Dear brothers and sisters, if you think about the negative results of many of our deeds, you would find that rashness and lack of deliberation are the main reasons behind losing what we want.

Deliberation means not being hasty in seeking anything and acting purposefully to gain it. Consider how Allah The Almighty disapproves of haste. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.} [Quran 46:6]

The Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, praised the delegation of ‘Abd Al-Qays from the Hajar region for their deliberation and tolerance, as he said to Ashajj ‘Abd Al-Qays: “You have two characteristics that Allah and His Messenger like: forbearance and deliberation.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Those who are deliberate enjoy the love of Allah The Almighty and the praise of the Prophet, . This is because the Prophet, , attributed deliberation to Allah The Almighty and attributed hastiness to Satan. The Prophet, , said: “Deliberation is from Allah and hastiness is from the devil. Allah is the one who pardons His slaves most and the thing that Allah likes most is praising Him.” [Abu Ya‘la: Narrators of Saheeh Hadeeth]  

Fadhaalah bin ‘Ubayd, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated, “Once, while we were sitting with the Prophet  a man entered the mosque and performed prayer and invoked Allah The Almighty without praising Him and without asking Him to confer His blessing on the Prophet . The Prophet  said to him: ‘You have been hasty in your supplication.’

The Prophet, , taught his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, to first praise Allah The Exalted duly, as He deserves, then ask Him to send His blessings upon him (the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and to grant him peace, then to supplicate Him. Then the Prophet, , heard a man praying and praising Allah The Almighty and asking Him to send peace and blessings upon the Prophet, , so, he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Invoke Allah and He will answer your invocation and give you what you ask Him for.” [An-Nasaa’i], [Al-Albaani: in As-Saheehah] 

How good is patience and deliberation, as it brings good qualities that reassure a person and enable him to avoid any harm that might afflict someone who is hasty. Patience and deliberation brings peace of mind during the night and inner peace during the day. Abu Haatim said, “The hasty person cannot be caught, while the patient, deliberate one cannot be preceded.  The silent person can never regret, while the one who speaks can is never be safe of from making mistakes. The hasty person usually speaks before he is sure; answers before he understands and praises before he tries.”

Dear honorable brothers and sisters, how much will the merchant lose if he buys merchandise that he does not know? How much will the spouses regret, if they get married without careful consideration or consultation? How great is the regret of the husband if he hastens to divorce his wife without talking to her politely or submitting the issue to two wise arbitrators? How much will the student regret if he is hasty during an exam and does not think carefully about his answer? How much will the friend feel sorry when accusing his friend without having any proof of this accusation? Will the judge be just if he is hasty with his sentence?

Great was the wisdom of the Prophet, , which Allah The Almighty granted him. ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said, The Prophet  sent me to Yemen as a judge so I asked him, ‘Will you send me as a judge and I am still young and do not know about judging?’ The Prophet  replied: ‘Allah will guide your heart and fix your tongue (on the truth). When two parties come to you, you must not say your judgment unless you listen to each one of them as this would make the issue clearer to you.’ ‘Ali said, ‘Since then I became a good judge or was never in doubt regarding any judgment.’” [Abu Daawood and Ahmad] [Ahmad Shaakir: Saheeh]  

The Prophet, , disapproved of those who are hasty with their invocations and considered haste one of the reasons that render an invocation unaccepted. The Prophet, , said: “The supplication of any of you is answered unless he is hasty with it and says, ‘I invoked my Lord, but He did not answer my invocation.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]  

Deliberation is part of the personality of a confident person, as a deliberate person is usually more likely to evaluate his status and position. He is characteristically self-confident, decisive and not hesitant, as he does not accept failure. He is aware of what he intends to do and scrutinizes it well by studying (its implications) and consulting others until he decides to do it, while relying on Allah The Almighty. If he makes a mistake, he quickly repents without blaming himself or despairing of the mercy of Allah The Almighty. The Prophet, , said: “Good morals, deliberation 

and moderation are one part of the twenty-four parts of Prophethood.” [At-Tirmithi: Hasan]

We should be deliberate and not hasty in our speech. What makes us act hastily in any matter, without giving it careful consideration? As long as we are in the process of thinking and have not uttered any words or done an action, we still have the privilege of choice . However, once we have uttered the words or done the action, then we have no choice but to wait for the results.

Do you not see how many people are in prison and if you asked them, they would all say in one voice: “We were hasty.” 


Try to have strong determination in controlling your own self and restraining it from taking any step without careful consideration, as taking a step after careful thinking and knowledge is praiseworthy, especially when it comes to matters related to the Hereafter. Hence, do not be hesitant or reluctant regarding doing good deeds, but try to hasten to do them. Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Prophet  said: ‘Deliberation should be in every matter except matters that pertain to the Hereafter.’” [Abu Daawood] [Al-Albaani: Saheeh] 


Imaam An-Nawawi  differentiated between deliberation and solemnity and said, “Deliberation in movements and the avoidance of frivolity is the praised deliberation, but lowering the gaze and the voice is solemnity.” 


Practically, it is proved that the one who is hasty and realizes this can train himself to be deliberate and when he reaps the fruits of deliberation, he continues to remain as such. 


Haste is one of the qualities of the youth and may result in dangerous consequences for their deeds. Thus, it is a good idea to bring up the youth so that they are used to meditation and careful thinking, and to avoid hastening towards darkness before having the light of knowledge as the negative effects of their deeds will not only affect them, but also their families and societies. 


Dear brothers and sisters, the devil deceives humans by means of their temper to prevent them from even thinking about altering or improving their tempers. Some of us believe that we have been created with the innate quality of being hasty, to the extent that we cannot conceive of abandoning it and excuse ourselves regarding many of our mistakes or hasty actions. 


We should remember that being deliberate is achieved through training, so train yourself to think carefully before making any decision and before speaking. Do not cause yourself to apologize frequently because of your haste and remember that sometimes the consequences could be very bad. 


Do you know that the Prophet, , was very strict with those who were hasty, especially when the negative effects of their behavior could be fatal? 


Usaamah ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “The Messenger of Allah  sent us towards Al-Huraqah, and in the morning we attacked them and defeated them. I, and a man of the Ansaar followed a man from among them and when we took him over, he said, ‘La ilaaha illallaah.’ On hearing that, the Ansari man stopped, but I killed him by stabbing him with my spear. When we returned, the Prophet  came to know about that and he said: ‘O Usaamah! Did you kill him after he had said, "La ilaaha illallaah?"’ I said, ‘But he said so only to save himself.’ The Prophet  kept on repeating that so often that I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day.” 


The Prophet, , reproached the hasty people in the Hadeeth (narration) by Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “We were travelling and a man among us was injured by a stone and his head was wounded then he had a wet dream and asked his companions if he could have permission to perform Tayammum (dry ablution). They told him that he could not be excused as he had water. Thus, the man performed Ghusl and he died. When we returned to the Prophet  and told him he said: ‘They killed him. May Allah kill them! Why did they not ask when they did not know, as the remedy of ignorance is asking. It was sufficient for him to perform Tayammum and wrap a piece of cloth over the wound then wipe over it and wash the rest of his body.’”[Abu Daawood] 


Taste the sweetness of deliberation in all your matters as you will not aspire to something except that which Allah The Almighty has decreed and nothing will afflict you except that which Allah The Almighty has decreed, so why are you hasty?