Mirza Yawar Baig – Islam Works #06

			Hello,
		

			I'm Bill alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala MBA where mousseline Muhammad Rasul Allah is Allah Allah
Harney. He was the seller does live on Cathy Ron Kathy Radu, my dear brothers and sisters
Alhamdulillah Bismillah data we are on the sixth of the
		

			lectures of the series called Islam works. Why Islam because Islam works. This is the beauty of this
religion that something which was revealed in the seventh century, works perfectly well in the 21st
century. And not only does it work well, but
		

			anybody who practices these ways of Islam will benefit from them. When the Muslim practices it with
the understanding that this is the order of Allah subhanaw taala and with love for Rasul Allah
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the awareness that he is following the sooner the blessed sooner
the blessed way of our Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, then the Muslim also gets reward in the
akhira in the Hereafter, and Jana inshallah, but anybody Muslim or not, can benefit from practicing
Islamic ways and Islamic methods, because they are good for all time.
		

			Among these methods is one of the most powerful of them which is concentrated decision making, or
the majus or Shura. Over the past weeks we have seen why the surah the Shura is important, and the
method of conducting it how to conduct it. Today, I want to teach you two tools, two very important
and powerful tools that are essential for the Shura to work. And these two tools, the first one is
goal focus on the second one is active listening, if you learn these two
		

			tools and practice them, then your surah will be successful. inshallah, no matter how difficult or
contentious, the issue might be. I recommend Shura in my business consulting practice, all over the
world, especially for large family businesses, where they have a matrix organization instead of the
usual pyramidal structure.
		

			Where and
		

			in that matrix organization, because it's, it's the same family which is on the board. Therefore,
designations mean little,
		

			because at the board level, everybody is related and formal authority is almost absent. influencing
ability is what makes the difference. This is also the case in most NGOs, for example, including
Masjid boards, where members are all volunteers and unpaid and so, persuasion
		

			is becomes even more important and mutual commitment comes only from the ability to persuade people
to do what you want them to do. So therefore, the
		

			Shura becomes an even more important and even more powerful force in an NGO, images board in
organizations of that nature even more so than in business organizations.
		

			Having said that, I have found the Shura to work wonderfully well, not only in,
		

			in business organizations, but even
		

			in the police and other security forces, which have formal authority of ranks, after all, who has
woo had more authority than Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam
		

			with his Sahaba yet Allah subhanho wa Taala ordered even him Salallahu alaihe salam to consult the
Sahaba consult his companions and to make sure are with them. And that is because behind the
business suit or the uniform is, after all, a human being, and all human beings need to be persuaded
and convinced to give their best for that it is essential to get consensus on the issue. Shura is
the best way to do that. Now, here are the two tools. The first one is called goal focus.
		

			Now, that may seem to be self evident, but it isn't.
		

			Especially where there are divergent opinions. And the discussion tends to get contentious. Keeping
the focus of everybody on the goal is not an easy matter. Now draw the attention therefore, what
must you do is to draw the attention of people back to the goal periodically remind them that the
meeting is not about proving who is
		

			The smartest, but have been about solving the problem using everyone's smartness. Success is only
when the problem is solved, not when you have made your point, no matter how powerfully and wisely
you think you did that.
		

			We all come to every meeting in the Shura, with our different expertise, experience, and skill set.
And we must remember and remind ourselves that each is important and necessary for all to succeed in
achieving the results.
		

			To give you an example, this is like several mechanics coming together to restart an engine. Each
comes with his unique toolkit, no other mechanic will tell him that his tools are unnecessary and
useless, and that he must get out of the way or use the tools given to him by somebody else. On the
other hand, any mechanic worthy name, will welcome another mechanic with his unique tools toolkit
and skill set. That is because no mechanic goes to a worksite for with the intention of showing off
his toolkit, he goes with the intention of getting the engine started. His focus therefore, is not
another mechanic or his tools, except perhaps to appreciate the skills and drools the mechanics
		

			focus is always the engine, only the engine runs, Will any mechanic be happy, same logic for any
meeting. Therefore, always keep the goal in focus.
		

