The Art of Leading Without Sacrificing Your Morals | Surah Kahf Ep6

The Art of Leading Without Sacrificing Your Morals | Surah Kahf Ep. 6

Is it a bad thing for Muslims to become powerful? For Muslims to become wealthy? For Muslims to become influential? No, it's not a bad thing. And we should aspire to this. Because the Prophet ﷺ told us:

How beautiful, how great is it for a righteous man to have a lot of wealth. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17096; also reported in Sahih Ibn Hibban)

But the key is he said righteous man — a righteous person. And if you don't have that fear of Allah, you will abuse and misuse what you have.

Power Without Morality: A Lesson from History

The 6th and 9th of August 1945 was the day — the first and the only time — a nuclear bomb was used to annihilate an entire population: the population of the two cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, towards the end of the World War. This abuse of power, this abuse of abilities, of ammunition to kill an entire population, wipe them out in one go — this happened. This happened in our history by people who claim to have been through the enlightenment, people who claim to have been intelligent, people who claim to have studied science and philosophy and mathematics and humanities. But all the study of humanities did not give them any humanity when it came to wiping out an entire population.

The Final Story of Surah al-Kahf: ذو القرنين (Dhul Qarnayn)

In today's story — the last and final story of Surah al-Kahf — we come across, as I said, Surah al-Kahf is about deception. There are four things, four lies that we are told, four things that we dream of achieving, but when we achieve them, we realize it's not what we thought it would be. And one of them, the last of them, is power.

And the story of power is the story of a man by the name of Dhul Qarnayn — according to one translation, "the man of two horns"; according to another, "the man of two centuries." There are different ways to understand his title.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding this man. But one thing I can tell you straight: he is not Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was a polytheist who worshipped multiple gods. He was not a chaste man, was not a righteous man, was not a religious man. So let's just get that out of the way. He is not Alexander the Great.

Who is he? Who is Dhul Qarnayn? Nobody knows. Because Allah didn't tell us. Allah did not tell us the time, the place, the attire, the culture, the language — because those details don't matter. Allah wants us to focus on the actual message.

What Allah Tells Us About Dhul Qarnayn

What is Dhul Qarnayn's story? The first thing Allah tells us about him:

We gave him power and stability on this earth, and we gave him the ability to do everything — wealth, industry, ammunition, anything he wanted, he could get it done.

The Three Journeys of Dhul Qarnayn

In this story of Dhul Qarnayn, we learn about three travels, three conquests. The first: he makes a trip to the west — towards the west of this earth. As he travels to the west, Allah gives him the ability to conquer, to get power over a group of people, over a nation of people. And then Allah says to him:

You can either punish these people or you can look after them. You can either torment them or you can do good to them. What are you going to do?

The Question of Power

This is the question of power. You are a father — now you have children. Your child has done something wrong. Suddenly you have a choice: I can either punish the child, torment the child, hurt the child, abuse the child — or I can explain it to them. I can look after them. I can be gentle with them.

I have a spouse. I'm angry today. Either I can abuse the spouse, manipulate the spouse, hurt the spouse, scar this spouse forever — or I can live well with this spouse. I can have a deep relationship. I can love this spouse. I can look after them.

The challenge of power is that you have choice. You have two choices: you can abuse your power, or you can utilize it for the sake of Allah. This is the choice that Allah gives Dhul Qarnayn. You have power over an entire nation of people. If you want, tomorrow you can wipe them out. Or if you want, you can treat them well.

Power exposes who we really are. Somebody is brilliant — they're stacking shelves in a shop. Every day they get a carton, milk bottles, they put them in the fridge — one, two, three, four. Ad-dunya mashia, as they say in Egypt — everything is good, no problems. Suddenly one day they become the store manager. Suddenly they find themselves: I have power. If I want, I can get someone in trouble. If I want, I can promote someone. So they go to their fellow friend from the same country, from the same culture, somebody they're close with, and give them a promotion, give them a pay raise — because I can. And they go to someone they never liked from day one, never got along with — and they fire them. Injustice.

Power is alluring. Power is intoxicating. Power is a drug. Power can make you drunk. Because the moment you taste it, you want more of it. You want the next set of power, the next status, the next position, the next thing that will allow you to have more control over people, things, resources — et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Dhul Qarnayn's Principles: Justice and Fairness

Allah gives Dhul Qarnayn this choice — this is the choice that power gives you. You can do what you want with what you have under your control. But Dhul Qarnayn sets out his principles. Because power is not a bad thing, influence is not a bad thing — if you have the right principles.

What are Dhul Qarnayn's principles? This nation is now under my control. If somebody does something wrong, I will punish them — and then that punishment doesn't end here; this person will then go back to Allah and get another punishment. But if somebody in this nation is good, does good deeds and believes, I will treat them well. They will get rewarded. I will reward good and I will punish bad. Simple policy. I will be fair. I will be just.

