Within every single community, there are variant capacities, skills and potentials that characterize its people, as God has created mankind with variant livelihood, Allah the Almighty says,

“Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world and have raised some of them above others in degrees [of rank] that they may make use of one another for service. But the mercy of your Lord is better than whatever they accumulate.” [1]

Accordingly, an enlightened nation is the one that invests its immense talents and capacities towards creativity to accomplish further progress, and rise as an influential player in all disciplines of knowledge and arts. Such nation even is keen to invest all sorts of capacities for the well-being and influence significantly in the journey of nations and peoples. 

Prophet Joseph (Peace be upon him)  said, "Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I will be a knowing guardian." [2]He sought to be assigned in what he masters and knows entirely to solve a smothering crisis afflicting Old Egypt, and he did put it off. The King of Egypt would have named a relative of his cortege as widely observed since Joseph was just  an unnoted servant that has been recently released from jail and couldn’t be in match with the King’s servants and collateral relatives. Yet, the King was aware of the critical situation of the country and he needed the right man for the right position.

 The right evaluation of capacities of each human, and assigning every man to the appropriate position, was perfectly managed by the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him), and herein the very genius leadership is manifested.

If we regarded attentively the statements of praise and laudation that He (peace be upon him) bestowed upon his companions (May Allah be pleased with them), which could be interpreted as an investment for their talents or a kind of soothing their ruffled feathers. He considered diversity in physical and mental capabilities, that had nothing to do with their noble descent, race, color or gender. The Prophet (peace be upon him) acted as a role model in the wisest investment of capacities. He was the most prudent of mankind in appointing the right man for the right position

If we considered the extolment expressions he used to deliver to his companions, one can sense the diversity that suits the variant skills and capacities, this what the companions of Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) apprehended at first sight. However, his extolment wasn’t taken for granted and dealt with as medal of honor over chests, giving them privilege over others. Rather they responded to extolment with further work, sacrifice and granting. Let’s see these examples of praise in the life of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (May Allah be pleased with him), had always taken sincere positions in adversities, this was clearly manifested in the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), he started to placate people telling them,  “He who worships Muhammad, Muhammad is now dead, and he who worships Allah, He is Ever Living and never dies,” and during the War of Apostasy, he said “even if they prevented me a headband of a camel they used to give to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) (As an almsgiving obligation), I would fight them”

Umar ibn Al Kattab was called “Al Farouq”[3] (May Allah be pleased with him), lived his life differentiating firmly between truth and falsehood. Mu’ath ibn Jabal (May Allah be pleased with him), was the “Best knower of what is halal and haram” and later on he was promoted and assigned to preach, judge, and deliver fatwas in Yemen, that was under the dominance of the Persian culture, which required a highly specialized scholar to judge. Another example, Bilal ibn Rabah (May Allah be pleased with him) was gifted a sonorous voice, which qualified him to be the Muzzein. And this is Khalid ibn Al Walid (Who was called the Drawn Sword of Allah),  was the hero of Yarmouk and other battels, for his peerless military expertise and professional army leadership.

We can also see other companions who didn’t excel in specific fields, yet they were significantly influential in others, Hassan Ibn Thabit, wasn’t skillful at Jihad and battlefields, however as a media professional he succeeded, for that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) appointed him in media-like position, he described Hassan’s speech, “By God his speech is like a storm of darts”. Abu Hurairah was skillful at memorizing the tradition (Hadith), later on he became the narrator of Hadith.

Even sometimes throughout the Prophet’s life, we can see his supplication on strengthening a certain faculty or skill, in order to create an influence, like when he prayed for Abdullah ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him), saying, “O Allah, strengthen his knowledge in religion and teach him exegesis” and in course of days, he was titled “the Ink of the Nation and the interpreter of Qur’an”

In recruitment process there is no room for courtesy or favoritism, and this is for the common weal. Once, Abu Dhar (May Allah be pleased with him), said, “O Messenger of Allah, won’t you assign me a duty? He patted over his shoulders and said, “O Abu Dhar, you are strenghtless and this is a trust”

Umar would have been appointed as muezzin, and Mu’ath an army commander, and Ibn Al Walid as a Mufti, but their performance could have never been equivalent to their professionalism in their profession. Some people can perform at 80% in his specialization, and when assigned to another different one he scores 20%.

Similarly, in our countries some faculties are doomed to waste and some capacities are still intact, the Ummah is in dire need for, and if they are not invested they sink in oblivion.  Some people had skills and talents and when theirs are wrongly invested and lack promotion, they fade and vanish. Had they find a nurturing source, they would flourish and become an asset.

Building a brilliant civilization with a breakthrough in knowledge and science requires mutual efforts, integration of  skills and huge preparations to  complement roles and invest potentials with both time and effort efficiency.

[1] Az-Zukhruf, Holy Qur’an

[2] Yusuf, Holy Qur’an

[3] An Arabic term refers to a person of clear distinguishing between truth and falsehood