Ep 249. - How Prophet Muhammad (SAW) Mastered Strategy | Dr. Tareq Al-Suwaidan

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This is probably the most important podcast episode you'll listen to. Dr Tareq Suwaidan offers a masterclass on the seera, the biography of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) – like you've never heard before. The Messenger of Allah was a master strategist – someone who thought carefully about his aims and planned his course of action thoroughly. I promise you, you'll want to watch this episode many times.

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Transcript - This is an AI generated transcript and may not reflect the actual conversation

Introduction

0:00

Most people are cowards. So whoever rules them,  they will accept. At the time of the prophet  

0:06

sallall alaihi wasallam, most of the companions  were under 20. That's amazing. So our hope is in  

0:12

the young generation. I want to today talk about  the strategic aspects of the s or rather how the  

0:18

s teaches us to think strategically as a Muslim  um. So they were surrounding Arabia from all sides  

0:26

except the west which is Ethiopia. So he sends  them there. He needed leaders not only oppressed  

0:32

people. This what we call in strategic planning  plan B. This is probably the most important  

0:37

podcast episode you will listen to. Dr. Tyreek  Sedan offers a masterclass on Bas the biography  

0:44

of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam  like you've never heard it before. We know that  

0:50

in Medina the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam  established what today we could use uh the term  

0:56

a state a government. How much was statethood an  objective of the prophet? So let's analyze this.  

1:03

See, see this is the difference of reading S as a  story or reading SA with an analytical eye. I'm at  

1:11

the prophetic strategy summit here in Koala Lumpa.  The summit is looking to build a global community  

1:16

of Muslim change makers and I'm here with Dr. Tar  Suede Dan. Dr. Taramu allaykumah and welcome back  

1:23

to the thinking Muslim. Thank you for inviting me  and um thank you for the last podcast that I did  

The Prophetic Summit

1:32

with you. I people talk about it all over the  world. Whenever I talk to somebody who doesn't  

1:39

speak Arabic, they tell me we we started knowing  you through the thinking Muslim. So thank you for  

1:46

that. And uh yes we are at the global summit  prophetic summit and it it is really one of  

1:53

the best summits or or conferences that I ever  uh attended in my life really not only for the  

2:00

quality of speakers and uh and uh titles program  but also for the quality of the audience. Yes,  

2:10

the audience have been chosen and uh every  one of them is a leader of a project or  

2:19

um a motivator or a scholar. every one of them  I in in the years that I attended hundreds of  

2:28

uh programs this is the highest level of audience  that I ever had really whether it's in Arabic or  

2:35

any or in English really high and I I know this  because in the last summit and started also on  

2:42

this summit I meet many of them p personally  onetoone and the more I meet the more impressed  

2:49

I am really so let me say something before we  start Yes. Alhamdulillah, I finished more than  

2:55

50 years in da'ah. In in any society, we can  divide the young people into three kinds. Some  

3:05

who are good. Yeah. Some who are bad and those  who are in the middle. The bad are very bad. And  

3:16

they that not only bad but they try to worsen our  situation. And the good is mashallah are really  

3:25

good. Yeah. The way we see the future is that it  is not the middle who determine our future. It  

3:36

is who among these extreme parts which is usually  one 2% only would be able to overcome the other.

3:51

Now if we train these people well they  can overcome the others really easy

4:02

in in more than 50 years of dawa I have never  seen a better generation than the present one  

4:11

that's allah really amazing really I and let  me say something else also I I trained in in  

4:20

the east and the west from Australia to America  and every country almost of the Arab world those  

4:30

who come from the west or live in the west are  the highest among the youth really so you have  

4:39

a duty in your generation and the generation  after that to know this I'm telling you this  

4:46

not not as a motivational speaker I don't do that  I'm I'm talking to you as a trainer of leadersh.  

4:55

You should understand your quality because you  many people don't and don't understand how good  

5:01

they are. And you should understand something  else that you are the leaders. Islam will not  

5:10

come from the west. That is not true. But those  who live in the west, if they can lead the east,  

5:18

then the east will rise. So I hope I hope that  you understand and your generation do understand  

5:26

the the high quality you are in and the high  opportunity that you have and the responsibility  

5:34

that comes with it. So I hope in this message  through you inshallah will reach the world. And  

5:42

uh let me finish with uh two statements that  are statistical. If we can train well 2% of  

5:55

the youth only 2% we will overcome the rest  really and in any civilization in any country  

6:04

in the whole world and this is not by me this is  research and statist statistics around the west  

6:13

if three and a half% of any society rise against  oppression change is will happen without doubt.  

6:28

So many people think that we have a we have to  change the whole society and it's not true. See  

6:35

most people are cowards. So whoever rules them  they will accept. So all you need is 2% that's  

6:45

all. I believe that we have reached close to  one and a half%. So we are not far away from  

6:53

from real change inshallah that would lead  the ummah towards a futurei civilization

7:04

and I want to pose the question to you why should  we keep up with the news media if almost all of it  

New Youth Channel

7:11

is falsehood and disinformation. I think the issue  has less to do with information that's out there   and more how do you interpret that information.  Man is on the religion of his companions. If  

7:19

his companions are those who are interested in  the affairs of the um you will naturally become   a man of the um you'll be able to speak about  Pakistan despite not being Pakistani. You will  

7:27

speak about Kashmir though you're not Kashmir.  I know it because I'm a man of the um because   my network are people of the um the Muslim is  the brother of a Muslim. If he's your brother,  

7:36

you check in on your brother. You ask about  your brother. How many of the youth go and   learn about the history of these places? How do  you know that you're going to live like tomorrow?

7:53

Well, that's really heartening because of  course when we see our situation today,   we often feel that we are in a very very  bleak situation as a Muslim um so it's very  

8:04

uh good to hear from you and very reassuring  to hear that we have a generation that is  

Our worst situation?

8:10

uh inshallah developing something which will bear  fruit uh sometime in the future in I studied in in  

8:16

my study of history. Yeah, this we are not in the  worst situation really. We have been through worse  

8:24

than this so many times in Alandaloo. We were  far worse in the time of the crusaders. We were  

8:34

far worse in the time of the Mogul occupation of  Baghdad. We were far worse. Far worse. Even in the  

8:44

in the new struggles that we have seen. Yeah.  in Algeria. The struggle in Algeria continued  

8:52

for 140 years and they had 1.5 martyrs. But  at the end, if you continue your struggle,  

9:06

you will win. Yeah. So no matter how long it  took, the crusaders, our struggle with them  

9:13

took 200 years, but at the end we prevailed. So  don't don't lose hope. Yeah. Because again, even  

9:24

in the time of crusaders with all their power,  which is the whole power of Europe at that time,  

9:31

at the at the end we prevailed. Even in the time  of the muggles which were the strongest army in  

9:37

the whole world, we prevailed. So we are not  in the worst situation. We have been through  

9:43

worse. Yes. And we prevailed. So wall I have no  doubt that we will prevail because I see young  

9:53

men and women who are determined to revive Islam  and that will happen in so I want to today talk  

Strategy of Seerah

10:00

about uh the strategic aspects of the s or rather  how the s uh uh teaches us to think strategically  

10:09

as as a Muslim um but as you you talk about  the young generation here um recently I did a  

10:15

a very crude study and I I suspect you will pick  holes in my conclusion but very crude study into  

10:21

the average age of the Sahaba at the time of  the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Okay.   So I I I tried to find maybe 30 40 50 Sahaba and  their ages or their rough ages and I put it into  

10:33

chat GTP. Okay. And came up with an average and  the average was surprised me. It was early 20s.  

