Sunaa’ al-Hayah

- Life Makers -

Episode 5: Proactiveness – Part 2

It is now time for the fifth episode of Life Makers, and the second episode in Proactiveness.

Life Makers aims at awakening our countries.  The first step is to untie the chains surrounding us, namely, the chain of negativeness, waste of time, etc.  Let us untie these chains.  We have started by presenting examples of people who already managed to untie these chains.  Then we agreed on a practical assignment at the end of the previous episode to show you what we mean by untying the chains.  We wish to untie ten chains in order to achieve ten things.  Imagine what would happen if we were able to achieve these qualities:

1. Proactiveness
2. Assuming responsibility
3. Cultural depth
4. Realizing the importance of time
5. Preserving natural resources
6. Seriousness and exerting effort
7. Thoroughness (perfection)
8. Appreciating beauty and arts
9. Having a goal in life
10. Belonging and reference to Islam

Pay attention to the last two objectives: having a goal in life, and belonging and reference to Islam, as they will be discussed in each episode.  We will continue to use them, and always remind you of them.  Imagine if we succeeded in freeing ourselves of such chains and were able to move freely.

We are still talking about the first chain that confines our right hand, namely: negativeness.  The previous episode was not final.  It was an introduction to instigate us.  In the current episode we will be dealing with negativeness from the scientific point of view.  Since this program does not address only one individual, we will talk about the feedback we have received after broadcasting the last episode.  We received three different opinions:

1. Criticisms
2. Negative responses
3. Positive responses

Criticisms:

1. We received criticism from a group of Christian youths who follow our program.  They complained saying that they felt the program was not addressing them as Christian youth that desire to ‘make life’ with us.  Honestly, I was very happy to receive such a message.  I want to tell them that in the introduction of this program, I said that this program is really addressing all people: youth, grown-ups, housewives, and Muslims as well as Christians.  I would like to thank them very much for their proactiveness.

2. I said something wrong concerning the Qur’anic ayah (verse) which I set as the cornerstone of proactiveness, the ayah in which Allah  says what can be translated as, “And Allah puts forward (another) example of two men, one of them dumb, who has no power over anything (disbeliever), and he is a burden on his master; whichever way he directs him, he brings no good. Is such a man equal to one (believer in the Islamic Monotheism) who commands justice, and is himself on the straight path?” (TMQ, 16:76)[1].  I said that the ayah is in Surat an-Naml (The Ants), while it is in Surat an-Nahl (The Bees).  I am just reminding you that when one is experiencing an utmost feeling of enthusiasm and eagerness to present his work in the best shape, he is most likely to make mistakes and that is very natural.  The difference between the two words: Naml and Nahl is only one letter.  Please accept my apology; the ayah is from Surat an-Nahl.

3. We were told that last episode’s assignment was not clear.  It was not enough to say that the practical assignment was to do something positive without specifying an exact task.  We should have been more precise.  Inshallah (if Allah (SWT) permits) we will try to be more specific in this episode.

4. We did not make use of foreign books and references, which dealt with proactiveness.  I am telling you again that we exerted an extraordinary effort in preparing for this program.  Our main reference was our religion and the Sunnah (teachings of our Prophet Muhammad (SAWS[2]) in which we found all the meanings we needed.  Besides that, we did not leave a foreign book or reference that dealt with such a topic without reading and benefiting from it.  Again, I tell you that we did not find anything in these references that added to what we found its origin in our religion, the Sunnah of our Prophet (SAWS) or in our history and civilization.  Even the names of some books, for example ‘Abandon Anger’ or ‘Take Initiative,’ were all mentioned in our religion.

Negative responses (no one sent them; we just felt them):

We asked all people to answer a survey and send it to us.  However, the number of responses we got so far was only 13,000 surveys.  It is, I guess, a very small number compared to what it is supposed to be.  Although the deadline for receiving the survey was the 12^th of March, I hoped that the amount of surveys would be bigger compared to the number of those who said were eager to start adapting positive attitudes.

Positive responses:

1.      The number of those who accomplished positive achievements is 600.  They are all beautiful ideas, but the most amazing is that all were achieved within a single week. 

