Ever been disappointed by subordinates? How do you react? How do you build team cohesion in spite of major disappointments?

You see,the Quran offers us practical solutions to real life situations. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)served in many capacities, as a leader, as a father, as a preacher, as a daee, as a messenger, as a husband, as a general.. Etc. In each of these roles, there is a lesson for us. Understanding the seerah of the prophet is key to understanding the words of Allah because the Quran is an inside look at the seerah of our messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Quran and the seerah cannot be separated otherwise we get people doing weird things and justifying it with the Quran without an appreciation of the context of revelation.

The background

The battle of Uhud is over, It is not a happy story. The Muslims were on the verge of victory but failed to achieve it because of a series of events. A number of things went wrong:

i. Before the battle, 300 muslims led by chief hypocrite 'Abdullah bin Ubai abandoned the battle

ii. Two tribes slipped up a little bit but returned back to the fold. Banu Haritha of Al-Aws and Banu Salama of Al-Khazraj...Allah records this in the Quran.

Remember when two groups of you were about to lose heart and God protected them– let the believers put their trust in God– (Surah 3:122)

iii. The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed archers to stay on top of a mountain to prevent the meccans from launching an attack from behind the muslims. 'Abdullah bin Jubair was placed in charge. The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told them:

"If you see us snatched into pieces by birds, do not leave this position of yours till i send for you. And if you see that we have defeated the enemy and trodden on them do not desert your position till i send for you (Sahih al bukhari, the book of jihad, 1/426)

In spite of this instruction and the opposition of assigned leader,'Abdullah ibn Jubair, 40 of the companions left their position when it seemed victory was certain. This was a vital mistake, Khalid bin Waleed led a counter attack from the area vacated by the archers and the muslims were caught unawares...

iv. Some of the muslims fled, even when the Messenger(peace and blessings be upon him) was calling them... Allah records this in the Quran:

You fled without looking back while the Messenger was calling out to you from behind, and God rewarded you with sorrow for sorrow. [He has now forgiven you] so that you may not grieve for what you missed or for what happened to you. God is well aware of everything you do. (Surah 3:153)

After all of these, the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has a right to be upset with his followers. It is natural. This was a very disappointing experience from beginning to the end. In this scenario, the followers would expect to get a ear-full from the leader, of how he is disappointed with their actions etc.

So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is about to address the companions but before he addresses them, Allah addresses him. Allah coaches the Messenger on how to talk to them. This is recorded in Surah Imran, Ayah 159.

A lesson in leadership

Allah says:

Fabima rahmatin mina Allahi linta lahum walaw kunta faththan ghaleetha alqalbi lainfaddoo min hawlika faoAAfu AAanhum waistaghfir lahum washawirhum fee al-amri fa-itha AAazamta fatawakkal AAala Allahi inna Allaha yuhibbu almutawakkileena

i. Mercy

Fabima rahmatin mina Allahi linta lahum

It is only by the incredible mercy from Allah that you are lenient (gentle or soft) towards them

Here, Allah tells His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that even though a lot of things went wrong in this battle,His being lenient with the people is Allah's special favour alone. Allah did not just tell the messenger to be lenient or gentle. He attributed that trait to be a special mercy from Himself.

Therefore, his leniency is a manifestation of Allah's mercy. The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not just been merciful to them because he should be but he represents Allah's mercy to them. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the ambassador of Allah's mercy to them. He needs to give them mercy because Allah told him to. Allah says this to a leader facing a crisis situation.

What do we learn from this? The first quality of leadership in crisis situations is mercy

ii. What if you were not merciful

walaw kunta faththan ghaleetha alqalbi la[b]infadd[/b]oo min hawlika

Had you been harsh (easily upset, tough to deal with, disrespectful to your surbordinates) or hard hearted, they would have dispersed and left you

Infadda is used in Arabic when glass breaks, When you drop a glass the pieces disperse and you can never put them together again. Allah uses the word to describe how the companions would have dispersed from the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), had he been mean or inconsiderate. Many of the companions have injuries of various degrees, if the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was hard hearted and let them have it not considering their present states of mind and well-being. They could have dispersed from him just like a glass breaks.. They would have never come back together again.