			This as I mentioned, this may seem to be
		

			self evident and obvious. But if you have ever run a meeting, you know how easily the focus shifts
from the goal to the other person, then emotions come into play. And especially when there may be a
car may be conscious or unconscious rivalries, and dislikes and tensions between people.
objectivity, then takes a backseat, and one upmanship and egos and scoring points becomes the game.
Even if it does not go all the way to the meeting breaking up, it certainly impacts the goal of that
meeting negatively. It is therefore essential to keep the goal in focus. People use different
methods. The simplest is to periodically remind everyone about the reason for the meeting, that is
		

			the goal
		

			for which the meeting was convened. This can and should be done by anyone, not only the leader.
Anytime you see the interaction drifting. Please feel free to say, I want to remind you and myself
that our goal today is such and such, the sooner you do that, the better do it as frequently as
necessary. Some people even print out the goal on a big chart sheet, and they post on in giant
letters, and they posted in a place and displayed in a place where everyone can see now do whatever
works for you. But do it. Ensure that the goal is always drop boast in the minds of everyone all the
time. If you can manage this, your meetings will always be successful, no matter how diverse the
		

			group or how contentious the issue.
		

			The second tool I want to talk to you about is active listening. Both goal focus and active
listening are not only excellent tools for sure our meetings, but also powerful conflict resolution
tools. I have used both in management union meetings with militant communist unions and in
arbitrations that I presided over with excellent results. Active listing forces people to seriously
consider the perspective of the other party leading to an amicable and often quick resolution of the
issue. The novel tendency of everyone when listening to anyone they consider to be a rival or an
adversity or an opponent or other in any way is to shut down their own listening and start
		

			manufacturing responses to what the other person is saying. This is an enormously powerful
unconscious process, which by definition, we are not aware of, unless we counter it and the focus
shifts from the goal to the person and meeting.
		

			And therefore the the the the focus shift from the goal to the person in the
		

			You're talking to and the meeting gets derailed.
		

			In some cases it can degenerate into a personality conflict. Active listening is a defense against
all this, it is the tool that ensures that you cannot stop listening. But instead, you are compelled
to listen and to share your understanding periodically with the other person. That is an immensely
powerful
		

			process, which promotes understanding and harmony. There are three steps to active listening. One is
to make an intention to listen to, is to focus on what the speaker is saying and remember it, and
three is to paraphrase, which is to check if you understood the speaker in the way that he or she
wanted you to understand them. So the first one is intention. As in everything, it begins with the
right intention, in this case, the conscious intention to listen, ask yourself, do I need to listen?
Do I want to listen? If the answer is no to either question, do yourself and others a favor and
leave.
		

			Or if that is not the best time for you.
		

			Try to fix another time for that meeting. Now, this is less painful and far more positive than going
through the motions of listening when you believe that you either don't need to or don't want to. To
listen, it's very important to understand is to listen, you must respect the speaker and genuinely
believe that what they have to say is important for you to listen to. You must you need to slow down
your own mental process and stop your mind from thinking of responses. And instead listen to the
speaker with great attention. That is why I said that you must first decide if you want to listen or
not. Otherwise your mind will wander and you will be distracted. But also realize sanlam
		

			used to turn to face whoever was speaking to him. He would never talk to anyone over his shoulder.
He would indicate with his body language that he was interested in them and in what they had to say
and was giving them his full attention. This was to the extent where Sahaba many Saba thought that
was also the solemn love them more than anybody else because of the attention they got from him. And
this was the end but this was true for all of them whoever was speaking to him. Now this shows
respect for the other person and it builds trust and it opens hearts. In conflictual situations.
This disc de escalates the conflict and shows that you are genuinely interested in solving the
		

			problem. Sincerity is critical. game playing will destroy the trust and harden stances and make
matters worse, that is why a to question your own intention. And to make a conscious decision to
listen is so critical. There is a beautiful story in the Syrah of one of the Sahaba Ridwan Lehmann
vine. I think it was amarinder Lhasa Delano, who one day ferrets because of this way of,
		

			of communicating when he spoke to people of looking at them directly, making eye contact facing them
and giving them his full attention. I'm gonna be the last
		

			thought that Rosaura. sasaram loved him the most. So now he wanted to hear that from the blessed ton
of resources. But he didn't want to directly ask if you are a soldier, do you love me the most? So
he asked him indirectly he said, Yeah, Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, who do you love the most in
this world? And as well as Asia? Are they allow our mother Roman bobigny. So our last
		

			year that is right, but I mean among the men who you love the most, as soon as I said, I'm the
father of Ayesha, which is Abubakar.
		

