance with that list similarly when we look at the creation of businesses starting companies constructing buildings designing airplanes cars ships etc all of these without a doubt require planning if we were to try to do any of these without planning we got people together to build a bridge and then everybody just did their own thing however they felt what would we end up with chaos a bridge which the first person a garden would be falling into the river so we know in real life that planning is necessary so much so that the people in the management field develop this phrase if you fail to plan you plan to fail if you fail to plan in fact you're dooming yourself to failure and they pointed out that in the case of planning were objectives are achieved through planning what you find is that 80% of the efforts will produce 20% of the results if there's no planning but if there is planning instead it becomes the opposite 20% of our efforts produces 80% of the results so there is great benefit in planning without a doubt if we only react to circumstances as they arise then we are doomed to responding to various circumstances in our lives in a very unsystematic way it will be chaotic way that is the conclusion now as Muslims we have to ask the question because prophet muhammad sallahu wa salem he was the best of examples for us Allah describes him in the Quran saying la vodka and a comfy Rasul Allah he was rotten husana there is in the messenger of allah for you the best of examples so this philosophical question and the practical things that we have to deal with we conclude what we have to do really by looking to see what did he do what did Prophet Muhammad SAW Salim do did he plan or did he just take things as they came reality when we look at his life we see careful meticulous planning for example when he had to make the hijra when he emigrated from Mecca to Medina how did he do it then he just pick up one night and just take off and know he planned it out the route the people who would supply them on the way he got a guide he left somebody in his home Ali bin Abi Talib in his home so that they would think he was still in the house I mean there was careful planning if we look for example at the Battle of we can find in there all kinds of examples of planning he Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him kept his uncle and Abbas in Mecca Muslim but externally people thought he was a non-muslim so he would gather information and feed that information back to the prophets and his followers in Medina to protect them friend from any harm that they may may happen to them as a result of Meccan efforts to destroy Islam so when the meccans decided they were going to attack Medina and Abbas informed the Prophet prophet saww salaam this is part of the planning he left somebody there in place to keep giving them information when he heard it then he gathered together the companions to decide what are they gonna do how are they gonna meet these people who are coming militarily should we fight them inside the city or should we fight them outside the city they got together and it is decided and watch what route to take he personally wanted to fight them from inside the city but they all wanted to fight them outside the city saying you know we want to show them you know that we are brave etc you know we fighting inside the cities like sneaky no we want to face them on the battlefield so the Prophet knowing that the better route really was inside the city still went along with their decision because he wanted to train them also in collective decisions anyway the point is that we find in all of the various circumstances of the prophet's life sallallahu wasallam may God's peace and blessings be upon him we find in it planning taking place and the biggest example that is usually raised to clarify this point is the occasion when the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him was sitting in the mosque and an individual came in to join him but just before he sat down he remembered he had not tied up his camera outside of the mosque so he stopped and thought for a minute well should I trust in God or should I go at the time I camera so he asked the Prophet what should I do should I trust in Allah or should I tie my camel why is it so important people who have never lived around camels can't grasp because say for example here in North America we don't have camels we have horses and a horse if you raise a horse from it is born till it becomes you know an adult that horse becomes a partner to you to such a degree wherever you go he'll follow you he attaches himself to you and so is the case of most domesticated animals however the camel is completely different the camel if you raise that camel from the time it is born and you give it an opportunity to escape it will take it first opportunity is gone as if it never knew you you never raised it you never fed it just takes off like a wild animal and of course we can laugh about it but if you're out on the desert that's a big problem you let your camel go and that's it this is why they develop special techniques to keep the camel under control the black band that you see Arabs commonly wearing around their headscarf they have a headscarf now this black band is called a all this is specifically for tying the camel most people don't know that they think is just a stylistic thing you know but really actually it was for tying the camel it opens up into a big hoop which they twist make it put it together it makes a double poop and they put it on their head what they need what they do if they're out on the desert they will bend the camel's knee and put this hoop of rope around the knee so in standing on three legs if he wants to move you can only hop a little bit you can't run away so of course after they did that you got back on your camel you had to ride away in the sunset you know wind blowing through your headscarf Kouta what better place to put that hobbling cord but on your head to keep the goodra on your head so it wouldn't fly away right so