Are You Fit for Leadership

For our own success and our own well being Allah subhanaw taala reminds us what is translated as all believers are you who believe, be mindful of Allah as he deserves. Worship Allah as he deserves, and do not die except in a state of worship. May Allah subhanaw taala allow us to live consistently upon Islam to die upon Iman Allah. I mean,

if you could wish for one thing today for the OMA for the Muslim world, what would you wish for? There's a really beautiful story from Roma Radi Allahu on that one day or one o'clock Bob is sitting with some companions in a house. And one day he says to them, Tim, I know wish for something, wish for something. So one of them said, I would wish that this house was filled with gold so that I can give it as charity for the sake of Allah.

How many times do people wish for more wealth just so they can give for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala to benefit the Ummah, rather than wishing just to fulfill one's desires.

He said once again to men no wish for something else, meaning someone else. Another man said I wish this house was filled with pearls and with every kind of precious gem so that I can give it as charity for the sake of Allah. What would happen to the Ummah with all of this wealth, what would happen to the infrastructure of the Ummah, what would happen to the education of the Ummah, what happened to the hardships that people go through and so on and so forth? And then he said once again, Tim and no wished for something as though he were looking for an answer. And they said, Man, Andrea mirror on what we need, we don't know what to wish for. What else should we ask for? And then

he said something very profound. He said a termina lo Anna heard the Dalai Lama mu attune region and Mithila heavier obey the temple genre. I wish this house was filled with men the likes of a boy rubedo immune Jawaharlal the Aloha and one of the greatest companions. Why Abu Zubaydah law, the law one, I will obey the law, the law one was of the highest quality of people you could ever meet the history of mankind.

He was a real truthful man. He was a person of knowledge and also a person of action. He was a person of modesty and also a person of courage and bravery. He was a person who followed and also was a great leader and on the long run, and in fact, he was one of the 10 Amongst others who are given glad tidings of Jana and I will obey the law the Allahu Allah and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, and our inadequately automatic Amin and every OMA has its ultra trustworthy person, meaning the one that stands out as being the trustworthy person of this Oma. And then he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam were amino her the Illuma abou Veda and the trustworthy person of

this ummah, is about obey the law, the long run, the people of Nigeria, and some of them were Christians had converted to Islam. Some people had come to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and they said, Send with us and to our people. Someone who is trustworthy, someone you trust. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, I'm going to send to you or with you will earthen la como la Jhulan mean, and haka, Amin and haka Amin, a man who is trustworthy, a man of trust, a man of trust, amount of trust, and the Sahaba who reported this, they said, We looked around to see who he who is he going to send? And they said, he sent for Bertha about rubedo. He sent a reminder on

the long run, trustworthy. Now you may think, okay, this person what he's known for, he's an honest, trustworthy man. That's all people take from this at times. But a man is much more than just being entrusted with something you gave them. There's a trust between you and Allah and a trust between you and mankind. And I will repeat that on the long run. If those who hear about him a few times think well, he was a great follower very clearly. No, he was also a great leader. They asked the question on the Allahu anha, about who the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would have nominated as his successor. If he were to nominate clearly and say you did this person is my successor. She

said Abu Bakr. They said who after that, she said, Omar, they said and who after that, she said Abu Zubaydah, and then she remain silent after this, as reported by Imam Muslim does not authentic hadith, I will obey the law, the law one is a leader amongst the companions, and one of the greatest followers as well. Rare in his qualities that are very comprehensive to the extent that if you were to ask Omar in this building, what would you wish for more of, I would wish there were many more men like I will provide a why because the world would change, society would change, and we should all and be thinking regular, we should all be thinking about the state of the Ummah, that if there were

more of this one person, the likes of this one person, society would be better off, the Ummah would be better off. And if we think to ourselves if we were living at that time, would anyone say that about us? That I wish there were more people like you because of the good