2.      We received 1,300 suggestions through the website and the telephone with regards to the design of the program.  This is really great and it increases our hope for a true renaissance in our countries.

3.      Models for positive responses: concerning the experiment of the Computer Engineer, Mr. Ahmad Sami that was presented to you in the previous episode, a Kuwaiti businessman called me and asked to be in charge of this project and to sponsor it throughout the whole Arab world.  We succeeded in getting them both in contact with each other.  As I told you, money comes; you just need to have hope.

4.      Another story of a man who was walking in al-Maza street in Heliopolis, Cairo.  He saw a bulldozer paving the street, and remembered a big hole in one of the side roads.  He also remembered our program and off he went to the driver of the bulldozer asking him to level up the hole after he finishes his work.  Surprised, the man looked at him and said, “What’s up with everybody today? A few moments ago, a group of young men requested the same thing.”  The man went to find those youths only to discover that they have already leveled up the hole themselves using primitive ways after the construction worker had told them that he was too busy doing other things.  Out of curiosity, the man wanted to know what their motive was.  Their answer was, “We watched the Life Makers program and wanted to be positive!”

5.      A group of Kuwaiti schoolgirls went to their teacher and asked her to set aside five minutes each week to talk together about how to untie the chains of negativeness.  They established a group which they called ‘The Life Makers Group.’

6.      A girl from Qatar named Fatemah Darwish sends short messages carrying the significance of the episodes on her mobile to many people.  May Allah (SWT) bless her! She sends phrases like, “Many a time has vigor revived nations.”

7.      In Abu-Bakr as-Siddiq mosque, one of the biggest mosques in Cairo, Muslim brothers gathered and discussed the possibility of offering educational courses for youngsters and grown-ups in various skills, such us: computer, communication, etc.  The first course has already started last Thursday.

8.      Today we have, on our set, a Lebanese girl who was just a viewer in the previous episode.  Today she came to introduce herself and tell us about what she did.  We will let her talk about her project.  Her name is Dina Ghazawy.  Dina's talking, “We are a group of young girls, 18-20 years old, in North Lebanon.  We want to serve Islam.  We do not know much about our religion.  However, we want to be positive.  We decided to make a project for children, in our area, who are weak in languages and in computer skills.  We started by offering educational support lessons.  There is also more, inshallah, like for example, handcrafts for girls.  We ask Allah to help, inshallah.”

These are all the comments we can say concerning the previous episode.

In this episode we will talk about the practical side of things.  Today, we want to answer the following four questions:

1. Why is proactiveness so important? We must fully believe that without proactiveness, there will never be renaissance.  We must get rid of this chain that caused our wrists to bleed.
2. What hinders proactiveness?
3. How can one be positive?
4. What are the fields of proactiveness?

After answering these questions, we will tackle a very specific project.

Question 1: Why is proactiveness so important?

On the one hand, negativeness is almost the worst, and the most dangerous chain confining the wrists of our nations and countries.  On the other hand, proactiveness is almost the most important and the most crucial means to revive our countries.  We will indicate three reasons:

1.      What is the thing that would revive a nation? What is the thing that whenever at hand, any nation must be revived? Studies have proved that the renaissance of nations occurs when the people are highly positive, ambitious and resourceful. Thus, history changes through people.  The first quality they required for the purpose of reviving the nation is proactiveness.  Some examples are, Marx and Lenin, who were extremely positive people.  They established Communism.  At the age of 56, Mao Zedong revived China.  Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) established Islam through proactiveness, which is the most effective mean to enlighten a world living in total darkness.  Is there anyone who is as positive as him, peace and blessings be upon him, or is there anybody more positive than him? When he wanted to start his mission, he looked for positive people.  He prayed to Allah (SWT), “O, Allah! Strengthen Islam with one of the two Omars.”  He meant Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) and Amr Ibn-Hisham as they were, then, the two most positive men in society.  As a result, we understand that proactiveness is a very important element to achieve renaissance.  Why don’t you be the pioneers of the renaissance? Why don’t you be the first one in your building to do so and so, or the first one at your school or street to start an idea?  Society is revived through those pioneers.