Lesson: A harsh reprimand is least effective when the morale of the team is low.

Therefore, it is the way the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) shows mercy upon his followers in crisis situations that holds them together.

But hold on, the companions have been through a lot with the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), they have already sacrificed their lives (badr), their property and their families for him (hijrah) for him. They must be convinced that he is a messenger.

Allah says that all of that conviction is irrelevant if the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was mean.

They could be the most convinced about him(peace and blessings be upon him), but if his personality as a leader was harsh and hard-hearted.. They will still disperse away from him.

Lesson: In leading a group with people in a cause that you all believe in. You can not afford to to hard hearted (inconsiderate) or harsh with the people you are leading. Even if they are convinced about the cause, they will disperse from you if you are mean and hard hearted.

Now the messenger has a right to be angry but you cannot ignore the human element, people are not robots. Personality and how you deal with people is a big part of life.


iii. So what should you do?

fao[b]AAfu[/b] AAanhum waistaghfir lahum

so lovingly pardon them ask and ask forgiveness for them.

AAfu is to lovingly pardon like it never even happened. It is used when big mistakes happen but you overlook it like it didn't happen.

The messenger is about to meet with companions and He is told to overlook the entire incident like it never happened... After the meeting, he seeks forgiveness for them in private.

Lesson: Be a forgiving boss and be loyal to your subordinates.

A good manager takes the hits for his team at the expense of losing team cohesion. Hence, Allah messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) asks Allah for the forgiveness of his companions himself. The companions are in trouble with Allah so the messenger(peace and blessings be upon him) takes responsibility by seeking forgiveness for them. Allah is telling him to ask on their behalf.

iv Make them feel valuable again

Now the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has forgiven them and even prayed for them in private. Some of the companions could still feel like: 'Even though he has forgiven us, things would never be the same again'. From the point of view of the follower, he still feels that the boss is disappointed in him.

Many times, we forgive our employees but we give them less responsibilities because of a previous failure. Our forgiveness is manifested in the fact that we didn't sack them but the disappointment and friction remains in the team.

Allah orders the messenger to be sensitive of their point of view as well:

washawirhum fee al-amri fa-itha AAazamta fatawakkal AAala Allahi inna Allaha yuhibbu almutawakkileena

Consult with them in decision making then, when you have decided on a course of action, put your trust in God: God loves those who put their trust in Him.

If an employee did badly once and the boss forgives him. In the mind of the employee, He feels he has disappointed his boss and the boss is disappointed in him. Now imagine the boss calls him into his office and seeks his opinions on a valuable deal for the company. This action alone eliminates all the feeling he (the employee) might have had. He feels valuable again. Just because the boss consulted the employee in decision making all the feeling are gone and the relationship is fixed.

By seeking the opinions from the companions in decision making, the messenger has removed whatever feelings might still exist in the hearts of the companions that he is disappointed in them and totally fixed the relationship.

What makes this ayah even more remarkable is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not need to consult the companions, Allah says in the Quran in surah hujurat:

and be aware that it is God’s Messenger who is among you: in many matters you would certainly suffer if he were to follow your wishes....... (Surah 49:7)

The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) receives revelation from a far more reliable source , he is in no need of consultation however he is commanded to do this by Allah. You see, part of his leadership is that he needs to ensure that his followers feel included and valuable.

Lesson: Make your followers feel valuable by consultation.

After processing the information and weighing all the opinions, take a decision and put your trust in Allah. Everyone in the team should support the decision (even if it goes against his views) and put their trust in Allah. Only Allah determines success and failure.

Lesson: Put your trust in Allah

SubhanAllah


Assalam Aleikum

It is pretty long but it is worth it, Kindly leave your comments. Insha Allah.

Nice write up.Wallahi,the Quran is a Book that covers all affairs of man.jazaakallahu khayr.

