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 or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without prior written consent of Mirza Yawar Baig, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the permission of the copyright owner. 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 3 Table of Contents Foreword ..................................................................................................... 5 Preface ......................................................................................................... 8 The Opening .............................................................................................. 12 Being Extraordinary ................................................................................. 15 What is Extraordinary Faith?.................................................................. 19 The Extraordinary Goal ........................................................................... 58 Extraordinary Commitment .................................................................... 63 Extraordinary Team ................................................................................. 69 Extraordinary Quality ............................................................................. 90 Complete certainty in His Belief and Message ..................................... 130 Not willing to compromise his Message ............................................... 156 Putting himself on the line ..................................................................... 162 Resilience: Face the brutal facts + Absolute faith in success ............... 167 Goal comes first: before personal preferences ....................................... 183 Living his message .................................................................................. 196 Risk taking.............................................................................................. 200 Sacrificing short term for long term ...................................................... 211 Magnanimity and Forgiveness .............................................................. 235 Transitioning from Person-led to Process-driven ................................ 246 Succession planning & Leadership development .................................. 289 Afterword ................................................................................................ 298 Glossary of Terms .................................................................................. 308 4 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 5 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 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 6 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 7 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 8 and how someone who does not hold this belief, writes 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 9 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 ask you, the reader to approach this work from the perspective of exploring how to apply these lessons in your public