Summary: Leniency in Leadership<br> Innal hamda lillah; alladhi nahmaduhu wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastaghfiruh wa nu'minu bihi wa natawakkalu 'alaih; wa na'oodhu billahi min shuroori anfusinaa wa min sayyi-aati a'maalinaa; man yahdihillahu falaa mudilla lah, wa man yudlil falaa haadiya lah; wa nash-hadu allaa ilaaha illa Allah wahdahu laa shareeka lah, wa nash-hadu anna Muhammadan 'abdullahi wa rasooluh.<br> Arsala hullahu ta’ala bilhuda wadeeni alhaqqi liyuthhirahu AAala addeenikullihi wa kafa billahi shaheeda fa Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallama tasleeman katheeran katheera. Thumma amma ba’ad.<br> Fainna asdaqal hadithi kitabullah, wa khairal hadyi hadyu muhammadin Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, wa inna sharral umoori muhdathatuha, wa inna kulla muhdathatin bid’ah, wa kulla bid’atin dholalah, wa kulla dholalatin fin naar.<br> Yakoolu Sub’hanahu wa ta’ala fi kitabihil kareem ba’ad ana koola a'oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem<br> <br> Transliteration<br> Fabima rahmatin mina Allahilinta lahum walaw kunta faththan ghaleethaalqalbi lanfaddoo min hawlika faAAfuAAanhum wastaghfir lahum washawirhum fee al-amrifa-itha AAazamta fatawakkal AAala Allahiinna Allaha yuhibbu almutawakkileen (3:159)<br> <br> Transliteration<br> In yansurkumu Allahu falaghaliba lakum wa-in yakhthulkum faman thaallathee yansurukum min baAAdihi waAAala Allahifalyatawakkali almuminoon (3:160)<br> <br> Rabbi ishrah lee sadree Wayassir lee amree Wahlul AAuqdatan min lisanee Yafqahoo qawlee<br> Wallahumma thabbitna ‘AAindal mauti bi laa ilaaha illa Allah Wallahummaj'alna min allatheena amanoo waAAamiloo assalihat watawasaw bilhaqq watawasaw bissabr.<br> Ameen ya Rabb alAAalameen.<br> <br> Surat Al Imran, the third Surah of the Qur’an, deals with several subjects, but one particular subject has been given a lot of space in the Surah. And that subject matter is the accounts and whatever happened in the battle of Uhud. And Uhud, as many of you know is the second major battle in the Madani life of the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam). There are a lot of things to learn from these accounts and that’s why Allah dedicates a lot of Ayaat to this subject and we know that every ayah of the Qur’an offers us guidance. So Allah doesn’t just tell us what happened but He tells us what happened and what you can learn from it. What us, as Muslims can learn not just in that particular situation, but what universal lessons are we going to take from that and make our own lives better for ever to come. So the Qur’an is not just a book of history. It’s a book of timeless instruction, timeless counsel and timeless guidance. So, it is in that spirit that I want to share with you something very particular, that we learn about the Prophet himself (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) in dealing with a difficult situation. How the Prophet (‘alayhi assalatu wassalam) is being taught himself. He is our teacher (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam).<br> “Kama yakooloo subhanahu wa ta’aala wayu ‘aallimuhumu alkitab”<br> ‘He is the one that teaches you the book.’ So he is our teacher, but he himself has a teacher (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) and that is Allah azzawajal. And you know the best thing to do as a teacher is to find the right opportunity to teach a lesson. So the opportunity of Uhud, as terrible as it was, and many of you know the details and maybe some of you don’t know the details of what happened in that battle. I won’t give you too many details here because this is not the place for it, but I’ll at least share with you some of the accounts, so that you have an idea of where we’re headed here. It was a tough situation of battle. Earlier on Allah says,<br> <br> “Walaqad sadaqakumu AllahuwaAAdahu ith tahussoonahum bi-ithnihi....” (3:152)<br> “Allah was fulfilling His promise when you were annihilating them; you were making them feel the heat of battle by His permission.”<br> The Muslims came ready and they were destroying the enemy on t...
