Often in life we are presented with opportunities to fill the shoes of a leader. A role that some will jump at the chance of having, whilst others may shy away from. Regardless to say, it’s a difficult one.

You see, some people are naturally blessed with leadership qualities. They know what to say, and when to say it. Big crowds do not scare them, and they have a way of understanding every person in the group. And yes, they know how to deliver the goods. They know how to create success and take their team onto bigger and better things. And celebration? Leaders know how to thank their team and raise the spirits in the meeting rooms. They know victory when they see it.

But what happens when they fail? What happens when not everything goes to plan?

I have recently been reading a book that touched on this, and to be honest, it opened my eyes. Yes, we all know leadership qualities and what makes a good leader – and we know some great modern-day examples of them too. But Nouman Ali Khan transformed what I thought of leadership in his book Revive Your Heart: Putting Life Into Perspective. What better example could us Muslims follow other than the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), the final messenger of Islam?

Khan talks of the battle of Uhud, between the Muslims led by Muhammad (ﷺ) and the Quraishi Meccans. In comparison the battle of Badr, the battle of Uhud was actually a great defeat for the Muslims and was noted as an ultimate setback. In fact, in Surat-al-Imran, there are around sixty ayats that were revealed about why the battle was a defeat. In reality, the main reason was that the appointed archers at the mountain had gone against the command of their leader – the Prophet (ﷺ) – to stay in their position despite whatever happens, even if the birds are eating their corpses. When the archers saw the Muslims defeating the enemy, they decided to leave and join them, which made the military leader of the Quraish, Khalid ibn al-Walid (radya Allah ‘anhu) strike when the iron was hot and attack the Muslim army from behind. This led to the deaths of over seventy Sahabah and at one time, the Prophet (ﷺ) was rumoured to have been killed as well. All in all, it was a defeat and a day of loss for the Muslims.

So how would a leader deal with a loss like this? Bearing in mind that this is not the loss of a multi million project for a client in a top company. Rather, it is the incomparable loss of human life and family. In reality, me and you would lose our temper. Our words would strike like daggers and life-changing decisions would be made. Forgiveness would be the last thing on our mind.

But before the Prophet (ﷺ) sat down with his people to talk about the battle, he was guided by Allah (subhana wa ta ‘ala), who revealed:

Thanks to Allah. Mercy. Gentle. Typically, these are not the words that come to mind when we think of the aftermath of defeat. We think anger, loss, and humiliation. But look at the contrast. Look at what the Creator was reminding Muhammad (ﷺ). Instead of blaming these people for the defeat in the
battle, Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) was reminding the Prophet (ﷺ) to be lenient with his people. To be kind towards them and to treat them with mercy, and that too is only permissible with thanks to Allah (subhana wa ta’ala). In fact, Surat-al-Imran continues to say:

In his book, Khan analyses the Arabic meaning of this ayat, and notes that the Arabic translation of la-nfaddu min hawlik, relates to the word infidad, which is describing how when a glass breaks, the pieces shatter and scatter away from it. And when you try to put that very same glass back together, the cracks will always be visible. Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) is warning the Prophet that the behaviour of harshness and roughness as a leader would have distanced him from his followers And even if they were to return, the cracks in the foundations would always be visible.

So, you see, there is a lot we can take away from this example in Islam. It is better to approach people with mercy and forgiveness rather than anger and harshness. In terms of leadership and teamwork, mistakes will be made. Plans may not always follow through. But as Muslims, we are constantly reminded of how we should behave towards others and treat people. After all, Islam is the religion of peace.