Leadership Lessons from the life of Rasoolullah

291 Pages·2012·2.14 MB·English

by  Mohammed Azharuddin

Leadership Lessons
from the life of
Rasoolullah

Mirza Yawar Baig
Text copyright © Mirza Yawar Baig 2012
Cover photo copyright © Mirza Yawar Baig 2012

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following people from the bottom
of my heart for all their help in making this book possible:
Maulana Zahir Mahmood for the Foreword.
Shaikh Hamza Tzortzis for the Afterword.
Br. Asgher Mukhtar, Br. Nabhan Mahmood, Sr. Farhana
Hasan, Sr. Raseesa Patel for not only proof reading but for
doing it so fast and in time. May Allah bless them. Proof
reading is my idea of a nightmare. They made it a dream.
Br. Mohammed Azharuddin for a million things but most
of all for putting up with me and my constant demands
and still retaining his sanity and the smile on his face.
Br. Jafer Sadik for not only volunteering to do the cover but
for doing such a lovely job almost instantly.
I am honored that they took all this trouble and ask Allah
to reward them in keeping with His Majesty and Grace.

Mirza Yawar Baig
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Table of Contents

Foreword ............................................................................................................ 6
Preface ................................................................................................................ 8
The Opening .................................................................................................... 13
Being Extraordinary ....................................................................................... 16
What is Extraordinary Faith? ...................................................................... 20
The Extraordinary Goal ................................................................................ 58
Extraordinary Commitment ......................................................................... 62
Extraordinary Team ....................................................................................... 68
Extraordinary Quality .................................................................................. 88
Complete certainty in His Belief and Message ......................................... 125
Not willing to compromise his Message ................................................... 149
Putting himself on the line .......................................................................... 154
Resilience: Face the brutal facts + Absolute faith in success .................. 158
Goal comes first: before personal preferences........................................... 173
Living his message ....................................................................................... 184
Risk taking .................................................................................................... 187
Sacrificing short term for long term ........................................................... 198
Magnanimity and Forgiveness ................................................................... 220
Transitioning from Person-led to Process-driven ................................... 230
Succession planning & Leadership development ..................................... 270
Afterword ...................................................................................................... 278
Glossary of Terms ........................................................................................ 289

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Foreword

The topic of leadership has captivated the minds and
imaginations of the layperson and has been a source of
preoccupation for commanders, group leaders and the elite
throughout the centuries. Today, theory refuted by theory
and bookstore shelves laden with pockets of restricted
knowledge on the do’s and don’ts, quick fixes and
principles of how to become a good leader are testimony to
the fact that the very concept of leadership is still as
significant, still as ambiguous and still as pertinent today as
it was in bygone times. Despite the growing industry and
popularity of such publications, they are nevertheless
tailored to craft leaders in a limited scope or sphere of life.
The Muslims on the other hand, already have an
impeccable example of the Messenger of Allah whose
diverse and unconstrained leadership qualities transformed
a marginalized community into the best of people to walk
on the face of this earth after the Prophets of Allah, peace
be upon them all. Not only was he (Muhammad) himself
a leader, par excellence, but he created leaders. He was able
to nurture the likes of demoralized and oppressed slaves,
enabling them to become leaders of the highest calibre:
Rabi’ b. Amir was able to stand in the presence of the
second most powerful man on the face of the earth,
Rustum, and deliver a speech that penetrated Rustum’s
heart more deeply than any arrow or sword could ever
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have achieved. Umar ibn Khattab, by his own admission,
before Islam found it difficult to maintain a flock of sheep
but the Messenger of Allah moulded a leader out of him
who, within a period of ten and half years, became
Commander and Ruler of the expanding Muslim world. If
the Muslims want to revive the greatness of the past, they
must be educated and motivated by a leader whose
leadership qualities connect humans with their Creator;
transcending the material and bringing to life the spiritual.
With this book, Shaikh Yawar Baig has provided us with an
essential source of reference for those of us who wish to
take lessons from a leader who was inspired by His Creator
and who, for the last 1400 years, has continued to inspire
His creation; a man with clarity of vision and purpose of
goal unparalleled in history.
Naturally, when Shaikh presented me with this book, I was
overcome with happiness. I know of no person more
worthy of writing on this topic than our beloved Shaikh.
Having attended a five-day course on leadership delivered
by Shaikh Yawar, the immense benefit of which I can testify
to, I have full confidence in the Shaikh to do justice to this
expansive topic. We make du’aa that Allah makes this
work a source of guidance and revival for the Muslims of
today and tomorrow. We pray that He accepts this work
from our beloved Shaikh and showers His infinite Mercy
and Blessings upon him and his family.
Zahir Mahmood, Director, As-Suffa Institute, Birmingham,
UK
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Preface

