What does Islam say about Leadership

Politics are on a lot of our minds these days, and rightfully so.

Others is under attack as usual, in addition to the state of siege that they live under normally,

in Pakistan, Imran Han, no matter how you feel about him, was arrested this past week and later released in Turkey, now officially recognized as sort of Kia. There is a very, very big election coming up. Just this weekend, I believe, right here in Utica, politics are also the talk of the town this Tuesday, we have an extremely important election for the Utica school board, where two crucial seats will be decided. And again, the school board is the level where very important decisions are made about your child's education, including, but not limited to sex education, and what types of sexualities are taught, and how early that education begins.

Even at the masjid, politics are in the air. A week from tomorrow, we have on May 20, we have an election here in the machine. We have the offices of President and General Secretary that are up for election. So today politics are on everybody's minds. and today we'd like to talk just a little bit about politics, but not in the way that maybe you would hope that people are used to from a different angle, we're not going to tell you who to vote for. First of all, we're not allowed to do that as a nonprofit organization. Second of all, we're also not going to stand here and denounce the many many oppressions and travesties that are going on across the world. Though from time to time,

there is a place for that as well. Today, we want to look at something different. So we want to look at what does Islam say about leadership? And what are the qualities that it takes to become a leader within Islam? And what should every Muslim leader know before they find themselves in a position of power and leadership?

In Islam, leadership, and political power is neither 100% Bad Thing, nor is it 100% Good thing as usual, Islam is in between two extremes. And so on one extreme we have some people who are completely apolitical, who think that Islam and politics should have nothing to do with one another, or that leadership is always bad power, ship power is always bad and power always corrupts.

The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that there will be seven types of people with shade on the Day of Judgment, sabar tune, you will live to whom Allah who feed only Yama, Allah when the law and the first type of person that he said that will have shade on the day in which there is no shade except the shade that Allah subhanaw taala gives, le Imam will still the just Imam and the scholars who explain this hadith, they say by Imam here, we're not simply talking about the Imam that stands up and leaves the people in prayer. We're talking about the Imam, the leader, even the Imam that has political leadership or political responsibilities. So adjust leader is somebody

who's whose value to society and value to furthering the the goals of Islam is such that that person is going to have shade, one of seven types of people who's going to have shade on the day in which there is no shade.

If, if leadership or if power was something that were bad, was something that were completely categorically evil, then this would not be so we also have from our tradition from the Quran and from the Sunnah, and from the lives of our pious predecessors, the self, many examples of people who wielded leadership and wielded power in a just way, even if we go back to the root or the Sudan, and Sudan man alayhi salam to people prophets, who held political power and yielded it in a just way. Of course, at the head of all the prophets is none other than the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who exerted undeniable political authority, and undeniable political control and exercise and

undeniable acumen and ability for leadership. We cannot possibly believe that all power and all leadership is evil or problematic. If it were then it would not have been suitable for the best of creation, or they he sought out to a soda.

That being said, power is extremely dangerous.

And just as we have Hadith from the Prophet alayhi salatu salam,

telling about the good results of righteous power, we also have many, many, many warnings. As for those who would fancy themselves a leader, or imagine that this is some sort of joke, we are warned, to not be power hungry, and to not seek power the Prophet Alayhi Salatu was Salam he said, weigh in on Lila O'Meara, Leia Temen Nyan up one and the home can Omar Latina be the word EB him be three when the whole Mala Mia coup wallow che and but

the prophet is about to Sudan he said whoa be to the leaders.

Whoa will be to the leaders. They will wish that they had been thrown to Earth from the Pleiades, Pleiades as a star. Up in one of the constellations they will wish that they had be thrown the earth from the Pleiades and crashed down to earth

rather than having been a leader in this dunya.

That was the level of responsibility that is involved. We know the story of Amara, even al Khattab when he was the Khalifa. And he would pace around the streets of Medina at night he couldn't sleep.

Because he felt the weight of the responsibility that was upon him.

The scholars when they explain this hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they say which type of Amara is talking about which types of leaders. And they mentioned two types of leaders, first of all, the oppressors, the people who use the power for their own masala for their own interests, over the interests of the group, over the interests of the Muslims, that rule by things and criteria that Allah subhanaw taala does not approve of. But there's also a second type that they mentioned. The second type of leader that falls within this are the weak leaders that do I thought

the scholars mentioned the weak leaders in here. Because the weak leaders, they don't stand up for what's right. They don't come through in the crucial moments and the crucial times, and we have many examples throughout Islamic history, we can all think of the Crusaders are coming. Right? And we have Spain being taken over. And we have all these different examples. Where were the leaders, what were they doing? Did they fulfill what was required of them? And more importantly, because they have already met, what they're going to receive from Allah's power data? What about us?

