Keys to Success in Influencing People
I was often asked to answer the question: (What are the things you have done that you see helped in influencing your speech to people? Give us keys to benefit from) and the question was repeated with the episode "I'm Not Working at Home" which had a significant impact, thanks to God. The topic is long, but I mention here some key points that may be explained later. And these keys are "psychological" and faith-based, more than mentioning specific books or courses. And I say at the beginning: Your brother is not a "scholar" in the usual sense of the word. Nor do I say this out of modesty, for this is a place of advice, not pretension. And from the performance of gratitude for the blessing is the affirmation that there are no "mixtures" secret and that the factors of success are available to many, and they only have to take them. And if the Lord of Honor opens for a servant a door of good and makes what he says acceptable, then it is a betrayal of the blessing to insist on showing the matter is difficult to stand out! And if I have succeeded in some aspects, I have fallen short in others, and I share these keys with my brothers only as a way of performing gratitude for the blessing by pointing them out, and there is no doubt that they have what they can guide me with. Among the keys:
1. Disavowing self-capabilities and truly believing in attributing the favor to Allah and that without His guidance we are "nothing," and constantly invoking this meaning.
2. Turning pain into work. The beginning of the series (Journey of Certainty) was the pain of a young man who was subjected to severe injustice that shook his faith, so I discussed with him discussions that restored his certainty and satisfaction, thanks to God, then God granted me the opportunity to expand on the topic and publish the series.
3. Love of Allah the Almighty and jealousy for His Book and Sharia that someone might think ill of them. And love of the Prophet (peace be upon him) may my father and mother be sacrificed for him, and my soul and blood. The beginning of the (Women's Series) was a mother's complaint that her son was embarrassed by the Prophet's (peace be upon him) marriage to our mother Aisha, so the idea of the word (Nada Complains to Aisha) came in the prayer of Qiyam, then a door of good was opened that was not planned with a complete series of which we have published 12 episodes and 3 additional episodes so far.
4. The motto (A man is little by himself, but much with his brothers), for these episodes we are aided by brothers and sisters who take their advice and I benefit from their knowledge in accordance with the command of our Lord, glorified and exalted be He (And their affairs are by consultation among themselves). And I deliberately mention this time and again to invoke the blessing of attributing the favor to its people.
5. Absolute confidence in the beauty of the Sharia and that it does not need distortion or embellishment for people to accept it. But all you have to do is cleanse it of the impurities that have been wrongly attributed to it and present it as it is, with wisdom.
6. Confidence in the natural disposition that Allah has placed in people and that our mission is to restore its purity and negate the corruption that the people of falsehood have piled upon it, and then it will be attracted to the Sharia of Allah. For everything is from Allah: the natural disposition and the Sharia...(To Him belongs creation and commandment, so blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds).
7. That you set your eyes on one thing: pleasing Allah...convinced by the words of the truthful, the trusted one (peace be upon him): (Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allah at the displeasure of the people, Allah will be pleased with him and the people will be pleased with him). For he who confronts the advice of the people and makes their pleasure his compass becomes a submissive follower and stumbles miserably. And I pity those who say a word to please a female audience and anger the men, then say a word to please them and others are angered! Like a slave to quarrelsome partners! - In the women's series, we were not provoked by the objections of the objectors, nor did we make praise and blame a measure of success or failure, nor was our concern to win for the men or the women. But the measure was: clarifying the Sharia and presenting it as it is and making it beloved to the seekers of truth. And we are content with seeing the fruits of that, praise be to Allah.
8. The purity of the heart towards people and not to preoccupy yourself with the slander of those who slander you to turn people away from you. For I am informed of these people, and I am pained by it because it hinders the good that we try to spread, then I say: We work and they work, and Allah blesses the reformers and does not reform the work of the corrupters. For if they are fair, they will be fair to us, even if later, and if they are not, I will occupy myself with defending the religion of Allah, and at that time it is sufficient for me: (Verily, Allah defends those who believe).
9. Do not speak except in what you know. And because I am not a scholar, I consult in the episodes of these series with those who are more knowledgeable than me in the principles of creed, the principles of jurisprudence, the science of education, and family consultations...and in the benefits of the Quran, if I doubt the accuracy of the derivation, I refer to those who are more knowledgeable. 10. The night prayers, in which we ask Allah to compensate for our shortcomings in them, I have seen their blessing, and in moments of their clarity came ideas that were a great door of good. And Allah is truthful when He said: (Verily, the night vigil is more effective and more upright in speech)...for standing is a source of valuable speech.
11. Being gentle with people in presenting information, and not only looking at the correctness of the information, but also at its impact on their hearts. Considering that people have been exposed to much distortion of their nature and the distortion of the Sharia of their Lord. It is not required of you to distort the Sharia, but be gentle in presenting it in a constructive and gradual manner, obliging yourself not to say anything false. It is narrated by Imam Muslim from Abdullah ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: (You are not a narrator to people a narration that their minds do not reach, except that it will be a trial for some of them). And you will see that what they used to reject and be repulsed by yesterday they will accept and see its beauty and wisdom after a while.
12. Avoiding the forbidden in general and disciplining oneself in the relationships between brothers and sisters. For whoever leaves something for Allah, Allah will replace it with something better. And if you prevent yourself from a mixed pleasure, then rejoice in the heavenly pleasures that cannot be compared to it.
13. Exerting effort in contemplation and analysis. Note: I am not a heavy reader relatively, but I am much in contemplation of what I read. And I chose in the doctoral research a precise analytical specialization in the science of molecular pharmacology and understanding the interaction of drugs with their receptors, and I needed to simplify information of extreme complexity and interweaving to present it in an understandable way to those outside the specialization, and this had a great impact, along with learning the methodology of scientific research, on my approach to religious matters, thanks to Allah the Almighty.
14. Pride in your Islamic identity, getting rid of the inferiority complex, and the certainty that we as Muslims are more deserving of success in all aspects of life if we take the means and seek help from the Lord of Honor, glorified and exalted be He.
15. Give everyone their due. I was preoccupied with my daughter, may Allah have mercy on her, before her death, striving for her to die with a good opinion of her Lord, and I presented that over calling others. So I saw a great blessing from that.
16. Praying that Allah guides you with you and uses you in His obedience and makes you one of His supporters, and that you begin every significant effort with prayer with a present mind, submission, and absolute certainty of your weakness and the power of your Lord.
17. Remaining connected to the Quran, for it is the sustaining provision for all of this. And finally: I am deficient in some of these keys, but I share them with my brothers because of the sweetness and blessing I have seen when Allah grants me success in them. So whatever good is in what we publish is from Allah alone, and to Him is the first and last, the outward and inward praise, and whatever is in it of error and slip is from my deficient self and the devil, and I seek forgiveness from Allah, and I say what Ibn al-Jawzi said: (One day I sat preaching and saw around me more than ten thousand people, not one of them but his heart softened, or his eye teared. He said: So I said to myself: How are you, O son of al-Jawzi! If these are saved and I perish? So I cried out with the voice of my sincerity: My God and my Lord and my Master, if You punish me tomorrow, do not tell them of my punishment, lest it be said that Allah punished the one who guided him... My God, do not disappoint those who have placed their hope and expectation in You, and have submitted to Your sovereignty, and called Your servants to Your religion, and was not worthy of entering the gate of Your mercy, but he is hopeful in the vastness of Your generosity and mercy, You are worthy of generosity and nobility). And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.