Leadership Succession Planning

So today I wanted to talk briefly

on a point

and on a topic that can be extracted from an item that we're on.

And this is something that is very relevant to us and something that already has it is something we discuss and we think about when we contemplate this topic as it is in the uninsurance. Ibrahim in it number four, almost PowerShell that says, Well, I'm selling I'm enrolling in business and he told me, the waiting

for you to love me and show me money and show love well as

a last resort, Allah says that, we did not send any profit any messenger, except with the language of his people.

Meaning that every single messenger that was sent, was sent speaking the language of the people that he was being sent to, that he was supposed to take the message to and preach to. And the last part of it that tells us why this was, Why was this arranged in such a manner that that, that messenger that profit would net would definitely speak the language of the people in the Albanian alone, so he could clarify things for him, he could clarify matters for them. And then Allah says, for your new lover maker shop, we are deeming the shop, unless panatela

leads astray whomever He wills, and Allah subhanaw taala guides whomever He wills, well as these are again, an illustration subhanaw taala is the most mighty, and Allah subhana wa tada is the all wise. Now, this AI actually has a very, very broad application. There are many different topics and issues that are discussed within this ayah This is also part of the discussion of why the Koran was revealed within the Arabic language. And there's another discussion that relates to desire as well, that where we have to understand that the message of the prophets allottee setup was still a universal message from out of Seneca in laka. fatale Nancy Bushido wanna do but yeah, you have

naturally near also lucky in a coup, Jimmy are that the prophets a lot, a sermon was sent to address and to relay the message. And this message of the prophets, Allah said, would carry on to all of mankind and it was meant for all of humanity. However, I wanted to talk about one very specific point that we can extract from this and something we can benefit from, from this ayah Allah subhanaw. taala is clearly stating that every messenger and Prophet decane came speaking and addressing the people with their language. And a lot clearly states, why was this new making an opportunity to clarify things for them. And this becomes very important in our times to end

especially for our community, very important for our community. Because we are a community. First of all, we're a minority community. Muslims are a minority within this country. And the majority of the Muslim community is an immigrant community. This community majority of it, there are many, many indigenous Muslims, many convert great convert communities and a great contribution, but for the vast majority, for not the vast majority, but the majority of the Muslims here in North America and the United States are immigrants, Muslims, a majority of this massage that the centers in the schools that were established were established by immigrants, Muslims. And so it's very important

for us to understand this because now we're seeing the second and the third generations, even from the, from this immigrant generation that came here, their children are now having children within this country, and being raised here, let alone the all the indigenous Muslims that the Convert the so many hundreds of 1000s of convert, brothers and sisters that we have in our communities, and they also have their own children and their communities are also growing and spreading. So, this is a very important issue to understand that we need to cultivate leadership and specifically spiritual and religious leadership from within our own communities.

And from amongst the people who will be able to relate, speak not only the language of the people, but language is as a broad application meaning that they understand one another, you know, they can clarify things for them. They understand their perspective, they understand their situation. They understand their problems and their issues. And they're able to relate to them so that they can clarify things for them. They can basically make the deen understandable to them, and that these people will be able to practice

The based on the guidance and based on the instruction and the leadership that will be provided to them. So there are two separate issues here. One is a very specific issue appointed issue. And that is the issue of just speaking the language itself, and knowing what goes on with the people.

And so first, that issue needs to be addressed for a long time. And this was done by necessity. So it's understandable, no one is to blame there. But for a very, very long time, the religious leadership would typically be arranged by bringing in scholars from overseas and other countries, and they will basically be expected to lead our communities in our congregations. And while that might have worked for those, that generation that did come from overseas, we clearly were able to see over the last so many years, that that was not that they were not able to relate to our children. And they were not able to speak to the youth in our communities.

So rather, we needed to begin to implement first develop and implement leadership from within our own communities, people who could speak their language, understand them relate to them.

And then the experience drastically change.

The experience would drastically change I I personally have spoken to so many humans, where there's a huge machine nearby, where there's a very knowledgeable, and by the way, I want to build on one disclaimer, and one clarification, this is by no means is this any type of a slight, or any disrespect towards the great scholars and the very knowledgeable people who did come here to serve the dean here in this country, we then them and we appreciate them for the sacrifices and the efforts that they made. They were trying to So fill a void that nobody else was filling.

