The Shepherd’s Way #03 – A Leader Loved, Is Leader Followed

Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah Assalamu alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh brothers and sisters and friends, and welcome to the third episode of our villager series, the shepherds way. Now the third timeless leadership lesson brothers and sisters is a leader loved is a leader followed. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, the best of your leaders are those whom you love, and who love you, and who invoke Allah's blessings upon you, and you invoke his blessings upon them. And this is an authentic hadith narrated by Muslim.

Now, given that's a reality, we should ask ourselves the following question How do we become leaders

that are loved.

There are three things that we have to internalize, adopt and actualize. Number one, we need to be empathic. Number two, we need to be compassionate and committed to people's well being. Number three, we need to consult people in our affairs. So what does it mean to be empathic brothers and sisters, it means we have to seek people's context we have to imaginatively feel what they feel. This is extremely important when it comes to engaging with team members or other human beings. Because it allows us to be in the right space to be able to connect with people, because we're seeking the context and we are imaginatively trained to feel what they're feeling. In other words,

we are taking our shoes off, putting on their shoes, and walking a few steps. And the reason this is very important, because once you understand people's context, once you understand people's feelings, once you understand people's intellectual, social, spiritual and emotional context, the way you relate to them will be profound, because you'll be relating to who they are, as they are, and you won't be relating to your own judgments of who they are. This is extremely important with regards to developing empathy, and establishing profound relationships, brothers and sisters. So what does it mean to be compassionate and committed to people's well being?

For brothers and sisters, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, lay up No, I had the competitor, you hereby agree he may have been enough. See, you won't truly believe on this you love for your brother, what you love for yourself. And this hadith is in the famous collection of the 40 Hadith of unknowing, the Urbane of another way, and another we comment on this hadith and he says this basically means that you want goodness and guidance for your brother and for your brother in humanity. Interestingly, this is reflected in another Hadith that is narrated by Buhari and you could find it incorrect al Kabir, where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, love for the

people love for humanity, we love yourself and the Arabic is leanness. It's not actually he like the other Hadith. It is Lynette for the people for humanity. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa Salam is basically telling us that we must love for others what we love for ourselves. And in the context of the classical understanding. In other words, the understanding of another we and also the scholar had been toxic, an IED. They basically said that we must be committed to the well being of other people. In other words, we want goodness for people and guidance for people. This is extremely important brothers and sisters, we must lose this. It must manifest in our way of being that we are

sincere

in our commitment to the well being of the people that we're leading, that we want true goodness for them, and true guidance for them. And from this perspective, we could also develop a principle which is an Islamic principle. In actual fact, it's a moral principle in Islam, which is, it is better to earn in mercy than it is to earn in harshness, the default position should be mercy. And the thing that you fall back on all the time, is the merciful and compassionate approach. So what does it mean to consult brothers and sisters? There's a beautiful verse in the Quran in chapter three, verse 159, that summarizes the compassionate and soft hearted nature of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam,

but also his leadership style. With regards to consultation. Allah subhanho wa Taala says, It is out of Allah's mercy that you are Prophet have been lenient with them. Have you been cruel or hard hearted?

They would have certainly abandoned you. So Pardon them. Ask Allah's forgiveness for them, and consult with them in conducting matters. Once you make a decision, put your trust in Allah. Surely, Allah loves those who trust in Him. This is an extremely beautiful verse, especially if you understand the context, because the context of this verse is in the context of the aftermath of the Battle of ahould. What was the Battle of our brothers and sisters, the Battle of a hood was a perceived loss because of a tragic mistake of some of the companions that they didn't listen to the Prophet sallallahu ala who was an improperly.

And this is not any odd mistake, it's not coming to work late or not fulfilling this month targets. It was a tragic mistake that led to the injury of the Prophet sallallahu Ida he was salam, and also the death of Hamza Rajala, who and his beloved uncle

and oversee, to the death of Sahaba.

And in this context, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was soft, and kind to those who made that tragic mistake. Look at the compassion of the Prophet sallallahu ala he was sending how many leaders tell off the followers or the people when they don't fulfill certain targets. But what happened at the Battle of Uhud far worse, and look at the soft hearted nature of our beloved prophet Sallallahu ala who ascended not only that, Allah tells him to forgive them. And Allah tells the Prophet sallallahu, ala who was salam, to ask Allah for the forgiveness. Not only that, Allah tells the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to consult them in his affairs.

Think about how important consultation is to the degree that Allah advises the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam to consult the Sahaba in his affairs, even though there was a tragic mistake,

which shows the importance of consultation in empowering

them your follow us.

So brothers and sisters, consultation is so significant. The reason consultation is significant is because from our perspective, obviously the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam had divine guidance. But from our perspective, we don't have knowledge of everything. We have blind spots. From our perspective, brothers and sisters, we need experts or we need other people's perspectives. So they could give us different ways of seeing the same thing in order for us to have a complete picture or to be able to make the right decisions. And consultation is so important that it's throughout our tradition brothers and sisters, for example, in a hadith narrated by telling me the the prophets of

Allah who it who was salam said, one who is consulted is in a position of trust. And the importance of consultation, brothers and sisters is further mentioned in the Quran. In chapter 42, verse 38, when Allah says, who respond to the Lord, establish prayer, conduct their affairs by mutual consultation, and donate from what We have provided them. And this is in the context of Allah saying that what is with Allah is far better because in the previous verse, Not versus the sermon but verse 36, Allah says, but what is with Allah is far better and more lasting for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. So if you want this long lasting reward, if you believe and put your

trust in your Lord, then as verse 30 says, conduct their affairs by mutual consultation. In other words, you need to engage in consultation. So brothers and sisters, if you want to be a leader that is loved, they need to be empathic, be compassionate and committed to people's well being, and consult them in your affairs in the affairs of the team of the group or the organization. So this is the end of Episode Three brothers and sisters. But just to remind you, again, we are experiencing the blessed days of Bill hedger. And as you know, and we've said this before, that the deeds performed in these blessed days are more rewardable than deeds performed during the days of Ramadan.

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