Leadership Qualities Amongst The Companions - Dr Ahsan Hanif

Leadership Qualities Amongst The Companions

Each one of them was a leader in and of his own way. In his own right, he was a leader. Each and every single one of them possessed a strong character and personality. Each one of them, in whatever field they chose, in whatever they did, they excelled.

And they became an example, not only for their own people at that time, but for generations to come. And this is something unique about that generation. The companions, رضي الله عنهم, and it is due to the way that the Prophet ﷺ educated and nurtured them.

You look amongst them and you'll find leaders, people who were leaders in the conventional sense, leaders and rulers. And then you'll find others who were leaders militarily, military leaders, strategic leaders. And then from amongst them you'll find people who were leaders in knowledge, and leaders in taqwa and piety and righteousness, leaders in generosity, leaders in iman, in every single sphere of life, leaders in administration, building an empire, and so on and so forth.

Each and every single one of them was a leader in and of his own way. But what's amazing is that the Prophet ﷺ, in the way that he educated and nurtured his companions, some of them who were very young, just as we have many young brothers and sisters in the masjid today, very young people, very young Muslims at the time. Others were in their teens, others in their twenties, others in middle age, others old people.

All of them became leaders in their own right. But the Prophet ﷺ wouldn't pick one of them and say, come for some career counseling. Let us sit together and draw up a plan. What do you want to do in ten years? What's your twenty year vision? What do you want to be when you grow up? You don't find a single narration in the books of hadith that the Prophet ﷺ had such a conversation with his companions. Didn't plot out their life for them. Didn't give them career goals.

Yet still each and every single one of them excelled in their own right. And it's not because he gave them this type of career counseling per se, but rather it is because of the way that he nurtured them generally. The way that the Prophet ﷺ would encourage his companions.

A Personal Connection with Allah

He would encourage them to develop a personal connection with Allah. And that is different for each and every single person. The way that you have a personal connection with Allah is different to the way that I will have that personal connection with Allah.

Your acts of worship that you do will be different to my acts of worship. And that's why when that man came to Imam Malik rahimahullah, and he said to him, you spend too much time teaching and giving knowledge. You should focus more on your own worship. And so Imam Malik rahimahullah replied, each one should do what he finds easiest. For some people, it may be giving more charity. For others, it is to pray more. For others, it is to recite the Qur'an more. For others, it is to seek knowledge. And each one of us tries to do all of this to the best of our ability. But we excel in some fields over others.

And so the Prophet ﷺ would encourage his companions to develop this personal connection with Allah. And then he would put a support structure around them. The way that their parents dealt with them. Those who had Muslim parents from amongst them. The way that the Muslim wife would deal with her husband, and the Muslim husband would deal with his wife. The way that the children would deal with their parents, and deal with the elders in their community. The way that the companions would be like a jigsaw, meshing with one another, interconnecting with one another, supporting one another. And so the Prophet ﷺ developed this culture of support.

Where one of the companions, if he made an error, he made a mistake, he wouldn't be just outcasted from his community. But everyone makes mistakes. And especially young people, if you give them that type of responsibility, and you want them to become leaders, and you try to nurture them, no doubt they will make mistakes. That's something you have to expect, something you have to plan for. And so when one of them would make a mistake, the Prophet ﷺ would correct him, sometimes even rebuke him. But then he would give him another opportunity. Because it's a process. This is how they will become inspirational leaders.

When you look at any of those companions, you find that the Prophet ﷺ stressed to them, that their goal and objective in this life should be the pleasure of Allah. And if you work for pleasing Allah, then whatever course in life you choose, Allah will bless you within that course of life. So these are the things that the Prophet ﷺ placed around them. So that each and every single one of them would flourish into becoming a leader.

