To the desert and back~!

Today, about 100 employees from one of the operations from the company gathered in the desert for a day, under the leadership of their department Head. Their objective was team building and I was invited to provide moral support and to speak about team work. That I did! However, what I want to write here is not about what happened there today.

The combined effect of intense sunshine and cooling and refreshing desert breeze which come whistling down from the rocky mountains inspired me to do some research about 'Teamwork in Islam!'

In the modern economy, so much have been written about Teamwork. From sports arena to boardrooms, coaches have been making a difference by transforming teams into Winning Teams! Henry Ford once said,  "Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is progress, and Working together is success!"  

The concept of Teamwork is not new. It is as old as Islam itself.

From the Holy Qur'an 3:103, “Hold onto the rope of Allah collectively! ” 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, "Faithful believers are to each other as the bricks of a wall, supporting and reinforcing each other!" [Sahih al-Bukhari]

In Islam, Allah (SWT) gives us the gift of brotherhood and sisterhood and encourages us to do things in a group setting. Examples where Islam encourages team spirit are Friday prayers and the Hajj Pilgrimage. In fact, if we fail to work effectively as a member of team, we fail to understand the true meaning of "Ummah (collectively united Community)" in Islam.


Another Hadith of the Beloved Prophet (pbuh) reads, “There is no Islam without Jemaah and there is no existence of Jemaah without leadership and there is not leadership without submission” (Reported by ad-Darimi in his Sunan). 

This is a very important hadith that highlights the whole issue of teamwork and its necessity in a nutshell. When it refers to the concept of ‘no Islam' it means that there can be no influential Islam that can affect society and its people towards the truth.

The Hadith also emphasises the need of a Leader - or Imam (someone who would lead the group.) Rasulullah (SAW) states that “if there are three of you appoint one of you as the head” Showing that even the smallest group has to have a leader.

Islam through the Prophet (pbuh) has touched and connect billion over hearts. The glory of Islam today would not have been as it is without its Ummah being united. 

Teamwork in Islam:

1. There is a common 'vision' as contained in the Quran, with detail guidelines on a glorious way of life - which emphasize amongst other things, leadership and teamwork!

2.  In Prophet Muhammad, Islam had the best leader ever! 

3. The Hadiths of the Prophet have been inspiring billion over Muslims to aspire to be better human beings! There are many Hadiths which teach about leadership, and about teamwork. If only we care to research and read. (I was trying to google for some good ones - but have not found one yet. I will put the links here once I have done more research!)

4. The spread of Islam is a true testimony of the effectiveness of Teamwork through brotherhood / sisterhood of the Ummah.

Parts and pieces of what I wrote above were taken from a few websites.