How do we take care of responsibilities in daily life and not lose ourselves to the mundane tasks that must be carried out daily. Life is what we make it and leading your own life is the route to true happiness in Islam. Handing over your life to someone else will not bring about fruits that you want to see in life.

So how do you Lead life in Islam ? The early generations of Muslims, they were leaders of their own destiny. They were people who took charge of life. So the answer lies in How the Muttaqun (The greatest Muslims as Allah describes them), those leaders, the best of the best, the elite of the Muslims, how they become the leaders of the world. The answer is becoming leaders in their homes, in their family life, in the social life, in the work place and I societal life. Every Muslim has been charged by Allah with Responsibilities, and the most important of those is to take leadership in your own life.

So lets take a look at the Hadith where we find a very powerful statement from The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessing be upon him), who said:

“Kulukum-ra’i-wa-kulukum-masulun-an-raeyatihi”

“All of you are leaders, all of you are shepherds and all of you are responsible for your flock”

“Raa’i”, is a shepherd. “Wa-kulukum-masulun-an-raeyatihi”, all of you are responsible for your flock.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to you as the shepherd, the one who guides. He didn’t say some of you are, rather, He said all of you are. All of you are responsible for your flock. We all have responsibilities.

In this short article I’ll share with you two ways you can take control of your own life and become the leader in your own life insha’Allah. Don’t underestimate these two ways, as they will completely transform your life and give you the freedom, power and control over your own destiny insha’Allah.

Lead Yourself and You’ll Lead the World:

The ‘muttaqun’, they became the leaders of the world because they became the leaders of themselves first and the messenger of Allah gave us an ultimate vision here. He instilled in us in the positions that we have been created for, the position of responsibility.

When Allah-subhanahu-wa-tala says in surah Aali-Imran,110 :

“Kuntum-khairu-umatin-ukhrijat-linas”

You’re the best of nations, taken out from the people. Why? ‘Linas’, for the people.

Allah subhanahu-wa-tala set us our position in this world. He gave us the position of being an example for the rest of humanity to look up to.

So The Messenger of Allah then explains this by saying:

“Kulukum Raa’i”

All of you are shepherds. You are those who lead, because the “Raa’i” is the one that leads the herd, the one that cares for the herd, and the one that watches out for the danger.

So, for you and I have been created to do this.  And in order to fulfil this obligation we must first take charge of our own lives before we can have influence on others.

How?

1. Take Care of your Responsibilities:

So the ‘muttaqun’, they had a simple strategy. The strategy was to take care of their individual responsibilities.

Once you recognize your own responsibilities, whether you’re a full-time parent or a full-time engineer or a full-time postman or whatever your expertise is, the prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is telling us in this Hadith that we should master everything we do.

Whatever falls within our realm, whatever responsibilities we have, we strive to become the best that we can at this, and this is how we take charge of our lives. Because once you take care of your responsibilities, you’re able to take care of others around you.

2. Make Your Decisions:

To take care of your responsibilities, you have to be a person who makes decisions. You have to be a person who makes choices. You don’t let others make your choices, and others make your decisions, because when you do that, others are leading your life and you’re not leading your own life.

So the question is, are you ready to lead your own life?

Are you ready to make your own choices?

It is your destiny to become your own leader, and by becoming your own leader, Insha’Allah you will have a profound impact on all of those around you.

You don’t have to be a leader in the sense of the title, but a leader in the sense that you lead in the field that you are expert in. whatever that may be.

And so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), in his general statement to all of us, not making any exception said, “All of you are leaders”, all of you are shepherds. And regardless of whether you have a title, you’re a CEO or you’re a manager or you have no title, You still have the potential to be from the best of the best, the ‘Muttaqun’ (The greatest Muslims as Allah describes them). Are you ready to become of the ‘muttaqun’?

You were born to be one of them, Allah believes in you so lets get started.

Jazakumullah khair,

If you want to watch a Quick Reminder on this subject watch this Video below.

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