10:40

uh I'm not sure how accurate it was obviously  not a a scholarly study but I was trying to  

10:45

understand and that really surprised me  that around the prophet sallall alaihi   wasallam these were young men and women these  were not elderly people the elderly were the  

10:54

um uh aberrations possibly rather than the  norm um I suppose my question here is that let  

11:01

me comment on this I did the same study but not  with GBT because of my research on serum Yes. Uh,  

11:09

no. I would say it's younger than that. Really?  Yes. At the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi  

11:15

wasallam, most of the companions were under 20.  Subhan Allah. But do you talk about they were 16  

11:23

17 was 18. Yeah. Uh you talk about see the the the  eldest among them. Yes. Was Abu Bakr who was 38.  

11:35

Yeah. But the next one would be Omar and he was 28  and the rest were younger than that. Younger than  

11:46

20. So if you take the whole average it would be  close to 20 or even less than that. Yeah. So yes,  

11:53

it's a it's a nice study and um there are um this  study has been done by some of Muslim historians,  

12:01

right? And they ended with this  statement which is a famous statement.

12:09

Really all of this is the the companions  of the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam  

12:15

were young. So that's amazing. So our hope is  in the young generation. And so what amazed  

Moulding of Sahabah

12:22

me was um with that context within what 13  years of Mecca and and 10 years of of Medina,  

12:31

these were the same people who were ambassadors  and uh military generals and statesmen and  

12:39

uh governors of of communities. So something  the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam did in  

12:44

Mecca to these very young uh Shabbab really young  Sahaba turned them into international statesmen  

12:52

and people of of quality. uh talk to that please.  What is it that the prophet sallallaihi wasallam  

12:57

did and was it deliberate? First of all,  not all of them became No. Okay. Yeah.

13:05

Small statistics on this. Yes. When  the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam   made Hajj which is four four  months before his death. Yeah.

13:16

Those who made Hajj with him were 114,000.  Really? And these are not all the Muslims.  

13:25

Of course, these were those who made Hajj. Now  statistically we have collected all the names  

13:34

of the Sahabah mentioned anywhere in S in books  of hadith. Even the hadith that is not accepted.  

13:42

And the total number that of all Sahaba that  we know anything about and some of them we  

13:50

know only their names is 2500. Wow. So not  all Sahaba became leaders and so now let's  

13:58

talk those who were in Mecca. Yes. First of all  they were the number was very little in the 13  

14:06

years. Those who accepted Islam were 150 and  83 in Habasha in Ethiopia. So maximum maximum  

14:19

the historians talk about is 300. So you take  300 people. Yeah. And you train them daily for  

14:27

13 years by the best trainer in history. So  what do you expect now? So the rules and the  

14:36

laws and so on that came later on. Yes. But  13 years what were they doing? What I mean  

14:42

there is no Hajj there is no there's no zakat  there's no rulings. There were two things only

14:52

faith and ethics. Yeah. It was the whole thing.  So he taught them that well and they were very  

15:02

ethical, very faithful. when uh Jaffar talks  with a nashi he said tell me about your dean so  

15:10

he takes he talks about Allah and the prophet and  ethics yes so that is short and there's nothing  

15:19

much to teach what did they spend the rest  of their time they spend it with the prophet  

15:26

sallallaihi wasallam not learning but watching  Right. Watching the prophet sallallahu alaihi  

15:37

wasallam was trained to be a leader. By the way,  many people don't know that. Yeah. The best way  

15:44

to train leaders. The best way is from young  age to make them in touch with leaders and to  

15:55

make them watch what leaders do and how do leaders  talk. That is the best way. So I'll let I'll tell  

16:03

you a little story. The prophet sallallahu alaihi  wasallam between the age of six and 8 lived with  

16:12

his grandfather Abdul Muttalib. Now Abdul Mutalib  was the leader of Makkah which was the leader of  

16:21

all the Arabs. After Abdul Muttalib there was  a dispute who will lead Makkah and they did not  

16:28

agree. M but at the time of Abd was the one. So  he was leading Makkah he had 10 children 10 boys  

16:38

six girls. The 10 boys one of them died which  was the father of the prophet sallallahu alaihi  

16:44

wasallam. So nine so they made a custom that at  that time there was no masid that's just alaba  

16:51

and and empty space around it. And by the way,  we did this when we were young because it's so  

16:59

hot and there's no air condition and so we wait  until before m Yeah. And then we put uh some rugs  

17:08

in in the street and we sit and we just throw some  water around us to cool down. So the Meccans did  

17:16

that and each tribe or subtribe would put their  own rug. So the children of Abdul Mutalib made  

17:26

a law that nobody sits before Abdul Mutalib sit  right. Okay. So they were standing nine of them  

17:35

were standing around his rug around his carpet and  the whole of Quraysh would stand waiting for him  

17:45

to come and sit. Yes. The prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam was sneaking and sitting on  

17:51

that carpet. So they would pull him and every  day he would sneak and sit on the carpet and  

17:58

his uncles would pull him. Yes. Until one day  Abdul Mutalib saw them. So he came and asked,  

18:06

"Why are you pulling him out?" Yeah. What's going  on? So they said, "We don't allow anyone to sit  

18:12

before you." And this boy wants to sit before  you. So So he said, "Let him let him sit, my son.  

18:23

is a leader and one day he would have an effect  on all of the world. This is the words of Abdul  

18:33

Muttalib. Huh? So what happened after that?  He used to sit on the carpet of Abd Mutalib  

18:40

every day. Who would come to Abd Mutalib? Not  only leaders of Arab tribes but also delegates  

18:50

from Rome and from Persia and from Habasha. This  is the leader of all the Arabs. So whatever they  

18:59

need from Arabia, they would discuss it with Abd  Mutalib. The prophet sallall alaihi wasallam was  

19:04

trained daily by the master of Arabia on how to  lead. So this is just an example of leadership.  

19:14

Briefly, what made Abdul Mutalib the master of  Arabia? It was agreed by the Arabs since they were  

19:22

idol worshippers to take one of the idols they  worship. Every tribe worshiped several gods. So  

19:32

they take one of their gods and put it inside  Cabba or around Cabba. So inside and or around  

19:38

Cababa there were 360 idols right and they  made an agreement with Quraysh this is far  

19:46

before Abdut that we will protect you and protect  your trade if you protect our gods right so with  

19:58

that was in charge of all the idols that all  the Arabs worshiped and got the protection So  

20:06

that made them very honorable for all the Arabs.  So that is why they considered say they did not  

20:13

lead in the sense that they can give them orders  but they led in the sense that this is the honor  

20:19

that you are the the chair of the of the Arabs  although you don't have power to say what they do.

