Why do we search for skills?:
Why do we search for skills?
I once visited a deprived town to deliver a lecture, after
which there came to me a teacher from outside the town. He
said, “I hope you can help us finance some students.”
I said, “Strange! Aren’t the schools government funded, and
therefore free?”
He said, “Indeed they are, but we would like to fund their
university 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 school
with no less than 99%. They are so clever that if their intelligence
was divided amongst the ummah, it would suffice! But when a
student becomes determined to travel outside his town to study
Medicine, Engineering, Islamic Law, Computer Science or anything
else, his father prevents him from going, saying, ‘What you
know 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 becomes
a shepherd, whilst all his abilities are wasted. Years go by and he
remains a shepherd. He may even get married and have children
whom 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 employ
someone as a shepherd for a few hundred riyals, which we will
pay, and allow his son to take full advantage of his skills and
abilities. Of course, we will also continue to fund his son until he
graduates.”
The teacher then lowered his head and said, “It is inexcusable
that such skills and talents in people are wasted when they
long to utilise them.”
I contemplated upon what he had said and realised that we
cannot reach the pinnacle except by taking advantage of the abilities
we 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 successful
in family life, such as a successful father with his children, or a
successful wife with her husband; or be they successful in their
social life, such as a person who is successful with his neighbours
and colleagues – and I mean a truly successful person, not one
who simply climbs upon others’ shoulders! – I would challenge
anyone to find me any such highly successful person who does
not practise certain interpersonal skills through which he has
been able to achieve such success, whether they realise it or
not.
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 personalities
whose lives we would like to study and whose methods
we would closely seek to follow in order to discover how they
were successful, and to find out whether or not we can take
their route to success.
A while ago, I listened to an interview with one of the most
affluent people in the world, Shaykh Sulayman al-Rajihi, and found
him to be a mountain in terms of his manners and thoughts. This
man owns billions, possesses immense real estate, has built hundreds
of mosques, and has sponsored thousands of orphans. He
is hugely successful. He spoke of his humble beginnings around
fifty years ago, when he was a regular person who would only
have enough money to feed himself for the day, and sometimes
not even that. He mentioned that he would sometimes clean
people’s houses to feed himself and continue working at night
at a shop or money exchange. He discussed how he was once
at the bottom of the mountain, and how he continued to climb
until he reached the summit.
I thought about the abilities and skills he possesses and realised
that many of us are well capable of being like him, if Allah
grants us the ability. If one learns these skills, exercises them,
perseveres and remains steadfast, then yes, he can surely be like
him.
Another reason for us to search for these skills is that some
of us may have certain abilities, which we remain unaware of, or
which nobody has assisted us in discovering, such as the skills
of delivering a lecture, business acumen, or possessing general
knowledge.
One may discover these skills on his own, through a teacher’s
or a work colleague’s help, or even through a sincere brother,
however few they may be! However, these skills may remain
buried inside the person until his personality becomes as stale as
anyone else’s, and this is when we all lose out on another leader,
lecturer or scholar, or perhaps a successful husband, or a caring
father.
Here we will mention certain skills which we would like to
remind you of if you already possess them, or which we would
like 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 the
rocks that surround you. Make sure of where you step as you
climb, and do not leap in case you loose your footing.