So this is a by by no means is this any type of a slide or an insult to them. But there are certain realities at play here. Human human nature is human nature, we can alter it, we can change it, we connect with each other based on commonality. And so I've spoken to youth where there might be a huge, beautiful machine nearby. And there's a very eloquent, knowledgeable scholar who gives the hot weather

and but he doesn't really speak the language very clearly. Or he doesn't understand what it's like to be an 18 year old, in this environment in this culture, and he doesn't understand their problems and their issues, let alone address them.

And they told me that they prefer to go and pray, pray Friday salad, listen to the football at their MSA where there's another young individual who's not even a quarter, even a 10th as knowledgeable as a chef in the masjid. He doesn't have anywhere near the knowledge, or the understanding of religion or on or deeds or anything. But just because they understand what he says. And he understands their perspective. And he's able to talk about the issues that matter to them.

They prefer to go there and pray the football over there. They prefer to go there, listen to the football there and pray there Jamal with him.

So this is this was something that was very, very prevalent within our communities, and a growing concern and a growing problem within our communities. But I haven't done a lot I think people have begun to realize the importance of this, they began to understand this. And that's why we see newer, younger emails being implemented in different massages and institutions, Islamic schools, younger teachers being arranged for major major massages, that need some type of senior leadership that require it. They are Mashallah arranging for youth coordinators and youth counselors within their massagin in their Islamic centers, to be able to tackle the issues of the youth and be able to

appeal to the youth and draw them in and make them feel welcome here, make them feel safe here. Make them feel that their issues can be solved over here. Their issues can be solved over.

So this is the first one and the last one, this is another law that will always send the messages in the profits, speaking the language of the people knowing the perspective of the people. So how do we expect to relay the message of the prophets a lot a seller and establish the deen that the prophets a lot isn't was sent with without implementing that crude, that critical and crucial condition and requirement that they need to speak the language and they need to be able to relate to them. That's the first thing. There's another separate issue here that kind of works into the same discussion. And this is another thing that we need to think about and this is even a further step.

The first thing I talked about, that's the first step we need to take. The second step we need to take that is also part of teaching from the Quran.

Allah subhanaw taala tells us why Illa

Allah, excuse me, we're 11 como de l'homme Sania

where Illa Medina, Eva la Kumara Schulman and Prosecco.

Ravana Rasulullah Minho, what I'm basically calling this is Alicia Rotella whenever speaking about the messengers in the prophets, he said, We sent their brother

saw their brother who their brother sure I, meaning he was from amongst their community. He was one of them. And I was

gonna make dua, that Allah subhanaw taala sent a messenger amongst the people, he said, Robin,

our law, or Lord, send a messenger amongst them, Minho, who is from amongst them, meaning send them a messenger, someone to

explain to them the will of Allah subhanaw taala but make sure that that person is from amongst their own community. And that's why I lost my daughter when recounting to us, one of the greatest blessings, one of the greatest blessings that Allah has bestowed upon our oma. And that was a he sent us the Prophet of Allah, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Allah says

that a messenger came to you mean an Fujiko, but he was from amongst you,

we sent you a messenger from amongst you, this is the next step that we need to take. We need to cultivate, we need to grow, we need to encourage, we need to motivate the future leaders. And I won't even say future, we need to make them the present leaders from within our own communities. This is extremely important. Very important, we need to grow them out from our own communities. Like I said before, a lot of communities are starting to understand that now we need any mom or a chef or a scholar or a teacher, or a youth coordinator, whatever, it'd be a theme, we need somebody who speaks the language, who is a bit younger, who understands the youths perspective. But at the same

time, we're still very reluctant and hesitant to cultivate our own children into our lives. That's the next step we need to take, we're okay with hiring somebody from another city or another state from halfway across the country, interviewing them and hiring them and implementing them as a leader. But we need to grow them from our own communities, our own immediate community, that is when it's the most fruitful. That's something obviously, it's no secret. That's something that I've been able to experience over here. And this is really a credit to some of the, the elders of this community. And the people who laid the foundation here that they were open to this notion and this

idea, and this is something I learned from them. When they provided me this opportunity, this left an impression on me. And so one of my main focuses here has always been, especially when I, when I committed full time over here, one of my main focuses was to begin to cultivate that leadership from within the same community. That's part of the reason why you'll sometimes see younger teams here, a young brother getting hooked over here. It's because it needs to happen.

