The Sunnah of Leadership: Lessons for Personal Growth

asalam alaykum hi everybody and welcome to the Barakah Blueprint podcast this is the podcast where we align faith and focus to achieve success that truly lasts I'm your host Ibrahim Shareef and today I'll be talking about a very important topic in today's day and age and I believe in every day and age it's a topic that is a Cornerstone and a pillar to success faith-based and material and that is indeed leadership and we're going to specifically delve into to the leadership traits and characteristics of the greatest leader in Mankind's history and that is indeed the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam he's a historical figure who was deemed as the most impactful figure throughout history by multiple authors and what I can tell you is that if you want to be impactful in your career to the people around you without necessarily needing to have a managerial role or a role where you are in people management because you can be a leader while still being the employee quote unquote I still think that it is very important that you possess some if not most leadership traits to succeed and to excel in your career path so we're going to assess the leadership traits of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and how they can how impactful they are in terms of our personal growth and our development now leadership is not just about leading others it is mostly about leading yourself so it is about leading yourself with intention with integrity and with purpose but also with Baraka so let's get into this and style now great leaders have a clear vision of where they are headed and where their people are going to be led towards and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had a very clear Vision which is to bring Mankind and everybody around the globe under the banner of monotheism and under the banner of submitting oneself completely and fully to God Almighty and in that effect he made sure that every action that he took no matter what was still in alignment with that particular Vision so an example here is that he makes sure and he made sure that whatever happened around him reaction or his mitigation would not stare away from the vision that he initially has and from the vision that from the vision that he is following an example is when he was well not so welcomed by the people ofif when he went to spread the message of Islam and he was met with vicious assaults now the Archangel Gabriel presented him with the option of destroying that City completely and wiping everybody off the face of that land and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam could have accepted that punishment for them sort of as a Vengeance or to avenge the injuries that him and his companion had accumulated the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam chose not to and his motivation behind this was that there may come a time where this people or these people will be impactful in the cause of spreading Islam which ultimately turned turned out to be the case as there were many great warriors and fighters from the Islamic history that came from a another example was the Treaty of hudia the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam signed a treaty that seemed to be unfavorable to the Muslims for example if a Muslim from Mecca was to flee to Medina which at that time was the Muslim Sanctuary the Muslims would be obliged per the treaty conditions to return this individual to his family in Mecca and the opposite was true if a person was in Medina the then Islamic land or Islamic State and they would flee or not flee they would go to Mecca to their family their family could keep that person meaning that these terms seemed to be unfavorable to the Muslim party in terms of numbers and Manpower furthermore the Muslims were not allowed to enter MEA that year for pilgrimage the terms and conditions of that particular treaty seemed to be unfavorable but the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam still made sure that this particular treaty would go into effect and it and this was later long term it was the cause of the reconquest of Mecca as that particular treaty was broken by the allies of qur which would then cause the Muslims to enter to enter MEA and Conquer it and this particular story is very interesting because what happened when the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam conquered Mecca and keep in mind the historical context here is that in the early Genesis of the Islamic dawa story or the calling to the Islamic message those who accepted the message of Islam and they were from a weaker household in this case the ruling party of qur with torture these people and Muslims were persecuted at that time and when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam reconquered Mecca or when he took over Mecca there was no Vengeance or Revenge that was sought out after as he said go for you are forgiven again and tying this to the point aligning this with the vision that he has initially which is to spread the message of Islam globally and to be a Mercy to Mankind says in the Quran and we have surely sent you as a Mercy to Mankind again emphasizing on the vision what I'm trying to say with all of this is that it is very important that we understand our Visions where we are going be it in our career paths or in our personal branding or for us as a brand as individuals it is very important that we're aware of the visions that we set for ourselves that's why and I saw this clip from the the other day from Ali abdal I actually don't remember if I even said this in the earlier episode or not but wouldn't surprise me because he's a YouTuber that I like watching but anyway Al ABD said something very interesting in one of his Clips which is that it is very important to write your goals so just like it is very important to write your goals it is very important to write your vision because then you would you would visualize the goal and vision that you're setting for yourself with that being said for example if you're if if you're a person who likes journaling take advantage of that write down your vision very very clearly you have that if if if you're not someone who journals and I don't know let's say you're you're a power user of notion or something else and if you are a power user of notion hit me up I want to learn notion better but yeah in any way you can envision your goals and visualize it and make it very very clear because if you have a clear vision and a clear direction of where you're headed you are increasing your probability substantially of reaching that and it's also very important both for you as a whether you're a Muslim or a non-muslim that is hearing this it is very important that you you have to understand why we as Muslims keep referencing the prophet sallallahu because very clearly God Almighty tells us to he gives us this blueprint emphasizing the Barakah Blueprint here but he gives us this blueprint of life and one of them is to take the lessons from the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam he says in chapter number 33 indeed in the prophet and the messenger of Allah Al wasallam we have set for you an excellent example he's an excellent example in every aspect of life Family Life relationships leadership everything you can imagine has been set out to us as human beings Muslims non-muslims alike as an excellent example to follow and that is why when we talk about things let say leadership or even productivity based tips you will see me and other