What about you and me? If we find ourselves in a position of leadership, or in a position of power, this is why in a couple of instances in Islamic history, you will find people that as a punishment, there was a story one time that there was somebody in a village that was well known for criticizing the judge. Everything that judge said was wrong. Oh, he ruled this.

What a loser. We call that a Monday morning quarterback in America, right? Because they play on Sunday. And so Monday, it's easy to look after and say, oh, yeah, now he should have done this. Right. Every single one of us. We watch Messier. We watch Ronaldo. How did he miss that? I could have made that. Yeah. Okay, let's see you. Let's see you up there. Let's see what you would do with it. But this is what we do. This is a human tendency. So there was an individual that was like that with this particular judge. And then it came that he violated the law or something. And the local judge knew this person. And so the tariffs either the discretionary punishment that he was given,

was to be the judge himself. He made him the judge.

And so the punishment was twofold. And this was understood as a punishment. Why? Because one, now everybody's talking about him and his bonehead decisions, just like he had talked about others, but to because he will be responsible in front of Allah subhanaw taala for what he judged. Every single thing and we've talked, we've talked about this before. We've talked about it in terms of material wealth, but it also goes for power, what are two Soluna Yama in, and the nine, the angels are going to hold you at the door. And that's why the Prophet alayhi salatu salam said that the poor person is going to be in Jannah, 500 years, 500 years before the rich person or the powerful we could extend

it because power is a type of namah station as a type of nema. And you will be asked, you will be asked what did you do?

What didn't you do? As we said, there's an English poet who says every man is guilty of the good he did not do.

So in a slum, we have a balance in between the two ways, powers

not inherently evil. It's not completely evil, but it's also definitely not completely good. It's not to be pursued for its own sake. It's a mighty weighty responsibility that has to be taken very very, very seriously. And there's one Hadith of the Prophet alayhi salatu salam that communicates this very beautifully, he said, and it's Hadith in Sahih Muslim Yama or the other 100 Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Anna who called Aquila camera and Wakulla comas ood on unrar at Amir Allah the Allah nasira in Wahoo, Ms. Odin Aguilar at wa Raju, Ra and other anti Beatty. Well, who am I owed on on home while to raw ear tone Allah Beatty Valley how are we ready? Well, here Missoula to

non home while Abdullah and other family say Ed, well, who is owed on on kolloquium RA in Wakulla, comas Odin unrar, at the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, every single one of you is a shepherd.

And every single one of you, he says miss school, which is beautiful in our bed, because it literally means we'll be asked, but it also means responsible. So the two go hand in hand, to be responsible for something means you're going to be asked about it on the Day of Judgment. So every single one of you and that means every single one of us in this room right now, is a type of Shepherd and we will be asked about our flock, the emir, the one who is in charge of everything, he's the political leader, he is the shepherd of all the people, and he is going to be asked about them on the Day of Judgment. Every single man is the shepherd of his house. And you're going to be

asked about the people of your house on the Day of Judgment. Every single woman is a shepherd of her husband's home and her husband's children, and she will be asked about them. Even every servant is a shepherd. He's a shepherd of what, he's a shepherd of his masters wealth. And we could extend that to the employee today, because it's the same, you are a shepherd of the Oscars wealth of the owner's wealth, and you will be asked about it on the Day of Judgment. Every then he repeated alayhi salatu salam kiddin, every single one of you is a shepherd and you will be asked, you are responsible about the flock that you lead. So we don't shy away from leadership necessarily. It's not always about

thing. But we have to be aware, aware of the level of leadership and the authority and the responsibility that comes with it a Kudo. Holly how that was helpful a lot Holly welcome. It certainly must be meaningful to them. Let's talk through in a hole of a fall Raheem.

Hamdu lillahi Sani what shook Hola. Hola. tofi. He wanted only what should have been the ilaha illallah wa salam ala should eCola Hotel The Militia at Nila chateau in an Abbey and I will say Eden and Mohammed and Abdi Hora suta, who are their healer Dhwani sallallahu alayhi. Wa early he was however he was when he was selling water, Sleeman kathira.

So let's say that you find yourself in a position of leadership.

What advice would we give? What advice and guidance can we find in Islam? Should you find yourself in a position to take this on? The first and the most important one has to come back to your intention. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said and every single one of us knows this, in the Madonna there'll be new yet every single thing that you do is accompanied is accompanied by an intention. And so therefore Allah subhanaw taala will judge it according to that intention to people can be doing the exact same action and their intentions can be further apart than the heavens and the earth. Even something that is noble such as sujood. You can have one person making sujood,

bowing and prostrating on the floor. And he's doing it only for the sake of his Sustainer of his Creator. And then you have another person who's battling and prostrating and maybe they're forced to do it by their parents. Or maybe they're doing it to show off in front of somebody else. Same exact action, two completely different intentions, Allah subhanho wa Taala will reward them according to their intentions, holding offices, the same, leadership is the same. You have some people, they are reluctant to put themselves forward, but they feel duty and every one of us should feel duty. So as the Muslim ummah and a Muslim community, if you have skills and if you have talents and you have

ideas and you know that you have something to contribute, to put yourself forward and to contribute. That is a good intention.