Donate to Baitulmaal

20:31

I came to work with the OB/GYN and urology  department to help take care of patients who  

20:37

have pelvic floor disorders. I've spent my time  also doing some cescareian sections, but mostly  

20:44

teaching and working with the physicians here  and the young residents and junior doctors.

20:56

Embry Salemi is an American doctor working  in Gaza for the past 3 weeks. I have seen so  

21:01

much malnutrition here. She says many patients  struggle to fight off infections and heal from  

21:06

serious injuries because they're starving.  I've seen it in the pregnancies that we see.  

21:12

I've seen it in the babies that come out. I've  seen it walking through the emergency room with   the kids and the men and women. So, I see it  everywhere. I see it in the staff who every  

21:22

day talk about how hungry they are and they  still again show up for work. It's amazing.

Planning of Seerah

21:43

Fantastic. Um now you have called for an  evaluation of the sirra uh with a particular  

21:51

emphasis on learning lessons about strategic  thinking and about planning. Um explain this  

21:59

like it it seems to me I've now listened to a  number of your talks. Alhamdulillah you gave a   fantastic presentation today and it seems to me uh  Dr. uh Suan that you feel there there is something  

22:11

missing in our reading of Islam actually or  at least the s the biography of the prophet  

22:17

sallallahu alaihi wasallam explain that that to  me please. Yeah. And I did a huge research on  

22:23

Sierra. Yeah. The first um the first full course  I taught on Sierra. Yeah. Was in 1982. Right. And  

22:32

since then I have been researching Sira. Sure.  I I have written um the encyclopedia of the s of  

22:39

the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam which is six  volumes and I taught the whole s and recorded it  

22:45

seven times and every time I correct it later on  um the first versions were not strategic frankly  

22:55

but later on when I learned about strategy  and I wrote several strategic plans and  

23:02

uh wrote strategic books and so on. The more  I write, the more I teach, I see this in this  

23:09

of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam really  and later on um uh one of my dear dearest friends  

23:17

Dr. Wbah he published a book in Arabic and in  English and I think other languages too called  

23:24

the first spring. He is much better than me  in teaching strategy, right? Cuz that's his  

23:34

political specialty. I we teach strategy from  a management point of view. He teaches it from  

23:40

geopolitical and political point of view, right?  Which is more relevant to the SE by the way.  

23:47

So also from what I learned from him. Yeah. So I  put this all together and started to analyze sir  

23:56

from a strategy point of view from leadership  training and how he trained the companions and  

24:03

also from decision making because we teach very  deep methods of uh decision making like mini max,  

24:13

maximax, bfly and so on. And most people don't  know this. And also of course most teachers of  

24:20

of Sira don't know this. So let let me give you a  small example here not related to strategy. I will  

24:28

give you an example to relate to leadership but  you can ask questions about strategy in Sierra if  

24:34

you want. the the the longest and deepest study in  leadership is the one done by causes and pausner  

24:46

and it was published in a book very famous  leadership books uh and I advise everyone to  

24:52

read it by the way it's uh called the leadership  challenge okay this the first publication was done  

25:01

after they did the research for 27 years and they  interviewed more than 1 million people really in  

25:12

all countries in all continents. So they published  the results in in that book. One of the questions  

25:22

they asked is what are the characteristics of  the leader that you wish to follow willingly

25:33

and every country in the world every year was  the same answer for the number one spot and that  

25:42

is credibility. So they published their second  book which also I advise to read. It's called  

25:49

credibility. Now in that book they define  credibility as trustworthy truthtelling.

26:02

So for those who read s without without knowing  this now if they read for example that the prophet  

26:09

sallall alaihi wasallam was called before the  message the courageous the generous. Yeah they  

26:17

would not feel any difference. I mean these are  good all good qualities. Yes. Why specifically?  

26:25

Because that is what people look for in a leader  more than any other characteristics. It comes  

26:32

before vision. It comes before motivation. It  comes before intelligence and it comes before  

26:39

competence, credibility. So now we understand sir  differently because we have the research to show  

26:48

it also we have the research in strategy  and the s is full of strategy. Dr. Suedan  

Revelation

26:56

uh it's often the case that when we think about  the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam s we  

27:01

and the prophet wasallam's message uh we think  that and we we believe and of course we we must  

27:07

believe this that he sallallahu alaihi wasallam is  guided by Allah subhana wa ta'ala. So in many ways  

27:14

uh the s is really a book of revelation. It's  a book of of uh the a biography of of a of  

27:22

the greatest man uh that uh has lived but this  greatest man is being is constantly uh seeking  

27:30

or gaining revelation from Allah subhanaa tala.  Now maybe this is not a a profound point to make  

27:36

or maybe it is but I get the impression when you  speak about prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam  

27:41

you're separating maybe aspects which are from  revelation but also aspects which are strategic  

27:48

that the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam is now  utilizing this revelation and thinking deeply  

27:53

about how to how to uh create a space and how  to achieve ends within his society. Am I am I  

28:02

right in reading that? Uh let me say something  that is I think very important to understand.   Sarah the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had  many roles. Right. He was a prophet. Mhm. Passing  

28:16

a message. Yeah. But he was also a leader of a  country. Yeah. Uh he was a d he was a judge. He  

28:26

was a military man and he was a consultant. and he  was a family man. So my teacher Muhammad Ashkar,  

28:35

Dr. Muhammad Alaskar, really great man did a  study on this and he he did his PhD on this and  

28:42

that is the actions. This is the name of his book  and unfortunately not not translated but really  

28:49

important yeah to be translated and understood. So  I I learned this from him. It's called the actions  

28:56

of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Not  the sayings, the actions of the prophet sallall   alaihi wasallam and their interpretation and  effect on uh Sharia. M. So long story short,  

29:12

the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam because  he acted on all of these rules roles, I would say  

29:19

revelation and guidance directly by wahi affected  only 5% of his actions. Wow. Okay. Most of it was  

29:31

a human decisions. Really human actions. Give you  an example. Zuber, one of the great companions had  

29:43

a garden in Medina. His garden is a field was next  to a garden for for one of the Ansar. The land was  

29:56

higher for Zubir in Mecca and in Kuwait and other  places. And also it's a desert, but when it rains,  

30:04

it really rains. Mhm. And it becomes a flood.  I have seen it so many times to the level that  

30:13

I could not pass it. How this is how strong it  is and how wide it is. It's a river. Yes. But it  

30:21

it it comes certain months and then disappears the  rest of the year. Yeah. So we collect the water as  

30:28

much as we can because we lack water. So Azubir  built a dam in his land and all the water that  

30:40

came down he would collect it for his phone and  al Ansari got nothing. So he went and complained  

30:50

to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that  Zuber did that this and this is in Bkari by the   way. So he did this and this and so the prophet  sallall alaihi wasallam called for zubir and he  

31:02

said zubir your brother lacks water you have  collected all the water for yourself so take  

31:11

what you need and let the rest pass. So and  listen to this very carefully. As Juber said,  

31:22

are you ordering or are you advising? See the  companions understood that he has so many roles,  

31:31

right? Mund is this a revelation or is this war  tactics? Yeah. So when when do they ask? When they  

31:44

cannot tell. Yes. So the story is very interesting  by the way. So the prophet sallall alaihi wasallam  

31:50

said I am advising. So auber said wallah I will  not do it. He refused the advice of the prophet  

32:01

sallall alaihi wasallam because it's an advice.  He's not a judge. He's not acting as a messenger.  