2.      There is another reason for you to be positive.  Every nation must possess a certain unique quality.  Germans, for example, are known for being strong and challenging.  Japanese people are known for being hard-workers.  I wonder what unique characteristic Allah (SWT) would want Muslims to possess? It is proactiveness.  Where did I get that? Allah says what can be translated as, “Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind. Enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong.” (TMQ, 3:110).  Enjoining righteousness and forbidding what is wrong is the core of proactiveness.  Proactiveness seems to be the main characteristic required in us Muslims.  Enjoining what is right precedes believing in Allah (SWT).  If we enjoined what is right and forbade what is wrong, the society will become a society that believes in Allah (SWT).  This applies to both men and women.  Where did I get this? When the Qur’an addressed proactiveness, it was not done in a generalized way, as in most ayahs, but Allah  specifically says what can be translated as, “The believers, men and women, are protectors, one of another: they enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil.” (TMQ, 9:71).  The Prophet (SAWS) summarized the whole religion when he said, “Religion is: to advise.”  To advise, means to be positive at all levels.  If we understand our religion, we will become positive.  If we do not, then our perception of our religion is wrong. 

3.      Lack of proactiveness causes the destruction of nations.  Without positivism, nations are destroyed.  Allah, the Almighty, says what can be translated as, “Not would thy Lord be one to destroy communities for a single wrong doing, if its members were likely to mend.” (TMQ, 11: 117).  Allah (SWT) says they ‘mend’ not ‘worship,’ in other words, they are positive.  As if Allah (SWT) is warning us that if we are not positive, destruction will be our destiny.

Question 2: What hinders proactiveness?

1. Being timid from people.
2. Being afraid of making mistakes.
3. Being quickly frustrated after failure in the first attempts.
4. Being desperate when facing external obstacles.

First: Being timid from people:

How can we feel timid when doing something right? Yes, we need to have haya (natural reserve) but there is a great difference between haya and timidity.  To have haya means that you do not want to degrade yourself by doing sins in front of Allah (SWT), people and yourself.  Timidity is to feel confused when one becomes the centre of people’s attention, thus he becomes unable to express his opinion.  Be strong and courageous.  Take those examples for instance: when Allah (SWT) ordered Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) to expand openly on the message of Islam.  Allah  says what can be translated as, “Therefore expound openly what thou art commanded.” (TMQ, 15:94). Islam was new, at that time.  What did the Prophet (SAWS) do? He stood on top of the most famous hill in Makkah and cried at the top of his lungs, gathering all the people.  He then told them, “If I told you that behind this mountain there’s an army about to attack you, would you believe me?” They answered, “You never lied to us before in your life.” Thus, he added, “Then I am sent to you to warn you from a severe torture.”  Are you still embarrassed of doing something right?

In the first day he embraced Islam, Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA) knocked on the Prophet's door, the companions tied him up, and the Prophet (SAWS) told him, “Isn’t it about time that you become a Muslim, Omar?” Omar (RA) replied, “I bear witness that none is worthy of worship, except Allah, and that Muhammad is His Messenger.”  Immediately after he uttered the declaration of faith, Omar (RA) asked the Prophet (SAWS), “Aren’t we on the right side?” The Prophet (SAWS) answered, “Yes.”  Omar (RA) then asked, “Aren’t they on the wrong side?” The Prophet (SAWS) said, “Yes.”  Omar (RA) continued asking, “Then why are we hiding?” The Prophet (SAWS) asked, “What do you think we should do?” Omar (RA) replied, “Let’s go public.”  Thus, the Muslims went outside forming two rows.  The leader of the first row was Omar (RA), and the leader of the other row was Hamzah (RA).  They announced publicly their Islam to all people.  Not only did Omar (RA) do this, but he also went and knocked on the doors of every non-believer in Makkah to tell them that he embraced Islam.  Then he went to the biggest gossiper in Makkah and told him so that all of Makkah would know that he had embraced Islam.  All this happened on the first day Omar (RA) embraced Islam.  He later went home to tell his family. 

Another story of a young man living in Great Britain who went to Hide Park daily, and talked in the Speaker Corner about Islam until his voice became husky.  Today, he is a famous professor of Political Sciences in Britain. 