How i wish it's lenghtier than this.

busar: Nice write up.Wallahi,the Quran is a Book that covers all affairs of man.jazaakallahu khayr.

Wa iyyakum

Excellent piece, really nice. May Allah reward you abundantly. However, I think you should learn to break down long lectures like this into 2 or 3 parts. It makes it easier on the eye and to assimilate.

maclatunji: Excellent piece, really nice. May Allah reward you abundantly. However, I think you should learn to break down long lectures like this into 2 or 3 parts. It makes it easier on the eye and to assimilate.

Done, JazakAllahu Khair

tbaba1234:

Wa iyyakum

It seems u av forgetten me o

tbaba1234:

Wa iyyakum

It seems u av forgetten me o

busar: It seems u av forgetten me o It seems u av forgetten me o

No, I haven't. please be patient

tbaba1234:

No, I haven't. please be patient

ok.May Allah make it easy.

GOOD GOOD GOOD!!

Waalaikum Sallam Warahmotullah Warabarakatuh. Jazak Allah brother for this wonderful piece. May Allah increase u in knwledge n may He grant us d hrt to follow the footprints of our role model (SAW). Ameen...

Yeeyo: n.

Oya clap for yourself...you are sooooo intelligent going by your contribution to this post

Yeeyo: n.

@ poster

I am a christian, you are an infidel!!!

Peace be unto you my fellow sojourners in the world.

God is great.

Tbaba, JazakAllahu Khair.

JazakaAllah khairan bro....

Jumaat kareem!

Please what is the necessity for this constant repetition of the phrase "peace and blessings be upon him) each time you mention a prophet in Islam? It makes write-ups like this one very tiresome to read and bores the reader with that constant repetition alone. Maybe you guys need to invent an omnibus blessing that covers everything you write, something like (PABWRTITA) - which you will put at the top of your article. By the way i just invented it and it means "Prophet always blessed when referred to in this article". That will save the constant tedium of PBUH.

Aside from this, why do you use PBUH only for prophets? Should you not use it for everybody, since you wish peace and blessings on all, no? In that case, we invent PABOAH (Peace and Blessings on all Humanity) which you will simply put at the top of your article.

^ At the end of the article, you will see: Assalam Aleikum

Which means: Upon you be peace..

Essentially, everyone reading this piece has been wished peace.

If you have a problem with the constant peace and blessings, i am sorry, i can't help.

tbaba1234: ^ At the end of the article, you will see: Assalam Aleikum

Which means: Upon you be peace..

can there be peace upon the death whose fate is sealed forever?

at this stage is either he has it or not, no amount of "peace be upon him" can confer peace on him/her.

Every Muslim is a potential dweller of paradise with ALLAH's Rahama.May Allah's Rahama be with u and ur family n continue 2b with u till eternity.Jum@t,..yusuf.

Idi Amin: Is :/

if u dnt have any meaninful contributn why opening d news.

ok

:DALLAH IS GREAT...GOD BLESS D WRITER OF DIS PIECE! and evry1...amin happy jumat

maclatunji: Excellent piece, really nice. May Allah reward you abundantly. However, I think you should learn to break down long lectures like this into 2 or 3 parts. It makes it easier on the eye and to assimilate.

amin

May Allah bless the author of this write-up and the audience.
Lots of lessons from the book of Allah - Al Quran Kareem.

We need constant reminders like this as assurance that Allah's laws reign supreme over all other things.

Jazakumullahu khayran.

The Quran is a complete revelation, Islam is a complete way of life. Praise be unto Allah for completing Islam for us. Alhamdulilah am a muslim

Tbaba U̶̲̥̅̊ again!.May Allah bless U̶̲̥̅̊ endlessly.m a gud follower of ur post n its really bn an incredible experience following U̶̲̥̅̊,lagosshear,maclantunji,adebowale to mention a few.
I will always say dis:if U̶̲̥̅̊ av doubt abt islam,U̶̲̥̅̊ av definately not come across someone dat will give good explanation of ur doubt.
May d love of God keep bn with everyone

Jazakallahu khaeran. Nice Discourse.