this was the strategy so when this person asks the profits are selling this question he asked him a question which was serious wasn't just a frivolous question so the profits are solemn turned to him and said I'll tell her what to walk on tie the camel and then trust in Allah that's the basic principle try the camel means you do all your planning we do what is necessary to get this job done then after you've done all you could then you leave your affairs to God but it's after you've made your effort not before so this is the correct methodology and furthermore when we consider that original argument that Ted beer or this planning is one of the attributes of God in fact there are a number of different attributes of God which we are expected to emulate there are some which were not which I mentioned earlier but there are others which we are for example mercy kindness when Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessing be upon him on one occasion he kissed his grandsons Hasan and Husayn he kissed them and one of the other companions saw him doing it he turned to the others and said oh I have 10 kids and I've never kissed one of them you know I thought this was like manhood right men don't kiss kids so when the Prophet heard that he turned to him and said man liar hum liar ha whoever doesn't show mercy will not receive mercy from God so this was an attribute of God which we are expected to emulate to express in our lives similarly many of the other attributes so the planning it is not against the principle of knowing allows names and his attributes and applying them in our lives so we can conclude from that that planning is important it means that as Muslims we have to put plans in our lives if we are to be successful this was the way of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam now planning is generally defined as the process of setting goals developing strategies and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish those goals so we're talking about setting goals first and foremost Prophet Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him gave us guidelines for setting goals he said in a hadith authentic hadith man cannot eat dunya hama Farokh allahu ala humara rajala Fattah who by Nene well Amiata him in a dunya Allah Couty Bala whoever's greatest concern whoever's goal is this world Allah will scatter his affairs and place poverty between his eyes and nothing will come to him from this world except what was a regiment originally written for him whoever makes this world his his affairs will be scattered he'll be like a chicken without a head running from here to there trying to get some of this and some of that and never satisfied he's our guy as the Prophet said if you give the son of Adam a valley of gold he would want another one there's no end to desire the green the grass is always greener on the other side so he's running from here I was looking for that greener grass can't be settled can't be at peace just running around like a madman his affairs are scattered that is the consequence furthermore Allah puts poverty between his eyes what does this mean means that no matter what he has he will still look at poverty as his greatest enemy so people who smile at him instead of taking it the nice way o person's happy with me they smiled at me let me smile back at them is ah what does he want they probably want some of my money so he'll be suspicious of everybody and there was a case about three months ago and the newspapers recorded about a German industrialist this man in his late 70s was the 47th richest man on the face of the earth according to worldly standards wealth he had 14 billion dollars term it was euros German 14 billion of it anyway when the financial crisis hit Germany as it hit everywhere else starting in America it reached Germany it hit them and hits him heavily in one week he lost nine million dollars in one week he lost nine billion dollars so what did this senior citizen do kill himself he committed suicide we would ask what about the five billion you last nine he still got five left the loss of the nine was so great he couldn't see the five billion who can spend five billion dollars I mean five billion dollars is something we can't even imagine but this man in spite of having five billion dollars remaining took his life poverty was between his eyes he couldn't appreciate what he had and why because this world was his gold this was his goal everything was focused on this world so any loss in this world becomes devastating we have all these cases of people they have this one they called The Postman syndrome people working in the post offices back in the late 90s one man lost his job he went home he bought got himself clashing cough came back into the office and started mowing down people in the office and then another person lost their job in a post office again it's about five cases one after the other in the States people came into their offices after losing their jobs and killed their workmates so they call it the post office or postmaster syndrome but what was it about it was about this thing of poverty this world becomes so valuable so treasured that loss causes people to fall apart and in reality in the end no matter what they do they will only get from this world what God has already for them so then what's the option the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him and said woman can it in our hero to nieta jamal abu amra well jalal arena who vehicle be who attitude dunya were hiroshima whoever places the next world as his intention whoever makes the next world his or her intention Allah will gather their affairs there will not be running all over the place they make their effort and they're satisfied there's a calmness that's in their lives and Allah will put wealth richness in their hearts richness in the hearts meaning contentment that they will be contented with what happens after making their efforts and the Prophet SAW Solomon said lay salvina when capital Arad that wealth and richness is not from