The things you're doing for the OMA, are for the sake of Allah subhana wa atatiana I would wish that there were more people like you more mothers like you more fathers like you, more children like you, more leaders like you. What are the qualities that will remain the only Allahu Anhu had? When we mentioned these narrations, oftentimes, especially to a lot of the youth, oftentimes it's with the context of leadership. So a person says, Yes, I want to be a great leader. And there are a lot of people in the world today and a lot of people in our Ummah as well, who want to be leaders, but they have no idea what Islamic leadership is. There are a lot of people who want to be in the spotlight,

they want to be influencers, they want to have a platform in which many people through which many people will hear them and read what they're saying. They want that status and that influence, but they have no idea the responsibility that comes with influence in Islam. There are a lot of people today who say and claim that they would be great leaders, but that they would be terrible followers. They can't listen, they can't take instruction. They can't work with other people. They run away from conflict, they create conflict, they can't mediate. They can't agree to disagree. And the reality is, this is not true. If you cannot be a great follower, as a believer, you cannot be a

great leader. Because at the end of the day, every Muslim who's following the truth, following the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam has to be a great follower. And we are not better than the companions. They were all great followers to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam to those that he assigned different positions of leadership, how did Abu Zubaydah would only allow one get to the point to the standards to the level where it remodeled the Aloha and would wish to have more of people like him? What are some of the qualities that he had Allah subhanaw taala gave us all a blueprint to follow. Something to look up to something to understand where do we begin? If someone

were to ask today, where do I start? I want to be a better believer, where do I even begin? I'm so far away from Abu Zubaydah on the long run, like two different planets. I'm not even in the same place. How do I start to become better? And Allah subhanaw taala made it easy when he said, nobody can Allah configure rasool Allah he will sweat on Hassan. There is indeed in the Prophet Sall Allahu Allah, He was head of the Messenger of Allah, a role model, a good role model and ultimate role model for whom? Lehmann Khanna yo joola Will Yeoman effort for the one who says I'm looking for Allah's pleasure. I'm looking to please the creator and I'm looking for the afterlife. I'm looking

for Paradise. Well, that could Allah cathedral and remembers Allah with much remembrance, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, of course, the greatest of leaders of mankind. Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, you study his life, his biography, his Sita, as we all should, at least once in our lives, if not many times, and you find he was a great husband. He was a great father. He was a great community member, he was a great friend. He was good to people. He was kind he was loving and he led through his actions not just through His Word, sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And we learn from him I didn't hear Salatu was Salam that people who have good qualities in a very comprehensive

way are not the majority of people. In fact, all of these great qualities in Abu Zubaydah, they are rare to find in one person.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in the famous hadith of Abdullah bin or model the Allahu Anhu MA in nama nurse who collectively anemia, people are like this is an analogy. People are like 100 camels lotta curd, who told you to see her or Hina you may hardly find just to one that is fit for writing. Now this hadith is taken by many people and commented on from different lenses, different perspectives. What is it referring to one in 100 people fit for writing meaning like camel that you find that has all of these strong qualities is rare as it is the believers likewise who are super fit in this sense of goodness of spirituality of companionship of piety of trust, Amana as

well. They are rare amongst the OMA. And so they are not the majority of people. Now, a lot of people commented on this, and they asked is this referring to the companions or a specific generation, the end of times the scholarships is not referring to the first three generations. It's referring to the end of times, we need the times that come later, the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam warned his companions and warned us by extension, about the things that would change even for the Muslim ummah, the way people would change the people who now have influence the people of ignorance, the people of evil and how it spreads. And immorality spreads in society and in fact, does not just

spread loosely but rather spreads aggressively and forces you to either accept or be labeled a certain label. Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke about the people that would come later and he mentioned some of the traits that they wish they would have. He said they will come after you a people who will bear witness without being asked to do so many they'll lie about things. And the second thing he said they will be treacherous and untrustworthy. And the third, they will vow and never fulfill their vows me they break their promises and obesity will appear amongst them. Why? Because they are attached to a dunya they are attached to a dunya and consuming