And we don't have the time, nor the resources, nor the ability, to go into detail concerning all of these great companions. But if you were to start from Abu Bakr, and then work your way down to all of the companions, each one of them could become a khutbah or a lecture in and of himself. Men and women, old and young, poor and rich. This type of nurturing didn't have prejudice, it didn't have bias, it didn't have favor one group of people over another, the Arabs over the non-Arabs, the poor over the rich or vice versa. It was something which all of the companions benefited from.

Abdullah ibn Umar: A Leader in His Own Right

And so in today's khutbah, I want to give you one example of this. From one companion, the life of one companion of our Prophet ﷺ. And this companion during the time of the Prophet ﷺ was young in age. When the Prophet ﷺ died, he was in his early 20s. No more than 21 or 22 years old. That's when the Prophet ﷺ died. So for the majority of the life of the Prophet ﷺ, this companion was a young boy or a teenager. The Prophet ﷺ with this companion, he didn't give him career counseling, didn't sit with him and ask him what he planned to do with his life, didn't ask him what profession he wanted to go into, but he put amongst him and around the other companions that support structure. Building this mindset of having this connection with Allah, of focusing on the pleasure of Allah, of following the Qur'an and the Sunnah. And each and every single one of them, including this companion, became a great leader.

This companion was the son of another great companion. The companion is Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما. Not only is he an illustrious and great companion, but his father was the second greatest companion ever. Imagine how the Prophet ﷺ would treat Umar and Abu Bakr and Uthman and Ali, the most senior of the companions. Yet he wouldn't neglect the likes of Ibn Umar and Ibn Abbas and Anas ibn Malik, and these companions who were just young boys at that time.

When the Prophet ﷺ wanted to go and fight in the Battle of Uhud, Ibn Umar came out so that he could go and participate in the battle. And he was 14 years old according to himself in Sahih al-Bukhari. 14 years old at that time. And the Prophet ﷺ said to him, No, go back, you're too young. So then in the following year in the Battle of the Trench, the Battle of the Khandaq, he again came out to present himself for participation in that battle. And then the Prophet ﷺ, at the age of 15, he allowed him to do so. Meaning he was a young companion. The Prophet ﷺ didn't consider him old enough, mature enough, to participate in the likes of the Battle of Badr and Uhud. But within that short space of time, and in the time and the lives of the Khulafa, he became one of the greatest companions.

And if you were to ask the average Muslim to name you the companions that he knows of, the names that he's heard, Abdullah ibn Umar would be from amongst them, رضي الله عنهما. So what did the Prophet ﷺ do with this man who at that time was a young boy?

A Role Model to Look Up To

The first thing that the companions had, رضي الله عنهم, collectively, and Ibn Umar as well, was that they had this role model within their community. They had the Prophet ﷺ that they could look up to. And when he wasn't around, they had the likes of Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman and Ali, رضي الله عنهم. These illustrious companions that they would look up to, that they would try to impress, that they would try to emulate and follow in their footsteps.

Abdullah ibn Umar, in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, he mentions concerning himself, he says, that the people at the time of the Prophet ﷺ, if one of them saw a dream, he would come and he would narrate that dream to the Prophet ﷺ. And then the Prophet ﷺ would interpret his dream for him. So he says about himself, that I too wished that one night I would see a dream, just so I could go and mention this to the Prophet ﷺ. Look at his love, his attachment, his connection to the Prophet ﷺ. He wants to see a dream, just so he can go and speak to the Prophet ﷺ.

And he said, during that time, in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, I would often sleep in the masjid. I would often spend the night sleeping in the masjid. So he says, one night I saw a dream. A dream that two angels came, and each one of them took me by my arm. And they took me to a well and a pit of fire, raging fire. And within that fire I saw people that I recognized. But that fire was covered. It was like a well that had been covered, and underneath it was fire, flames of fire. And so when I saw this, I became scared. And I began to say:

I seek refuge in Allah from this fire.

