Strategic Management involves the formulation and implementation of long term goals and initiatives taken by a company’s top management, based on consideration of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the organisation competes in. Strategic Management provides overall direction for the enterprise and involves specifying the organisation’s objectives, developing policies and plans designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the plans.
Academics and practising managers have developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision making in the context of complex environments and competitive dynamics. Strategic management is not static in nature; the models often include a feedback loop to monitor execution and inform the next round of planning.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was the most brilliant strategist the world has ever witnessed. He operated a very wide realm of strategies. His influence has been profound on all aspects of human existence, personal, social, religious, spiritual, intellectual, political, diplomatic, military, administrative and commercial. No other single strategist in world history continues to have such a dramatic influence on the total range of human existence on such a wide spectrum.
Strategic Management is a Sunnah of Allah the Exalted. Allah says in the Qur’ān, “And when We give the people a taste of mercy after adversity has touched them, at once they conspire against Our verses. Say, “Allah is swifter in strategy.” Indeed, Our messengers (i.e., angels) record that which you conspire.” (Qur’ān 10:21). The verse clearly states that, Allah is successfully counteracting against all the scheming, plotting and intrigues being indulged into by them, but His planning and scheming is hidden. The invisibility of Allah’s strategies make people think that Allah does not take notice of their actions.
Soon after attaining Prophethood, he had to create a team who could help him in his prophetic mission of disseminating Islam. So, he slowly started to create a team. First, he took advantage of his close relationship with his wife Khadijah, his cousin Ali, his servant Zaid and invited them towards Islam. He widened that circle when he called his very close friend Abu Bakr to Islam and who instantly responded by embracing Islam. Initially, for three years, he preached Islam silently. Once after Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) felt that they have become strong and had a good number of followers, the message was communicated openly. This slow and steady strategic move helped him grow from strength to strength in spreading Islam.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was a visionary; he was very well aware of the kind of human resource required to accomplish his mission. He focused on bringing young people to the fold of Islam, so that they can use their talents, energies and time in continuing the mission and could spread the message across the globe. Thus we find innumerable companions who came to the fold of Islam at a very young age. A few of them were Abdullah bin Umar (13), Uqba bin Amir (14), Jabir bin Abdullah (15), Abdullah bin Masood (16), Habbab bin Aret (16), Zubayr bin Awwam (16), Talha bin Ubaydullah (17), Abdurrahman bin Awf (17), Arkam bin Abil-Arkam (17), Saad bin Abi Waqqas (17), Maaz bin Jabal (18), Musab bin Umair (18), Abu Musa al-Ashari (19), Jafer bin Abu Talib (22), etc. The Prophet strived to prepare the youth, who were religious, virtuous and chaste, for the reconstruction of society. He trained all of them in such a way that they extensively contributed to Islam.
As Prophet Muhammad was aware that he is the last Prophet and after him it was only the Qur’ān and Sunnah which the people have to refer to for guidance. Thus, he made various strategies through which the Qur’ān and Sunnah could be safeguarded. As soon as any verse would be revealed, he would ask the scribe to write it down, he used to memorise it, some companions also used to memorise it and some companions used to write it down and maintain their personal copies. This act helped retain the Qur’ān in its purest form till date. As far as the Sunnah is concerned, the Prophet ensured that the companions follow each and every action, word and tradition of the Prophet practically and would also spread them to other people. In this way the Sunnah was also protected.
When the Jews began manipulating the Torah and started hiding the text, the Prophet ordered Zaid bin Sabith to learn the Hebrew language in order to understand what is in their book. This strategic move put an end to all their criminal acts.
The migration of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) also featured certain strategies. He decided to make Ali sleep in his place because the non-Muslims would not harm him or kill him as he was the son of Abu Talib and was very well respected in Makkah. Asma was assigned to provide the Prophet with food and information. When Asma used to go to the cave, where Prophet Muhammad was hiding, she also used to take the sheep along with her, so that her footsteps could be erased.
Running a state is not a cake walk. So the first strategy Prophet Muhammad adopted was that he united the companions of Makkah and Medina and the Jews under a written constitution. He launched a well-planned campaign to make the tribes around Medina either his allies or to be neutral in his forthcoming struggle with his arch enemies. At the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, he showed his great diplomatic skills and agreed to sign the treaty, which would conform 10 years of peace, which provided a golden opportunity to spread his message of Islam to the whole of the Arabian Peninsula.