This is the test of power. One day the Prophet ﷺ is dividing the spoils of war — you know, after a battle when the enemy flees, you get a lot of things, and he's dividing them fairly amongst his companions. And one Bedouin comes to him and says: "O Muhammad, be fair. Be just." He responded: "What's wrong with you? If I am not fair, then who can be fair? I am the man who has come to teach you how to be fair and just."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3138; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1063)

It's very important as a leader — as a father, as a mother, as a store manager, in anything you have control over, smallest or largest. You're a teacher in a classroom. You're a taxi driver. You're a bricklayer. You have some responsibility. You have to be fair. You have to be honest. You have to have values and principles. Otherwise you abuse what you have in your control.

The Third Journey: Between Two Barriers

He makes his policy clear. Then Dhul Qarnayn goes on another trip — conquers another nation. West, then he goes to the east. Then the third trip is between two barriers. We don't know what that means — is it between two land masses? Between two mountains? We don't know.

He comes across another nation. And this nation is very backward, very behind — they can't even understand what he's saying. They don't speak the same language as him. There is a language barrier. And then they ask him: can you please make for us a barrier?

They say: look, you're a big man. You have a big army. You have big resources. Can you make for us a wall — between us and Ya'juj and Ma'juj? We'll pay you for it.

Dhul Qarnayn's Response: Cooperation Over Compensation

He says: don't pay me. What Allah has given me in resource and strength — that's more important than what you can give me. Allah gave it to me. You see that? The first thing: when there is power, when you have control, when you have influence, when you have something — first, remember it came from Allah.

He says: help me. Let's work together. This is the other thing — cooperation. Let's work together and we will make a great barrier between you and these people who are threatening you, Ya'juj and Ma'juj. And then he works with them.

The Test of Metal: Destruction or Construction?

He says: give me the iron. Allah — metal — Allah has a whole surah in the Quran named after metal: Surah al-Hadid. Allah sent metal down as a resource to us. These elements, these ores — aluminium, steel — Allah sent them down. He created them within the earth, and He said: there are two things you can do with this metal. You can create a lot of destruction — you can carpet bomb Gaza, you can create a nuclear bomb, you can finish an entire nation. Or you can create microphones, mobile phones, good things. And this is the test.

These powerful elements Allah placed inside the earth — from iron to gold to zinc to aluminium to titanium — Allah is saying: you can kill millions of people with it, or you can do something good with it. This is the test of power. What do you do?

So what does Dhul Qarnayn do? He builds a wall — a protective wall for these people. He helps them out even though he doesn't need to. He says: don't pay me, I have enough. Let me help you. This is what power is about — going out of your way to be in the service of others.

The Greatest Test: The Moment of Accomplishment

After he's done everything, he stands back and he admires his accomplishment. You know, sometimes — let's say once in a while when a man cooks in the kitchen and, Alhamdulillah, the food is edible — he stands back and says: wow, look what I have done. Somebody is a mechanic; they finish repairing the car, they add some new body pieces, trim the wheels, they stand back — they feel a sense of accomplishment. I've done something. You're a teacher, you're a taxi driver, you're a bricklayer, you're a plumber — it doesn't matter. When you do something with your power, with your energy, with your ability, you stand back and say: I've done a good job.

This is the test. This moment. This is when Dhul Qarnayn says:

He didn't say: look at my handiwork, I've done a fab job. He says: this is from Allah's mercy. When Allah's promise comes, He will destroy this. Everything I made, everything under my power, everything under my control — I shouldn't get deceived by it. I shouldn't buy into the lie. I shouldn't get attached to it. One day it will be nothing. One day it will be gone. And Allah's promise always comes true.

A Leader Who Fears Allah: The Model We Need

This is a positive example — the example of a leader who fears Allah, and how in need we are of such leaders within the Muslim Ummah. A leader who lives by principle and policy, who lives by justice and fairness, who helps the weak, supports the needy, uses their power and resources to build — not to destroy; to serve — not to annihilate.

Power gives you choice. But as somebody said: with great power comes great responsibility.

Conclusion: Be Righteous in What You Have Been Given

Is it a bad thing for Muslims to become powerful, for Muslims to become wealthy, for Muslims to become influential? No, it's not a bad thing. And we should aspire to this — because the Prophet ﷺ told us: how beautiful, how great is it for a righteous man to have a lot of wealth. But the key is he said righteous man — a righteous person. And if you don't have that fear of Allah, you will abuse and misuse what you have.

August 1945 — we learned the lesson from humanity that you could know as much philosophy as you want, as many languages as you like, as much advancement in science and maths and all of this stuff that we call progression, advanced civilization — but you can be so backward in your morals that you will kill an entire nation with one button. We learned this lesson.

The most advanced nation on earth is the nation who fear Allah and who live by their principles. And whether you give them something small or something large, they are careful. We don't want to abuse what we have under our control.

This is a message to every masjid committee member, every father, every mother, every teacher, every taxi driver, every bricklayer, every scientist — it doesn't matter who you are. You have some influence, you have some power — be careful. There will come a day when Allah will ask you about it. Don't be deceived by it. Don't take the drug. Don't get intoxicated. Be responsible. Otherwise, there will come a day when you will pay the price of what you did.