Muslim content creators try our best to reference the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam as much as we can and that is basically the reason tying that to the topic of today it is very important that we understand this verse from Allah tala and we understand this verse in the Quran because in every aspect of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam life and what he has gone through both in the early Genesis of his message and his calling all the way until the latter stages where the the expansion began and then continued to grow exponentially after his death so it's very important that we follow these lessons and try to replicate that in our lives and that in itself will ensure that our journey in our own lives and our own message and our own Vision will have that hint of Barak that we need now another aspect of leadership beside having a Clear Vision is empathy being a leader is not just about making decisions and standing firm on them however important it is it is it is also about understanding those decisions and understanding the people and uplifting those that are affected by these decisions and when it comes to empathy the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was an embodiment of that be it to those that were considered his companions and followers and those who were far away from it he was still the perfect embodiment of empathy to everyone around him to the point that the companions would say that he would treat us all so differently and we would all feel as we were his best friend he had this way Al to connect to in a very very deep level but also so uniquely to everybody's personality and like I said that would apply to his closest companions to Absolute strangers for example there was this elderly there was this elderly woman that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam accompanied and helped for one of the difficulties that she was having and while she told him she replied she she she told him while I don't have the money that I can pay you young man I have this piece of advice to you there's this soothsayer there's this liar in Mecca his name is Muhammad and he's calling people to this crazy idea he's a magician I advise you to stare clear from him see you was saying to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam not knowing who he was and instead of admonishing her he replied very very calmly saying and what if I told you that I am that very man you're talking about and her immediate answer was that I would tell you I would bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship accept God and that you are his messenger so and that's also why I usually say to people that are involved in the dawa sphere Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentions two crucial points before sound and reasonable arguments because in this particular speaker Corner era are so fixed ex ated and besting our opponent rhetorically and with sound argumentation it is very important by the way as as a big fan of Debate Club yes it is crucially important to be the rhetorical Superior in in an argument now of course there are different ways of doing that but I would emphasize the importance of it 110% however it's also very important to recognize that sound reasonable and rational argumentation is still not your top priority it really isn't because God Almy says the first thing he calls us to embody is wisdom and wisdom is saying the right thing at the right place at the right time now I heard a wise friend of mine say something very very smart and he said it is knowledge there's difference between knowledge and wisdom knowledge is knowing that smiling isah wisdom is knowing to not smile in a funeral so wisdom is saying the right thing to the right person at the right time in the right place and the same with doing the second thing that God Almighty emphasizes on is the good word and the good presentation etiquette it is very important to embody the etiquette and the good characteristics and mannerisms of someone fitting enough to call to the path of God before using logical rational argumentation to call to the path of God basically so with that being said it is very important to understand empathy so as as a person who calls to Islam and tries to be successful of that or as a leader it is very important to embody empathy now one thing we can do to try to practice that and I for one definitely need to practice that a lot one thing we can do is to practice active listening God knows that I am working very hard to achieve that but that's one thing that can help us develop an empathic relationship or an EMP or a relationship built on empathy towards the other person be it's someone we work with or someone in our family or whomever it may be and to try to eliminate the distractions around us that could take away that Focus that we would give to that person and now not to sound like a workoholic as someone who uh as as someone who works in project management one thing we learn especially if you're studying for the PMP so if you're a project manager interested in taking the PMP certificate one thing you're going to learn is that in certain aspects of project management the project manager is also the Sur leader and this is usually the type of project manager that is referred to as a successful example and similarly a leader is the people's servant and that is actually something that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said and we can find this particular quote in the collection of Abid daud where he says the leader of the people is their servant this is also one of the many reasons why you would see in the early history of the calipat for example when the Romans said their ambassadors in the emissaries to Medina and they were looking for the leader of the Muslims at the time it was they weren't able to distinguish the leader from the common folks in fact when they found him they found them sleeping on the floor and they were like is this really your leader is that is is that the guy so what I'm trying to say with that is the early Muslims embodied this and we need to make sure that especially if we are in the leadership position be it in our work or wherever we may be even if you have a DA group even or whatever it is very important to embody this particular characteristic or try to as much as we possibly can now I remember when I was very early in my project management career and of course one thing that you will struggle with a lot is task management so what I used to do was I and I used I got this tip from my manager once that you should split every single task that you have to do or to get you have to split them into four quadrants and they're based on urgency and priority or in the urgency and importance or whatever you want to call it so there are some things that you're going to have to delegate and there are some things that you're going to have to postpone and there are some things that you you're going to have to do yourself and do it now and there are some things that you're going to have to do yourself and do it later so what I'm trying to say with that is that there is another aspect of leadership that we from the prophet sallallah Al one making the tough decisions and to decide on your feet and number two the art of Delegation so just like great leaders are not afraid to take these tough decisions and to you know stand stand your ground when you have some rather unfavorable news to give to your people it is also very important to understand how to confine and Trust in others