Islam Works #06

Mirza Yawar Baig

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Hello,

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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Where and

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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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in business organizations, but even

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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

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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.

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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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This as I mentioned, this may seem to be

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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

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the goal

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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

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group or how contentious the issue.

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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

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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.

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

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You're talking to and the meeting gets derailed.

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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

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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.

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Or if that is not the best time for you.

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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

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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

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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,

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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,

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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

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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.

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ask Allah Subhana Allah to enable us to

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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

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

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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

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Kooning,

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

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Hassan

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