dunya and they have no self discipline in terms of worshiping Allah subhanaw taala so affects them in many other ways dunya will open for them. Now this hadith, the one about one in 100 usually is spoken about in the context of leadership are you fit to be a leader, but we cannot deny the other context of the Hadith. Imam Al Bukhari Rama Allah with his approach to Hadith compilation would put a title for the sections that he's going to cover in the title would have a ruling or an indication of his stance on something. And so he placed this hadith under the section of the disappearance of Amana. The disappearance of trust Abdullah bin are bustling Allahu anhu, Merced trust Amanda here,

he referred to as a trust between you and Allah and trust between you and people, meaning it's worldly and religious. Are you fulfilling the trust that Allah subhanaw taala gave you and are you fulfilling the trust of people as well? What would benefit the OMA today, as harsh as it sounds, is for many people who are in certain positions all around the world, whether it's a government or a nonprofit or anything else, for a lot of those individuals to be replaced by someone who is fit for leadership, a lot of those individuals to step down and allow somebody who's qualified to step up. Because at the end of the day, you may think that a random organization and Islamic organization,

Islamic centers, governments, at a local level, a lot of times people think that the impact is not so severe that there's somebody who is unfit for leadership. And we don't mean unfit that they are still learning and trying, oh, they are unfit because they are power hungry. They are not looking to serve, they're looking to have power. They are not looking to benefit people and serve the people with humility. No, they are looking for a place of authority, and they believe they deserve it. Whereas Abu Bakr did not believe he deserved to be the Khalifa Rama did not want to be the Khalifa Earthman did not want to be the Khalifa. They did not strive for power, they were given it to

because of their qualifications pushed for it by the other companions. But the believer does not look for power and influence. They don't strive for meaning individually. They look for the OMA. So for us to build foundations that affect the entire world. We must look at it from multiple perspectives. And one example of this is an Islamic organization, let's say in North America, or in any Western country today, one Islamic organization has the potential to cause 1000s of people to convert to Islam could impact millions of Muslims to have strength in their understanding of Islam and the foundations of Islam could educate and teach generations upon generations could educate and

reach mothers who otherwise might not have access to STEM education, who then raise the next generation as well, leaders in the soma and followers as well. So one Islamic organization has that potential. Another example is an Islamic center. Almost every state that we traveled to, there's someone that comes to us and says this Masjid here or that mustard there, they have this politics, they have this issue, there is no program for the youth. There's this going on. They're complaining about leadership, the complaining about management or complaining about problems. And the reason this is being brought up is because it's so practical and real to everybody's experience to our

lives in the US as Muslims today. And so you start to ask and find out what's going on. And you recognize that there's this one or two people that refuse to let go of something they are not fit for, they are not qualified for they don't belong in that position. But because they want power, they want authority, they want their name they want their bio CV, whatever it may be, they refuse to let go. And some people will threaten to even remove their donations unless I'm given a seat at the table to be a leader. Well, who said your donation your sadaqa, which is an act of worship for the sake of Allah is equivalent to your ability to lead the Sahaba were not given the positions of

leadership based on their donations. And you find that one Islamic center in the US today has the potential to impact 1000s, if not 10s, of 1000s of lives within just the span of a few years. And it's not because you come in you pray and you leave. That's the absolute basic of a masala and in fact, there are many more soldiers in this country. Now in Islamic center in this country is a community home. It's a place in which people come to learn. It's a place in which many people are looking for help. It's a place in which people find resources are redirected for mental health, for other struggles for addictions. People are helped in terms of their marriages, people are helped

when a loved one passes away. It's a place in which people learn get to know one another. It's a place in which people are recommended to other people for marriage. It's a place in which people meet and they start their own businesses and business ventures, the communities of peace, a place of belonging. It's a place of belonging at the end of the day for the Muslim ummah. And that's all just for Muslims here. What about impacting those who are not here, impacting non Muslims who may ask about Islam and the many people that have converted to Islam over the years? What about the relationship with governments who come and ask about the Islamic centers? What are they doing? What

are you guys teaching what's going on?

