Decision by Shura – 1

Auto-generated transcript:My brothers and sisters, my brother and dear friend from Durban, Al-Pahla Institute, Dr. Zafar Ahmad asked me a question and before I go further and tell you what his question is and answer the question inshallah let me submit you that I dearly welcome this and especially my request to those who listen to these Fajr Reminders khatiras regularly do send me your questions don't send me fiqh questions I will not answer them I'm not a mufti ask your local mufti for any advice on the from a fiqh perspective but ask me questions about application of Islam this helps me to think this helped me to reflect it helps me also to try to share with you my thoughts on that now his question is can you give us some insights on decision making from an Islamic perspective using the shura concept the beauty of our religion is Alhamdulillah that there is every single thing that we face in life everything in every single dilemma question every single problem every single blessing that we face in life and we are searching for answers the answers are in the kalam of Allah and in the teaching of Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi salam there is nothing that has been missed out every single thing is there and it's up to us to do it and I'm very grateful to you for that and I'm very grateful to you for us to search for those answers in the Quran and in the Sunnah as far as the issue of decision-making and the issue of Shura which is consultation so we are talking here about consultative decision making we're not talking about a one-man show we are not talking about dictatorial way of leadership we are talking about consultative decision-making Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah Ashura Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala said Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala said Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala said do you know pyramid is going to be broken in ten twenty five forms and limits is no longer and I'm trying to read you to present in this 해서 those SealPs were carefully created and really whatever I legs feelings of Erik wants to be elevated to theaning evil which means this situation rise of making peace with God here late to keep us thelam in a shaikh hedon recruiting wallazine S Sepia Woo firearms not канал Indian well elsewhere KO main homίο so among we're not a colon call until several communities of credit glaubeIS one of the sugar people admitted policies the 48 of those are telling me tomorrow dr. Prabhu develop this sharing throw away mynesistesta job brow the local obs McCarthy here there are no other RF Allah isally in Allah's of towards articulating our desir that has read within three أيolian waters Because the orthodox neighborhood 25 of their They respond to the call of their Rabb and are constant in prayer. Wa aqamu salat. They have, they don't just pray, they don't just read Salat or make Salat or do Salat. They establish Salat. Wa aqamu salat. Wa amruhum shura baynahum. And whose rule in all matters of common concern is consultation among themselves. These are people who decide based on consultation. Wa mimmaa razaqnaahum yunfiqoon. And who spend on others from what we have provided them. So Allah is saying these are people who respond to their Rabb who establish prayer, who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation and who spend and donate from what we have provided for them. These are the qualities of the believers. These are the qualities of the believers. These are the qualities of people who Allah loves. So to make decisions by Shura is very much a part of Islam. Now remember, this is also what Allah asked Rasool Allah to do. To make Shura with the people. To consult with the people. Now let's think about this and say, well why on earth would this be? Why is there a wennab, the service which Guru Haheed alai his manipulating hands on , becauseengage that you are willing to listen to them? I mean, you've mentioned certain Najwa I mean? No, no, listen to someone. You take me to another He says, you've seen some dua where I say to the Muslims who are hearing about it then you do that. Um, you see, there was this tape of somebody emphaticallyassert peaceful aaya, deceitful, or misd100 things is길봐 And after reading it, it's like asking who I have to ask, they were telling eachother. They're Faith is like that No one is God, but if I supplicate then is an announce a мн! Where they would be under preacher, Lord has said in personality of his as one, that me may not pay this amount. look for you know for advice on something where I know that I know the best what I know is superior to what anyone else can possibly tell me because I am closer to the situation I am more deeply involved in it I am more knowledgeable about it why would I listen to anybody else so in the case of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying no no you listen to them you take them into confidence you consult with them even though he is the person with the best information with the best guidance because he is receiving Wahi nobody else is receiving Wahi despite that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying Shura Bainahum consult with them they have these are people who consult among themselves this consultation right so he is saying make consultation with them the biggest benefit of Shura and I will go into the method and so on the biggest benefit of Shura is it draws people together it builds teams it creates friendships it builds adherence and contrary to what you might think when there is conflict in a Shura when there is disagreement in a Shura it actually makes people closer to one another than they would have been had there been no disagreement this might sound contrary it might sound you know somehow impossible but it is not impossible but it is not I have done Shura with people with communist union leaders I have done Shura with people of multiple religions I have done Shura with people from all kinds of places and believe me it is the most powerful way of building teams and as I said if there is disagreement it is even better because disagreement is a sign of the community and it is a sign of the commitment of people the one who is not committed will say okay do whatever you want I don't care right you may not say it in so many words but that's his attitude the one who disagrees is investing the one who disagrees is sticking out his neck the one who disagrees is saying I'm interested enough in the outcome to disagree with you and to try to guide you in a way which I think is the correct way so appreciate those who disagree number one number two number first and first two and foremost don't denigrate them don't abuse them don't talk doubt to them don't shout them down don't force them to agree with you these are the people who are truly valuable people who will disagree with you the problem of especially the Muslim problem is with how we disagree it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable and that is what we call adab al-ikhtilaf the the etiquette of disagreement the manners of disagreement this is so critically important we need to learn that I remember doing a lecture and a workshop in South Africa many years ago on this alhamdulillah which I believe it was very beneficial I also remember doing a talk on this which where I was part of a platform on which there was Hadmarana Yunus Patel and Hadmarana Sayyed Salman Nadwi and myself and we were in three different places Maulana Salman and Maulana Yusuf and Maulana Yunus were in Durban and I was up in the hills in the Drakensberg and we did this on Radio Islam on the issue of adab al-ikhtilaf it's such a critical important thing I seriously wish that people do this now therefore it is very important to make Shura and it is very important to understand the adab al-ikhtilaf how to disagree and to run this Shura in a way which is beneficial which comes out with decisions which are beneficial to all concerned how can we keep it on track? How can we keep it focused and how can we deal with disagreement so that at the end of this meeting we come out closer friends than we were when we began? That's the purpose. That should be the goal. It should not, the meeting shouldn't disintegrate and then people go off and form their own cliques and their own groups. And then they can't talk to each other and they won't pray behind each other and they have this grouping and that grouping, which is very sad and very tragic that we do this so well among the Muslims. Organizations which have been together for, you know, sometimes for decades and sometimes a century maybe, split over something which is entirely solvable, which is entirely, completely unnecessary. And the only reason that split happens is because of personal egos and because we don't want to listen to an opinion which is contrary to our own. So the first and foremost rule when you go into the Shura is to ensure that you do not allow your personal ego to come in the way of good decision making. So before you enter into the Shura, into the Shura meeting, I sometimes suggest to people, put a big, bin, a big, nice garbage bin outside the room and label it ego. And as you walk into it, into the room, tell people, please place your ego inside this, in this bin, right? So symbolically, put your ego into the bin. It should be trashed. So here is an opportunity to trash it. Trash it, then walk into this room, fearing only Allah , seeking only the pleasure of Allah , seeking only the pleasure of Allah , and inshaAllah, then you will find that when you come out of the room, you will come out with a beautiful decision and you will come out as brothers and sisters to one another. You will come out as close friends and closer friends than you were when you began that discussion. This is a guarantee for me. Do it like this. I don't care how serious your difference of opinion is. I don't care how, you know, volatile, the situation might be.