Are Our Leaders A Reflection Of Us

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Are Our Leaders A Reflection Of Us?

Dr. Omar Suleiman Live Khutbah in Ireland

Opening

We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow in his blessed path until the day of judgment. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen.

The State of the Ummah and Our Responsibility

Dear brothers and sisters, when a person looks around at the state of the ummah today, specifically as it relates to our brothers and sisters in Palestine, our brothers and sisters in Gaza, may Allah alleviate their suffering and grant them victory. Allahumma ameen.

And when a person looks at the difficulties around the ummah and the seemingly pathetic state that we are in where we feel like we have been granted circumstances that are beyond us, leaders that we are either deserving of or not deserving of, but a situation in which a person who is introspective will come back and ask themselves, am I responsible?

Are these leaders, are these circumstances, are these difficulties merely an extension or reflection of the state of our ummah? Or is Allah testing us? Is what is happening to our brothers and sisters related to my day-to-day or is it completely disconnected? Is the complaint that I have about those who I feel like should be doing more but are not doing more, who have leadership within our ummah, are those complaints really just extensions of my own disobedience? Are they reflections of me? Or are they a test that Allah has put upon us?

The Fundamental Principle

And it comes back to an ayah from which we have the general rule in which Allah says:

"That verily Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change the conditions of themselves."

But what is within our power?

The Non-Linear Nature of Leadership

And when you look at the ahadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in this regard you will notice that whether the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is talking about the leadership of this ummah or he's talking about the circumstances of the people, it's never entirely linear. Meaning it is not like we have righteous leadership that parallels righteous people that parallels righteous circumstances all the times. In many of those situations, there's a disruption that happens along the way and in every single one of those situations there is a lesson that all of us can take.

The Misattributed Statement

There is a famous statement that many people quote as a hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) but it is not a hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Many of you have heard it. Many of you have maybe repeated it.

"As you are will be placed upon you."

But this statement, which is a wisdom that has been passed on between many generations, is not completely true to every single circumstance. Meaning it is not always the case:

"How you are will be placed upon you."

Partially, there is some wisdom and some value and benefit to that statement for us to look back at ourselves. But it's not always the case.

The Best Generations and Their Trials

For example, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says:

"The best of my generation" or "the best of my ummah"

"Khayru ummatee qarnee thumma alladheena yaloonahum thumma alladheena yaloonahum"

"The best of people is my generation, then those that come after them and then those that come after them"

Who we group as one and we call as-salaf, the pious predecessors. They are the best of all people, the first three generations of Islam. And after those generations, there is a general decline that happens in terms of righteousness.

"And even in Islam those that came first before the conquest are not like those that came after but everyone has their promise from Allah."

So generally every generation declines in righteousness, but there are always these bright spots:

"In every generation of my ummah there are forerunners"

There are forerunners that Allah chooses. But if you think about general righteousness, it is the sahaba and then the tabi'een and then the taba' tabi'een, those first three generations of Islam.

Historical Example: Hassan al-Basri and al-Hajjaj

But still with that, as Imam Qutayba points out, Allah tested the likes of Anas ibn Malik (radiallahu ta'ala anhu) and Imam Hassan al-Basri with al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, a brutal tyrant. And some people asked Hassan al-Basri, who's looked at as the greatest of the second generation of Islam, and if this is the second greatest generation that ever walked the face of the earth, how is it that we have this tyrant that's been placed upon us?

Then his response would be to look into the social ills that we have allowed to permeate amongst ourselves and to increase in our dua to Allah. Because whether this is a tyrant that has been placed upon us due to something that we have done or due to something that Allah wants to bring out of us, the end result is the same, the output is the same - a turning back to Allah and a holistic seeking of islah, of rectification of the self and of society, and leaving the rest of the qadr to Allah.

Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Change

So sometimes when we talk about our leaders, they are a reflection of us or we are a reflection of them. Sometimes the change comes from top down. Sometimes it comes from bottom up.

Sufian ath-Thawri said a very famous statement:

"There are two groups of people. If these two groups of people are righteous, then the ummah will be rectified. And if they become corrupt, then the ummah will become corrupted as well: The rulers and the scholars."

So there's top-down change. And indeed if you have righteous leaders they can in fact change the culture of the people. They can instill a rectification in the people that might have been missing.

Examples of Top-Down Reform

Salahuddin al-Ayyubi, who we always quote and we always wish for another version of him, another manifestation of him in our ummah - may Allah bring about many revivers amongst us. Allahumma ameen. Salahuddin had to revive consciousness in the ummah. It's not that he was handed a righteous ummah. He had to revive himself and he had to revive his ummah. And Allah brought about great change on his hands. And before him, Nuruddin, who was his mentor as well. So islah came from top-down.

When you look at the history of Islam, the early days of the Muslims, there is Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz who assumes leadership of this ummah at the age of 38 years old. And like his grandfather Umar ibn al-Khattab, resuscitates and breathes justice into an ummah that has been plagued with oppression. If you were to look at the line from Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman and Ali and al-Hassan and go all the way down to Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz, there isn't a direct correlation to the ummah's behavior. But Allah blessed this ummah with a reviver that came years later from Khulafa ar-Rashideen to where he was included amongst them, even though he was not immediately after them.

As Imam ash-Shafi'i said, he is like Rajab, the Muharram month, the sacred month of Rajab to the rest of al-Ashhur al-Haram, to the rest of the sacred months, which are three together. Rajab is separated in the year, but it is included amongst them. Likewise, Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz is separated from them in terms of his years, but he is included amongst them.