32:09

He's advising I have the right not to accept the  advice. Yes. So then this is the continuation of  

32:15

the hadith. Then the prophet sallall alaihi  wasallam said then I will rule. Now he's  

32:21

changing his role into a judge a zuber. You  are allowed to build a dam that is one palm  

32:31

high and then you have to let the rest pass to  your brother. So at that case Zuber did this  

32:42

another quick example nice example there  was a slave two slaves a woman and a man

32:51

who were married. The woman was freed when this case happens.  Both Muslims when this case happened then the  

33:05

free woman has the right to continue with  her husband or not. So she decided not to.  

33:14

Her husband loves her so much. So he asked her  to come back to him. She refused. So he went  

33:21

and complained to the prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam. So the her name is Bira.  

33:27

So he called Barira and she he said go back  to your husband. She said are you ordering  

33:38

or you're advising? He said I advise you. He  said she said I would wall I would never do it.

33:53

And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam did  not do anything. He was advising his advice was  

34:00

refused. And we imagine that whatever he says  people will follow. That is not the case. They  

34:06

will ask what what is your role in this case.  Give you last example which is very important.  

34:13

The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and this  is in Bkari also. The prophet sallallahu alaihi   wasallam one year after Hajj or during Hajj said  when you slaughter your animals you are allowed  

34:25

to eat from them only 3 days. The rest you have  to give as charity. You cannot preserve meat more  

34:34

than 3 days. This is in Bkari. Now if anyone  reads this hadith will say this is the law.  

34:42

You cannot preserve your meat more than 3 days.  So that is one hadith. But there is another hadith  

34:51

where a man came also in Bkari where a man came to  the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and said,  

34:57

"Oh prophet of Allah, last year you allowed us  to preserve meat only for three days. Can we do  

35:06

you allow us to preserve more than three days  this year?" He said, "I ordered you last year  

35:16

not because it is an Islamic law, but because  there was starvation in Arabia and many tribes  

35:29

moved and lived around Medina. So I wanted to  provide for them. So I gave you that order.  

35:38

This year there's no trans starvation. So  you can eat and preserve as long as you   want. Yeah. So what does that tell  you? When he gave the first order,  

35:49

was it halal and haram law? It wasn't. He was  acting as a leader of a country which has a  

35:58

starvation. And this is one way to solve the  starvation. And he solved it using that law.  

36:06

But it not it is not a law for us today for  example unless there is starvation around us  

36:11

and we have to feed them. So for example in the  case of Gaza if they allow uh the human help we  

36:21

should it is our it is our duty they we cannot  allow that they don't eat and we eat and some  

36:31

people think it's you your duty is only for those  next to you. The prophet sallallam did it for all  

36:36

the Arabs who were starving. Omar in his time  also there was starvation and he ordered Egypt  

36:46

to provide for them. So this is Islam looks at  the strategic point of view. So many people took  

36:53

these issues as Islamic law or not. It's not.  You have to look at the strategic point of view.  

36:59

You have to look at the geopolitical point of view  and human needs and so that's how Islam looks and  

37:05

this is in everything that the prophet sallallaihi  wasallam you see it very clearly when you talk  

Geopolitical situation

37:12

about vas you also discuss how it is important  to evaluate the prophetat wasam's life in the  

37:20

context of the geopolitical situation in which  the prophethood arise uh had arisen so Makkah  

37:30

uh was a a a relatively rich city. In fact,  I think you argue it's a very rich city.  

37:36

And um it was rich because it took advantage  of the political situation uh and the economic  

37:44

situation at the time. And and the Silk Road in  particular is quite important to some of the uh  

37:53

uh some of the actions of the prophet sallallaihi  wasallam when he uh when he um uh interacted with  

37:59

Quresh. Explain the relevance of the silk road in  understanding vas. In short, the silk road goes  

38:05

from China all the way to Europe. Yeah. Branches  of it comes from India and other places and a  

38:13

major branch comes from uh Africa through Adam  and from Aden they moved by by ships to Gaza,  

38:24

right? to Elat and then by by road by land to  Gaza and the whole thing moves to Europe. So  

38:34

it was the major road for uh for politics meaning  move movement of armies and wars and so on major  

38:44

road in the whole world and trade and spies and  refugees. Yeah. Then the war between the Romans  

38:52

and the Persians happened which was the longest  war in history 700 years and they the Persians  

38:58

cut the road and tried to deprive uh Europe from  trade and they did then the it's a long story. So  

39:09

the the Europeans created the marine road by ships  from China to India to the Arabian Gulf and then  

39:18

everything will be done left uh the merchandise  in Adan Yemen and then from Aden the Roman ships  

39:28

would come through the Red Sea and take it to  Europe. Yeah. And the major polls were Aden, Elat,  

39:37

which is southern Palestine, occupied Palestine  and um and uh Gaza. Yeah. And these three cities  

39:45

were very rich because of that because these  are the major roads for uh trade. Of course, the  

39:54

northern road, the major city was stumble. Okay.  When the Persians occupied this, they cut the road  

40:05

and then they occupied Yemen and they also cut  the road, the marine road. So the Europeans were  

40:13

re were really in major trouble. Abdul Manf the  great grandfather of the prophet sallallahu alaihi  

40:22

wasallam was a small merchant moving with few few  camels in Arabia. He could move freely because of  

40:31

what we said the Arabs protected Quraysh and  the Quraysh protected their idols. Nobody else  

40:38

in Arabia can move freely because of the attacks  by uh tribes. So he moved freely because of this  

40:47

agreement. He noticed that merchandise in Adan  were very cheap and Gaza were very very rich.  

40:56

So a long story. He created the land road and  they would take the merchandise from Yemen and  

41:04

leave it in Mecca and then few months later  his brothers will take it from Mecca and turn  

41:11

it take it to Gaza. Why is why was this? Because  the Persians would not allow any merchant to take  

41:20

it from Adam to Gaza. So they made this trick and  this is mentioned in the Quran. The treaty of the  

41:30

treaty of Quraysh with the Romans and the Pers  the Habashi also to move freely in their landl

41:44

and the Quran says it's not it's one trip  it's not two. Why is it? because it was it  

41:52

was a trick by Abd Abdmanav he will take it  from Adam leave it in Gaza in Mecca and then  

42:00

few months later his brothers will take  it so that the Persians would not notice   cuz they don't allow it and it worked with  that the major cities for trade now became  

42:12

Adan Mecca and Gaza of course with Istanbul  so this way Makkah became very very rich.

42:24

So there are stories, detailed stories about  how rich they were. Uh how they have chefs,  

42:31

they had slaves and by by the way slavery  became the major trade about three three4s of  

42:40

the economy of Arabia was based on slave trading  between Africa and Europe. Right? using this new  

42:49

uh silk road which is they call now the the  land silk road. So anyway, so when Islam came  

43:00

these people were very rich. Had no problem  with anyone believing in Allah. The prophet  

43:06

believed in Allah alone for 40 years. They had no  trouble with that. And I mentioned several names.

