Mirza Yawar Baig – Leadership of Rasoolullah #03
AI: Summary ©
The importance of learning about Islam is discussed, along with the potential negative consequences it could bring to their planet. The speakers emphasize the need for practice and learning to improve one's life and avoid negative consequences. The historical and cultural significance of Islam is also discussed, including its importance in modernity and the need for a message of Islam to act and deliver.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala Shafi Lambie evil muesli, Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala Ali was heavy was YG he was a reality Eva heavyweight he Salah Mata Steven Kathira and Kathy Rafa. Mavado my brothers and sisters, we are looking at the leadership lessons from the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala he was a new seller. The purpose of the Juma haba is to help us to look at ourselves and see how we can become more obedient to Allah subhanaw taala because only in that lies success in this world and the next.
Allah subhanaw taala made it simple for us by sending us his book and sending us the best of teachers who not only taught the book but who demonstrated in his own life how to live by that book. The book is the Quran Al Karim and the teacher is Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa Lolli He will save us and
all we need to do is to follow Rasul Allah is Allah Alia Salam, and we will in sha Allah be on the path of righteousness the path of steadfastness we will be on a Sirata Mr. Kim, the biggest delille and the most beautiful of them is what I remember from say the Ayesha said these are the Allahu Anhu our mother, may Allah subhanho wa Taala increase her Rajat.
Somebody went to her and asked her to tell him something about the life of Rasul Allah is Allah Allah, Allah you early, he was Abu Salam and she said, Don't you read the Quran? He said, Yes, my mother I read the Quran. She said his life he was the walking Quran.
The Quran Al Karim was manifested in his life because he lived by the Quran. And that is the importance of learning the Sierra and studying the Sierra, the biography of Russell licensor with the intention of practicing it in our lives. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to make that easy for us and to enable us to benefit from that in the best of ways.
I remind you and myself of the ayat which we recite as part of the Haditha in Juma
and that is one of them is I will be live in a shaytani R rajim Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim. Yeah, you are Levina Armano it the hula haka Ducati wala automaton Illa. One two Muslim moon. We install the LA divan when Allah subhanaw taala said all you who believe have Taqwa of Allah subhanho wa taala. Fear to dis please. The one you love the most. That is the definition of Taqwa. have Taqwa of Allah subhanho wa taala. As it is his right
that we should fear disobeying Him, that we should fear displeasing, and do not die except in a state of Islam as Muslims with complete submission to Allah subhanaw taala. This is a reminder for us that Islam is not a theory. Islam is not a philosophy. Islam is the name of a practice. A person does not become a Muslim, by learning about Islam. They become a Muslim by learning about Islam, and then practicing that Islam in their lives.
And Marie Shamil was the head of Islamic studies for in Howard for many, many years. She was a wonderful teacher, she was a wonderful lady. She's written some very, very brilliant books, including on the Sierra on the on the biography of also lies on a salon, but she was a Christian and she died. A Christian as far as I know, to the best of my knowledge,
knowing about Islam, and she was highly knowledgeable about Islam. Highly, highly knowledgeable, she was probably more knowledgeable than almost any of us except the scholars of this Deen.
If she had been a Muslim, she would have encountered among the foremost scholars of Islam.
But knowing having all of that knowledge about Islam did not make her a Muslim.
Knowing about Islam is different from practicing Islam.
If you to practice we need to know. So knowing is not a it's not an option. Yes, we have to learn. But if we learn and we do not practice, then it does not make us Muslims.
When I learn about Islam, Allah subhanho wa Taala says a key word
salah, established the salah.
I know this now this is something I know that Allah subhanaw taala said this,
but if I don't pray, if I do not establish the salah, then it does not make me a Muslim. I just know that it should be done. Now if I want to do it, what do I do? I go to the Sierra I go to the biography I go to the time and life and teachings of Roswell and licensor.
Hypothetically speaking, as I put myself in front of a sorcerer Salem, I bring myself into his head Matt into his into his Darbar into his cord into his into his Sahaba.
And I say Yasser Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah who Allah while he while he was Abu Salam, please teach me how to pray.