And sure enough, it might not be the most fantastic in the world. It might not be the greatest clickbait that you've ever heard. But it's okay.

It's okay. We're working for the long term.

We this needs to happen.

Because as I'll say something very honestly, brothers and sisters in the community, they come to me, and they tell me their own, you know, our children, they love listening to you. And they understand what you say, and they get it when you say it. But you know what, my children's generation,

they will get me they will understand what I have to say. There'll be that same gap over there. It won't be as huge as the gap we saw previously. But there will be a generational gap.

There will be different issues, different problems and different solutions.

And so unless and until we continue to recycle, we create this succession plan. And it's constantly in play.

We're going to always deal with this crisis. Every 1520 years we'll have a crisis within our communities. Because now it's gotten stale. Now it's no longer relevant. So we need to this is something we need to be very motivated about. We need to be patient about that we need to understand the other five we have your leading thought all we have to say

Same concept, same notion, same understanding.

And so this is something we need to be extremely, extremely forward about. And we need to be very open minded about this. And I won't, I won't lie to you. And I'll speak to you very honestly, because this is an educational forum. And we need to be able to put these issues out there honestly, so that we can understand them, discuss them and find a solution for them. There's a little bit sometimes of an ego issue. It's, it's, there's no point in hiding it. There's sometimes an ego issue. And this is something that's not unique to our time or our situation or our community, at the end of the life of the Prophet. So lots of webway an example from the life of the prophets a lot

about the how motivated and how firm he was about implementing this succession plan that I'm talking about, was that towards the end of the life of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, he prepared a huge army,

a huge army, to go out of Medina, and to go out and take care of some very important things. And the leader, there were very senior, knowledgeable people Sahaba that were in the army, voting with their scientific, the leader of the army, he picked Oussama, the son of Satan, halfway through the Obama era.

And Oussama wrote a long line, who at this time was about 19 years old, when duration says 17 or 19 years old. That's how young he was. And people felt an issue. They, they they felt something within themselves within their hearts. That's an ego kind of talk. That's a pride, we have to get over this. So the prophets of Lansing got to hear about this, and he called them and he said, I know it's bothering some of you that he's so young, but I put him as a leader, above all of you. But he said, I've done this, because he has qualities he has potential.

The Hobbit actually says

he's the most patient amongst you when it comes to hunger and starvation. I'm gonna talk about the law while

he was implementing the same plan. He was focused on the same thing that when you sit for his special Shula is committed to consult with them and decide very important state related issues, running the entire saga. He used to call her

mama, who is maybe late teens, early 20s, at this age, at this point, very young. And Senior senior sahab are sitting with him. People like arthritis,

seniors companions of Sahaba, who bet hoo seen everything. They were there from day one.

And he brings his young boy and he sits down with him. And some of them kind of once again felt initially, they felt uncomfortable with this arrangement.

So

that you know about this, he understood, he got he understood something, he was able to understand that this is bothering some people. So what he did was one day, and Abdullah

says that whenever the llama was sit for the consultation, I used to try to hide because I didn't want to be the center of attention. I don't want to be the focal point of this conflict within the community. So I used to try to hide there's a lesson to this as well, that our youth that were also growing and trying to introduce it leadership, they also need to remain humble and respectful towards their elders. Nevertheless, he says he called specifically for me where's Abdullah? Go get it.

And he said, I knew when he was calling for me he was gonna do something that day. He was gonna try to make a point.

And he says when I came in, he asked everyone about the meaning or what lesson What do you extract from the sutra Elijah and masala he was what are you gonna feed in Florida for some of our stuff in in Ocala. Java. What do you extract from this? What do you learn from this? And everyone gave their opinions when he finally got talked to them.