The Islamic center in this country has the potential

To benefit many lives, and unfortunately, the other end of the spectrum has the potential to harm many lives if there isn't good leadership. And again, this is an example that's not related to any of the states that I personally have been to or any of the Imams, or anybody here has traveled to many states and you've seen the realities on the ground. This is not referring to anything specific, but rather what is general what is known about leadership in Islam is that you are not attached to a position and that as soon as you recognize you're missing something and there's somebody more qualified, the believer steps down and bring somebody else to lead the way forward. The believer is

not a dictator. The believer is not a tire it. The believer recognizes Lehmann Khanna yellow joola Will Yeoman after that when they follow the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the greatest role model they are following recognizing that their hearts must be attached to Allah's pleasure and to the afterlife. It's not about you. It's not about your name. It's not about your organization about your fame or any credit. It's about Allah subhana wa Tada, you stop caring as much. When you're attached to Allah's pleasure, you stop caring as much about worldly things about worldly status about fame and credit, you start thinking more about what the truth is and how to get to that truth.

You start thinking about how to benefit people and how to reach as many people as possible. So you're not isolated because of your love for leadership, your love for influence or power. And with that, you become so attached to Allah's pleasure and detach from this life, that you no longer care that when you speak the truth in a wise strategic manner, that there will be people who label you there will be people who hate you. When you speak the truth on behalf of Palestinians, you recognize an occupation for over 70 years, it is an occupation, it's not a conflict, it's an occupation, and it's been over 70 years. So you're not afraid to say that to address that to raise awareness. You're

not afraid to say it in front of a pro Zionist group or a crowd, you're not afraid. Your heart is attached to Allah to the truth. You may be labeled false labels, you may be accused of hate speech. You're not saying anything hateful, you're speaking the truth. When you defend Muslims in India, when you talk about what's happening to the lawyers in East Turkistan, you're not afraid of the reaction of certain people retaliation or labels or the effect that it may have on people around you. You stop caring as much your heart, your mind you're attached to Allah subhanaw taala is pleasure. Whatever it takes to please Allah subhanaw taala to benefit people bought Yes, in the

wisest most strategic manner possible. An example of this one time a young college student, first year in college sitting in a group with other brothers. Suddenly he's as he's looking at his phone, he starts mumbling something like some maybe bad news or difficult news. And then somebody asked him, What are you saying over and over? Like, what were you just repeating? He said I was reading something that just put me in a dilemma in a difficult situation. He said, I just kept asking myself over and over and over. How would Allah Allah for me to respond? This is a question My parents kept telling me to ask myself and my teachers, how would Allah Allah for me to respond, your heart is not

attached to people, your heart is attached to Allah subhanaw taala. And when I say your heart is not attached to people in the sense that you're going to pursue falsehood or violate the truth for the sake of people rather than for the sake of Allah subhanho wa taala, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam taught the Companions, these great leaders, to be great followers and to always reference Allah, in every social gathering. If you cannot reference Allah subhanaw taala with family and with friends, where are you going to reference Allah? If we cannot bring Allah subhanaw taala up in every situation and keep Allah as part of every equation? When are we going to address Allah subhanaw

taala is it only in Salah is only when you read the Quran? Allah subhanaw taala is our everything. Our entire lives are for the sake of Allah, our every breath, every beat of the heart, our very existence, every blessing you have is from Allah subhanaw taala and we give everything for Allah, we sacrifice for Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah subhanaw taala make this amongst those who sacrifice for his sake. Another of the lessons we take from this hadith about one in 100 or hardly one in 100 Even 100 Rahim Allah says, it also refers to the friend that has good qualities as a friend, meaning a real sincere friend. They are gentle, they are kind they advise you upon the truth. Your friend

does not laugh. When you do something huddle, your friend does not justify your sin. Your friend does not defend you against Allah subhana when you're committing that sin. Now your friend advises you over the truth, because they're real friends, they care about your well being your afterlife, but a friend who is kind who is trustworthy, who is helpful, they will they will be there for you. They'll show up for you, to help you with a situation to alleviate your affairs. And of course, on the political rockmelon he says about this hadith, this also refers to the one in 100, who will show up and relieve your burden when you're going through hardship. And how many times have people gone

through hardships and nobody showed up for them? This is why the Prophet sallallahu wasallam referred to as one of the greatest acts of worship, it's better than NRT cough and the mission of the Prophet sallallahu it was set up for you to help your brother fulfill his need to help him with a hardship or your sister with a hardship to fulfill their needs. How many people

