The Shepherd's Way: Ep. 2 - Necessity Achieves (2022-07-01) ​

0:00:14 and sisters and friends and welcome to
0:00:16 the second episode of our hija series
0:00:20 the shepherd's way
0:00:22 and now we're going to be talking about
0:00:23 the second timeless leadership lesson
0:00:26 which is necessity achieves in other
0:00:29 words be strategic have a strategic
0:00:32 focus
0:00:34 brothers and sisters you have to realize
0:00:36 that it's not just about having a goal
0:00:38 you need to be able to achieve that goal
0:00:41 in some way in other words you have to
0:00:44 develop a strategy
0:00:46 to ensure your vision becomes a reality
0:00:49 now what is a strategy
0:00:51 a strategy or a strategic focus
0:00:54 is
0:00:55 the key areas of work
0:00:57 or domains of activity that would
0:01:00 necessarily lead to your vision becoming
0:01:01 a reality
0:01:03 so ask yourself two key questions to
0:01:05 develop a strategic focus number one
0:01:08 what are the actions activities
0:01:10 resources and relationships that you
0:01:13 need to make your vision a reality
0:01:15 number two can i demonstrate can you
0:01:18 demonstrate that the actions that you
0:01:21 have chosen
0:01:23 the domains of activities that you have
0:01:25 selected
0:01:27 are necessarily going to lead to your
0:01:29 vision
0:01:30 if they don't they need to reevaluate
0:01:33 because you have to select domains of
0:01:34 activity or actions that would
0:01:37 necessarily lead to your vision and
0:01:39 remember brothers and sisters consult do
0:01:42 sure
0:01:44 brainstorm
0:01:45 look at best practice
0:01:47 consult
0:01:48 experts
0:01:49 see what has been achieved before and
0:01:52 how it has been achieved
0:01:54 all of this is going to help you to
0:01:56 formulate your strategic focus
0:01:58 and there are four main benefits
0:02:00 brothers and sisters of a strategic
0:02:02 focus number one
0:02:04 focus itself yes that's one of its
0:02:06 benefits you will have a focus and that
0:02:09 means you will use your resources wisely
0:02:12 and place them at the service of your
0:02:14 vision number two
0:02:16 it makes decision making easier
0:02:18 because you know what needs to be done
0:02:21 so you know how to say no to things that
0:02:23 will not lead to the fulfillment of your
0:02:25 vision number three it helps you plan
0:02:28 since you know what needs to be done
0:02:30 go and do it
0:02:32 and finally number four
0:02:34 it achieves your vision this is
0:02:36 fundamental this is a fundamental
0:02:37 benefit it actually achieves your vision
0:02:40 now bear in mind you can always revise
0:02:43 your strategy because as you continue on
0:02:45 this path you'll gain more experience
0:02:48 and knowledge and wisdom and you'll
0:02:50 realize that you may have to do some
0:02:52 strategic tweaks
0:02:53 but remember with the strategy you're
0:02:56 more likely to make an impact and you're
0:02:59 more likely to ensure that your vision
0:03:01 becomes a reality now please note
0:03:04 brothers and sisters do not think your
0:03:07 strategy has intrinsic value
0:03:09 plan
0:03:10 in pencil
0:03:12 what do i mean by that because the plan
0:03:14 of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always
0:03:17 going to manifest itself
0:03:19 and know and realize that it's only
0:03:21 through allah's help
0:03:23 and his mercy and his power that your
0:03:26 vision will become a reality it's not
0:03:28 your strategy itself there is no
0:03:30 intrinsic value in your strategy
0:03:32 remember
0:03:35 there is no true power apart from the
0:03:38 power of allah
0:03:39 yes we must strategize we must plan we
0:03:42 must seek the means but fundamentally at
0:03:45 the end of the day it's not because of
0:03:48 your strategy is because of the will and
0:03:50 mercy and power of allah
0:03:52 remember this
0:03:53 remember this is very important because
0:03:56 you don't want to give your strategy
0:03:57 some kind of intrinsic power or ability
0:04:00 because this is fundamentally not in
0:04:02 line with our world view it's not in
0:04:04 line with tawheed
0:04:06 not in line with the oneness of allah
0:04:08 subhanahu wa ta'ala so from this
0:04:10 perspective
0:04:11 rely on allah alone not your strategy
0:04:14 yes
0:04:14 we have to seek the means but remember
0:04:16 the means can change
0:04:18 but allah has power over all things
0:04:21 remember allah is in control and this is
0:04:25 beautifully articulated in the quran in
0:04:27 chapter 11 verses 87 and 88.