And the Surah Surah Salam will say what he said to those who he taught. And what did he say? He said, Sir lo Kamara. I Tony Husa Lee, pray as you see me pray. So I learn how to pray from Rasul Allah is Allah Listen, the Kitab of Allah gives me the instruction established salah. The Syrah and Sunnah of Rasulullah Salam gives me the methodology.
The two are intrinsically linked.
One cannot be, we cannot do and we cannot obey. Without the other we cannot obey the instruction without learning how to obey what does that instruction mean? And that we get from the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu. So, Islam is the name of a practice, it is not the name of a theory, it is not the name of a philosophy, you cannot be a secular Muslim, you cannot be a non practicing Muslim. Because both of these terms are mutually exclusive. They are oxymorons, you are either secular, or you are a Muslim, you cannot be a secular Muslim, because of being a Muslim means to believe in Islam, and to practice Islam. He does not mean knowing about Islam.
So this is something that I want to remind myself and you let us understand this, and be clear in our minds about this. Islam is all about practice.
The world that we live in today, and even more the one in the future as we can envisage it is a world of high complexity. where information is ever easier to access. power is concentrated in the hands of an elite. The balance of factors that dictate the very survival of our planet, is in great danger of being upset, perhaps irretrievably the society we live in is one that is stratified on lines of economic, racial, national, religious, and power divisions. And this divide is growing
materially in terms of gadgets, tools, resources, and money, we have more than we probably ever had before.
What we do not have criteria for decision making, that are based on ethical and moral values, criteria that are inclusive and consider those who have little, and that little, is in danger of being eliminated. criteria that place greater importance on integrity, then on accumulating material wealth, criteria that focus on the long term impact of short term strategies, criteria where we hold ourselves accountable for our actions, even if nobody else does criteria, where we stand by our word, live by our creed, and act according to our values, concerned about leaving a legacy of honor for those who will come after us. Just this morning, I was reading in on my Twitter feed a tweet by
a person who's very interested in wildlife.
And the tweet was that the Snow Leopard Conservation Fund
has done a deal with the manufacturers of vodka, that they the manufacturers of vodka will donate a certain amount of money for every bottle of vodka that is sold and destroyed said so go ahead and drink vodka. The more you drink, the more you will be contributing to this great cause. Now I have every time I think that I have
heard the you know the worst of it, it becomes even more I mean whenever every time I think that we have reached the bottom of the funnel
We find we are digging, you know, utterly ridiculous. I mean, look at this thing.
Whoever is God is brainwave, they are promoting the sale of an addictive destructive drug called alcohol. I don't care what name you give it, call it watch what can I call it Scotch call it you know cognac Call it whatever you like, end of the day it's alcohol. And alcohol is destructive. Alcohol create, produces and causes a cirrhosis of the liver. alcohol causes the death of brain cells, among many other things. You're promoting the sale of alcohol in the name of wildlife conservation. I mean, how much more oxymoronic and stupid can it get? But this is our word. And the reason for this is because as I said, the criteria of decision making are not based on ethics and
values. They're not even based on science. Now, when I'm talking about what can alcohol I'm not even talking about it from the perspective of Islam and the fact that it is haram in Islam. I'm talking at it from the perspective of the chemical introducing this chemical into the human body. And the fact that it's addictive is something if you don't believe me go to Alcoholics Anonymous and check with them.
They say that there is no cure there is no cure for alcohol addiction
it's amazing, right? People get very excited if I if I ate piranhas with with some butter on them.
But as far as alcohol is concerned, you want to promote that promote the sale of a destructive, addictive drug in the name of wildlife conservation and how how oxymoronic and stupid can we get?
My brothers and sisters, Allah subhanaw taala told us that success is not a factor of our material wealth, but of obedience to him jealous. And following the Sunnah of Rasulullah samsara history is my is my is my is my subject. I studied history and I love history. And one of the things that I marvel at whenever I read the rise and fall of empires,
is this single focus of historians on what caused the rise and fall of those empires. And what are they talking about, including the Muslim empires. Read the history of the Ottoman Empire, read the history of the Mughal empire, read the history of the Abasi empire, read the history of the Manomaya. Right, read whatever history you want, including the Muslim history is, the focus is always on. The rows are they fell based on material wealth, military strength, political situations and circumstances, the rise of different kinds of technology and how this technology was leveraged or not leveraged.
