A Massage and a Leader (1)
"O young man, Allah does not grant sovereignty and wealth to any one so that he may use it for his own comfort and benefit, but granted it to man that he may use these things in the service of the creation," the politician said to the young wayfarer. He continued, "There has always been this major difference between a just government and an unjust government that the aim of the just government is always to serve the subjects. For this reason, the treasury of such a leader is used for the good and welfare of the subjects and for promoting their prosperity and will only use from there for his own needs that which is necessary and such a ruler will not harass them with an over burden of taxes. On the other hand, the unjust tyrant aims at benefiting the rule of the government, their own comforts and pleasures and strengthening these things. Thus such a ruler is oblivious of their pains and does not care about their comforts and even if any comforts do come to the subjects, it is merely by the way. In such a government the subjects always have the burden of taxes and in such a country the majority of people are in poverty.
If you listen and ponder about the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, you will find that it is a documented historical fact that in the history of humanity, almost every single person of power and every single nation of power desired more power and every super power desired even more power than it had. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala never allowed any nation or any person of power to flourish in this world, because every single nation that tried to gain more and more power, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala brought about their own demise at their own hands. On the contrary, a ruler who is blessed by Allah, is a ruler who uses his power to call and enforce a message, the message is the words of Tawheed, "Laa ilaaha illallaah." Therefore, a true ruler, is a Muwahhid as well as a Mujahid.
If we talk about power, it will always concern with Leadership. The 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. So, that is why the Leadership in Islam is not an ordinary thing, but it is an extraordinary thing. The Muslims already have an impeccable example of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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, alayhimussalam. Not only was he (ﷺ) 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.
The Prophet (ﷺ) set the standard of extraordinary leadership so convincingly and clearly that even his worst enemies were forced to speak in his favor. To be extraordinary is to be abnormal in the best of ways. To listen to a message in the mind that others can only wonder at. To march to a beat that others are unable to hear – yet to be able to inspire them to fall in step. It is only those who are extraordinary who are inspiring. To live is not simply to draw breath. So if one aspires to lead one must do more than merely exist. The key is to do more than what others think is wise, reasonable or logical. One must do what nobody else does, not because he wants to impress them but so that they will be able to see that it is possible for them also to do the same. There is nothing sublime in pretending to be less than you are. What is required of the leader is that he constantly pits himself against his own assumptions and self-imposed boundaries because the only real barrier to surmount is in one’s own mind.
The leader must have the courage to go where nobody dared to venture before in the world of the minds and spirits of men. He must question what was always assumed to be correct. He must challenge beliefs handed down from generation to generation and accepted as being real. He must stand for the truth no matter what the cost. He must support the oppressed, the weak and the deprived and stand up to the raw power of the oppressors, no matter who they may be. All these things help the leader to inspire trust, the very foundation of leadership. A leader must not only be trusted personally but people must have faith that to follow him will benefit them. Leading, by definition, is from the front. And so leading is The leader must simultaneously have great clarity of vision and strategy. It is not sufficient to merely dream of great things if one has no clue about how to achieve them. The leader must be able to dream and then to lead his people on a path that actually leads to the fulfillment of that dream. To be extraordinary is to be able to do both the ephemeral task of dreaming and the concrete task of translating the dream into an actual roadmap with milestones. Then it consists of finding people to fulfill the many roles that are bound to emerge because no leader can do everything himself. Without a team of highly competent and dedicated people to implement the strategy, the greatest of dreams must remain relegated to the realm of desires. Recruiting a team, inspiring them to give their best, training and directing them and finally watching them from the sidelines as they fulfill the tasks that they have been trained to do are all roles that the extraordinary leader must perform.
Finally the extraordinary leader must create a system that can take his legacy onwards, long after he has gone the way of all life. For personal charisma that remains untranslated into processes is destined to die with the leader – remembered with nostalgia perhaps, but of no benefit to those who come after. For any great enterprise to succeed, its leader must lead its transformation from being person-led to becoming process-driven. Failure to do this successfully invariably leads to the legacy of the leader not transcending the generation change.