Should, if you're doing it because you want to rub elbows with the mayor, or you want to get in with the people who are the people of influence and position in the area or in the town or you want to put it on your resume or you want to put your name on something, then I guarantee you, you've got the wrong intention, and you're in the wrong place.

Intention is an easy thing, when we're talking about the beginning of something because that's where all of our attention is directed. But the hardest part is keeping that intention going throughout the act. How many of us start out doing something for the right reasons. And then in the middle of it, our intentions get muddled. Our intentions get diluted, or mis directed by something else. This is where you have to be careful. You have to remember why you're doing it. When you're one year and when you're two years in when hardship comes when people start blaming you for things when you make mistakes. Why are you doing it? Are you doing it for the approval of the people? Are you doing it so

that you're going to look good so people will treat you a certain way? Are you doing it for ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada come what may?

Another amazing there's another amazing Hadith on our prophesy Saddam. That shows us

an extremely important thing to keep in mind when it has to do with maintaining our intention because the temptation is the temptation is that when you get pushback, or when people start to criticize you, that you always respond in the direction of that criticism. And now you're trying to please the people, for anybody who holds office or holds leadership. This is a tremendous test. But we have to make sure that we're doing things based off of principle, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said mela Tamasa probably Allah He be sucked in NAS Radi Allahu Anhu we're out of on NASA on Juan Manuel Tana serie de NASCI. A cerca de la Socrata Allahu alayhi, WA as well as

clutter or laziness or who have been, whoever obtains the pleasure of Allah subhana wa Tada by something that makes the people unhappy. Look what's going to happen Allah subhanaw taala will now only be pleased with that person, Allah subhanaw taala eventually is going to make the people pleased with them to because Allah subhanaw taala controls the hearts. What about the opposite. If somebody tries to please the people with something that Allah doesn't like, what's going to happen? Well, they're going to be in for a rude awakening. Because they will make Allah angry with them. And Allah subhanaw taala will make the people angry with him to

another piece of advice is to know your limits. Recall when the Prophet alayhi salatu salam was first visited by Gibreel in the cave of hit off on a mountain of light, and Gibreel Alayhis Salam, he said to him, Accra, or was the first response of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Man a bit thought it.

I don't know how to read.

He knew his limitations. That's humility. He didn't put too much on his plate, he wasn't gunning for the top position when it wasn't his to fulfill. If you've got a skill, or you've got a certain ability, we should be looking for the right fit, looking for the right fit, not necessarily the biggest position out there. Another piece of advice is to make sure that you communicate with other people and you explain why you're doing what you're doing. This is a huge one for messages. Most messages don't communicate very well. Just to be frank, most messages in the United States of America, North America, they don't communicate very, very well and we have a long way to go. May

Allah help us? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam. One day he was walking out with one of his wives had to use the bathroom and back then they didn't have bathrooms in the house. So he's walking with one of his wives to escort her to the bathroom, to have the Companions see the Prophet it. So that's Sudan, and obviously a woman next to him. And out of their modesty. They beat it the other direction. They don't want to pass directly by him. What is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam do? He calls out to him? He says, oh, no, no, no, no, no. You come back here. He says, This is my wife. And I believe it was Sofia, if I remember correctly, it was one of his wives. And their

companions were so ashamed. Because they weren't going to assume that any funny business was going on. I said stuff. How could you imply that we were going to think anything bad for you in the prophets of Allah, Allah, he was telling me he said, listen, the shaytaan runs through the veins of Benny Adam just like his blood. It's not you that I called you over for it's about the shaytaan the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam communicated clearly. He let people know because if people don't have communication, even though they should take it upon themselves to have Huston Adan, sometimes the shaytaan plays with you. You can develop narratives in your head. You can think there's a lot of

drama because

Pharisee going on. So it's a two way street. The message has to communicate to everybody to understand, make it understand what's going on. And that people also have to have her Snowden so that they understand, or they trust that the machine is doing things in an appropriate way. The prophesy said I'm also teaches us how to delegate. Delegation is extremely important to be a leader, and to hang around as a leader. I was reading one leadership book and it said, if somebody else can do the job, or a particular task 80% as well as you can, then you should delegate it to that person.