Find me one history which says that empires rise or fall based on their actions that sins contribute to the destruction of your life in this world. That sins are the reason why an empire false
find me one history book which says that
the only book which has that is the Quran Al Karim, Allah subhanho wa Taala talks about the ILF around when he talks about the Quran, when he talks about how Matoba when he talks about the heart and the samode
when he talks about these people of the past and also monotonic described for us and tells us
that they were great people they had, they had a great civilization, they had enormous wealth and they built huge buildings and they did this they did that.
And what destroyed them, disobedience Allah subhanho wa Taala
sins destroyed them.
Lack of a moral structure destroyed them.
Lack of character destroyed them, not lack of wealth. None of them suffered from a lack of wealth. They had as a matter of fact their wealth became the reason why their character felt they were the reason why the character got destroyed was because they had the money to indulge their base desires.
My brothers sisters
that is why I remind myself and you let us focus on the fundamentals the the actual reasons for success and failure and ensure that we do what we need to do in order to succeed
He, Allah subhanaw taala told us again in the ad which is decided in every Juma yeah you know, it the hola Baku colon salida usually has a coma Melaku where you're feeling like Unova Palma UTA la hora Zulu takudzwa falls on Azima Allah's Renata said which means all you who believe have Taqwa of Allah subhanho wa Taala fear disobeying Him and always speak the truth. Not when it's convenient, always speak the truth. And then what will happen? He Gela gelato will direct you to do righteous deeds, and will forgive your sins. And whosoever obeys listen carefully, and whosoever obey is ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada and his messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, only that person has
achieved great success only that person Faqad the fires or falls on Azima only this person has achieved final and true and great success. The purpose of studying the Sierra therefore is not for the history lesson, but so that we can practice his SallAllahu Sallam sunnah, because that is the path to Jannah. When we read the Sierra, the biography of Rosa Rosa Salem, we realized that the world that he lived in was uncannily like the one we live in today in terms of its trends, focus of attention and problems.
This gives us great hope this gives me great hope, when we look at learning leadership lessons from his life because of because if the problems were like our own,
and they were solved using his methods, then we have reason to believe that those methods will transcend the centuries and come to our aid today,
when we are in such dire need a tried and tested method, which works is preferable to a theory that is new, and at best experimental,
especially when that method was divinely inspired. And the one in implementing it was divinely guided. Such a method can never fail.
In that society, the Society of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam money had power.
We said the same thing today, we say money talks.
I just saw a video of Bernie Sanders walking past in made in New York, and he is standing in front of Wall Street. And he says you think that the source of power is the Congress and the White House and the House of Representatives. But he says the real source of power is this thing here which is called Wall Street and that is the reality.
Similarly, in that society, money had power, and those who had little
who are weak in terms of tribal alliances, or who were slaves were the object of raw oppression and lived at the mercy of the ruling elite. Quite literally, the ruling elite could do anything they wanted. No questions asked when our jail
killed.
So may have been hired, or the Allahu Ana and her husband
Alia Sara Delano
question
Who stopped him.
He did not do this quietly in the dead of the night. He did it in public
in the day, because he wanted to inspire fear in the hearts of the Muslims.
Who stopped him?
Nobody. Because he was the head of the crush.
He was a leader, one of the one of the top leaders of Makkah.
Nobody could stop.
Look at our world today. When those who have power
do what they do, who question
who's there to stop them? And that is why every time I hear of any such instance, my standard response is, that is why we have a day of judgment.
Because on that day, nobody but nobody will escape.
Every single one of us will be called to account. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to forgive us our sins and to cover us with His mercy and His forgiveness. But if there is somebody who has harmed others
who has oppressed others
who has characterised as assassinated others who was murdered others
who has done all kinds of stuff to others, believe me they will not escape.
There is no way to hide. They will not be able to escape.