43:17

They all worshiped one God. Quraysh had no  problem with that. So what created the whole  

43:22

problem between Muslims and Quraysh? It it  is the message ofahill. See it's different  

43:30

than saying Allah is one. Allah is one is  fine because many people mixed withahill.  

43:42

So they think is believing in one god. That  has no effect for anyone. It's your personal  

43:50

choice. But when you say what does that mean?  It means that you have to destroy all of these  

43:57

idols. Now if you destroy all of these idols will  have no protection anymore. So if they have no  

44:04

protection anymore, they cannot move freely.  See take the example of Abu Sufyan in better.  

44:11

He was le he was leading a caravan 1,200 camels.  How many people with it? Only 40. It shows how  

44:24

much safe they were at the time when some of the  tribes would attack each other. They they moved  

44:31

freely because of that treaty alaf. It's called  al-. So u so now the prophet sallallaihi wasallam  

44:42

is sending them or giving them a message that  you must destroy all of these gods. That is a  

44:52

strategic difference in vision and in values  and strategic danger on everything that has.  

45:04

And that is why one of the bad ones came to the  prophet sallall alaihi wasallam and he said what  

45:10

is your message and he saidahill he immediately  said this is how much they understood the danger  

45:18

of this message he immediately said this is a  bedin but he know knows Arabic pure Arabic he  

45:24

said then all the Arabs and non-Arabs will fight  you so they understood how strategic this issue  

45:34

So uh this is just one example of re analyzing  SAR with geopolitics with politics with internal  

45:44

politics. We call it in strategic planning we  call it pest. So you understand the political  

45:51

economical social and technical world inside your  country and outside. And that was very clear in  

45:58

Syria. By the way, yeah, many people think and  wrongly that it developed with time. Meaning that  

46:07

the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam had no  intention of fighting anyone. In the beginning,  

46:12

his message was pure peace and only religious.  Yeah, that is not true. It was a declaration  

46:21

of war from day one. No, and I'll show you  this very clearly in the Quran. Surah al-M

46:33

was among the first suras of the Quran. What  is Al? It is when the prophet sallall alaihi  

46:39

wasallam came from after and then  he went to his bed and was covered  

46:46

and the khad relieved him. So al is the  covered one. Yeah. Okay. So clearly this  

46:55

is a surah in in the early Islam very  early Islam. In that surah Allahh says

47:05

Allah knows that among you  will be those who are sick

47:12

and those who move for travel uh for trade

47:22

and others who fight for the sake of Allah.  So it did not develop later on. It was a  

47:28

declar Allah says they they fight. So it is  not jihad in the sense of and so on. Allah  

47:38

says it's not because can be translated as  struggle with yourself. But in Arabic is very  

47:48

clear. It is war. It is fighting. And this  is in the in the first suras of the Quran.  

47:55

So the the idea of having a strategic vision,  strategic change by force even is very clear  

48:05

from day one. So let let me ask you about that  because of course um there is a uh a tension  

Quraysh

48:12

between the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam  and the authorities of Mecca of Quresh right but  

48:17

but it seems to me that you're arguing that the  prophet sallallah wasallam had greater plans.  

48:23

Croesh in this sense was just an impediment an  immediate challenge but uh the Arab tribes in  

48:30

the Arabian Peninsula uh was also on the prophet  sallall alaihi wasallam's uh thinking at the very  

48:36

early stages if not the great empires of the  Persians and the Romans and beyond. How much  

48:42

did the prophet sallallaihi wasallam in in this  context of of seeking to uh create a a space and  

48:50

a dominance for the Islamic religion? How much did  the prophet sallallaihi wasallam uh at the very  

48:55

early stages consider the Persians and the Romans  as the two big uh empires? Year five not of Hijra,  

49:04

year five of Islam, right? The prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam sends the Muslims to Ethiopia.  

49:11

Yes. Why? So the books of S tell you it is because  they were oppressed. So let's analyze this. See,  

49:20

see this is the difference of reading S as a  story or reading SR with an analytical eye,  

49:27

right? Strategic eye. So let's look at this.  They were sent because they were oppressed. Okay,  

49:34

so let's see. The first one and this is in  Muslim. The first one to migrate was Oman

49:44

was never touched, never  oppressed. Why would he migrate

49:54

was the leader of the Muslims who migrated?  Yes, he was the one negotiating with the  

50:00

Nashi. Jaffur was never touched. He is the  son of Abu Talib who protects the prophet  

50:06

sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Yes, he would pro  protect his nephew and not protect his own son.  

50:11

Jaffer was never touched. There are so many  that were never touched. Yeah. Give you more  

50:17

details. If they were sent because they were  oppressed, why didn't he bring them back when  

50:26

he started his Islamic state in Medina? In  Medina. It takes from Habasha to Medina at  

50:32

that time 5 days. Why would they stay seven  years? They came at the time of the prophet.

50:44

I don't know which makes me more happier

50:50

the conqueror of or the coming of Jaffer. So it's  very clear when they when he came he he and the  

50:58

Muslims in Habasha came at year seven why would  they stay seven years and another question by the  

51:06

way 83 Muslims of the best Muslims stay in Habasha  15 years no one embraces Islam except isn't that  

51:21

strange final question the prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam sends these Muslims to Habasha  

51:29

and then he starts to look for another place to  migrate to. Why doesn't he migrate to Habasha?  

51:36

So there is something happening here. So we read  the story and just we pass by. What is going on  

51:43

geopolitically? Look at Arabia. Arabia at that  time. On the east is Persia, in the northeast is  

51:57

Persia and farther of also northeast in in one  side is is Iraq and in other side the Bushan.  

52:10

So all under the control of Persia and then  they took over Yemen and they had an alliance  

52:19

with Oman. So from all sides the Persians are  surrounding Arabia. Then the Quran tells us

52:36

the Romans were defeated by the Persians in  this long story long uh war between them. The  

52:44

Persians conquered the Romans. What what is the  Quran talking about? The Romans con the Roman  

52:54

Empire. They control Europe, most of Europe, not  all of it. And they control Syria and surrounding  

53:02

Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon. Yeah. And they control  Egypt and North Africa. All under the Roman  

53:11

Empire. Yeah. They have three capitals. Stumbul,  Damascus, and Alexandria. Istanbul controls  

53:22

Europe. Damascus control all of their areas in  the east. and Alexandria controls North Africa.

53:32

The Persians were able to take over Damascus and  they took their religious capital which is also

53:48

surrounding Arabia from all sides except the west  which is Ethiopia. So he sends them there. So he  

54:02

he needed leaders not only oppressed people. So he  sent the oppressed but he sends leaders. This what  

54:09

we call in strategic planning plan B. Right? What  if when he declares because he is going to declare  

54:18

war on the empires, the Persians surrounding  Arabia from all sides will attack Arabia from all  

54:25

sides. This could crush Islam, especially with the  weakness of Islam. And we're talking the greatest  

54:31

empire in the whole world. Yeah. So that's how  much danger there is. So he sends them there.  