People have criticized the OMA criticized others. But they themselves never show up. When the community says we need volunteers, we need voices, we need more people, they don't show up. When the OMA says we are in need of this, they don't show up. When a friend is going through a hardship, they disappear. They neglect, they abandon their very individualistic and selfish, it's all about me. And in fact, these very same people will complain when nobody shows up for them. The complaint, why aren't more people defending me, when they're going through whatever they're going through, there are many mothers and fathers who are abandoned in this society that is very individualistic, very

selfish, the society that worships one's desires. And again, there are people who criticize, but when the human needs them, they don't step up. They don't volunteer, they don't show up. They're living their lives saying what I have a job, I have a family, I can't do anything else. We're all in need of having our own responsibilities fulfilled, our jobs and our families. But we need to almost always step up. We need people to be there for others, you know, someone's going through a hardship, reach out to them, text them message them, doesn't all have to be through likes and followers and retweets and all of that message somebody directly and ask, how are you doing? I just want to check

in on you, people that you don't see anymore that used to show up to the masjid people that used to see in certain gatherings in circles, people that crossed your mind randomly thought, Man, I remember that friend from 10 years ago, reach out to them, just check in on them. Don't wait until you need something from someone to call them and check on them. May Allah subhanaw taala keep our hearts connected and for us to be sincere and selfless alone. I mean,

at the end of the day with these Hadith and others, we say everyone has a role to play, every Muslim in the Ummah has value, and has a very crucial role. And every person will be held accountable based on their roles. And so if someone is a father, you have accountability over your entire family, you're going to be questioned. How did you treat your wife? How did you treat your children? How do you treat your parents? If you have siblings? Were you there for your siblings? How did you treat one another? How do you treat your husband for the wife? How did you treat your children? Did you raise them properly? All of these questions we know we're going to be held accountable for and yet

at times we forget that that is the type of leadership. If you can't lead your family to goodness, you can't lead your children to goodness and you're criticizing the OMA start with your family. Start at home first and foremost. Because if you can't bring people's hearts together, or you are the cause of a lot of drama and problems in your family, you are the cause of so much anguish, then start being a source of relief serving a source of happiness start being a source of joy of comfort of bringing the hearts together. One time there's a sister and one of our classes, a mother of six, she said I feel like I have no value. As a mother. When I hear a lot of a hadith about leadership,

or I hear from my friends and from people in society, who make me feel like if I don't have a great corporate career, then I'm not capable of being a leader. If I don't have a great corporate career, then I am not capable of being a leader. If I'm not outdoors on social media or an activist that I can't be a leader. And the reality is when we look at the last 20 years and longer, but especially the last 20 years, you find that there has been very clearly when you study sociology when you study philosophy, there has been a war and there still is a war being waged against the value of motherhood. There is a war being waged against the value of a mother, what it takes to raise a

single child, what it takes to raise two children what it takes to be present for those children. What it takes for someone to be there for them from before they were born until they got married and left and in fact stayed there for them. In terms of support. There is a war against motherhood. And as Muslims, we cannot ignore that reality shy away from talking about it. Because it impacts everyone's families. It impacts our children impacts our relationships, it impacts many marriages as well. The value of a mother, how much do we appreciate what mothers do as muslims? The reality is when you look at what the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam taught about the value of a mother and that

paradise is beneath her feet, about the value of a mother and how she will enter Jannah about the address in the Quran, from Allah subhanho wa Taala will be 20 Dany Sana right after he tells you to be righteous to your parents on two occasions in the Quran, repeated and recited by billions of people until the end of times harmala to Omaha Quran, Allah to Quran, Allah subhana wa refers to the hardship that a mother goes through when she carries that child and gives birth to that child and takes care nurses that child as well. Another occasion one and Allah one hardship upon hardship, why are these things mentioned the Quran and the Sunnah to remind our Ummah, to remind society at large

that no corporate job is greater than the role of a mother. A mother can have a job, but do not take away the value of a mother. Because when people start to think that a mother raising a child is not that valuable to the OMA what starts to happen is that the child will start to miss their mother meaning the mother is no longer present. She's no longer fulfilled. She feels like she's missing something, but she has no self worth. When in reality Wallahi there is no OMA without her

