Life changes constantly. It changes humans as well. They fluctuate between richness and poorness, glory and humility. This is life. However, do you change as well? I mean, do your ethics and morals alter? Do you remember yourself ten years ago? Do you remember how religious you were? You might have been used to sleeping with the rosary in your hands. Do you remember the ethics you said you would never give up?

Some people are steadfast in their morals, no matter how wealthy they become. Others are not. It is a hard thing, in fact, and not everyone could stand up to it. Some of the companions used to say, "We were tried by adversity and we were steadfast towards it. When we were tried with the privileges though, we were not steadfast.”

There was a time when the Prophet used to tie a rock to his abdomen out of hunger. A few years later, however, his share of the profits of war was a flock of sheep large enough to fill up the space between two mountains. A man came to him on that day and voiced his admiration of the flock. The Prophet gave it all to him instantly. The man could not believe it. When he went back to his tribe, he told them that he was with the best of people. He told them that Muhammad (SAWS) gives away in the manner of a man who does not fear destitute ever.

Not everyone enjoys such an attribute though. Some people lose control when life gives them so many things. It is similar to driving at a speed of 150 km/hr without knowing how to drive in the first place. Do you recall how you were when you used public transportation before you bought a car? Do you recall how you were when you were just a student, and now you are a prominent employee? Do you remember when you had no possessions, cars nor clothes? Are you still the same person?

His closest companions, Abu Bakr and Umar, were allowed into his home after they had heard of the problem. They were the fathers of two of the Prophet’s wives.

They found the Prophet silent, looking distressed. Abu Bakr sought to relax the somber atmosphere. He said: “Messenger of God! If you could only see my wife when she asked me for more money to spend. I pierced my finger into her neck.”

The Prophet smiled and said: “You see them all around me asking for more money.” Abu Bakr went up to his daughter, Ayesha, and Umar went up to his daughter, Hafsah, piercing them in the neck. They said to them: “How come you ask the Prophet to give you what he does not have?” Both of them said: “We will never again ask the Prophet for what he does not have.”

This information should benefit anyone involved in Islamic organizations, but it really needs extra attention from those in leadership positions in their communities to start to effect the type of change needed to prevent dysfunction.

The Five Dysfunctions Are
1.Absence of Trust
2.Fear of Conflict
3.Lack of Commitment
4.Avoidance of Accountability
5.Inattention to Results

These are laid out by Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. While the pertinence to a professional or corporate environment is obvious, these are at the core of the problems faced by Masajid and Islamic organizations across the country.

1. Absence of Trust

The fear of being vulnerable with team members prevents the building of trust within the team.

"Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"

This is not just opinion but proven scientific fact. A study by researchers at Brigham Young University in Provo in the American state of Utah found that:

"students who habitually go to bed late and sleep late the next day have lower grade point averages (GPAs) than students with early-to-bed and early-to-rise sleeping habits. The later students slept in the morning, the lower their grades tended to be. Out of all the factors studied, weekday and weekend wakeup times had the strongest association with students' GPAs. Each hour over the average that students slept in on weekdays was associated with a 0.13-point drop on the GPA (0.0-4.0 scale)."
Source: Journal of American College Health 2000; 49: 125-130

Of course, we Muslims are well used to getting up not just at the crack of dawn but actually half an hour before it to begin the day with the ritual worship of fajr salat (and even earlier in Ramadan before starting the day's fast).

`Alî b. `Abî Tâlib and Ubayy b. Ka`b explained it to be a request to be made firm and constant on the Straight Path. Ibn `Abbâs said it was a request to be shown the way to the Straight Path or to be inspired to follow it. This covers all the different aspects of guidance that we mentioned in the previous article.

The scholars also disagreed in how they expressed the meaning of the "Straight Path". Some said it refers to the Qur'ân. Others, like Ibn Mas`ûd, al-Hasan, and Abû `Aliyah, said it refers to Islam. It is related that Ibn `Abbâs described it as "the path to Paradise".

All of these descriptions are true. Ibn Taymiyah says: "All the commentators of the Qur'ân describe the Straight Path with some of its characteristics… Some of them describe the Straight path as Allah's Book or the act of following Allah's Book. Others say it is the religion of Islam. There are those who say it is the Sunnah and the community that follows the Sunnah. Some describe it as the path of worship or the path of placing one's love, fear, and hope in Allah and obedience to his commands and prohibitions. Others say that it is following the Qur'ân and Sunnah or obedience to Allah. The Straight Path is a name that embraces many characteristics."