54:41

What happened? By the way, this is a long story  and many details that are very important but for  

54:47

the time limitation we jump. So he had internal  struggle and global struggle internal struggle  

54:59

with Quraysh global struggle with Ethiop with  the Persians because they were the major danger.  

55:07

Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam goes through  the struggle with Quraysh after he says something.  

55:15

This is this is the day when Qur retreated  the same day he said very famously he said

55:29

from now on we will attack Quray they will  never attack us. So there is a major change  

55:36

in the internal struggle that they tried  their best surrounded Mecca for Medina  

55:43

for one month with all the Arab tribes  that are with them and they failed. So  

55:48

they cannot do anymore. And by the way the  only only 300 men kept fighting with the  

55:57

prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and still  Qur could not win. So now it's our turn.  

56:04

So that changes the internal struggle.  But the external struggle did not change  

56:09

yet until and the Quran also says that  about the Romans the Romans were defeated.

56:21

I'm taking sure parts of the eyes.  Yes, they will prevail in few years.  

56:28

Can the word few in Arabic means between  three and nine this is this is language  

56:39

now so few is not open for for say 15  years or so it's only between three  

56:47

and nine so exactly 9 years after they were  defeated they reclaimed Syria and Alexandria

56:58

So now a little part of Islam is relieved  but they conquered a I mean the struggle was  

57:06

going on. We don't know what will happen. And  then they were able the the Romans to conquer  

57:15

Persia until they reached the capital of the  Persians which is called Al Madan in Iraq.  

57:23

So the Persians made a treaty with  the Romans. Anyway, it's a long story.  

57:29

So now Islam is not surrounded by one  power. See, when you have two powers,  

57:37

you are not afraid as having one power. Yeah.  Okay. Because you can be an ally of one against  

57:44

the other. But if you have one power, what would  you do? A bipolar word. Yes. Exactly. So when when  

57:51

um when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam  made a treaty with Quraysh which is year six

58:03

now Islam internally is relieved and globally  the pressure is less. Yeah. So after he sends  

58:13

for al Muslims in Habasha he took few months to  make sure that the treaty is going on and then  

58:21

we enter year seven. So he sends to them come and  that's why they came because no need for plan B  

58:29

there is no internal danger there is no external  danger. So that's how we understand the strategic  

58:37

vision of the prophet. That's really really  profound I think in in understanding because   of course the books of sir that I've read uh  all indicate that you know it was an act of  

58:47

desperation and it was fear and but it doesn't  make sense because the people who who went to  

58:53

uh to to other the problem Jal is that they tell  a story right but they don't see the vision the  

59:03

strategies the leadership training the the art  of decision making. So now because we know these  

59:10

sciences, we can analyze it better. But I want to  understand one thing then about those Muslims who   went to Abisa. You mentioned that there was no  effective da in in Abisa only only. I'll tell  

59:21

you the story. Yeah. And uni it's amazing that  most people don't know these stories because it  

59:29

doesn't make sense. 83 Muslim best Muslims. Yeah.  Not one embraces Islam. M the story behind it is  

59:38

you know that Jaffar and his the Muslims came  to to Abisia Quresh did not let them. Yes. See  

59:47

this that's how that's how dangerous they were  for Qur. So they sent a delegation of two men  

59:55

and long story they discussed with Nashi. So  Nashi was going to send them back. Yeah. And  

1:00:03

then they pleaded their case and read the  Quran and long story he he did not embrace  

1:00:11

Islam openly. He said he drew a line on the  ground and he said to Jaffer, "The difference  

1:00:19

between our religion and yours, yeah, is not more  than this line." That is a very dangerous saying.  

1:00:29

remember or I don't know whether you remember  or not but most people don't understand Abbyia.  

1:00:35

Abessinia was ruled by the the religious  people. Yeah. Like like Iran today. Okay.  

1:00:45

All scholars of religion, Christian religion.  The the greatest scholar among them was Nashi.  

1:00:54

Yeah. Himself. the the priests around him ruling  alabasha and Africa were called al-bat that's the  

1:01:05

title they have so when he said that there's no  difference between you and us albatar made a noise

1:01:16

what are you saying so he said I swear by Allah  that's no difference even if you are not happy  

1:01:25

with this but they were really really unhappy.  So the books of S don't tell you what's going on  

1:01:32

after that. That night secretly Najashi orders uh  one of his uh soldiers to bring to bring Jaffer.  

1:01:45

Where was Jaffur? Jaffer and the Muslims settled  in a camp next to a river. they they can grow a  

1:01:54

agriculture and they have their sheep with them  and so on. So that's how they lived. So he came  

1:02:00

to him said teach me Islam and Jaffer narrates  this later on. So he said I taught him Islam  

1:02:08

and he made shahada note of Jaffer and then he  said write for me some Quran. So on a piece of  

1:02:20

u I think wood or something because they had no  paper at that time he wrote for him some he it  

1:02:27

was written not on wood I'm remember now it was  written on a skin so he wrote for him that nashi  

1:02:34

takes this puts it under his clothes uh on his  heart. So next day he orders a meeting with they  

1:02:45

come said what is why are you angry said you left  our religion said what is your religion they said  

1:02:52

we believe in this and that and Jesus the son of  god and so on so he said I believe in this too  

1:03:00

which was a trick so he's talking about the Quran  under his just so they thought that he was with  

1:03:08

them but not everyone accepted this said he might  be lying. So anyway, so they conspired against him  

1:03:17

and went to his cousin said we want you to be the  leader and we will support you. So they spread the  

1:03:26

news that Nashi left our religion. Others said  that he did not. So the army was divided in two.  

1:03:34

One of them was with his cousin, the others were  with him and they had a war. This war happened in  

1:03:44

the other bank of the river where Muslims left. So  they were watching but they could not see. So they  

1:03:52

said who would get us the news? So Auber said see  we have all the details. So as Zuber said I will.  

1:03:58

So anyway he crossed the river long story and he  watched and Nashi won. So he tell them the good  

1:04:05

news but Nashi had trouble asked for a meeting  with him said all of this war happened because  

1:04:15

of these people that you accepted. Yeah you they  have to leave and he said no nobody comes to me  

1:04:25

and I ask him to leave. So they said then we will  accept them on one condition that they don't leave  

1:04:35

their camp and no one enters their camp. Right? So  really had no choice. So he called Jaffer he said  

1:04:44

this is he said I the Jaffa said I will consult  with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam that's  

1:04:50

not my decision to make. So he sends to the  prophet and it's only 5 days and the message  

1:04:55

comes back that it is acceptable. So why did they  stay? Not for dawa. It was for if it was for dawa,  

1:05:03

people would have embraced Islam. They would have  moved in Africa and taught people Islam. They did  

1:05:08

not. So why do they why 83 Muslims while the  Muslims were so few stay in stay in Africa for  

1:05:17

15 years? There is no reason other than this  is what we call plan B in strategic planning.  

1:05:26

What if Quraysh conquers us? What if Persia  attacks Arabia? Then at least we have someone  

1:05:33

to continue the message. Yeah. Now when all the  dangers are relieved, then he brings them back.  