So sometimes Allah blesses an ummah that is sleeping with righteousness at the top that infuses righteousness through society that seeks to wake it up, revive its consciousness and brings about beauty throughout. That happens sometimes.

Bottom-Up Change

But sometimes it's the opposite. Sometimes indeed, as you are will be placed upon you. Sometimes the culture of the people shapes what is at the top and shapes their circumstances.

And there's a famous narration of Ali (radiyallahu ta'ala anhu) where he was asked, you know, how come you're not like Abu Bakr and Umar (radiyallahu anhuma) in terms of raising the people? And he said: "Abu Bakr and Umar had men like me. I have men like you."

Abdul Malik ibn Marwan was asked something very similar and he joined the people, he brought the people together:

"He gathered the people and said to them: 'You want from us to be like Abu Bakr and Umar.'"

"But you should be like the men of Abu Bakr and Umar, and then you will see the change that you're seeking."

So it goes both ways. It's not just from top down. It's also bottom up. Culture produces certain leaders. Mentorship produces leaders. Communities like this one, masajid, here in Ireland or in the United States or wherever it is, produce the next generations of Salahuddin, produce the righteous leaders that then take the mantle and they lead this ummah to where it needs to go.

The Salahuddin Syndrome

But we can't simply keep waiting for someone to come up there - the Salahuddin syndrome or the Mahdi syndrome. Everything will be okay when he comes and we don't look inside ourselves.

"If you want to be Salahuddin, then be a righteous trustworthy person in your own daily dealings."

Don't be a person that deals in cheating and then complains about the leaders of the ummah. Because Allah knows that many of those that complain about the leaders of the Muslims would be just as corrupt as them if they were in that situation. Because sometimes they reflect the culture.

The Hadith About When Trust is Lost

If you look at the hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the hadith of Abu Huraira (radiallahu ta'ala anhu) where the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was speaking and a man came, a Bedouin:

"When is the hour?"

And the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) did not answer him immediately. Then the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Where is the one who asked about the hour?"

And when he came forth the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned:

"When trust is lost, then wait for the day of judgment to come, wait for the hour."

The Bedouin asked the right question:

"How does it get lost? How does trust become lost amongst the people?"

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says: That seems to be outside of our circumstances and one that seems to be a conscious choice. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says in one narration of this:

"Very simple: When the affair of the Muslims is given to those who are undeserving when political leadership goes to corrupt people and they transform righteousness into wickedness."

The Conscious Choice in Leadership

That's something that is usually beyond our control. Very few times in history do people actually get to choose their leaders and even in the illusion of democracies usually there's a component of compulsion that forces your leaders upon you. Very few times in history do people actually consciously choose their leaders. So when it goes to people that are undeserving, when it goes to people that lose the amanah of the Muslims, that lose the amanah of the believers, but there's a conscious part.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

"The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said people will take as leaders those who are fools and they are asked and they respond without knowledge. They are astray and they lead astray."

Our Choice in Role Models

You know how we take this for ourselves, dear brothers and sisters? You don't get to choose your political leaders, but you do get to choose your role models. You might not get to choose who governs over you, but you do choose your trendsetters. You do choose who you follow, you do choose who you consume. You do choose your leaders in every other sense of the word. And if the culture is producing the most rotten of leaders, if our young people are looking up to the worst of people, then the problem is not who is being placed upon us. The problem is who we are placing upon ourselves.

There's a conscious part of this too. And so yes, our leaders are a reflection of us. Yes, those that come above us are a reflection of us. But also dear brothers and sisters, there's the culture of justice.

Victory Through Justice to the Vulnerable

So do we choose our leaders in some ways? Yes. Do we choose our circumstances in some ways? Yes.

"In one narration the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: 'Are you given support or victory except by how you treat your most vulnerable? Are you given support and victory from Allah except by how you treat those who need help amongst you?'"

Look at yourself. How are you governing? How are you carrying out your affairs as a community?

The Balance of Victory and Defeat

And Imam an-Nawawi, he said in terms of the ahwal of the Muslims, in terms of the circumstances of the Muslims, he said if you look at the narrations of asbaab an-nusra, the reasons for victory, and you compare those to asbaab al-hazeema, the reasons for defeat, you will find that every hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) where he mentions a sabab, a reason for victory, there's the opposite of a reason for corruption and humiliation and vice versa.

It's actually a powerful way to read the Quran and a powerful way to read the Sunnah. If Allah tells you that something bears righteousness in your life, then the opposite naturally bears wickedness. And if Allah tells you that something bears wickedness in your life, then the opposite obviously bears righteousness.

So for example where the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Are you given victory or support except by how you treat your most vulnerable?"

There's also the narration of Ibn Mas'ud (radiyallahu ta'ala anhu):

"Allah will not honor an ummah that does not take justice for the weak amongst them."

It's one of the reasons for hazeema, one of the reasons for defeat and humiliation. Allah will not honor an ummah that does not stand up for the oppressed amongst them, that does not stand up for the weak amongst them.

Self-Reflection on Justice

And so you want nasr? Are you involved in a nusra? You want Allah to give you victory in your circumstance? Are you a reason for someone else's victory? You want Allah to honor you? Do you honor the weak amongst you? Do you honor the oppressed amongst you?

"Right? Didn't Allah mention this about the disbelievers? You want to be honored, but you don't honor the orphan amongst you."

You want Allah to honor you, but do you honor those who Allah has placed in your care?

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