having a lot of commodities like in elrina again enough true wealth is wealth of the soul where the soul finds peace contentment and rest not only happens when a person makes the life to come to Hereafter their real goal looking beyond the things of his life understanding that this is only a bridge and furthermore the Prophet SAW Salim said the world will come to him or her submissively they will not have to chase it it will come opportunities will present themselves and they take from it what is necessary so this is the starting point in planning to put our goals in order of course when you ask the average Muslim what's your goal in life they say paradise don't say it's clear we know it's paradise however when you look into their lives you listen to what they speak about what they read about what occupy is all of their time it's all about the dunya they talk about houses cars vacation all of the things related only to the accumulation of wealth and its enjoyment so we say how can that be how can your goal be the affero and you don't talk about it it doesn't really enter into your life so we can judge ourselves that way we can just stop for a minute and ask ourselves what do I spend most of my day talking about thinking about if it's not about the life to come the consequences of our actions where it leads then we have to say in reality our goal is not the life to come but this life in order to achieve those goals we also have to determine the prerequisites for those goals what do we need to do to achieve this goal of paradise the basic prerequisite which God has revealed to his creatures is Islam a way of life which he revealed to Adam and Eve the first human beings on the earth and all of the prophets brought that same message of Islam submission to the will of God to humankind that way of life that is the prerequisite to achieve the goal in the hereafter and one has to be clear about that weird that Islam that we're speaking about is not Islam that we may find in many communities today which we really should call cultural Islam a result of cultural local practices in different parts of the Muslim world where people have a tradition which is so mixed up and confused you can't really even be sure what is Islam and what is culture this is what has happened to much of the Muslim world today and that's why you find certain practices amongst Muslims which non-muslims look at and say Oh what kind of religion is this like for example honor killing who find it in Pakistan find it in Jordan you know where the family feels that one of the girls usually needs girls have dishonored the family by developing some kind of relationship outside of marriage so what is the solution purify the honor of the family her brother her father or uncle whatever agrees and takes her life it's called in those areas honor killing but the reality is that there is no honor in killing in Islam there's no such thing as honor killing that's just plain murder and the consequence for it should be death however in these areas because of the fact that they're not applying Islamic law they take into account these tribal and national customs and they only will punish the person the saying that they're green it's not right but they will only punish them by a few years in jail so one of the family members he makes that sacrifice I'll be the one I'll do it I'll spend the two years in jail to purify the honor of the family but this is evil and this is now associated with Islam and Muslims but in fact it isn't so what we're talking about is to Islam the Islam which was brought in its final form by Prophet Muhammad sallallahu wasallam the one which was understood by his generation as they implemented it they understood what it meant that is the true Islam that is the prerequisite for achieving paradise in the life to come and so when we look at Islam of course it's a large system involving every aspect of human life so where do we start the next step is that we have to prioritize we have to set some priorities because there's so many things to do so number one priority for a Muslim is to practice the pillars of Islam that is number one priority and if he or she fulfills that properly then they have done what is basically required of them we know that because a man came to the Prophet the Bedouin came to the Prophet may God's peace and mercy be upon him and asked him about it what do I need to do and the Prophet may God's peace and mercy be upon him explained to him what he needed to do and each time he would explain to him prayer you've got five times daily prayer and then there is voluntary prayers that you can also do in between etc he said no no I'll just do they required the obligatory said okay you go on to the next thing and each time he would explain to him the voluntary acts of worship he would say oh thank you but I'll just stick with this one at the end of it all he said I'm not gonna do any more or any less when he turned and walked away the Prophet said to his companions the address of the companions there this man will enter paradise if he is truthful if he does that as required of him he is guaranteed paradise but of course when we say doing it doing the prayer for example we have five times daily prayer it's not any five times daily prayer but it is prayer according to the way of the Prophet may God's peace and blessing be upon him he told us sulukim our item unio Sulli pray as you saw me pray so it's not just anyhow anyway it's supposed to be prayer where the heart is fully involved it's not just an external action that we go through like calisthenics or a cat and karate or something like this we just do the movements no it is supposed to be fundamentally an internal communication with God in which we are worshipping Him in the way which the messenger of God has taught us similarly for Hajj the Prophet SAW Solomon said who do any monastic Akuma take your rights of Hajj from me he showed the way so it's not just any Hajj and we don't make excuses for not doing had some people say well you know if you have a daughter