Persia

1:05:40

And and with the the second part of that  question is how um did the prophet sallall  

1:05:46

alaihi wasallam have in his mind uh pleasure  as a a challenge that he needs to overcome.  

1:05:54

sallallahu alaihi wasallam in the future like what  was do we have any indications from I told you the  

1:05:59

story of banish if he did not consider them a  danger if he was not planning to attack them he  

1:06:07

should have accepted the offer of banish and he  with banish can conquer all the Arabs the prophet  

1:06:17

sallall alaihi wasallam conquered Arabia with  a lesser army the mu Muslims in their in their  

1:06:25

biggest fight were 10,000 when they conquered  Mecca. Yes. Banuan by themselves their army  

1:06:32

was 30,000. So if he was after conquering Arabia  alone, he would have accepted the offer of Benuan.  

1:06:40

Yeah. But he had his eye on Persia. So that begs  the question then uh the question of statehood.  

Statehood

1:06:48

We know that in Medina the prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam established what today we could  

1:06:54

use uh the term a state a government there  was an authority there were judges there were  

1:07:00

commanders of an army you know it looks like and  it feels like a state uh how much of that because  

1:07:07

sometimes when we read especially modern books  of s almost the implication is that he stumbled  

1:07:13

into into this situation where he sallallahu  alaihi wasallam established a government and it  

1:07:18

It was as a result of the persecution. How much  was statethood uh an objective of the prophet?  

1:07:25

It's very clear from day one. Yeah. Let's let's  go back please. Before before Hijra, why did the  

1:07:36

prophet sallall alaihi wasallam choose Medina?  Yeah. This is what we when we do um say I teach  

1:07:43

also uh decision making. Yeah. So when we use the  tools of decision making there are many tools one  

1:07:52

of them is called we call the decision matrix and  one of them is called B rules. Yeah. So what do  

1:08:01

we do here? We we study alternatives and what are  the benefits and what are the weaknesses of each  

1:08:08

alternative and we have by the way calculations  and uh equations and although it's a it's a  

1:08:14

humanistic many people think of it as humanistic  only no it is mathematical also by the way so we  

1:08:22

have this message and then we decide that's  exactly what the prophet sallallaihi wasallam   did al Medina was the best choice among all the  Arab tribes Yeah. Why? It was the only tribe, the  

1:08:36

only location that had no leader, right? Because  of war. There was a war. Yeah. 5 years before the  

1:08:44

hijra. Yes. This is mentioned by Sa in Bkari. She  says the following. She says the following. This  

1:08:53

is in Bkari. Yeah. The war between Al and Alaz.  See, Al Medina was divided into three groups. Also

1:09:10

of Medina, they ruled. Yeah. Until 5 years  before Hijra, there was a battle between  

1:09:18

Al and Al. The battle is called. So says  the following says, Allah made the day of

1:09:37

Allah made this war to precede the coming of  the prophet sallallaihi wasallam to Medina.

1:09:48

They killed all of their leaders, both tribes.  And that battle continued for a few years. Huh?  

1:09:55

So all the leaders were killed. So this  is a state that is that can support itself  

1:10:04

because it is it has agriculture and trade and  also uh uh sheep and camels so it can support  

1:10:15

itself and no leaders. So the prophet  sallallahu alaihi wasallam sends musab  

1:10:23

and they most of them accepted Islam. Yes.  So he comes and he has a majority already.

1:10:33

And first day he starts to make rules.  Who was challenging him? No one. Yeah.  

1:10:41

Absolutely no one. One man was getting ready  to be chosen as a leader. His his name is Abu  

1:10:51

Abu. The prophet wasallam changed his name into  Abu the sinful one. And suddenly this man comes  

1:11:04

and rules without consulting him without paying  any attention to him. So he was so angry that he  

1:11:12

left Medina and lived in Sham in Syria. So this  show you that that he is ruling. He's coming to  

1:11:22

rule and the only challenger could not do anything  but to leave. And then we go and see Medina, the  

1:11:34

contractor of Medina. Go and read it. It's a it's  a full constitution. I have it in one of my books  

1:11:42

showing the articles of and showing that this  is all you need to have a constitution. It talks  

1:11:52

about politics. It talks about war. It talks about  ruling. It talks about economics. All of that.  

1:11:59

Yes. And then after what does he do? He builds  the masid. Make it the center for everything.  

1:12:06

After that, what does he do? There were two  major markets in Medina. One for Lanssar and  

1:12:15

one for the Jews. But even the one for Alansar was  controlled by the Jews. So the prophet sallallaihi  

1:12:23

wasallam chooses a new place and he said this is  for Muslims only and it is taxfree. Yeah. and he  

1:12:35

gives rules for the market. So he's changing the  economy, he's changing the politics, he's changing  

1:12:40

the army, he's changing the constitution. So what  is more to have a state? True. So it is very clear  

1:12:47

that he was ruling and he he was making a state.  So from everything you've um you've talked about  

Strategic mindset

1:12:53

today, it's very clear to me that there is a  strategic mindset that the prophet sallall alaihi   wasallam uh has and possesses but also he is  inculcating the Sahaba with this mindset and he's  

1:13:05

developing people who are thinking deeply about  their situation and about the future and about  

1:13:11

uh positioning Islam in a way in which it gains  influence not only in the immediate area but also  

1:13:18

in the region and beyond. Yes, of course. I I  want to tell you something about this. Yes. Cuz  

1:13:23

you mentioned the training of the Sahabah. Yeah.  Now, I told you only 5% were revelation, right?  

1:13:32

95% was the judgment of the prophet sallallahu  alaihi wasallam. But not alone. He was consulting  

1:13:38

continuously. The Sahabah. Yes. Yeah. Now the  two major sahhabies were Abu Bakr and Omar.  

1:13:48

And they were called the wazir of the prophet.  By the way, the word wazir is the deputy. But  

1:13:56

there's something that most people don't know. Abu  Bakr and Omar, we know that they have different  

1:14:03

personalities. Yeah. But they differed all the  time. They never agreed. Huh? To the level that  

1:14:13

this is in Sah Muslim. Omar says to Abu Bakr  on one issue. Omar said his opinion. Abu Bakr  

1:14:21

refused. Said something. By the way, Abu Bakr  people think that he was a nice man, weak. He was,  

1:14:26

but he was not weak. He was very, very strong.  So, Omar, we know he was very strong. But Abu Bakr  

1:14:34

would challenge him all the time to the level  that one day Omar could not keep to his said

1:14:45

I swear by Allah you have no opinion you  just want to differ with me it is even  

1:14:53

more than that in Sah Muslim there is a  hadith the prophet sallallaihi wasallam  

1:14:59

is talking to Abu Bakr and Omar and says the  following which is was very strange. He said,

1:15:09

"If you both agree on anything, I I'm with  you." So, who follows who? He was He said,  

1:15:21

"I swear by Allah that if you would both agree  on anything, this is how important they were."  

