The Prophet said, صَلوا كَمَا رَأيْتُمُوني , we must take it in the extended sense. You must apply it to every matter of life. This must be applied to result-oriented planning as well. Result-oriented planning is called in Arabic: تخطيط. "Pray as I pray" in the extended sense would mean خططوا كما رأيتموني أخطط. "Do your planning as you see me doing planning." I realized that there was one very basic principle in Prophet's planning. There are many secondary principles, but there is always a basic principle. I started thinking about the basic principle of Prophet's method of planning. The basic principle of Prophet's planning was: he always planned on the basis of what he had and not on the basis of what he didn’t have.
The Prophet has said: صَلوا كَمَا رَأيْتُمُوني أُصَلِّي (Musnad al-Shafi'i 319) “Pray as you have seen me praying". The Quran also says: لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ (33.21). You have in the Prophet of God a good example. All scholars agree that here the word uswah has a comprehensive meaning. In every matter of life, the Prophet is an example for us.
When the Prophet said, صَلوا كَمَا رَأيْتُمُوني , we must take it in the extended sense. You must apply it to every matter of life. This must be applied to result-oriented planning as well. Result-oriented planning is called in Arabic: تخطيط. "Pray as I pray" in the extended sense would mean خططوا كما رأيتموني أخطط. "Do your planning as you see me doing planning." I realized that there was one very basic principle in Prophet's planning. There are many secondary principles, but there is always a basic principle. I started thinking about the basic principle of Prophet's method of planning. The basic principle of Prophet's planning was: he always planned on the basis of what he had and not on the basis of what he didn’t have.
There is always a negative included in a positive. You people have come here after leaving your homes. You leave something to take up something else. The principle is to do planning with what you have and not do planning with what you don’t have. The Prophet's entire life was based on this. The Prophet migrated from Makkah. He could have made an announcement during the day about going to Madinah. The Prophet didn’t do this. When he was in Khadija's house at night, he left from the back door. He left Makkah and took a route that was opposite to Madinah. He could have left from the front door. But he left from the back door. He could have left at daytime, but he left at night. He could have left in the direction of Madinah, but went in the opposite direction to Madinah and stayed at the Cave of Thawr where he spent a few days. In every situation, there is a possibility at hand and a possibility that you don’t have. The Prophet always planned on the basis of whatever he had at hand.
