In the caving activity, armed with only a headlight, we were tasked navigate into a pitch-black, narrow cave, full of sharp stalagmites and stalactites, with water up to our hips (and for some, water up to their necks) – very hazardous.
The amazing thing was that no one in our groups got hurt throughout the entire caving activity, alhamduilillah.
An amazing lesson we also learnt, however, was what happened AFTER the caving activity: someone had an injury OUTSIDE the cave while on solid, flat ground. Apparently, he was waving at his friend while walking, and tripped over a tree root, fell and slightly injured his knee.
Let's analyze the situation..
When we navigated through the cave, we were conscious of the fact that we were going to enter a danger zone, so we put super extra care to ensure our safety – we studied our environment carefully, attentively observed where our feet and hands went, we communicated with the people in front and behind us – safe.
Interestingly, this is exactly how the companion Ubayy ibn Ka’ab described “taqwa” – consciousness of God / fear of God's punishment.
Ubayy said to Umar ibn Al-Khattab, "Have you ever walked on a path that has thorns on it''
`Umar said, "Yes.''
Ubayy said, "What did you do then''
He said, "I rolled up my sleeves and struggled (carefully, to avoid the thorns).''
Ubayy said, "That is Taqwa.''
So we navigated the cave with taqwa. But the minute we exited the cave, as we walked through wide, flat and familiar ground, we felt ‘safe’, so we became lax and complacent, we let our guard down, and *wham*!
Lessons learnt:
اتَّقِ اللَّهَ حَيْثُمَا كُنْتَ
“Have taqwa (consciousness) of Allah wherever you may be”
(Hadith Narrated by at-Tirmidzi, graded hasan)
Many of us, when we are going to enter ‘dangerous’ environments or places – ones that you KNOW are full of haram and prohibited things – whether its in gatherings of idle talk, ‘parties’, ‘red light’ city areas, dodgy stuff on television, dodgy websites, shopping malls, political-slander articles, etc – we become conscious of our actions, we are more careful in resisting temptations, and fending off the bad stuff.
But when we enter ‘safer’ territory – say, with ‘good company’ of friends or other ‘practicing’ people – we tend to let our guard down, and shaytan takes us for a ride to fall into all sorts of haram. Some very common examples :
Talking about absolutely useless and non-beneficial things for the sake of ‘strengthening brotherhood’,
backbiting other individuals in the name of “safeguarding the Deen from corrupt individuals” or “saving other people from their harm”,
interaction with non-mahrams of the opposite gender “just talking about religion”, private discussions and ‘overly friendly’ (to the point of flirting) with non-mahrams under the guise of “doing da’wah together”,
gossiping with others about a person with the intention that “we actually want to help him and want to find a solution together”,
not having khusyoo’ in prayer because of thinking about your good deeds (e.g. planning your da’wah activity, how to please your mother, what good advice to share on facebook);
When staying at home with the family, there's a tendency to do more useless things and waste time because we think we are 'spending time with the family'..
– the list goes on.
These are areas where we are most vulnerable – especially Muslims who are sincere on being better individuals, but sometimes fall into error. We need to keep our guard up to ensure we don’t get tricked and fall into sin, yet still be convinced we are doing the right thing. Remember the story of Barsisah.
Remember the advice of the Prophet - have taqwa WHEREVER you may be. Always take a step back, keep your ikhlas (sincerity) in check, be honest with yourself, be honest with Allah and ask Him to guide you, then tread carefully and don't be complacent –
.. and help others if you are seeing them slipping away. Nobody is free from error, myself included.
This is a reminder to myself and to you - Let us help each other towards taqwa and righteousness – in the same way the person(s) behind and in front of us warns us of impending hazards ahead =)
(Your Own Life Observation [YOLO] AK Youth Camp 2013)
#yolo #akyc2013 #akyc
Friday, December 27, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
The Morale Effect
If there’s one valuble lesson I learned in the Youth Camp, it’s one thing – the rules of Organizational Behaviour are every bit as applicable to teenagers, as they are applicable to adults in the corporate world, and to a Jemaah as a whole.
Situations can sometimes get very rough and difficult – and whether we realize it or not, our reactions to different situations have a major impact towards affecting the morale of the team or the organization around us.
The reality is, in these situations, everyone feels tired, pressured, or stressed – the difference is, what we choose to do as a reaction.
And that difference can make or break the team.
When one person starts throwing in the towel, sighs, complains about the situation, it has an immediate effect to those around him/her. Other weaker team members will feel relieved that there is one who is on ‘the same boat’, and just surrenders to the pressure, lose their steam, eventually affecting the entire team’s morale and enthusiasm. But the stronger ones will ignore this and just keep pushing.
On the other hand, when a person, despite the stress, tiredness and pressure he feels, still maintains a positive and enthusiastic vibe, still pulling his weight, still helping to push the team to greater heights, it gives a certain amount of energizing motivation to the team. And other stronger team members can pick this up and show their support – and the team will deliver far beyond what they were originally capable of, achieving results greater than the sum of its parts.
And this is exactly what happens in an organization or company. Your whining and complaining can wear the team down; in the same way that your enthusiasm and determination can motivate the team beyond expectations.
We see exact same examples in the seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam).
An example of negative morale is that of the Hypocrites in the Battle of Uhud (Surah al-Imran 3:154-156).