And as this was going on, a third angel came. And he said to me, Oh Abdullah ibn Umar, why are you so scared? And then I woke up. This is the dream that he saw, رضي الله عنهما. So he went to his sister Hafsa, رضي الله عنها, the mother of the believers, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ. And he said to her, Oh Hafsa, go and tell the Prophet ﷺ about this dream that I saw. And so she did so. And the Prophet ﷺ said:

What a blessed righteous man is Abdullah, if only he stood to pray in the night. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1121; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2479)

If only he prayed qiyam al-layl, the tahajjud prayer. What a great righteous man this is. The narrator says, by Allah, after that day, Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما never left a night except that the majority of it would be spent in prayer. They would say concerning him that when he would come upon the night, he would stay awake in prayer. And then he would rest and he would sleep such a light sleep, he would be disturbed by the simplest of sounds. And then he would wake up and he would pray again. And then again he would sleep this light type of sleep. And again he would wake up to pray and this is how he spent his night.

Look at this beautiful incident about how the Prophet ﷺ is nurturing this righteous companion to develop this personal connection with Allah. When we have our young brothers and sisters, our children, our siblings, our nephews, our nieces, what is the first priority that we want for them? Often it's things like education, making sure they make the right career choice, making sure that they're working on their grades, that they're doing their homework, these types of issues. But the Prophet ﷺ, his primary focus was always that child, that young person, that Muslim, he develops a connection with Allah.

Look at how Ibn Umar at this young age, he's spending his time in the masjid. He's even sleeping the night in the masjid. His parents are allowing him to go and sleep at the masjid. He has this connection with the masjid. And then the Prophet ﷺ doesn't want him to just stop there, but he wants him to continue. He wants him to go and do more. And so the Prophet ﷺ tells him to stand the night in prayer.

A Leader of Taqwa and Knowledge — Not Just Convention

Now his father Umar ibn al-Khattab was a great, illustrious companion. Everyone knows the status of Umar. And Umar was a leader, one of the greatest leaders of the Muslims. And Abdullah ibn Umar, his son, was also a great leader. But he wasn't a leader like his father. He wasn't a military leader. He didn't become a ruler of the Muslims. He wasn't an administrative leader. But he was a leader in his own right. A leader of knowledge. A leader of taqwa. A leader of generosity. These are the things that Abdullah ibn Umar became a leader in. And even when they told him that he should become the leader, the ruler of the Muslims. When they told him to become the khalifa, one of the khalifas would say, go and become the governor of this land. He would say, no. This isn't something which I want. Leave me away from these issues. Because he wanted to be a leader in something else.

The Lesson of Loving Allah and His Messenger Above All

The Prophet ﷺ — not only did he learn from him, but he learned from his father. Again, the support structures around him. His father, رضي الله عنه, taught him a very valuable lesson when he was a young boy. And that is that everything that he does should be in line with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. And the love for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ should be given priority over everything else.

Abdullah ibn Umar noticed that his father, his own father, his blood father, would give preference to another of the companions over him. Imagine your child finding that you give preference to another boy from amongst the Muslim community. You give him more preference than your own son. How would he feel? How would he make his father feel? Abdullah ibn Umar said to his father, I saw that you give more preference to Usama ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه than you do to me. And so Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه replied, he said, yes, oh my son. Yes, I give him more preference than I give you. Because by Allah, the Prophet ﷺ loved his father, Zayd, more than he loved your father. And he loved his son, Usama, more than he loved your father's son — meaning you, oh Abdullah.

Look at this beautiful, simple yet powerful statement. Showing and teaching, nurturing his son that the love of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ should be foremost. Umar رضي الله عنه isn't giving preference to this other child, this other man, this other boy, simply because he doesn't love his own son. It's not because he's trying to get him married to his daughter. It's not because he wants to go into a business dealing with him. It's because Allah loved him. Allah's Prophet ﷺ loved his father and he loved the son. Usama ibn Zayd was one of the closest people to the Prophet ﷺ.