There is another about the first mosque to be built in one of the most famous universities in an Arab country during the thirties.  One day a student wanted to perform his prayers.  He went to the basement, which was the only place designated for prayer at that time. The place looked like a tomb where cobwebs laced the walls.  There was only one person praying in a corner, a worker.  The student asked him why they had to pray in such a place.  The worker told him that there is no other place in which to pray.  However, the student refused to pray underground.  He went up-stairs and, in the most positive way, he stood up in the most famous place in the campus and set the call for prayer.  Then, he performed his prayers.  Everyone laughed at him and thought he was crazy.  Don’t feel embarrassed though.  Four days later, the worker, who used to pray in the basement, joined him.  A week later, two other people joined them.  Then a month later a professor joined the group.  The issue cooled down, and the situation was well accepted.  However, the dean called for them and asked them not to pray out in public.  He offered to build a mosque for them.  Consequently, the first mosque was built in the School of Agriculture.  Mosques then spread in the rest of the universities.  Thus, never feel timid.  There are two solutions to stop awkwardness:

1. To have a goal in life.
2. To have a strong will and determination.

Second: Being afraid of making mistakes:

Do not be afraid of making mistakes.  Success begins with unsuccessful experiments.  Unfortunately, Arab nations do not believe in this statement.  I am going to tell you about a personal experience, even though I am not supposed to do so in the program.  When I was a child, my father used to be worried about my introversion and my fear of making mistakes.  I was extremely shy, until I became religious.  Some strange power began to grow within me.  I couldn't get rid of my shyness until I tasted the beauty of the first victory in my life.  My intimate friend was not into religion and I wanted to help him.  I kept trying until he became a very religious person.  I then felt how valuable and useful this type of work is, so I wanted to repeat it.  Since I love my religion and football, an idea came to my mind: a football tournament between different mosques.  I went to various mosques and started to get acquainted with people for three months.  Finally, the tournament started and the plan worked.  Therefore, never feel timid.  In order to taste the beauty of success you need the following:

1. To have a goal in life.
2. To have a strong will and determination.
3. To trust in Allah (SWT).
4. To taste success.

Third: Being frustrated after failure in the first attempt:

Do not lose hope when you fail in the first attempt.  Keep trying several times.  Prophet Muhammad (SAWS), in order to migrate to Madinah, invited 26 tribes to Islam, and all of them refused.  He tried 26 times and never lost hope.  Some times, he endured very excessive cruelty from these tribes.  Nothing stopped him from trying 26 times.  Many people are sending me messages telling me that they tried several times and failed.  They decided to stop contributing to the project of Life Makers.  Well, Edison made 99 unsuccessful attempts before inventing the electric bulb.  The 99 attempts all failed.  His reply to those who blamed him was, “At least I spared humanity the trouble of going through 99 wrong attempts to invent the electric bulb.”  Allah (SWT) tells us about Prophet Yaqub (AS) (Jacob) telling his sons after 20 years, what can be translated as, “O my sons go ye and enquire about Joseph and his brother, and never give up hope of Allah's soothing mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah's soothing mercy, except those who have no faith.” (TMQ, 12:87).  Consider this! After all those years he did not lose hope.  Thus, be patient, try, and fail.  The solution is the following prescription that we took from the Qur’an and Sunnah:

1. To have a goal in life.
2. To have a strong will and determination.
3. To have faith in Allah (SWT).
4. To taste success.
5. To be patient and never lose hope.

Fourth: Being desperate from facing external obstacles:

The circumstances Muslims are going through nowadays make them feel constantly depressed.  Thus, they lose hope of achieving any success.  Prophet Yusuf (AS) (Joseph) went through an extraordinary number of obstacles and bad circumstances.  He was thrown into a well when he was 12 years old; all his brothers hated him; he was sold as a slave; he was thrown in jail for 10 years, etc.  All those incidents took 40 years of his life away.  Such trials would have caused a definite failure for any other person.  However, he came out of jail to become the minister of treasury and finance, the one responsible for feeding people.  He achieved all this because he believed in Allah (SWT) and himself.  Are you ready after all that you’ve just heard to say that from now on, we will never lose hope, we will never fear making mistakes?

