Planning, Re-planning
When hard work is coupled with organization that may be described as planning or planned action. According to an ancient concept, hard work was regarded as the most important element for success. But the progress of technology in modern times has added another aspect to it, and that is organization. According to this concept, planning means working hard in a planned way.
Re-planning is or can be called planning plus. Re-planning means adding experiences to previous planning and planning one’s action anew in the light of new information. With this method it becomes possible to achieve one’s goals in a better way which could not then be achieved in the first instance.
The method of re-planning is applicable to every matter. Similarly, in the matter of Islamic action, this method is of great importance. We find one example of this during the rule of Haroon Rasheed, the fifth caliph of the Abbasid Empire, as has been recorded in the books of history. Once when he was sitting with his queen Zubaida in his palace in Baghdad, he saw a patch of cloud floating in the air; at this he addressed the clouds thus: “Rain wherever you want to, the tribute (kharaaj) will come to me.” (Wahi Al-Qalam, Mustafa Sadiq Raf‘i, Vol. 2, p. 22)
This statement of Haroon Rashid could have been relevant in ancient times but today it has lost its relevance. In present times many new things have come into existence in this connection. For instance, the land-based agriculture of ancient times has now changed into technology-based industry. The politics of ancient times was based on personal rule, but now politics is based on democracy. In ancient times, receiving tribute was possible only in the limited sphere of one’s own empire. Now, it is the age of total freedom and through outsourcing, it has become possible to receive benefits of “kharaaj” today from all over the world.
Due to these changes, it has now become possible to engage in planning for any goal at a global level even without having political power. This has produced a fundamental difference in the concept of the mission.
If you want to run a universal mission, you require only one thing and that is peaceful planning based on modern technology.
For instance, the Prophet of Islam sent a Dawah letter to Kisra, the king of Iran. This letter was taken to him by a companion, Abdullah Ibn e Huzaifa. The content of this letter was in Arabic. (Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir, Vol. 4, p. 306)
As we learn from historical records, when this letter was presented to the ancient emperor of Iran, he was enraged and tore it up. This was because of the prevalent culture of those ancient times. If today a leader of a movement were to write such a letter to any ruler, he would receive an acknowledgement and that letter would be preserved in the official archives.
The demand of this state of affairs is to engage in the re-planning of the Islamic mission in modern times in the light of modern facts. Now any member of the mission does not need to complain or protest. What is required is for man to understand the changes in the times, make concession to them and then go about the peaceful re-planning of the Islamic mission. It is this changed course of action which is called re-planning.