He said, what I want the lesson that's taken from this is this is announcing that the time of the prophets a lot of a sentiment This world is coming to an end, when the suta was revealed.

One of the key messages that this gives us is it's a signal that the time of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam in the life of this world is coming to an end.

It's coming close his departure

and Amaro the alarm Who said that? I swear what he has said, is exactly what I know to be the lesson that's taken from this sutra as well. And then he said, See, this is why I have him sit with us. He has knowledge he has understanding he has potential, but we have to be open minded in order to cultivate that, to grow that to see the fruits of that.

And this is something that's very important there when I travel around teaching some

courses and seminars, I meet youth I meet young brothers, who sometimes aren't even that young anymore. They're in their mid 20s or late 20s. And they're even married and having their own children. They're adults. But I know of very, very talented, knowledgeable, dynamic young speakers, young brothers. And they are benefiting different communities and different mustards that you include ball where they're leading a youth group over there giving a holler over there, but within their own mustard, their own community. They're not welcome to do any of these things.

We have to be able to get over these issues.

We have to be able to work over that I cannot be threatened when there's a young half of the Mashallah comes here, and he has beautiful recitation.

And Mashallah, he has a potential I cannot feel threatened, that if I ask this young brother to lead, the next time, everyone's gonna say, he reads better than you read. You'd rather listen to him. It's okay. And

that's what we need.

I can feel threatened with this one young brother come shows up here at my show. He's been studying and hitting the books and attending courses and seminars and Halla pas and lectures, and he's been working hard. And Mashallah, he's got some potential now, he could make a nice little presentation, he could give a good hook bow. And I say, oh, if I let this guy and get up here on the moon, but you know, where am I going to go with it? I mean, that's it, they'll say, We don't need you anymore. We have something better.

I can't feel threatened by that.

This is all the the blessing of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this is a responsibility leadership. And part of the responsibility of leadership is to bring forward delete leaders of the future. I mean, what guarantee Do I have that I'll even be alive for tomorrow? So are we, I don't, but if I had I controlled This was so loud with like an iron fist. Nobody come here, right? Oh, no, nobody allowed within this much area.

You know, if I, if I, if I act behave in this way, and God forbid, you know, I'm not here tomorrow leads at all We what's going to happen then shuts down.

If I don't let anybody stand on this member, my member, that's mine.

And then tomorrow, tomorrow, I can't give the Friday of football, or we're seeing this right now. So many people are coming we need to focus,

then who's going to give the other for the month, who's going to give up my my place. So these are these are realities, and all we need to do is be able to sit down, be honest with ourselves and think about it will make sense to us. Our sensibilities will overcome whatever issues are preventing us from understanding this. So this is something that's very, very important. And Mashallah look amongst any community you look at, you see the potential, and you see the ability. And you know, one thing other another very honest issue is, and this is something I discussed with some of my colleagues and other people who are serving different brothers who are serving different

communities, all over the country, it's also very, it's also a little more interesting, when you do try to lead your own community, or a community that is intimately familiar with you, or a community that has seen you grow up, it's a little more interesting.

There are certain benefits. But then there are certain very interesting situations as well.

Stay might still see you as a young kid, who's here to tell me what to do. You be quiet, you know, I can tell you what to do, things like that. But at that, at the same time, the the young brothers who are being put in that position also need to be able to understand this, they also need to be able to work through these things. That this is this is love and affection from our elders. And this should be embraced and honestly used to one's own advantage, you can get a lot more out of somebody by calling them an uncle by calling them brother. So use that to your own advantage. But nevertheless, the original point was that for the sake of our children, for the sake of our youth, in our coming

generations, we need to be we need to be very keen towards their need of relevant

and paetynn speakers, leaders who are who understand them, who they can also understand, who have an insight into their situations, and their circumstances and their issues and their problems. And then particularly within our communities, we need to become more and more open minded. We need to start to become more open minded towards developing our future leaders from within our own communities. May Allah subhanaw taala grant saw the ability to practice everything that was said and heard. So how long will we have the same kind of

mission

To

be no sudden hurt, so how am I gonna be happy to have go home?