In the battle of Mu’ta, the Muslim army consisted of 3,000 soldiers (with only 100 horses) while the Romans were 200,000 soldiers (with 50,000 horses).  Can you imagine the odds? They could have fallen into depression, but they found it too harmful to do so.  Thus, they considered the situation and decided to fight in a very narrow valley so the frontline of each army can be equalized in number.  The Romans had to adjust the plan and their army stood in a long row, or only 3000 in the frontline followed by rows of the same number to be able to squeeze into the narrow valley and face the Muslim army. Only 12 Muslims died martyrs, while 1,500 Roman soldiers got killed in the battle.  Romans thought Muslims were inhuman devils.  This was the proactiveness of 3,000 Muslim soldiers.  Heraclius (the Roman Emperor) predicted that those Muslims would take over his kingdom after 10 years and his predictions came true.  Remember the rule: anybody who puts an idea in his mind, lives for it, and exert all efforts for it, must achieve it.

In consequence, to be positive you need:

1. To have a goal in life.
2. To have a strong will and determination.
3. To have faith in Allah (SWT).
4. To taste success.
5. To be patient and never lose hope.
6. To have positive intelligence.

Where to apply proactiveness?

1. Family
2. School or university
3. Work
4. Neighborhood and district
5. Protection of environment

We will end the episode by telling you some real cases to refresh you until next week:

1.      This is the story of a man from Jordan who heard the hadith (narration) of the Prophet (SAWS), “Whosoever brings happiness to a Muslim house has no reward other than Jannah (paradise).”  He was poor and knew the locations of other poor people.  As a result, he went to some big hotels and asked them for the leftover food they had.  He started with one hotel and fed one family, then two families, and then he started dealing with five other hotels, feeding more poor families.  He then bought a van to deliver the food throughout Jordan.  Everybody knew about this man.  Allah (SWT) blessed him and his whole neighborhood was transformed.  He did all of that while he was very poor.

2.      Another story will be narrated by its hero, Mr. Nasser, who is with us in the studio.  Nasser Bakkar says, “I am 32 years old.  When I was 10 years old, a lady in charge of first aid visited us and wanted to meet with me.  My mother was very surprised.   I had heard about a course in first aid and enrolled myself.  My mother did not know about it.  I went there and acquired first aid skills when I was only ten.  I used to volunteer, with other Lebanese young man, to rescue victims of war, fires, raids, and explosions, in Sabra and Shatila, and other places, which had been destroyed by the war throughout Lebanon.  This is a challenge to mankind and we must do our best in such circumstances.”

3.      Let me show you a two-minute film about a man who thought of a project.  A very simple man named Ahmad.  He endured very cruel circumstances during his education process because of his father’s death.  After he became educated, he immediately decided to teach the whole neighborhood.  Although his means were very limited, using the roof of a building as a classroom, he single-handedly wiped the illiteracy of half of his village.  He says, “I only did it for the sake of Allah, the Almighty.”  If every young man among us today contributed in reducing the rate of illiteracy among the youth of his town, what do you think would become of us in the future?

Let us agree on a practical assignment for this week:

This time we will be more specific.  The first field for applying proactiveness is the family.  We will start our practical assignment from there.  This week every one of us must search for a poor family within his own and help them.  Search within your family.  Help them by paying for their education fees, or by buying anything for them, or even bringing consolation to them.  Let us all help a poor branch within our family tree.  We will get the reward from Allah (SWT) and will move together in all directions.  This is the practical assignment.  Let me show you the survey once more:

Survey:

This survey is to see if you have been positive!

1.      How many positive things have you done this week?

·        Less than 2…………………..low level of proactiveness

·        2 to 5…………………………medium level of proactiveness

·        More than 5…………………..very positive

2.      How many people have you encouraged to do something positive this week?

·        Less than 2…………………...low level of proactiveness

·        2 to 5…………………………medium level of proactiveness

·        More than 5…………………..very positive

3.      How many people have you sent this survey to this week?

·        Less than 5…………………... low level of proactiveness

·        5 to 10……………………….. medium level of proactiveness

·        More than 10………………… very positive

Objective:

• To get more than 70% of respondents with high levels of proactiveness.

Remember if you did not add anything to life then you are an excrescence to life and remember that there are two types of renaissance:

1-     Accumulative renaissance, it means that each generation builds then hands over what it did to the next generation like the French and European Renaissances.

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