To be extraordinary is not a choice for a leader. It is an essential part of being for anyone who aspires to lead. To be extraordinary in ways that people find inspiring, invigorating, energizing and empowering. Only the courageous can encourage and there was nobody in the history of mankind who exemplified the extraordinary leader in every aspect of his life as did Allah's Messenger (ﷺ). That is why his companions displayed a level of loyalty to him that is an example in itself. They loved him and he loved them.
To look at the first of the extraordinary qualities that the Prophet (ﷺ) displayed in his character is Faith. Faith is essential because without it, the monumental task of changing people’s hearts is impossible. It is a small word with big meaning. It means different things to different people. Faith is a dynamic process that is based on the interaction of three factors: Patience in the face of hardship and thankfulness for Allah’s bounties; repentance for our transgressions and mistakes and seeking Allah’s pleasure and closeness to Him by His worship because we love Him. Faith is not blind as the materialistic world likes to believe. Faith is to be able to see beyond material to that which can’t be described or seen with the eyes of the head but which is clearly perceptible to the eyes of the heart.
It was reported that after a very intense engagement with the Germans, a soldier asked permission from his officer to go into no-man’s land to bring back the body of his partner who had fallen during the battle. The officer tried to reason with the man and said, ‘Look he is dead. What is the good of risking your life to bring back a dead body?’ But the soldier was adamant and persistent and so in the end the officer gave in and ordered the company to lay down covering fire while the soldier went out to the body of his friend. A few minutes later, he returned unharmed, with the body of his friend. The officer asked him, ‘So was that worth risking your life? To get back a dead man? The soldier replied, ‘Yes Sir. It was worth it because when I reached him, he was still alive and said to me, ‘I knew you would come for me.’ He was waiting for me and he died in my arms. Yes Sir, it was worth it.'
Faith is not blind. It sees what those without faith cannotsee. It sees through the lens of love, of devotion, of gratitude for favors done – without reason. Faith is the yearning to be with the beloved. Faith lights the dark road of disappointment at the end of backbreaking effort because it knows that success and failure in this path is not measured in miles but by the willingness to stand up and make that effort to please the One who knows what is in your heart. Faith is the smile on the face of the one who walks on when all others have turned their backs because he is listening to a voice that they cannot hear. As he walks, others stop to look and wonder; then slowly they turn around and join him until there is a caravan. They follow him because that gives them meaning and they find their own fulfillment. Faith, in the language of Islam, manifested as Tawakkul. Tawakkul is the result of Tawba, Sabr and Shukr, and love of Allah.
The most powerful story about Tawakkul from the Seerah is at the very beginning of Prophethood where Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) stood on the top of the hill of Safa and called out, ‘Wa Subaha!’ Narrated Ibn `Abbas, radhiyallahu 'anhu, "When the Ayah, 'And warn your tribe of near-kindred – was revealed, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ascended the Safa and started calling, "O! Bani Fihr! O Bani `Adi!" addressing various tribes of Quraish till they were assembled. Those who could not come sent their agents to see what was happening. Abu Lahab, one of the Prophet’s (ﷺ) uncles and other people from Quraysh came. The Prophet (ﷺ) then said, "Suppose I told you that there is an cavalry in the valley intending to attack you, would you believe me?" They said, "Yes, for we have not found you speaking anything other than the truth." He then said, "I am a warner to you about a terrible punishment in the Hereafter if you don’t leave the worship of idols and worship Allah without ascribing any partners." Abu Lahab said to the Prophet (ﷺ), "May your hands perish on this day. Is it for this that you gathered us?" Then it was revealed the Surah al-Lahab.
Allah orders us to make sincere repentance for our sins. Tawba is the first condition of guidance because Tawba indicates an attitude of wanting to change. No change or correction can happen unless a person is conscious of the need for it. So when we make Tawba we are showing that we have become conscious of the need to change our attitudes and ways. The first lesson that Allah taught Adam and Hawwa, was Tawba. Both Adam & Hawwa and Iblîs disobeyed Allah. But the difference was in their attitude when they became conscious of their mistake. Adam & Hawwa were immediately contrite and repentant and said,
"Our Rabb! We have wronged ourselves. If You don’t forgive us and don’t grant us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers."
