I once visited a
deprived town to deliver a lecture, afterwhich there came to me
a teacher from outside the town. Hesaid, “I hope you can
help us finance some students.”I said, “Strange!
Aren’t the schools government funded, andtherefore free?”He said, “Indeed they
are, but we would like to fund theiruniversity education.”I said, “Well, the
universities are also government funded.They even offer student
grants.”He said, “Allow me to
explain to you...”“Go ahead”, I said.He said, “Our students
graduate from their secondary schoolwith no less than 99%.
They are so clever that if their intelligencewas divided amongst the
ummah, it would suffice! But when astudent becomes determined
to travel outside his town to studyMedicine, Engineering,
Islamic Law, Computer Science or anythingelse, his father
prevents him from going, saying, ‘What youknow is sufficient!
Now, remain with me and be a shepherd!’”I screamed impulsively,
“Be a shepherd?!”He said, “Yes, a
shepherd!”And indeed, the poor
boy stays with his father and becomesa shepherd, whilst all
his abilities are wasted. Years go by and heremains a shepherd. He
may even get married and have childrenwhom he may treat exactly
as he was treated by his father.Hence, all his children
also become shepherds!I asked, “So what’s the solution?”He said, “The solution is to convince the father to employsomeone as a shepherd for a few hundred riyals, which we willpay, and allow his son to take full advantage of his skills andabilities. Of course, we will also continue to fund his son until hegraduates.”The teacher then lowered his head and said, “It is inexcusablethat such skills and talents in people are wasted when theylong to utilise them.”I contemplated upon what he had said and realised that wecannot reach the pinnacle except by taking advantage of the abilitieswe have and acquiring those that we do not.Yes, I would challenge anyone to find a successful person,be they successful in academia, preaching, lecturing, business,medicine, engineering, or influencing others; or be they successfulin family life, such as a successful father with his children, or asuccessful wife with her husband; or be they successful in theirsocial life, such as a person who is successful with his neighboursand colleagues – and I mean a truly successful person, not onewho simply climbs upon others’ shoulders! – I would challengeanyone to find me any such highly successful person who doesnot practise certain interpersonal skills through which he hasbeen able to achieve such success, whether they realise it ornot.Some people may exercise such interpersonal skills instinctively,while others may have to learn them in order to be successful,and these latter people are the types of successful personalitieswhose lives we would like to study and whose methodswe would closely seek to follow in order to discover how theywere successful, and to find out whether or not we can taketheir route to success.A while ago, I listened to an interview with one of the mostaffluent people in the world, Shaykh Sulayman al-Rajihi, and foundhim to be a mountain in terms of his manners and thoughts. Thisman owns billions, possesses immense real estate, has built hundredsof mosques, and has sponsored thousands of orphans. Heis hugely successful. He spoke of his humble beginnings aroundfifty years ago, when he was a regular person who would onlyhave enough money to feed himself for the day, and sometimesnot even that. He mentioned that he would sometimes cleanpeople’s houses to feed himself and continue working at nightat a shop or money exchange. He discussed how he was onceat the bottom of the mountain, and how he continued to climbuntil he reached the summit.I thought about the abilities and skills he possesses and realisedthat many of us are well capable of being like him, if Allahgrants us the ability. If one learns these skills, exercises them,perseveres and remains steadfast, then yes, he can surely be likehim.Another reason for us to search for these skills is that some27of us may have certain abilities, which we remain unaware of, orwhich nobody has assisted us in discovering, such as the skillsof delivering a lecture, business acumen, or possessing generalknowledge.One may discover these skills on his own, through a teacher’sor a work colleague’s help, or even through a sincere brother,however few they may be! However, these skills may remainburied inside the person until his personality becomes as stale asanyone else’s, and this is when we all lose out on another leader,lecturer or scholar, or perhaps a successful husband, or a caringfather.Here we will mention certain skills which we would like toremind you of if you already possess them, or which we wouldlike to train you in if you don’t. So come along!A thought...When you climb a mountain, look to the top and not to therocks that surround you. Make sure of where you step as youclimb, and do not leap in case you loose your footing.
also become shepherds!I asked, “So what’s the solution?”He said, “The solution is to convince the father to employsomeone as a shepherd for a few hundred riyals, which we willpay, and allow his son to take full advantage of his skills andabilities. Of course, we will also continue to fund his son until hegraduates.”The teacher then lowered his head and said, “It is inexcusablethat such skills and talents in people are wasted when theylong to utilise them.”I contemplated upon what he had said and realised that wecannot reach the pinnacle except by taking advantage of the abilitieswe have and acquiring those that we do not.Yes, I would challenge anyone to find a successful person,be they successful in academia, preaching, lecturing, business,medicine, engineering, or influencing others; or be they successfulin family life, such as a successful father with his children, or asuccessful wife with her husband; or be they successful in theirsocial life, such as a person who is successful with his neighboursand colleagues – and I mean a truly successful person, not onewho simply climbs upon others’ shoulders! – I would challengeanyone to find me any such highly successful person who doesnot practise certain interpersonal skills through which he hasbeen able to achieve such success, whether they realise it ornot.Some people may exercise such interpersonal skills instinctively,while others may have to learn them in order to be successful,and these latter people are the types of successful personalitieswhose lives we would like to study and whose methodswe would closely seek to follow in order to discover how theywere successful, and to find out whether or not we can taketheir route to success.A while ago, I listened to an interview with one of the mostaffluent people in the world, Shaykh Sulayman al-Rajihi, and foundhim to be a mountain in terms of his manners and thoughts. Thisman owns billions, possesses immense real estate, has built hundredsof mosques, and has sponsored thousands of orphans. Heis hugely successful. He spoke of his humble beginnings aroundfifty years ago, when he was a regular person who would onlyhave enough money to feed himself for the day, and sometimesnot even that. He mentioned that he would sometimes cleanpeople’s houses to feed himself and continue working at nightat a shop or money exchange. He discussed how he was onceat the bottom of the mountain, and how he continued to climbuntil he reached the summit.I thought about the abilities and skills he possesses and realisedthat many of us are well capable of being like him, if Allahgrants us the ability. If one learns these skills, exercises them,perseveres and remains steadfast, then yes, he can surely be likehim.Another reason for us to search for these skills is that some27of us may have certain abilities, which we remain unaware of, orwhich nobody has assisted us in discovering, such as the skillsof delivering a lecture, business acumen, or possessing generalknowledge.One may discover these skills on his own, through a teacher’sor a work colleague’s help, or even through a sincere brother,however few they may be! However, these skills may remainburied inside the person until his personality becomes as stale asanyone else’s, and this is when we all lose out on another leader,lecturer or scholar, or perhaps a successful husband, or a caringfather.Here we will mention certain skills which we would like toremind you of if you already possess them, or which we wouldlike to train you in if you don’t. So come along!A thought...When you climb a mountain, look to the top and not to therocks that surround you. Make sure of where you step as youclimb, and do not leap in case you loose your footing.
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