Tying the Camel: From Reaction to Strategy

Praise be to Allah (SWT) and Blessings on Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

Indeed, Allah loves those who engage [the en- emy] in battle on His [divinely defined] course as one integrated rank — as though they were a building, firm and unwavering. [As Saff, 61:4]

Let us begin with an image we all know. It is the time of Fajr. The mosque is full. Hearts are moved. Hands are raised. We are the Ummah of Fajr. Awake at dawn, awakened by conscience, awakened by du’a. Does this discipline of Fajr accompany us outside the mosque? Or does it stop at the mosque door?

Because if we are honest, our strategic failing as Muslims is this: we react after the fact. We slumber when it comes to long-term planning… then we wake up wide-eyed when crisis strikes, hoping for reform through spirituality alone.

Faith (Iman) is the engine. Strategy is the steering wheel. One without the other leaves us stuck. The Prophet’s (SAW) model was never du’a or planning. It was du’a and design, yaqeen (absolute trust) and planning.

The Prophetic Model

Let us return to a hadith that summarises everything. A man came to the Prophet (SAW) with his camel. He left it untied and said: “I trust in Allah.” The Prophet (SAW) looked at him and said: “Tie it, then trust in Allah.”

Three steps in a single phrase:
• The intention: Tie it for Allah. Why am I building, studying, saving?
• The effort: Tie it. Do the work. Use the means.
• The tawakkul: After tying it, place all your trust in Allah. The outcome is in His hands.

We often skip step two and call it “tawakkul.” That is not tawakkul. That is wishful thinking.
Look at the Seerah. Did the Prophet (SAW) wait for the siege to build Madinah? No. Those thirteen years in Makkah were dedicated to da’wah and preparation — secret meetings, covenants with the Ansar, scouting the routes of migration.

At the Battle of the Trench, did he simply make du’a? Yes, he made du’a. But he also adopted the strategy of Salman al-Farsi. He dug a trench before the arrival of 10,000 Quraysh. He chose the terrain at Badr. He negotiated at Hudaybiyyah, choosing long-term gain over short-term pride.

Spirituality was his engine. Strategy was his method. Both were acts of worship.

The Strategic Failing of the Ummah

Where do we stand today?
First, we excel at reaction. Floods strike: Muslims are the first on the ground, Masha Allah. A mosque is threatened: we mobilise overnight, raising funds within 24 hours. A court case arises: lawyers, petitions, everyone on deck. But let us ask ourselves: where was the waqf five years before the flood? Where is it now? Where was the legal defence fund before the trial? Where was the media team before the smear campaign?

We are emergency responders. But we are weak at emergency prevention. Awake for Fajr, asleep for planning.Our ritual discipline is unmatched. We are careful about wudu. We are careful about prayer times. We are careful about halal and haram. Alhamdulillah. But where is our institutional discipline? We are not careful about budgets. We are not careful about programmes. We are not careful about our narrative. We memorise the Qur’an, but not cash flows. We perfect tajweed, but not project management.

It is like having a car with a powerful engine… but no steering wheel.

Hoping for reform through spirituality alone

Du’a is the weapon of the believer. One hundred percent. Let no one ever tell us otherwise. But Yusuf (AS) did not simply make du’a through those seven years of famine. He drew up a twenty-year economic plan. Prophet and Prime Minister at once. Reform through spirituality? Yes. Reform through scholars and scientists, engineers and jurists? Yes, also.

The Areas Where We Are Strategically Falling Behind
Let us be specific, because vague speeches do not build institutions. In education: in many of our cities, we are building a fourth mosque within a kilometre of three others. But how many Muslim universities, academies, and vocational training centres do we have?

In economics and waqf: for 600 years, the Ottomans funded hospitals, water networks, and universities through waqf. The assets remained forever. Only the revenues were spent. Our model? Fundraise for construction. Then, when the mosque can no longer pay the imam, we hold an emergency collection.

Have we ever imagined designing a revenue-generating waqf? Have we considered putting into practice the waqf’s potential to create employment, alleviate poverty, and generate wealth for the Ummah? That is what “tying the camel” strategy looks like.

In media and narrative: we react to Islamophobia and discrimination. We defend ourselves after the attack. We do damage control. But how many Muslim-owned media outlets, journalists, and policy think tanks have we trained before the crisis? Right now, others are writing the script about us. We are reacting to their script. We have become the “Ummah joystick” — except we are not holding the controller. Strategy means writing our own script. Before they speak, we have already told our story.

Where is the leadership pipeline? We constantly pray for leaders. But we invest far too little in developing them. Madrassas and hifz, yes, one hundred percent. But where are the institutions dedicated to law, public policy, engineering, medicine, and finance?

Reform through spirituality, yes. But, also, reform through skilled professionals who carry that spirituality into every field.

And [as for] the committed muslims, both men and women, they are close to one an- other: they [all] stand for the ma‘ruf and oppose the munkar, […] [At Tawbah, 9:71]

What This Looks Like in Practice
Can we dedicate 30% of every fundraising campaign to waqf, where the capital is never spent — only the revenue is used? That way, we will never need emergency collections again. From competition to collaboration. Let us end the spectacle of five mosques within 500 metres of each other competing for the same donors. Let us pool our resources. One university. One hospital. One centre of excellence. Greater impact, less ego.

From emotion to expertise. Every mosque board, every community council needs five people: an imam, an accountant, a lawyer, an educator, and a youth representative. Shura is expertise, not piety alone. Both matters.

Let us find that balance. Let us bring the same Fajr discipline to our budgets that we bring to our wudu.

May Allah help us and guide us.

(Adapted from Positive Agitator, a collective of South African journalists.)