and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam shows us very very clearly how to balance these two which is decisiveness and Trust for example we learned that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to delegate key tasks to some of his companions they entrusted such asak sik or mu jabal or others even and he not only did that purely on the basis of trust while that is important he also did that with a political science behind it or the political understanding behind it so to make sure that there are no conflicts between different tribes if they were to have a problem with a particular individual or to delegate particular tasks so that certain tribes that used to be at their next before Islam so that they would unite now a practical tip that I would give and you can perhaps identify where this would suit you in particular identify a task that you can delegate to someone else but not only for the reason that you would have it done for you such as someone makes a report for you that you're then going to use or something like this I'm talking more about a delegation that can be that can provide fruitful results for the greater good but also for that particular person for example if you are in a managerial position let's say you're a project manager and you have a person with you that shows great promise and that that very same person can grow within their role or onto another role perhaps delegate tasks to that person or that one task so that it's not too cumbersome to the person and that it doesn't overwhelm them perhaps delegate one task that can ensure that these people that that this particular person grows be it to take minutes of meeting or to be responsible for certain communication or even to be responsible for presenting a certain part of the project or anything else and what we learned from the Sunnah is and this is this is one of the many things that fall under the concept ofad andad Arabic from a person who strives to do something or makes their best effort to do something the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam gave the example of a person that makes their IAD or their absolute best to judge a particular ruling or to provide a judgment in a particular Islamic science a person who does that primarily with the with the understanding that they do it for the sake of God Almighty and God Almighty alone a person who makes that had and is wrong will have one reward but a person who is correct and it turns out that their ruling was correct will have two rewards and this not only emphasizes the importance of correct action and correct fact checking but it also emphasizes the importance of taking this stuff many people are afraid to make these judgments and take these decisions because they're afraid to be wrong while we are encouraged to study what we're doing and study what we're deciding we're also encouraged to actually take that step and to dare to be wrong because only when we experience being wrong is when we can build to the point and the moment of being right and the final Point here is resilience in the face of challenges and every leader faces challenges in their journey in their da whatever it may be every leader will face challenges in their path and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam showed us something very important here is that when you face those challenges you navigate through them not not avoiding them you don't avoid the challenges you navigate through those challenges but with the trust of God Almighty with the trust of Allah subhah wa tala for example the earlier story that I mentioned of the people of a when he was rocks were thrown at him and he was bleeding and what he what he kept doing was that he kept making for them he kept asking God to guide and forgive them because they were a people that didn't know and when faced with the opportunity to wipe them out as a punishment the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam rejected that particular proposal and preferred that time would pass by so that they would eventually Embrace Islam which they did and to a practical tip here just like Allah subhana wa tala says twice in a row in the Quran verily with every hardship there is ease verily with every hardship there is ease and just like that with every challenge there is an opportunity to grow but you'll only be able to fully optimize that growth when you fully trust in God Almighty when you fully trust Allah subhana wa tala in that growth so when you face with a particular challenge that is seems to be way too difficult for you take a step back pray two units if that helps you make make Dua Quran take a step back and confide in God and use your connection to God Almighty to reset yourself and surely God Almighty will Aid and assist you and guide you to navigate through that ch as a moment of reflection here it's very important to understand that God Almighty will never ever burden a soul with a challenge and a task that it cannot accommodate and take on Allah subhana T says that very clearly in the final verses ofah Bak in chapter number two part number three and he says God Almighty will not burden a soul with a challenge that it cannot accommodate so when you're faced with a challenge you need to understand two things the first thing is that you are built to take that challenge on number two is that this challenge fits you perfectly there are certain challenges that God Almighty gives to people around you that you will never get there are certain trials there are certain hardships and difficulties that people around you are going to get but you are not going to get them because you are not fit for the challenge that's actually not something that you can accommodate you cannot take that challenge on because God Almighty made you that way but there are other challenges that you are going to get and that you are getting and that you are going through and that you are living through that other people in your surroundings don't have and perhaps will never have and it's exactly for the same reason it's because you were made to go through this Challenge and as a matter of fact you will grow through that challenge so what matters here is not the challenge that we are going through what matters here is how we respond to them because you can either when you fall off the horse you can either lie down and cry or you can understand that you're going through the pain heal yourself stand right back up and jump on that horse to continue on your journey so what we learned from all of this is that one of the best ways to learn lead leadership is by studying the Sunnah and the Sunnah is a Timeless guide in this particular example for leadership because it is not only about leading others or those around you but to lead ourself with purpose with integrity and with resilience through challenges so I ask Allah subh to Aid Us in this journey of development and to be a better version of ourselves for everyday moving forward and with that thank you so very very much for tuning in to yet another episode of the Barakah Blueprint podcast we are alhamdulillah posting every Friday on Spotify YouTube Apple podcasts thank you for being a part of this growth and this journey uh if you like what you're seeing and hearing please like if you're on YouTube give us a follow and a subscription and please give me a review as well so that I can better tailor my Approach and better present this very crucial message that every ear deserves to hear until next time stay productive stay purposeful and stay faithful and in bar style assalamu alikum