			I decided now to not to ask any more questions, because I did not know where this was going. Now
it's, it's it. It shows how
		

			how much this method and this way of communication, communicating our sources, how powerful and
effective it was in helping us, enabling them to feel included and feel loved.
		

			Second thing for active listening, as I mentioned, do a first run in intention. Second one is focus.
And this consists of both mental focus and the physical signaling away I just mentioned, do how it
also resonates and I'm used to
		

			It means that you stopped doing whatever you were doing, and sure that there will not be any
disturbance, lean slightly forward, look interested and friendly, and make eye contact. Take notes,
after asking permission to do so, without that it's very distracting for the speaker to see you
scribbling while they are talking and can lead to misunderstandings. note taking, however, is not
only good strategy, but it's essential to retaining all data, our memories are not as good as we
imagined. And if we do not write things down, we forget them or we mix up information regarding is
not a substitute for taking notes, it is impersonal and does not indicate your interest in what the
		

			other person is saying. note taking if done properly indicates that you are interested in the
individual and in the meeting, note taking forces you to focus and to ask questions, if anything
NEEDS CLARIFICATION or explanation regarding just regard the sound the words, often and therefore
often when you listen to it later, you have questions, which if you had been taking notes, you would
have clarified at that time, share your notes with the speaker and say, This is what I have noted,
is there anything you want to add or change
		

			and then do what they asked you to do. Once again, this is a great trust building strategy. Remember
that this is not the last meeting with that person. So ensure that you repair the bridges and you
build new bridges. Number three is to check for understanding, paraphrasing, this is so important
like that I cannot possibly overemphasize this very critical step. Big, which many people because it
takes time and seems to be cumbersome. Many people do not do this. The fact is that we have no way
of letting the other person know that we have understood them in the way they want us to understand
them unless we stop from time to time and do a process check. This is called paraphrasing and
		

			involves you're telling the speaker how you understood what he said. So, you begin by saying I
understand you to be saying that unless I stop and share my understanding with the speaker, he or
she will not be able to know what
		

			they will not know if I have understood them the way they want to be understood. So you're saying
for example, I understand you to be saying that unless I stop and share my understanding with the
speaker. He will not be able to tell whether I understood him or not. Is this correct? Now see how
it sounds? It seems to be cumbersome. But if there was a shorter and easier way, believe me I will
tell you. Paraphrasing does some other good things. It gives the speaker a pause to take breath. It
builds trust between the two of you as the other person feels understood, and you can demonstrate
your commitment to the meeting by showing that you are all attention. To paraphrase successfully,
		

			you will need to be attentive and therefore taking notes helps. Shura is so critically important
because it is the adhesive that keeps the Omar together. It is the means of learning to keep our
focus on what is good for everyone. And it saves us from destructive selfishness. Shura keeps
families together. It facilitates working through difficult decisions and results in healthy
collaboration and teamwork. As in all things Islamic, we do it to please Allah subhanho wa Taala
gelato and in obedience to Him, but the method is beneficial as I mentioned, to anyone who wants to
practice it, whether that person is a Muslim or not. The best form of Dawa is to show the world that
		

			Islam works for everyone. Like anything new. practicing these tools will feel artificial and awkward
at first. But the key is to continue to practice them. The only way to become comfortable and expert
is to do it frequently enough until it becomes second nature and a positive habit.
		

			ask Allah Subhana Allah to enable us to
		

			do what pleases Him and to save us from what doesn't please Him. ask Allah Subhana Allah to enable
us to to practice these beautiful methods of the from the Syrah of Rasulullah sallallahu sallam, so
that we can
		

			enable so that we can make our lives much more productive and positive in
		

			In this life and also make this a means of earning Jana when we meet Allah subhanho wa Taala Robin
is Allah nanfu sana Willem de
		

			Kooning,
		

			Robin. Robin our coffee Rhonda yeah Tina, whatever from Allah bruh Robin rt nafi dounia Hassan
		

			Hassan
		

			Salahuddin Abdul Karim Allah Allah He was made by him in $100 Bill alameen wa salam aleikum wa
rahmatullah wa barakato.