Yeah, brothers and sisters, the Croatia Maka, the tribe to which Bahamas Allah Allah Allah
Selam belonged, but traders and the additional with the additional and very important distinction of being the custodians of the Kaaba in today's terms. They were merchant priests, who regulated worship at the Kaaba and were revered because of their association with the chief house of worship in Arabia. The family of Amazonas, LM W, Hashem had the highest status among the Quraysh and had the special honor of taking care of pilgrims by providing them with food and water from the holy well of ZamZam, which they had in their custody. This special position also gave the horse protection in a society, which existed on the time honored principle of reading each other, the courage, the
caravans have the courage will never read it. They went to South they went south, to Yemen in the winter, and they went north to a sham in the summer. And they were not molested by tribes whose occupation was to raid caravans. Because the Quraysh were the custodians and the high priests, so to speak of the cabin. knockin aristocracy was an aristocracy of rich budgets. It was a government by billionaires. Sound familiar, right.
And it was not the usual hereditary aristocracy of landowners and royalty that we see elsewhere. During the medieval period. It was a society where upward mobility was comparatively easy. All you had to do was to make enough money. And then you could rise up in society and enjoy its benefits. So acquisition of material wealth was a single primary focus of all people.
And religion was a means of getting rich. Today, ask yourself when we talk about people, what do we mean when we say net worth? The net worth of so and so is this much the net worth of Jeff Bezos is so much the net worth of Elon Musk is so much the net worth of Bill Gates is so much there are words of Warren Buffett is so much the net worth of Ambani is so much.
I was talking about the character I was talking about their moral values, I'll be talking about their intelligence are we what are we talking about? We're talking about the money they have that's it, period for us.
How they got their money, what they do in their lives, what kind of stuff are they propagating? What are they saying? Are they really even what they say? Is it something which is which is what listening to why we bother with any of that? No?
That was the kind of society that was there in Makkah, what the * did what I would have did what those people did. Nobody cared because they had money.
If we look at the social and economic factors, which I described for you can easily see how closely that society mirrored our modern capitalistic society.
We were not a slave with slaves in the same sense that the Arabs of all ages had, but our slavery is even more powerful because it is ideological in nature.
It has global reach, and is enforced by an education system, which promotes its values, and economic system, which look which locks people into it, and an executive
and military, which ensures that the system is not threatened by misplaced ideals of freedom and equality. Internationally, the two powers of the day were the Byzantine Roman Empire and the Persian Empire, which were engaged in ongoing wars, which in which sometimes one side had the upper hand and sometimes the other. Neither of them cared to rural Arabia, which was mostly dry and uncollectible and in an inhospitable desert, populated by nomadic tribes, with occasional Oasis towns, and the true trade centers of Makkah and five, not the best environment to levy taxes or get soldiers and supplies from or to conduct campaigns to subdue the tribes if need be. The Romans and Persians
looked down on and ignored the Arabs of this area, who were consequently left alone, and were not subjugated by either Empire. The out of them by the old tribal laws, and they were ruled by their own clan chiefs, and jealously guarded that independence. They played a very significant role as the trade conduit between two empires, which were at war with each other.
Much like the Swix, much like the Swiss will begin bankers to, to both sides during the World Two world wars, and we're not attacked by either side, because they needed the service that they provided. The Arabs of the hijas had permission to trade in the lands of the Romans and the Persians and brought the produce of one empire to those who wanted it in the other. Makkah happened to be very conveniently located at a midpoint in this journey between the Roman lands in Sharm and the Persian lands in Yemen. Consequently,
It grew into an important trade center for goods from Persia and bison and Byzantines. With the added attraction of being a center for pilgrimage. The kurush exploited their status as custodians of the Kaaba, as a trade advantage and prospered greatly and accumulated vast wealth. They used the Roman banking system
and use financial instruments like letters of credit promissory notes, much like our bank drafts, working capital loans and various interest bearing devices to facilitate trade. There are trading agents who trade it for a commission on behalf of their sponsors. And that is what Muhammad sallallahu alayhi salam did for our mother Khadija been quoted before he married or the Elana In short, if one were to bring some of the big bankers and traders of the Hirsch to Wall Street to Chase Manhattan or city and show them how modern banks work, they would understand the system in an instant.
Though we are talking about the seventh century, because the basic system has remained the same since the time of the Roman Empire.