Allah forgave them and guided them and made them a source of guidance for others. Iblîs, on the other hand was not repentant and asked for time and said,
"Allow me respite till the Day they are raised up.”
Today when we are told to leave our evil ways, we ask for time. Let us reflect and see whose attitude we are reflecting; the attitude of Adam & Hawwa or the attitude of Iblîs? To insist on sin is a reason for a bad ending (Soo al-Khaatima). There is no major sin with Tawba and there is no minor sin with insistence. Insisting on sin eventually results in the doors of Hidaya being shut and invites the wrath of Allah on our heads. In Surah Al-An'aam[6]:44, Allah said about those who refuse to correct themselves and insist on sinning,
"So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair."
After giving multiple opportunities to correct ourselves, when we insist on rebelliousness, Allah shuts the doors of Hidaya. Instead He opens the doors of all that the rebellious person wants until he is immersed in his rebellion and then suddenly death comes upon him and he does not have the opportunity to make Tawba. We ask Allah to save us from such a fate.
Allah warned us against all forms of disobedience and sin. One must not consider sins as being ‘small or minor’ because any sin is a sign of disobedience of Allah and such an attitude is a very serious matter. So it is not the specific action that one needs to look at, but the whole matter of our attitude which leads to the Fire. Out of all sins, the worst sin is shirk and it is the only sin that Allah will never forgive, if one dies on it. It is essential therefore that we make Istighfaar and Tawba immediately and instantly leave everything that is disobedience of Allah and against the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ)." The young wayfarer asked, "How long do we have before we need to do this?" The politician said, "As long as we expect to live!"
He then continued, "The second step is thankfulness for the bounties of Allah. It is only when a person is thankful to Allah for His bounties that he can be content and have peace of mind. In Surah Ibrahim [14]:7, Allah said about thankfulness,
"And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
The biggest bounty to thank Allah for, is the opportunity and Tawfeeq to make Tawba. What would we have done if the door of Tawba had not been opened by Allah? The more a person thanks Allah for His bounties, the more he becomes aware of them and the more he loves Allah. Thankfulness increases the person’s awareness of the magnificence and glory of Allah and of the fact that this Creator and Owner of the Heavens and Earth has taken the trouble of being kind to him. The biggest blessing of thankfulness is greater enjoyment of what a person blessed with and the first punishment of thanklessness is that the enjoyment of the blessing is taken away and a person doesn’t enjoy what he has and lives a life of selfinflicted pain.
About Shukr, Allah has said clearly that to be grateful to Him is His right on us and He will reward it by increasing His bounty. The very first ayah of the Qur’an after Bismillah is an ayah of Shukr: Al Hamdulillahi Rabbil A’alameen (all praise and thanks be to Allah, the Rabb of the Worlds). Not only has Allah mentioned the benefits of expressing gratitude, Allah has also mentioned the problem of not doing so and of actually being ungrateful for which He used the word Kufr (Denying). And for such as those He warned of His punishment.
An interesting point to note is that Allah promised those who do Sabr, His help and rewards for which the natural reaction would be Shukr. Sabr and Shukr are therefore inter-related. In Surah al-Baqarah[2]:153, Allah said,
"O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient."
And also, in Surah Al-Anfal[8]:46, Allah said,
"And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient."
Hand in hand with thankfulness is Sabr (patience). The concept of Sabr is unique in Islam because it is not what is commonly understood by patience, i.e. bearing difficulty in silence. It is important to remember that in Islam patience or Sabr is not merely a fatalistic acceptance of whatever happens. It is to strive in the cause of Allah with all one’s might and wealth and then to leave the result to Him. Allah used the word ‘sabiroon’ to mean ‘mujahidoon’ in several places. A mujahid does not simply sit and wait for the help of Allah to come. He strives in the path of Allah with all that he has and then he prays for help. Obviously someone fighting in battle is not sitting silently bearing the difficulty. He is fully alive, engaged, thinking, planning and making the utmost effort that he can make to win the battle. But at the end of his effort, he stands before his Rabb and asks for His help because he knows that without that help he can achieve nothing.