Wars were one place where Prophet Muhammad implemented his strategy in the best possible manner. In the Battle of Badr, the Prophet implemented a strategy which no one had implemented in any war. He created three categories of people, the first category consisted of the people who fought with bow and arrows, the second category had the people who fought with spears and the third category of people fought with swords. All the three categories of people formed a triangle and fought so that the enemy could not attack them from the back. He also launched an overall attack after demoralising the enemy in a single combat. These strategies and immense help of Allah helped them to be victorious in battles, in spite of being less in number.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) used every opportunity for the benefit of the Ummah. After the Battle of Badr, the enemies were prisoners. In an effort to turn this liability into great assets, the Prophet announced that any of these war prisoners who were willing to teach the Muslims how to read and write would be freed. These services were taken instead of collecting ransom money. This strategy of using the prisoners led to the first school in the history of Islam in which all of the students were Muslims, and all of the teachers were from the ranks of the enemy.
The strategy had several benefits, Medina’s low literacy rate was raised, making the newly literate Muslims more effective in preaching Islam and gaining people’s respect; literate captives could learn about Islam and be in close contact with Muslims, which would bring more people to Islam; and the captives’ families and relatives were so glad to see their presumed-dead family members that they became much more receptive to Islam.
The Prophet with his extraordinarily strategy was successful in getting information from the enemy without resorting to any force or torture. For example, some Muslim soldiers who had captured an enemy soldier tried to force military information out of him. The Prophet ordered his release and asked him how many camels his army slaughtered every day. Calculating how many camels are eaten by how many people a day, he tried to work out how many soldiers were coming towards him.
In the Battle of Uhad, in order to protect the Prophet, the companions created a circle around him, so that no enemy could easily enter the circle and attack him. He rendered the enemy cavalry inactive through archers placed in the Aynayn mountain pass. Using such eminent warriors such as Hamza, Ali, Abu Dujana and Zubayr, helped them win the battle in the first stage.
In the Battle of Trench, the digging of the trench, on the suggestion of Salman Farsi, was the biggest strategy, as it became very difficult for the enemies to cross the trench and enter the city, as each time they were pushed back by the Muslims. He also kept the soldiers within the city and stationed them so that they could safeguard their homes against possible Banu Qurayza attacks. The next strategy which was implemented was, while the war was continuing with exchange of arrows and stones, the Prophet engaged in diplomatic attempts to split the allies. He contacted the Ghatafan’s leader and, offered them peace, urged them to withdraw their people. This discouraged the Banu Ghatafan from continuing the war.
Later Prophet Muhammad implemented another strategy. Nuaym ibn Masud, an ally leader who before the battle had come to Medina to sow discord, already was inclining towards Islam. During the battle, he secretly entered Islam and followed the Prophet’s order to stir up the Banu Qurayza. Nuaym ibn Masud set them against the Quraysh by asserting that the Makkans would abandon them and so they should withhold their help until the Quraysh gave them hostages. Then he told the Quraysh that the Banu Qurayza would not fulfil their promise and would try to stall by asking for Qurayshi hostages to share their plight in case of defeat. This strategy succeeded, and dissension grew among the allies. There were many more strategies which were implemented, these are just a few.
The strategies of the Prophet were characterised by speed, surprise attack and flexibility. He tended to march in one direction, and then turn towards his real destination later on. This strong strategy helped the Muslims win many battles. In most of his campaigns, he caught the enemy unprepared and overcame them relatively easily. For example, in the Battle of Khaybar, the Jews learnt of his approach only because their farmers were abandoning their fields after seeing him in the early morning. They only had time to shelter in their forts. He also pretended to march upon the Banu Ghatafan, allies of the Jews of Khaybar. Thus this tribe remained inactive and did not help the Jews. When he marched upon Makkah, his advance strategies were so perfect that the Makkan polytheists surrendered unconditionally.
He used strategies to demoralise the enemies psychologically. Poets like Hassan ibn Thabit and Abd Allah ibn Rawaha, wrote and recited verses to demoralise the enemy. While performing Umrah (minor pilgrimage) one year after the Treaty of Hudaybiya, he ordered his companions to run around the Kaaba and demonstrate their strength to the Makkans watching from the neighbourhood and they used to recite poems while running.
The Muslims immigration to Abyssinia, which was strategically planned by the Prophet, lasted for about 14 years. What a farsighted and futuristic Strategic Management! The focus of Strategic Management is usually on the entire entity, not any of its branches or offshoots. This is exactly what was done by the Prophet. His focus was on the entire religion of Islam and the community of all Muslims. He put aside a group of Muslims as a strategic reserve for the Ummah and the religion of Islam. Although Islam is a divine religion, it still needs human effort to be well established in the land.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) was a great social, political, economic thinker and farsighted strategist in the process of building an Islamic State. In doing so, he studied all possibilities and came to know of all the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities involved in the whole situation. Finally, he could find an appropriate place for an Islamic State, which helped protect the Muslim faith from all harms. These qualities of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) made him the best strategist.