As the impending threat of war dawned upon them, they started to fear for their own lives, and boldly started out loud to the entire 1000-strong Muslim army: “we don’t know why should we kill ourselves!”
This immediately had an effect to the army, and ONE-THIRD of them – approximately 300 of them – withdrew and flee from the battlefield. Look how this ‘toxic influence’ really hurt the team.
Now the Muslims were left with only about 700 men to face 3000 men – imagine how much that would have affected their spirits.
But with the Grace of Allah, the remaining 700 believers remained steadfast due to their belief, principles and loyalty to the Prophet (ref Surah al-Imran 3:122).
The best example of a superior source of positive motivation is that of the Prophet Muhammad himself.
Now imagine for a second, the level of stress and pressure he felt – as the final Prophet of Allah, the one responsible to train his followers to deliver the Final Revelation of God to the whole of mankind – who had to worry about impeding invasion from the Quraysh disbelievers, the backstabbing Jews, betrayal of the Hypocrites from within their own ranks, rebellion of surrounding Arab tribes, at the same time to educate complete teachings of Islam within such a short period of time, managing a huge family (and being the best to his family members!), administration of a whole country, sometimes himself being the general of his army, and at the same time staying up almost all night, every night, to Pray.
Quite a stressful situation! Yet how did he appear before his companions?
Jarîr b. `Abd Allah said: "Since the time I accepted Islam, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never once failed to notice me - and every time he saw me, he would smile at me."
[Sahîh al-Bukhârî (2809 & 5625) and Sahîh Muslim (4523)]
`Abd Allah b. al-Hârith said: "I have never seen anyone more in the habit of smiling than Allah's Messenger." [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (3574)]
When they were digging the trench, he was down there with them - hungrier than them. In war, he was on the front lines.
And yet he never compromised his warmth and loving nature towards his companions.
Profound lessons and food for thought for ourselves – how has our morale affected those around us?
(Your Own Life Observations [YOLO] - Alkhaadem Youth Camp 2013)
#yolo #akyc2013 #akyc
Situations can sometimes get very rough and difficult – and whether we realize it or not, our reactions to different situations have a major impact towards affecting the morale of the team or the organization around us.
The reality is, in these situations, everyone feels tired, pressured, or stressed – the difference is, what we choose to do as a reaction.
And that difference can make or break the team.
When one person starts throwing in the towel, sighs, complains about the situation, it has an immediate effect to those around him/her. Other weaker team members will feel relieved that there is one who is on ‘the same boat’, and just surrenders to the pressure, lose their steam, eventually affecting the entire team’s morale and enthusiasm. But the stronger ones will ignore this and just keep pushing.
On the other hand, when a person, despite the stress, tiredness and pressure he feels, still maintains a positive and enthusiastic vibe, still pulling his weight, still helping to push the team to greater heights, it gives a certain amount of energizing motivation to the team. And other stronger team members can pick this up and show their support – and the team will deliver far beyond what they were originally capable of, achieving results greater than the sum of its parts.
And this is exactly what happens in an organization or company. Your whining and complaining can wear the team down; in the same way that your enthusiasm and determination can motivate the team beyond expectations.
We see exact same examples in the seerah of the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam).
An example of negative morale is that of the Hypocrites in the Battle of Uhud (Surah al-Imran 3:154-156).
As the impending threat of war dawned upon them, they started to fear for their own lives, and boldly started out loud to the entire 1000-strong Muslim army: “we don’t know why should we kill ourselves!”
This immediately had an effect to the army, and ONE-THIRD of them – approximately 300 of them – withdrew and flee from the battlefield. Look how this ‘toxic influence’ really hurt the team.
Now the Muslims were left with only about 700 men to face 3000 men – imagine how much that would have affected their spirits.
But with the Grace of Allah, the remaining 700 believers remained steadfast due to their belief, principles and loyalty to the Prophet (ref Surah al-Imran 3:122).
The best example of a superior source of positive motivation is that of the Prophet Muhammad himself.
Now imagine for a second, the level of stress and pressure he felt – as the final Prophet of Allah, the one responsible to train his followers to deliver the Final Revelation of God to the whole of mankind – who had to worry about impeding invasion from the Quraysh disbelievers, the backstabbing Jews, betrayal of the Hypocrites from within their own ranks, rebellion of surrounding Arab tribes, at the same time to educate complete teachings of Islam within such a short period of time, managing a huge family (and being the best to his family members!), administration of a whole country, sometimes himself being the general of his army, and at the same time staying up almost all night, every night, to Pray.
Quite a stressful situation! Yet how did he appear before his companions?
Jarîr b. `Abd Allah said: "Since the time I accepted Islam, the Prophet (peace be upon him) never once failed to notice me - and every time he saw me, he would smile at me."
[Sahîh al-Bukhârî (2809 & 5625) and Sahîh Muslim (4523)]
`Abd Allah b. al-Hârith said: "I have never seen anyone more in the habit of smiling than Allah's Messenger." [Sunan al-Tirmidhî (3574)]
When they were digging the trench, he was down there with them - hungrier than them. In war, he was on the front lines.
And yet he never compromised his warmth and loving nature towards his companions.
Profound lessons and food for thought for ourselves – how has our morale affected those around us?
(Your Own Life Observations [YOLO] - Alkhaadem Youth Camp 2013)
#yolo #akyc2013 #akyc
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