who isn't married your first obligation is to get her married you don't do Hajj until you get your daughter married no it's not a condition in Islam it's never put there some people say don't do Hajj if you're young the young person says I want to do how to say no no no no hag's when you go to make Hajj had purifies your sins you're still young still got a lot of sins to do so better to wait until you you know reach that age you've got a white beard you run out of steam you can't do any more sense now you go to Hajj and then we wonder why's we hear about so many people every year going try a dying the number is dying people think arts the Saudi officials did not organize things properly no it's many old people who left hatch until the last year's of their lives and what happens there of course when you go there with the wrong intention you have delayed Hajj till you run out of steam are you going to have the proper morals and character necessary for Hajj no and this is why you know anybody goes to make Hajj you'll find yourself shocked you're making a toe off you accidentally step on somebody's foot you see this old man with a big long beard he goes hey you know people fighting in Hajj you know they're old people you say father grandpa uncle take it easy it's Hajj I can't see it they're just reacting to whatever comes because hatch for Hajj to be purifying one has to have prepared himself or herself for Hajj we had to have lived lives where we are morally guided trying to do the right thing preparing ourselves then we can do the kind of hatch which islam prescribes after that in our prioritization we have to fulfill the various obligations which are on us outside of the five pillars then we have obligations which govern different aspects of our lives and the Prophet may God's peace and descend upon him had said good luck Imran Vakula come masculine and raiatea each and every one of you is a shepherd responsible for his flock we have a responsibility as fathers and mothers we have a responsibility to raise our families Islamically as the father we have a responsibility to make sure that the home is an Islamic home so we have to plan for this how do you plan for it it means that if you're going to choose a husband or a wife your criterion shouldn't be moviestar right it shouldn't be movie star Prophet Muhammad SAW Solomon said people are married for a variety of reasons for the beauty for the wealth for the family status etc but choose piety and you'll be successful so if we want to raise righteous Muslim children then we have to start with righteous Muslim parents if we're not righteous Muslim parents how can we expect to raise righteous Muslim children so we as parents future parents have to plan and do the necessary steps to fulfill what is required for the raising of righteous Muslim children so among those things is an Islamic environment home environment the family has the right to that the father it is your obligation to ensure that there is an Islamic environment in the home secondly when there are children it is the right of Muslim children to receive Islamic education and Islamized education meaning that muslim children are supposed to go to muslim schools meaning that it is fundamentally haram for us to put our children in non-muslim schools people might say oh you've got an extreme that's too much no it is haram it is not permissible unless a person has no other options you are forced and we say even if you're forced then teach them at home and if you can't that's you can undo so much you do as much as you can but the idea of putting Muslim children in non-muslim schools is spiritual suicide that's what it is spiritual suicide and this is and this is the big challenge that Muslim community here in Toronto is faced with many of the Muslim schools don't even have enough students to be able to balance the budget most people most young people are not going to Muslim schools and this is a major crime and the sin of it falls on the community as a whole those who have the means and the ability to correct it and do not they carry the major sin those who don't have the means and the ability then of course Allah is most merciful but this is an obligation to develop alternative schools to ensure that the generation which is coming up comes up conscious of Allah conscious of Islam righteous Muslim with correct morals at the same time educated I'm not saying create madrassas were you're only teaching Islamic no no it should be modern international type schools where Islam is taught and all the other subjects are taught but everything is from an Islamic perspective that is the right of our children to receive that in the end in closing the last principle for planning that we have to keep in mind is that we have to set a time frame we don't have all the time in the world and that's why problems are selamat said near metonymic Boonen fatima Cathy Romina nos there are two blessings from God that most people are deluded about Ecija - well for all good health and spare time we have to realize that there really is no such thing for a Muslim as spare time we don't have time to kill as they say no every minute counts every second that goes by is a second lost so as a Muslim we have to manage our time wisely we will be asked on the day of judgment about our time and how we spent it so this is the summary of what I wanted to share with you this afternoon that planning is an obligation on us if we are to successfully leave this life to a greater success in the next I ask Allah to give us the realization and the importance of planning and to prepare ourselves properly for the hereafter to dedicate ourselves to Islam and to fulfill our responsibilities in a systematic and planned way barakallahu come may Allah bless you all and keep me in your prayers as I keep you in mind ssam alaikum wa rahmatullahi Kat

Channel: Digital Mimbar

Views: 21,341

Keywords: Bilal Philips, To Plan or Not to Plan

Id: QwwIyDgHw_U

Length: 38min 25sec (2305 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 26 2012