1:15:28

But why? Because they always differed. Yeah. So if  they agree on something then it should be good. So  

1:15:35

the prophet sallallaihi wasallam said I will not  give it my opinion. I agree with you. Is there  

1:15:42

more training than that? Yeah. This is see we I  we train leaders. So what is more than that? I I  

1:15:52

trained prime ministers and I see it in their eyes  that when they say see wisdom they immediately  

1:16:02

submit and they learn and they love to learn. By  the way people think that because they reached  

1:16:09

this position they they stopped learning. No no I  trained many of them onetoone several years. Okay.  

1:16:18

So that's how he did it. The prophet sallallaihi  wasallam is not like us professional trainers.  

1:16:25

Yeah. He was a professional daily training. He was  daily they were with him. Huh? Not a day that he  

1:16:32

they missed to be with him whether in peace or  on war. What is more training than that? So he  

1:16:38

was training them to be leaders and to take over.  I know we have to tie this conversation and bring  

Revolutionise?

1:16:45

it to an end. Uh but uh I I need to um it it you  know it from where I'm sitting um you're trying to  

1:16:53

almost revolutionize the way the Muslim um views  its its history views its era in order to produce  

1:17:01

a different type of thinking in today's generation  a strategic mindset a long-term mindset so that we  

1:17:07

can deal with some of the intractable problems  like Gaza like the other problems that we face  

1:17:14

um I suppose So many of our viewers will  appreciate the level of depth and a level of  

1:17:19

uh understanding or evaluation of the era that  you've brought to the table and in in many of  

1:17:25

your in your books. Uh but how does one there are  many young people who listen to and watch this  

1:17:30

show. How does one uh begin this journey of uh  revitalizing their mindsets and and reorientating  

1:17:39

their mindset so that they live a life worth  living rather than a life that is sometimes uh  

1:17:45

neoliberal you know capitalist you worthless in a  in a in a uh din in an Islamic sense and actually  

1:17:53

start to apply their talents and expertise towards  this very great strategic goals that Islam sets.  

1:18:00

us. Nice question. Deep question. First of all,  it is not me. This revolution uh of understanding  

1:18:11

SA in in depth by the way was there in the in  the early books. It was there really. And then  

1:18:21

when people started to tell us the sir as a story  and they took aside these stories that they said  

1:18:31

thought they were irre irrelevant. Yeah. Yes.  They are irrelevant if you don't see the bigger  

1:18:36

picture. So first of all I would advise strongly  if the people are interested in the strategic part  

1:18:42

and the ge geopolitical part definitely read for  right is much deeper than me on this and his book  

1:18:50

is if you want to see a book that really revolates  the s it would be the first spring by Mhm. Now my  

1:18:59

book on sir u six volumes I summarized it into  one volume right and this one volume is now  

1:19:08

being translated into English and then we will  open it also for translation to all languages.  

1:19:14

Yeah and it has all of that into it. So if they  if you want just to understand then read these  

1:19:20

books. And now if you want to be deeper into this  then you must be trained on strategic planning on  

1:19:27

decision making. Yeah. On uh leadership and then  um not only uh read but trained. Yeah. So when  

1:19:36

you when you're trained all of that and you have  the understanding of the s then you can combine  

1:19:43

them and have a deeper thing. Now you mentioned  something that if it is related to personal life

1:19:52

and all our beloved audience.  Our life is too short.

1:20:01

Say his age was he Allah prescribed his age as  60. And then when Allah subhana wa ta'ala  

1:20:13

collected all the uh uh children of Adam  and they surrounded him, he saw one man,  

1:20:19

one child with a a bright u forehead. Yeah.  So he asked Allah, "Who is this?" He said,  

1:20:29

"This is your descendant Dut." And he said,  "How long is his age?" I know now he's he  

1:20:39

will be born but how how long he will he live  he said he will live 60 said poor man it's too  

1:20:46

short give him 40 years of mine and this is in  the hadith so he lived 100 but he considered a  

1:20:57

man that is 60 as a young man so when now we  consider somebody who lives 100 they put they  

1:21:07

write articles about him. Yeah. So what I'm  saying is our life wallah is short. You can  

1:21:13

live for yourself. But you will have no effect  in history. And the prophet wasallam tells us  

1:21:22

that if you die no more you will get unless  you leave something. What will you leave?  

1:21:30

either which is or children that are good that  will pray for you. Yeah. But what you leave  

1:21:42

even better than all of that more lasting that  than that is look at the saying of the prophet

1:21:52

knowledge that people will benefit from. M. So if  you learn no much, no matter how much you learn,  

1:22:01

it does not count when you die unless you pass  it to others that will benefit from it. Yeah.  

1:22:08

You pass it as training, you pass it as a book,  you pack it, you pass it as a podcast, it doesn't  

1:22:14

matter. You pass it then it will continue  after you. Now the question to our audience,  

1:22:21

what will you leave behind you? What will continue  your hassanat after you die? Plan for that. That  

1:22:31

is strategic. Don't be operational living for  yourself and only for your life. So that's how  

1:22:39

you look at strategic life planning. Dr. Taran, I  think that's really really good. And if if someone  

1:22:45

wanted to attend uh any of your live sessions, um  how can they do so? I have many of my leadership  

1:22:53

strategic and so on already recorded. Yeah. Most  of it in Arabic, some in English. Yes. And they  

1:23:00

find it in gulf innovation, right? Yes. Now also  in the same uh website gulfinnovation.com they  

1:23:09

announce my programs uh where and when. Okay. So  um frankly I don't know the programs. They set it  

1:23:16

for me. I have I say this I I have employees that  manage me now. So yes I will welcome them and of  

1:23:25

course the other way is for any anyone to invite  me. Um I had to refuse a lot because of my heavy  

1:23:34

schedule. But um um I want to say something about  this please. Um if I train professionally then it  

1:23:42

is not free of charge. But if I train an Islamic  institution yes then it's free of charge. Okay.  

1:23:50

So uh this so it's not marketing. I want to make  sure that nobody takes the wrong wrong impression.  

1:23:57

So yes, they are welcome to attend. Dr. Taran, I  mean I feel we could go on for hours discussing  

1:24:05

this subject but thank you so much for your  time once again today and thank you for your  

1:24:10

mercy that you don't continue for hours and it  was a pleasure to meet you last time and it is  

1:24:17

even more pleasure to meet you again and your  audience and inshallah we will be in touch more.

1:24:25

becomes

1:24:32

and I want to pose the question to you. Why should  we keep up with the news media if almost all of it  

1:24:38

is falsehood and disinformation? I think the issue  has less to do with information that's out there   and more how do you interpret that information?  Man is on the religion of his companions. If  

1:24:46

his companions are those who are interested in  the affairs of the um you will naturally become   a man of the um you'll be able to speak about  Pakistan despite not being Pakistani. You will  

1:24:55

speak about Kashmir though you're not Kashmir.  I know it because I'm a man of the um because   my network are people of the um the Muslim is  the brother of a Muslim. If he's your brother,  

1:25:03

you check in on your brother. You ask about  your brother. How many of the youth go and   learn about the history of these places? How do  you know that you're going to live like tomorrow?

1:25:21

Please remember to subscribe to our social  media and YouTube channels and head over to   our website thinkingmuslim.com to sign  up to my weekly newsletter. Perfect.


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Ep 248. - Are Modern Cities Killing Our Souls? With Dr.Heba Raouf Ezzat