On our uma disappears if mothers are not present, if mothers themselves are not given access to what they need of education and tibia, so they can provide that to the next generation, we would not have an emammal Buhari no himolla, remember, had raised by single mothers, if their mothers did not have that role. And all of us here are here because of our mothers. And yes, our fathers too. But the point here is that there is a war being waged against motherhood. And so when we talk about this hadith of one in 100, and we talk about this hadith of leadership, everyone has a role. And one of the greatest roles is the role of the mother, may Allah subhanaw taala bless all of our mothers and

the mothers of this OMA and all of those who are tested with the responsibility of being parents, may Allah Subhana Allah guide us to be the best of fathers and the best of mothers and the best of children and siblings and family members as well. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to forgive us for all of our shortcomings and to raise our ranks and to make us amongst those who are guided and a source of guidance. ask Allah for forgiveness, He is the oft forgiving the Merciful.

hamdu lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah, who are early he was army he wanted to honor

in Islam, to lead is to serve.

Leadership is about serving people in Islam to lead us to serve. If you have a position in a job, an MSA, a nonprofit and Islamic organization, Islamic center, whatever it may be, anytime in your life, anywhere in the world. Remember that leadership is accountability for Allah, any position you have means you will be questioned by Allah about it. So it's not something to celebrate power for it's not something to think is very light and easy. It's not something a Muslim would ever want to abuse, their position of authority, rather, to lead is to serve others for the sake of Allah. And if we remember this, and we continue to cultivate a culture of leading for the sake of Allah subhanaw

taala, perhaps we'll start to see more and more of these changes in our communities, our societies and our institutions. And with the the last point here, that is really crucial. A lot of people ask what the fifth ruling does this mean? It's haram to look for a position of authority or power? Does it mean that it is prohibited? No, every situation is different. But you find the example of Yusuf alayhi salam who asked for a position of authority because he was fit for that position. He was qualified. And analogy is like the analogy of a cruise ship, if every one of us were on this cruise ship, and suddenly we find out we're heading towards a storm. And the captain who's the only

qualified person we know of suddenly passes away what happens next, who's going to lead the way forward? I have no experience. And if you have no experience that it wouldn't make sense for you to step up potentially risking the lives of 1000s of people. So if you find out somebody unqualified, who loves power and authority and status in that moment, says I'll do it. And you know, they're unqualified, they told you they're unqualified. And there are other people or yourself who have some experience who might potentially save 1000s of lives and no, you are actually required in that case to step up. So every situation is different when it comes to leadership and authority. But at the

end of the day, the believer remembers, it's a matter of accountability, responsibility. It's a matter of leading other people by serving people. It's a matter of bringing the hearts together, a leader unites a leader looks long term, a leader knows how to work with others, how to bring people's hearts together, and at the end of the day, a leader is present. They are there for others. They consider how people feel when they talk they consider the truth as well, so they don't compromise on what is true. But at the end of the day, they recognize this is an Amana and our Alma is in need of more people fulfilling this Amana like the Amana that was fulfilled. My we're all been

out on the long run. If we could have an entire Masjid with men, the likes of Abu Zubaydah our OMA would be a very different place today. They will also pounce on make us and our loved ones in our children. A benefit to the OMA through our servitude through our leadership through our teamwork through our following May Allah Subhana Allah grant us sincerely in any position we ever take on and the wisdom to move out of the way when it's time to move out of the way and may Allah Subhana Allah grant us beneficial knowledge that we are in need of in order to serve the different causes that are around us. May Allah Subhana Allah forgive us, bless us and raised from our Ummah righteous,

trustworthy leaders, and may Allah subhanaw taala be the affairs of our brothers and sisters in every land in every place.