The 13th of Rajab, is the date that our first Imam, Imam Ali (AS), was delivered inside the most holy place on this earth, the house of Allah, the Ka’abah. After an extraordinary birth, he continued to live an extraordinary life, leading and inspiring individuals in the face of oppression and moral corruption, not only in his own time period, but for generations to come as well, which is evident by our program here today.
Whether someone is leading a small group project at school, a large team in a business, or an entire nation, in order to have a successful outcome, one must be led by an effective leader. If you take a look at successful movements, projects and initiatives around the world, you will find a dedicated leader at its heart. While a lot of leaders tend to run things differently to each other, the core style of leading in many leadership role models is that of servant leadership.
The idea is, to be an effective leader, we adapt ourselves to the situation we are facing. We adjust our style, so others understand instead of forcing others to adjust to us. In that way, we serve others first. In a piece written by Kareem Abdul-Jabar, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, he writes: “We should all be intently listening to voices of the next generation, hearing what they have to say and, when they are struggling to say it, help them to articulate better.”
The key to leadership is to serve first.
Back in the 1970’s, Robert Greenleaf, director of management research at AT&T, read a book called “Journey to the East” by Hermann Hesse, which is about a group of people who are traveling to a new land. Accompanying the group is their servant, Leo, who sings songs and takes care of their needs. During the journey, Leo disappears from the group. The group struggles to stay together and eventually disbands. Several years later, it is discovered that Leo (the group’s servant) was really their leader. Inspired by Leo’s character, Greenleaf realizes that the key to leadership is to serve first.
While Western civilisations may only just be catching on to this idea, our own Prophets and Imams have been doing this for centuries, and Imam Ali (AS) is the perfect example of a leadership role model, who leads through serving the people first. On one occasion, when Imam Ali was very sick and unable to deliver food to the destitute of Kufa, his blessed sons, the second and third Imams, offered to fulfil this duty for him. However, Imam Ali’s noble and determined character did not allow this to happen, and he told his sons,
No, the Almighty Allah has entrusted me with the responsibility of this government. Let me perform my duty.
In today’s world, it seems we have convinced ourselves we can only force people and societies into submission through absurd laws and brunt showings of force. Imam Ali’s leadership rejects this concept; instead, the Imam demonstrated that loyalty and respect of the ruled can only be obtained through treating them with respect and sincerity.
Leaders in this day and age tend to favour one class of society over another. The world is simply running on a cycle of the rich helping the rich, while the poor are simply pitied, and no active effort is made to help them. People on an individual level have lost any value and honour in the eyes of their leaders.
This is not the way that Imam Ali ran things. No; Imam Ali would volunteer to help farmers with their farming and would provide social assistance himself to the poor and unfortunate, and he made great strides to ensure his governors and officials were free from corruption and greed and treated people with dignity, honour, and kindness as he told his officials:
Behave humbly with the people, keep yourself lenient, meet them with a big heart, and accord them equal treatment, so that the high should not expect injustices from you in their favour, and the low should not be despondent of your justice towards them.
Imam Ali’s influence as a leader was so strong that hundreds of years later, the United Nations, in its 2002 Arab Human Development Report, quoted six sayings from Imam Ali (AS) as an advice to world leaders, especially those of Muslim countries, who lack all the virtues and leadership qualities possessed by Imam Ali. The quotes came from Imam Ali’s directive (his عهد) to Malik Al-Ashtar.
Throughout his life, before and during his caliphate rule, Imam Ali (AS) emphasised that, in order to lead others justly, and to direct them towards pleasing Allah (SWT), one must assume leadership, not for its own sake, but for the sake of providing a service.
This is a revised copy of a speech given at LAL’s Imam Ali: The Lantern of Guidance event on 31/3/2018.
By Ghadeer Al-hobaish