I was recently reading the much celebrated book,
‘Muhammad, A biography of the Prophet’, by Karen
Armstrong. This is one of the books about Rasoolullah
which, in today’s world culture of increased hostility
against Islam and Muslims, is a real breath of fresh air. It is
a portrayal of the life of Rasoolullah which is fair and
markedly free from the cynical misrepresentation of many
Western writers. Another book I read, which was also very
complimentary about Muhammad, is the book by John
Adair, called ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’. However, what
struck me was the tone of writing which reflects the fact
that Karen Armstrong and John Adair are not Muslim.
To them, Muhammad was a great Arab leader. He had
some great intrinsic strengths, took some good decisions,
circumstances helped him and he became the predominant
leader of Arabia. His followership grew and his followers
spread all over the world by a series of military campaigns
and through trading expeditions. He claimed to receive
revelation from God and launched a new religion called
Islam. His period was a significant period in Arab history
and the history of the world.
There is a distinct difference between how one whose core
faith is that Muhammad was the Messenger of Allah
and how someone who does not hold this belief, writes
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about him. This book, however, is not simply an analysis of
history. It is a labor of love and reverence while being
analytical and objective. It is an attempt by one who not
only believes that Muhammad was the best leader that
ever existed but who believes in him and his message and
wants to share it.
The life of Muhammad the Messenger of Allah is rich
and full of lessons. It has been so well documented and so
much has been written about his life over the centuries that
another attempt is almost unnecessary. However, I decided
to write this for two reasons: to make the lessons from the
life of Rasoolullah relating specifically to leadership easily
accessible to the seeker, whether Muslim or not; and to
make an attempt to see how these lessons are applicable
today in a world that is in principle, very similar to the
world he lived in.
My premise is this: Since he was able to change his world
and take his people from being the most insignificant,
oppressed and weakest to becoming the predominant,
admired and strongest in just one generation; if we learn
how he was able to do it, we will be able to learn how to
succeed in our world today.
From the many lessons which can be learnt, I have
identified 11 that I believe are critical for us to learn. I
remind myself and the reader that in the end, it is
implementation of these lessons that will spell success or
failure. Knowledge is only as good as its practice and so I
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ask you, the reader to approach this work from the
perspective of exploring how to apply these lessons in your
public and private life. That is why I have spent some time
and gone into detail in matters of practice because I believe
that ultimately that is the only thing that counts. Not what
happened but what did we do. That is what we will also be
asked when we stand before Allah. ‘What did you do?’
I hope that this book will not only be a book of stories but
will result in people taking action to change their lives and
access the power and mercy of Allah. A final word for
my Muslim readers – you will notice that I have used the
Arabic (Jalla Jalaaluhu) for Allah and the Arabic
(Salallahu alaihi wa sallam) and the Arabic (Radhiyallahu
Anhu) after the name of the Sahaba. I have used (RA) for
the Sahabiyaat as I don’t have the Arabic (Radhiyallahu
Anha). I have not written the Arabic (Salallahu alaihi wa
sallam) after every ‘he’ referring to Rasoolullah for ease of
reading and reducing the number of words. This is the
form that all Muslim writers have adopted for the same
reasons, including in the classical books of Hadith.
Needless to say no disrespect is intended. I urge all
Muslims to send Salatu-was-salaam on Rasoolullah and
blessings on His Sahaba wherever you see their names. A
glossary of terms has also been included for those
unfamiliar with the Arabic terms.
I ask Allah to make this useful for us all and to forgive
any mistakes that I may have made. I ask Allah to make
it easy for us to follow the glorious example of
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