0:04:31 they asked sarcastically
0:04:34 does your prayer command you that we
0:04:36 should abandon what our forefathers
0:04:38 worshipped or give up managing our
0:04:40 wealth as we please indeed
0:04:42 you are such a tolerant sensible man
0:04:45 he said
0:04:47 o my people consider if i stand on a
0:04:50 clear proof from my lord
0:04:53 and he has blessed me with a good
0:04:54 provision from him
0:04:56 i do not want to do
0:04:58 what i am forbidding you from
0:05:00 i only intend reform to the best of my
0:05:03 ability and this is the key point
0:05:05 my success comes only through allah in
0:05:09 him i trust and to him
0:05:12 i turn so brothers and sisters we should
0:05:14 be like
0:05:16 that we understand and affirm and
0:05:19 internalize and actualize
0:05:22 that success
0:05:23 is only through allah and we must rely
0:05:26 and trust in allah alone so brothers and
0:05:29 sisters let me tie all of this together
0:05:32 with an example as you're aware our
0:05:34 vision at sapience institute is a world
0:05:36 that receives the message of islam and
0:05:39 our strategic focus is that us as a team
0:05:41 we as a team defend and share islam
0:05:44 academically and intellectually and
0:05:47 significantly we develop create and
0:05:49 empower others to do so the same
0:05:53 now this will involve
0:05:54 downward training
0:05:56 down to influentials debates and
0:05:58 dialogues videos essays books and
0:06:02 research and much more so as you can see
0:06:05 these actions are derived from our
0:06:07 strategic focus and we are focused on
0:06:09 these actions because we believe they
0:06:11 will necessarily lead to the fulfillment
0:06:14 of our vision
0:06:16 now let me give you a prophetic example
0:06:19 and once again brothers and sisters we
0:06:21 are inspired by the prophet muhammed
0:06:25 because when you read his history you
0:06:27 will understand that he had a strategic
0:06:30 focus he had a focus and what was that
0:06:34 focus
0:06:35 generally speaking his main focus was to
0:06:38 convey islam in other words that there
0:06:40 is no deity worthy of worship except
0:06:42 allah
0:06:44 and that conveying of islam was
0:06:46 particularly being conveyed to the
0:06:49 people of influence in other words the
0:06:51 tribal leaders and and this is very
0:06:53 significant he developed the sahaba the
0:06:56 companions to lead and spread islam
0:07:00 now
0:07:02 in his book leadership lessons from the
0:07:04 life of rasulallah
0:07:08 summarizes
0:07:09 a key part of the prophets sallallahu
0:07:12 alaihi wasallam's
0:07:14 strategic focus which is developing the
0:07:16 sahaba
0:07:17 he writes
0:07:19 no goal can be achieved by anyone alone
0:07:22 no matter how talented or powerful or
0:07:24 wealthy that person may be
0:07:26 the biggest challenge for any leader
0:07:28 indeed the single factor which can mean
0:07:30 success or failure of his mission
0:07:33 is his ability to inspire others to
0:07:35 follow him and commit time energy wealth
0:07:39 and talent for the achievement of his
0:07:42 goal
0:07:43 the key to achieving this attention and
0:07:45 commitment of people does not lie in
0:07:47 paying money or granting favors or
0:07:49 making inspiring speeches by ensuring
0:07:52 how much you really love and care for
0:07:54 your followers and then he continues
0:07:57 a combination of picking the right
0:07:58 people
0:07:59 setting a high personal example and
0:08:02 intensive hands-on training
0:08:06 created not one but a set of leaders who
0:08:09 were able to take his message forward
0:08:11 long after he passed away
0:08:14 and this is so true brothers and sisters
0:08:17 and think about this it's so inspiring
0:08:20 eighty years
0:08:21 after the death of the prophet salallahu
0:08:23 alaihi wasallam where were the muslims
0:08:26 where were we we were in multan in
0:08:28 pakistan and we were in spain spreading
0:08:31 the peace justice and mercy of islam
0:08:34 across the world and what's very
0:08:35 inspiring brothers and sisters is how
0:08:38 this played out in history
0:08:40 eighty years after the death of the
0:08:42 prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
0:08:45 where were the muslims where were we we
0:08:47 were in multan in pakistan and we were
0:08:50 in spain spreading the peace justice and
0:08:52 mess of islam all around the world
0:08:54 but it was 82 years after the death of
0:08:57 the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
0:09:00 that the muslims decided to fix the
0:09:03 mosque of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
0:09:06 wasallam because it was leaking water
0:09:10 so to conclude brothers and sisters
0:09:13 have a strategic focus necessity
0:09:16 achieves
0:09:17 have a set of actions or domains of
0:09:20 activity that would necessarily lead to
0:09:23 the fulfillment of your vision it's not
0:09:25 just good having a vision having a goal
0:09:28 you need to have a plan of action how to
0:09:31 achieve your goal
0:09:33 follow the prophetic way of having a
0:09:36 strategic focused brothers and sisters
0:09:39 so to end brothers and sisters i would
0:09:41 like to remind you again that we're
0:09:42 experiencing the blessed days of
0:09:44 dulhidja
0:09:45 and remember remember
0:09:48 the deeds performed during these days
0:09:52 are more rewardable than the deeds
0:09:54 performed during the days of ramadan
0:09:58 so we ask you to support our strategic
0:10:00 focus which is
0:10:03 defending and sharing islam academically
0:10:05 and intellectually and developing
0:10:07 empowering and creating others to be
0:10:09 able to do so as well
0:10:12 please brothers and sisters donate
0:10:14 generously click the button or the link
0:10:17 below and donate now