Sabr is action; to make the ultimate effort and then to rely on Allah. The embodiment of this concept of Sabr is the action of the Prophet (ﷺ) at the Battle of Badr where after making all preparations that he could do, using his meager resources to the best of his ability, then stood before his Rabb and made his famous dua. The Prophet (ﷺ) prayed ceaselessly for help from Allah and said,
“O Allâh! The conceited and haughty Quraysh are already here defying You and belying Your Messenger. O Allâh! I am waiting for Your victory which You have promised me. I beseech You Allâh to defeat them. O Allâh! Should this group (of Muslims) be defeated today, there will be nobody left to worship you on the earth.”
He continued to call out to his Rabb, stretching forth his hands and facing the Qiblah, until his cloak fell off his shoulders. Then Abu Bakr, radhiyallahu 'anhu, came, picked up the cloak, and put it back on his shoulders and said, “O Allah's Messenger, you have cried out enough to your Rabb. He will surely fulfill what He has promised you.”
Immediate was the response from Allâh, Who sent down angels from the heavens to help His Messenger (ﷺ) and his companions. Allah revealed,
"I am with you, so strengthen those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved, so strike [them] upon the necks and strike from them every fingertip." [QS.8:12].
"Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another." [QS.8:9]
The Prophet (ﷺ) was in the lean-to that had been made for him and he dozed off a little and then raised his head joyfully crying, “O Abu Bakr, glad tidings for you, Allah’s victory has approached. By Allah, I can see Jibreel on his mare in the thick of a sandstorm.” He then came out reciting,
"[Their] assembly will be defeated, and they will turn their backs [in retreat]." [QS.54:45]
On the instruction of Jibreel, alayhissalam, the Prophet (ﷺ) took a handful of sand and gravel, cast it at the enemy and said, “Confusion seize their faces!” As he flung the dust, a violent sandstorm blew like a furnace blast into the eyes of the enemies. With respect to this, Allah said,
"...And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you threw, but it was Allah who threw..." [QS.8:17]
The records of Hadith speak eloquently of the fact that the angels did appear on that day and fought on the side of the Muslims. Ibn ‘Abbas said, “While on that day, a Muslim was chasing a disbeliever and he heard over him the crack of a whip and the voice of the rider saying: ‘Charge! Haizum’. He saw that the enemy soldier had fallen on his back, beheaded. An Ansaari came to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and related that event to him. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, ‘You have spoken the truth. This was the help from the third heaven.” In Badr, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) demonstrated the epitome of the Qur’anic injunction to take the help of Sabr and Salah when faced with difficulty. He made all preparations and then asked His Rabb.
When one makes Tawba and Istighfaar, and thanks Allah constantly for His Mercy, it is only natural that one begins to love Allah. However the love of Allah is not to be confused with any other kind of love that we may feel. The love of the Creator is worship and comes with its own rules. It is not something to be expressed or professed in any way we like. People who love Allah are always totally obedient to Him and never use what He has given against Him in his disobedience. To use what Allah gave us – our life, time, strength, wealth, education, power and influence – in His disobedience is the greatest of all ways to express thanklessness. That is why the way to get close to Allah is increase in prostration. The Sajda is the iconic symbol of the Muslim where he submits himself completely, without any reservations and conditions, to Allah. That is the reason the Sajda is Haraam to anyone other than Allah - because the Muslim is not permitted to submit himself and present himself in such a helpless way to anyone other than his Creator. To do so is against human dignity and a denial of the truth – that only Allah is worthy of such obedience. All worship is only for Allah except whom there is nobody and nothing which is worthy of worship."
