Ammar Alshukry – The Forbearance of Muawiyyah Ibn Abi Sufyan
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the success of the Saudi Arabia's handling of the coronavirus crisis, including the use of military personnel and the use of military warfare to win awards. The segment also touches on the importance of forbearance and military warfare to win awards, as well as the use of military warfare to overcome domestic pride and strengthen the nation's image.
AI: Summary ©
Khilm is a really important element of leadership.
The saying goes, لَيْسَ الْجَاهِلُ بِسَيِّدٌ فِي قَوْمِهِ
وَلَكِنْ سَيِّدُ الْقُوْمِ يَتَجَاهَلُ The ignorant person is
not a leader amongst their people, but the
leader has to feign ignorance.
You have to overlook.
You have to forget.
That is praiseworthy.
And that's what any leader must do.
And one of the most successful leaders of
the Muslim world was one of the most
forbearant, and that was Amirul Mu'mineen Mu'awiyah
ibn Abi Sufyan, رضي الله عنه.
So Ibn Abi Dunya, he narrates that Abdullah
ibn Zubayr sent a very harsh letter to
Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan.
May Allah be pleased with them both.
And Mu'awiyah, he shows the letter to
Yazid, his son.
And he says, what do you think?
And Yazid says, even if you were equals,
you shouldn't have accepted that language from him.
And you're the khalifa.
You're not even his equal.
And so that's even less reason for him
to speak to you that way.
So Mu'awiyah says to him, so what
do you think?
And Yazid says, what I think is that
you should send him 40,000 soldiers.
That's what I think.
And Mu'awiyah says to him, well how
many feedbacks would that need for the horses?
And he says, around 40,000.
Each one of them will cost a dirham.
So Mu'awiyah says, okay.
So scribe, come here.
Write to Ibn Zubayr that Amirul Mu'mineen, the
commander of the faithful, has written for you
30,000 dirhams for your needs.
Ibn Zubayr would eventually write him back, they've
reached me, oh Amirul Mu'mineen, may Allah have
mercy on you.
JazakAllah khair.
So Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, he calls
his son Yazid and he says, look, we
saved 10,000 feedbacks Yazid.
Yazid of course is suggesting what many people
would default to, which is to wage war
and spend enormous budgets because of ego and
anger.
It's very likely that the cost of sending
those soldiers would have ballooned, had clashes actually
happened with Abdullah Ibn Zubayr.
And even if they didn't.
But Mu'awiyah instead is suffocating his ego
and spending less than that to keep the
peace.
And that's a trait that makes somebody a
leader.
Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan is like, okay,
you think sending 40,000 soldiers is what
gets the job done?
I'll spend less than that.
I'll give 30,000 dirhams or 30,000
dinars rather to Abdullah Ibn Zubayr as a
gift.
And that will solve the problem that you
had wanted to solve with soldiers.
But the reason why he was able to
do that is because of the incredible forbearance
of Mu'awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan.
So how can forbearance be acquired?
How does a person have Hilm?
Number one is by exercising it.
The Prophet ﷺ said, إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ بِالتَّعَلُّمِ وَإِنَّمَا
الْحِلْمُ بِالتَّحَلُّمِ That knowledge comes by learning it
and forbearance comes by practicing it.
It beautifies the one who adorns themselves with
it.
And finally, the last thing that I'll mention
is that Hilm is an attribute that beautifies
a person.
Imam Al-Shafi'i, he famously said, يُخَاطِبُنِ
السَّفِيهُ بِقُلِّ قُبْحٍ فَأَقْرَهُ أَنْ أَكُونَ لَهُ مُجِيبًا
يَزِيدُ سَفَاهَةً فَأَزِيدُ حِجْمًا كَعُودٍ زَادُهُ الْإِحْرَاقُ طِيبًا
He says, fools speak to me with all
vulgarity so I hate to respond likewise in
turn.
The increase in their vulgarity, I increase in
my patience.
Like incense that becomes more fragrant when burned.