A Decision Once Made Is Not Undone

Feeling that they had pressured the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), they went to Ḥamzah and said: go and talk to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); we feel that we have pressured him, and we are willing to go with what he thinks is the better opinion. So Ḥamzah went to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came out and said: "Mā yanbaghī li-nabiyyin an yanziʿa lumata al-ḥarbi idhā waḍaʿahā ḥattā yaḥkuma Allāhu baynahu wa-bayna ʿaduwwih" — it is not appropriate for a prophet to put on his armour and prepare for war, and then take it off, until Allah (swt) judges between him and his enemy. Here the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is saying that a decision has been taken, and it will go ahead: there will be no wavering, no change of mind, no indecision. If a prophet makes shūrā and then takes a decision, he will go ahead with it until Allah (swt) judges between him and his enemy — the armour has been put on, and it will not come off until Allah (swt) judges between him and his enemy.

This is a very important lesson for a leader. The leader should not be indecisive; the leader should not change his mind every now and then; the leader should not waver back and forth according to whoever spoke to him last. One makes shūrā, listens to the different opinions, deliberates, and then takes a decision — but once the decision is taken, it should be final, unless there is a change in the information, or the opinion was based on something that turned out to be wrong; then a person should change. But if the variables are the same, if the input is the same and nothing has changed about it, then why change one's mind? Here, nothing had changed in the situation: the army was still advancing, still three thousand strong, everything was the same — and yet some of the Companions changed their minds and asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), saying, "We are willing to go with what you think is right." But it was too late now. Followers do not like being led by someone who is indecisive — especially in war, because a soldier is putting his life in his leader's hands; the lives of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) were on the line, and it was the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) who was taking the decision regarding what would directly affect their lives. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is giving an example to every leader: in such a situation, if you take a decision, it needs to be final, and there needs to be some settled resolve on the side of the followers, the soldiers. So they made a decision that they would go out and meet the enemy, and the location was Uḥud, next to the mountain of Uḥud — Uḥud is a large mountain, a few miles outside Madīnah.