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would delegate these things. He would send wire them in Jebel, to make Dawa, to go to Yemen, he would send other people, he'll come at a Sahaba, he would send them out, he couldn't do everything himself.

And when it comes to leadership, you cannot possibly do everything yourself, especially in the Muslim community. There is so much work to do. We have so much potential, there are so many wonderful things that we can be doing. If we try to take it all on ourselves. We don't cultivate other people that we can delegate and incorporate, then we will fail. We have to find a way to pass the baton. And finally, we have to be open to feedback, open to feedback, but standing up for what's right. So there's a balance there. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam made Shura, and this is an entire chapter title of the Quran, I will hold on another Allahu Anhu. He said that nobody made sure

more than the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the Prophet alayhi salatu salam used to receive revelation. If anybody had an excuse, to not make sure it was the Prophet alayhi salatu salam, he could have said, Allah told me for callas or it's a real told me and I would end it. But he still went and made sure that he asked people the Battle of Oh hood was fought not the way he wanted to fight it Allah He salatu salam, he had a dream and the dreams of the NBA or why he the revelation he wanted to stay in the city, but his companions wanted to go out so he said, Okay, let's go out. And people died. There were real consequences. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa

sallam was committed to shoulder and to taking others opinions. But that also doesn't mean

that you don't stand up for what's right. You don't let shorter turn in to cowardice. We have Abu Bakr, Radi Allahu Anhu. After the Prophet alayhi salatu salam died. What happened? You had many items on the Arabian Peninsula, they started to fight. They started to leave Islam, where they started to say that, you know, there's a cat. We don't feel like it. It's not really part of Islam. This is just like a tribute. It's not really part of the deen. And what was I will Becker's responsible bugger said no, we can't let this happen. We're going to fight. This is something that is part of Islam, and I'm dying on this hill, so to speak. And even some of the other companions

were like, Okay, are you sure? Should we really be making this bigger deal out of it? And he said, Yes, absolutely. And then eventually, they all got behind them and they went and they thought,

there's a time to put your foot down, especially when you have something that you're certain of, and we can all make mistakes, but not all of us are equally qualified. Sometimes, for example, and I brought this up before somebody they want to make a big issue about some fifth issue as really not a big issue. They complain about the gaps in the Salah that somebody tells me Yeah, amen. It's part especially during COVID This was bad. Some people trying to tell me that the salah didn't count if there's gaps in the Salah that straightening the rows and tightening the rows as part of the AutoCAD. So that said now Habibi, it's not made out of kanessa has been summoned to Salah it is not

and if you can produce any deleted, that shows me because I've got degrees, and I've got a library and we can go to the books. But this is not an issue where I can take your opinion JazakAllah quiet. This is not true, that the salah counts is correct, it's fine. And we don't need to make a big deal out of out of it. Some of the brothers still making a big deal out of our prayer. Yeah, when we pray, ask for prayer here, according to the Hanafi school because some of us are Hanafy. And if you're a chef, or humbly like I am, or a Maliki, then your prayer in the Hanafi time and sorry, it's correct. You're not doing anything. That's incorrect. So say, a Salah Laska. Right. But if I'm going

to ask a Hanafy to come in here and pray before in his school, it's even awesome, that he's doing something that according to him is wrong in the sight of Allah azza wa jal, and it's not. It's about according to his method. So this is a decision that we've made as a masjid, and we take turns, we take turns, we pray the winter during taraweeh. We pray the winter according to the gym Hall, we do some things according to the gym hall like a prayer and like winter, we do some things according to the math. That's part of our count.

institution and our identity as a community that we are for everybody.

So if you're going to come and explain to me why this thing isn't correct and that we're violating the Sunnah of the prophesy, suddenly we're doing something wrong Habibi, you and me in the books. Let's go. I promise you, I've said this before my library, I will take it every day over your Google search, bar cloth equal. So we have to, we have to take shorter, but we also have to put our foot down. We have to take shorter and take everyone's opinion, but we also have to put our foot down. And we have to be prepared to agree to disagree. As email ramsau down the road has said, if I don't agree with my wife on everything, how am I going to agree with you on everything? We're not going to

agree, but we find a way to move forward. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam to conclude to conclude when it comes to leadership and Islam, the prophet Ali, so that's, he said every solid million Phalke was there in Billa. Well, that doesn't be keen on what benefits you and seek Allah's help and don't become weak. Don't give up. This is part of leadership leadership is good, if it has good leadership, and it will benefit the Muslim community. So what does it look like? We have an election coming up nominating good leaders. Okay. Electing good leaders and preparing yourself to be a good leader in the eyes of Allah subhanaw taala or under the guidance of Allah and Islam in sha

Allah is what will benefit this OMA and this community and may Allah subhanaw taala guide us to what he loves.