The young wayfarer asked, "how to get Allah to love us?" The politician said, "Allah gave the answer directly when He said to the Prophet (ﷺ),
"Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."[QS.3:31]
The way to express our love for the Creator is by becoming obedient to Him and following the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ. And when we do this, then Allah will love us. That is the key. To get Allah to love us. The path to the love of Allah and connection with Him is through obedience to Him and through following the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ). There must not be any doubt in our minds about this. If anyone believes that he can disobey Allah or ignore the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ) or go against the Sunnah of teh Prophet (ﷺ) and still be able to have connection with Allah, he is only fooling himself. Allah mentioned love for Him which supersedes everything else as being a sign of the Believer. The believers love Allah more than anyone and anything else and that is expressed by their complete obedience to Him. He said,
"And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah . But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah . And if only they who have wronged would consider [that] when they see the punishment, [they will be certain] that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is severe in punishment." [QS.2:165]
Allah mentioned the position of the Believers when they hear a command of Allah. He said,
"...And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination"." [QS.2:285]
And Allah also mentioned those who give precedence totheir own desires and fancies over His commands and said,
"Have you seen the one who takes as his god his own desire? Then would you be responsible for him? Or do you think that most of them hear or reason? They are not except like livestock. Rather, they are [even] more astray in [their] way." [QS.25:43-44]
The lines are drawn clearly. We need to make our choice. Allah said about His slaves who He is close to, "Indeed, Allah is with those who fear Him and those who are doers of good." [QS.16:128]
And He said to those who claim to love Him and want to connect with Him,
"Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [QS.3:31]
Allah created a connected world where our actions have two kinds of consequences: benefit or harm in this life and reward or punishment in the hereafter. Every action produces these two kinds of consequences. One in this life and an attendant one in the hereafter. Note that only when Allah loves a slave, is love for him established in the world and all of creation. And when Allah hates a slave, hatred for him is established on earth and all of creation. People love, honor and respect us or hate, malign and disrespect us based on whether Allah likes us or not.
On the authority of Abu Hurairah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, who reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "If Allah loves a slave [of His], He calls Jibreel and says, 'I love So-and-so, therefore love him.'" He (ﷺ) said, "So Jibreel loves him. Then Jibreel calls out in heavens, saying: 'Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him.' And the inhabitants of heaven love him." He (ﷺ) said: "Then acceptance is established for him on earth. And if Allah hates a slave [of His], He calls Jibreel and says: 'I abhor So-and-so, therefore abhor him.' So Jibreel abhors him. Then Jibreel calls out to the inhabitants of heaven: 'Allah abhors So-and-so, therefore abhor him.'" He (ﷺ) said, "So they abhor him, and hatred is established for him on earth." [Imam Muslim, Al-Bukhari, Malik, and at-Tirmidhi]
On the authority of Abu Hurairah, who reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah said, 'Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My slave draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My slave continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory (Nawaafil) works so that I shall love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful slave: he hates death and I hate hurting him." [Hadith Qudsi reported by Imam Al-Bukhari]
If you reflect, the Prophet (ﷺ) had several choices in the way to introduce Islam to his polytheistic community. He could have claimed the right of tribal superiority and nobility. He belonged to the most noble of the noble – Banu Hashim from Quraysh. So he could have attempted to establish himself as the primary tribal leader and then introduced Islam. Alternatively, he could have gone the social reformer route. Makkah was a place that was characterized by social evils of excess, oppression and sin. Our beloved Prophet (ﷺ) could have spoken out against those first, got a lot of people on his side and then introduced Islam as the doctrine on which his social reformist movement was based. Finally he could have introduced Islam as an alternate religion, a new way of looking at things, a new theory - equal to everything else that exists, an alternate way at arriving at the truth, another road to Rome. Not as the only road that leads to Jannah, the only way to salvation, the only religion of truth other than which nothing will be acceptable to Allah on the Day of Judgment. He could have presented Islam as one of the many new age theories and fads that do the rounds today, which in a polytheistic society have, wide acceptance.
