Leadership is about delegating authority, and a central principle of delegation is that authority must be delegated with appropriate resources, i.e. the means to accomplish the task one has been delegated with. In the story of Dhul Qarnayn, we are reminded that Allah SWT is the Sovereign. He delegates authority to us in different degrees. He delegates tasks to us, and accomplishes what He Wills through us. But He will not demand the accomplishment of a delegated task without giving us the proper resources to accomplish it. Allah (the Almighty or SWT) says that he established Dhul Qarnayn in the earth and gave him the means of everything, the resources and abilities that may be needed. The other side of this coin is that Allah SWT does not demand from us what we do not have the ability to accomplish, when he says in Surah al Baqarah: “Laa yo kallifall-lahu nafsan illa wus-aa-ha (On no soul does Allah place a burden greater than he can bear.) So, in human terms, this is a lesson for us when we find ourselves in any position of leadership, that we expect the best from those we delegate tasks to, with two conditions: We do not expect more than we know they are capable of delivering, and we give them the material resources and the training needed to get the job done. [2.] The Qur’an continues, “ One (such) way he followed until when he reached the setting of the sun He found it set in a spring of murky water: near it he found a People: We said: “O Zul-qarnain! (you have authority) either to punish them or to treat them with kindness.” He said: “Whoever does wrong him shall we punish; then shall he be sent back to his Lord; and He will punish him with a punishment unheard-of (before). But whoever believes and works righteousn
Posted on: Mon, 22 Jul 2013 14:28:53 +0000