An important point to note is that the Arabs of jazz were people who had never been subjugated, and so did not have the common characteristics of people who understand being enslaved.
In their apparent unruliness and internal strife, their fears, their fears, independence, was a factor that stood out clearly. These people were a law unto themselves and did not care for or accept the rules of others. They never bow to anyone and we're very proud of this.
And eventually, when they bowed their heads to Allah subhana wa Tada. They did it with a same sense of high self worth. That ensured that they never bow before anyone else, and preserve the essence of Tawheed in any in every sense of the term.
is a lovely story in this era of one of the Sahaba who after accepting Islam, one day he came to his salaam, he said, Yes, I have a difficulty. Now I said, what is that? He said, I have a difficulty with Rocco right with the Boeing
and not the Zulu. The frustration is that no, I don't have a difficulty with Zulu. I have a difficulty with Zuko. Now, Mr. Samson, what's the difficulty? He said, I have never bought my head to anybody in my life.
And now I have to bow to Allah subhanho wa Taala there is a servicer What about the processor is it says WB due to our gods, you know, we have been used to that. But borrowing from a standing position by my head like this to somebody that never did that my life.
Now this is the this shows the kind of character that they had.
It's only when Islam came to the lands of kings and empires then Muslims started taking to the ways of others, and started to imbibe cultural
trappings and cultural baggage and philosophical arguments which had nothing to do with the pure, clean and simple doctrine that Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam brought, which was as clean and pure as a desert air in which it was revealed to him by the creator of the universe.
It's very important to keep this characteristic in mind to understand both the nature of Arabian tribal society, as well as the nature of opposition to the message of Islam, which was seen as something that sought to take away this independence from them, and rearrange the hierarchy and power base.
And this was true.
From this brief sketch of the nature of Arabian society at the time of Muhammad Salah Harada it was, it must be clear how closely it matches the nature of the dominant global culture today.
Socially also their focus like ours was on money power, object objectification of women for pleasure and profit, although it is sold today in the name of freedom, widespread promiscuity and license, breakdown of moral and social values, race for material wealth at any cost. Society stratified on economic and racial lines than any attempt to bring in justice, moral responsibility and accountability, which is what religion seeks to do, was seen as unnecessary and undesirable, and so was opposed vehemently. Once again, the poor and the weak have no voice
No power, or even identity, and the rich are focused on getting richer,
with little or no concern for what happens to the rest of the world. Because of their short sighted pursuit of personal power. The world is growing under the yoke of oppression, with no solution in sight. It was in this society that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam was born and grew up and which he preached his message, a message that sought to create a revolutionary change, aimed at ensuring justice for all, irrespective of race, or caste, or gender, or, or economic status, a message of dignity for the individual respect for human rights and compassion for the week, freedom from slavery to men, and bowing to the rule of the creator of men
with rules of life that ensure peace, harmony, and safety for all concerned, what else do we need today, more than this message
is think about that.
A message that we desperately need today is the message of Islam because it has in it the solutions that the world is desperately seeking.
It's in this context that I've tried to extract what I believe are critical lessons in leadership, and to put them in a modern application oriented format. I believe that the purpose of learning is to act and that without acting knowledge cannot benefit us.
The Leadership Lessons from the life of our soul as a seller than I have
extracted
our 11 The first one is complete certainty in his mission, and message, no doubt. Number two, no compromise in the practice of his message of Islam, number three, putting himself on the line
number four, resilience, face the facts and absolute faith in eventual success. Number five, the goal comes first before personal preferences, number six, living the message not just preaching it number seven, risk taking not putting others in that in a risky position number eight, sacrificing short for long term number nine, magnanimity and forgiveness number 10. Transitioning from person led to process driven and number 11 succession planning and leadership development. Going forward Inshallah, we will look at each of these lessons and see how we can and should apply them in our lives today. I ask Allah subhanaw taala Gela Donahoe for his help and guidance in enabling me to
present the gems from the life of his beloved messenger Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in a way that is easy to understand and inshallah implement.
Ask Allah subhanaw taala for His mercy and grace, and I asked Allah subhanaw taala to accept this and to be pleased with it was Allah Allah, Allah will Karim Allah Allah He was savage man that I had to get on with him. It was salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.