Yet he did nothing of the sort. He didn’t use any of the alternatives that were available to him but stood out clear from everything and announced to his people, ‘Leave the worship of idols and worship Allah alone without ascribing any partners to Him or be prepared to be punished when you meet Allah. By this method of calling, at one stroke he managed to antagonize everyone in Makkah because ideologically he attacked their religion and showed up its imaginary nature. Its mythology stood out for what it was; a myth. And he introduced the concept of accountability to Allah from whom nothing is hidden. Not a comfortable thought for those who had become used to doing whatever they liked on the basis of their own personal wealth and power. The rich and powerful of all times never take kindly to the thought that they will be called to account one day and will have to pay for their deeds. All these things were so foreign and alien to the people of Makkah in general and the Quraysh in particular that they instantly rebelled. The Quraysh were particularly affected because they were the priestly class, the custodians of the Ka’aba in which they had housed their idols – 350 of them; the worship of which, especially during the annual pilgrimage was a major source of income for them.
The Prophet's message threatened not only their beliefs but much more importantly in their eyes, their economy and that they couldn’t bear. So they fought him, tooth and nail. The only way to understand why the Prophet (ﷺ) chose this particular way to preach Islam is to go the Qur’an and see what all the Anbiya of Allah did. They all did the same thing. They announced their message clearly and directly without beating about the bush or disguising it in any way. They didn’t ask for any reward from the people, either monetary or social or political. They performed their actions fearing nobody other than Allah and looking for reward from nobody other than Allah. This directness in preaching and teaching without material reward was the hallmark of the Anbiya of all times. The Prophet (ﷺ) was merely repeating what the brotherhood of Anbiya had always done through the ages, as long as mankind needed guidance. To this day the inheritors of the Anbiya – the people of knowledge who take the word of Allah to the rest of mankind – also follow the same method. They speak clearly and directly and they work without expecting or accepting any reward from the people. Anyone who changes this methodology has cut himself off from the glorious continuous tradition of the Anbiya and from the help of Allah that comes with it.
In the very beginning of the preaching of Islam, whenever you think of the powerful, deep, enduring and unshakable faith of the Prophet (ﷺ), it illustrates his complete reliance on Allah for success whereby he simply did what he had been ordered to do without allowing anything, including his own judgment, to interfere in the way that he had been ordered to follow. Allah ordered him to warn his people. And that is what he did. It is not that there is anything bad or incorrect about using your own reasoning but for the one receiving Revelation there is no option but to follow what he receives without question. The same logic applies to those who bear that Revelation today – the Muslims – who believe in what was revealed, in its truth, its address to all people, its Divine origin and in its unchanging applicability until the end of time. We do what we have been ordered to do without question, without changing or altering the message in any way. That demonstrates our own integrity. This is what distinguishes the Muslims from those who also received the Revelation before them – for they changed and interpreted and altered until the Revelation lost its Divine qualities and the Word of God became the Word of Man. Muslims through the ages have never been guilty of this.
The whole period of Prophethood in Makkah of 13 years is a period of disappointment after disappointment, failure after failure. If one were to look for material signs of potential success, there are none. How then did the Prophet (ﷺ) still continue with his mission, his energy and commitment undiminished, standing in the night and connecting to His Rabb and working through the day to take his message to anyone who would stop to listen – whether or not they accepted what he had to say. No matter how they reacted or what they did, he never lost patience, never got angry, never reacted to them and their bad behavior and he never gave up his mission or even slacked in the slightest in propagating it. For him and his mission there were no weekends, no holidays, no intervals – he worked constantly day and night without respite. What, other than complete and total faith can sustain such effort? And who other than the Messengers of Allah (ﷺ) can have that to a level of excellence? In our lives one of the many critical lessons to learn is this capacity to sustain effort in the face of disappointment and apparent failure. It is not the fastest but the most resilient who wins the race. We give up too easily, are too easily discouraged and are too focused on getting visible results. We forget that Islam enters the heart and that entry is for the most part, invisible."
[Part 2]
