During the battle of Yarmuk, Az-Zubayr (رضي الله عنه) tried to incite the mujahideen to fight against the Romans. (You can read the entire incident here.)
From this incident, we learn some important leadership lessons:
- When nobody steps up to the task, the leader must take the initiative to get the job done. Because, one way or another, the task must be completed.
- Leaders also work in the trenches, when circumstances require it of them. They don’t sit back, delegate, and superwise, but rather, when called on, they jump in. And when the companions built the first masjid in Medina, the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) laid bricks and spread cement with them.
- Real leaders don’t hide. Unlike many leaders of countries today, real leaders from the best of generations did not hide, tucked away safe in their strongholds, while the battle waged. In fact, when ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) became Khalifa, the other companions talked him out of fighting–otherwise, he would have been first at the front lines.
May Allah grant our ummah true leadership, as practiced by the best of examples before us, ameen!
References
Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Conquest: History of the Khulafa. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2005.