And so this incident and incidents like this, they established within Ibn Umar not a hatred for his father, but an understanding of the true, correct understanding of this religion. And so Ibn Umar, not only then did he go and tread upon that methodology laid down by his father, but he became one of the companions that was the strictest, most ardent ones that followed the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Aisha رضي الله عنها would say, you won't find anyone that follows the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ more so than Abdullah ibn Umar. Even the companions acknowledged this.

Look at how he was nurtured — he was young at the time of the death of the Prophet ﷺ. But when he would travel, he would take the same route that the Prophet ﷺ took. And he would rest at the same tree that the Prophet ﷺ rested under. He would even go and water that tree to make sure that the tree doesn't die so he could continue to do so. Wherever he would go, he would often relieve himself in the same place where the Prophet ﷺ would relieve himself. And in one incident on one journey, the Prophet ﷺ was going to a place and his camel became confused. And so the camel began to go round and round twice, and then it continued upon its course. When Abdullah ibn Umar later came to that same area, even though it was something which just happened naturally, he made his camel go round twice and then follow that same direction. All out of love of the Prophet ﷺ.

This is how the Prophet ﷺ and his companions nurtured leaders. Attachment to Allah. Loving first and foremost Allah and His Prophet ﷺ. And if someone has these two things, I ask you, what then can stop them in the dunya? Whatever path they choose, whatever they do, if they have that strong connection with Allah and that love of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ, then Allah will decree for them success in this life and in the next.

Ambition, Knowledge, and Not Being Shy of Mistakes

The Prophet ﷺ and his father Umar رضي الله عنه also encouraged him to seek knowledge, to learn, to have ambition, not to be shy of making mistakes, not to be shy at all when it came to seeking knowledge and speaking the truth.

Everyone's heard of that famous hadith of the Prophet ﷺ when he sat with his companions one day. And he said, indeed from amongst the trees there is a tree that its leaves don't fall and its example is like the example of the Muslim. Which tree am I talking about? And so the companions began to think of the different trees, the trees of the desert, the trees that they could think of. And Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه, he thought to himself, I know this tree. It is the date palm tree. But he says in the narration that I was too shy to say this to the Prophet ﷺ. Because within that same sitting and gathering, there were many senior companions, people older, more senior, more respected. So I stayed quiet. And then when no one got the answer, the Prophet ﷺ said, indeed it is the date palm tree.

"Indeed from among the trees there is a tree whose leaves do not fall, and it is like the Muslim — so tell me, what is it?" (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 61; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2811)

So Abdullah ibn Umar said that I went back to my father Umar and I told him this story. And I told him I knew the answer, but shyness stopped me from speaking. And so Umar said, oh my son, don't ever do so again. Don't ever do so again. By Allah, had you answered, it would have been more beloved to me than anything else.

Look at how the Prophet ﷺ is challenging these companions, getting them to think, not to be shy, to learn, to understand. And look at how Umar رضي الله عنه wants his son to be ambitious. Yes, in that sitting there were companions older, more knowledgeable, more pious, people who were more senior. But if you know the answer, then don't be shy. And if you made a mistake, then don't be shy of making that mistake, of having an error, but go back and try again. This is how these companions became great scholars of Islam.

And Abdullah ibn Umar, he took this lesson. And not only did he become a great scholar of Islam, he was one of the six most prolific narrators of hadith. Over 2,600 hadith that we have come from the narration of Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه. One of the most knowledgeable of the companions. The khalifas of the time of the Umayyad dynasty would say to their children, if you want to see honor, then go and look at Abdullah ibn Umar. This man who was poor, he wasn't a ruler, he wasn't a military leader, he wasn't a warrior, but he was a scholar. They would say, if you want to see honor, then go and see Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنه.

So the Prophet ﷺ encouraged not only that they should have a personal connection, not only that they should love Allah and His Prophet ﷺ, but that they should strive for excellence in that which they do. That they shouldn't be shy of taking on responsibility. They shouldn't be shy of making mistakes and errors. And often we as parents and elders, we belittle our young people, our young brothers and sisters, when they make an error. When we give them a task and they do it wrong. When we give them responsibility and they fail. And instead of understanding and helping them, we normally belittle them. But look at how the Prophet ﷺ was able to nurture these young companions. So that when the time came, and when the likes of Abu Bakr, and Umar, and Uthman, and Ali had passed away, they would take up the reins for the Muslim Ummah.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Detachment from the Dunya

One of the other valuable lessons that Abdullah ibn Umar رضي الله عنهما learnt from the Prophet ﷺ and from his own father Umar رضي الله عنه, was that you shouldn't have an attachment to the dunya. The dunya comes and it goes. Money comes and it goes. And success is only with Allah. This was a lesson that he learnt at a young age.

When everyone knows the famous story of Umar رضي الله عنه who came to the Prophet ﷺ and he gave him half of his wealth. Half of his wealth fi sabilillah, for the sake of Allah. And so the Prophet ﷺ said to Umar, what have you left for your family? And Umar said, I have left the other half. Meaning half is for you and half is for my family.

Abdullah ibn Umar learnt this lesson. And he was one of the most generous companions. Didn't care about money and wealth. He was so generous that his own slaves, the people that were his slaves, knew of his generosity. And so they would often stand and go to the masjid. And they would often want him to see them in the masjid so that he would think that they were righteous and then he would free them. He would free someone simply because he saw him as a person that goes to the masjid.

And so someone said to Abdullah ibn Umar, these people are deceiving you. They don't really want to go to the masjid. They're deceiving you. And so Abdullah ibn Umar would say, if they're deceiving me by using Allah, then I will be deceived. I am happy to be deceived if they're using Allah to deceive me. And so Abdullah ibn Umar became one of the greatest, most generous companions of the Prophet ﷺ.

He wouldn't come and break his fast. He wouldn't make iftar unless there were poor people sitting with him. And if he came to his house and he found that his family were there alone, not a single poor person, he would say to them, where are the fuqara? Where are the poor and the needy? And they would say, we didn't have time to invite anyone today. So he would say to them, you guys eat. And he would take some food and he would go and find the poor companions and the poor people and the poor Muslims, and then he would break his fast with them.

One of the most generous companions, رضي الله عنهم. So Abdullah ibn Umar was a leader in knowledge — one of the most knowledgeable companions. A leader in ibadah — one of the companions who used to worship the most. A leader in generosity. A leader in iman and in taqwa. Abdullah ibn Umar wasn't a conventional leader. Nor were all of the companions conventional leaders. But the Prophet ﷺ allowed them to become leaders in their own right.

A Call to Revive This Methodology

So my dear brothers and sisters, today unfortunately we don't have many leaders amongst the Muslim community. We don't see many aspiring leaders. We don't see many of our young brothers and sisters, and even amongst our elders and ourselves, those people who are leaders. People who are leaders in generosity. Leaders in knowledge. Leaders in taqwa. Leaders in righteousness. Examples for the community. And it is because we don't follow this methodology laid out by our Prophet ﷺ.

We don't develop our personal connection with Allah. And we don't encourage our children to develop that connection. We don't teach them about putting Allah and His Prophet ﷺ at the forefront. That they should be our foremost priority. The pleasure of Allah. We don't encourage them to take responsibility. We don't encourage them to make mistakes and that it's okay to sometimes make mistakes if you learn from your mistakes. We don't encourage them to not be attached to the dunya, but rather to attach themselves to Allah and to the Last Day and to Yawm al-Qiyamah and the Hereafter.

So these are the things that we need to reinvigorate. These are the things that we need to resuscitate amongst our community. So that insha'Allah we will have amongst this community as well those individuals, men and women, old and young, poor and rich, who will be leaders insha'Allah ta'ala.