Most of us understand that our self worth and feelings of achievement change as we go through life. While everyone has different aspirations, it appears we all have some common benchmarks for what success is. As Muslims we feel competent to make choices, competent to satisfy our needs, to chart the course for our lives. Having confidence in specific situations, such as in gaining influence with someone, would flow from our ability to meet life's challenges. There are so many of us who have no idea what our real potential is. Allah SWT has given us all a talent. Some talents are more obvious than others.

The Noble Quran emphasises the need to work together in a Jama'a (group; team; collectively) as it helps overcome the imperfection in human nature. An individual, on his/her own can never achieve ultimate perfection compared to a group of different characters have differing qualities. If one is weak in some areas then someone else can compensate for ones shortcomings. As the quote reads “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.”

A Hadith of the Beloved Nabi Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam reads, “There is no Islam without Jama'a and there is no existence of Jama'a 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 an Ameer (someone who would lead the group.) Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) 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.

Here is an interesting paradigm stressing the need for teamwork: –

A little mouse living on a farm was looking through a crack in the wall one day and saw the farmer and his wife opening a package. The mouse was intrigued by what food the package may contain. He was aghast to discover that it was a mouse trap. The mouse ran to the farmyard warning everyone “there is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house”.

The chicken raised his head and said “Mr Mouse, I can tell you this trap is a grave concern to you, but it has no consequence to me and I cannot be bothered with it” The mouse turned to the goat. “I am so very sorry Mr Mouse, but the trap is no concern of mine either”. The mouse then turned to the bull, “Sounds like you have a problem Mr Mouse” the bull said, “but not one that concerns me” The mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected that no one would help him or was concerned about his dilemma. He knew he had to face the trap on his own.

That night the sound of the trap catching its prey was heard throughout the house. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she could not see that is was a venomous snake who's tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The wife developed a bad fever and the farmer knew the best way to treat a fever was with chicken soup. He took his hatchet to the farmyard to get the soup's main ingredient. The wife got sicker and sicker and friends and neighbors came by to take turns sitting with her round the clock. The farmer knew he had to feed them so he butchered the goat.

The farmer's wife did not get better, however. In fact she died and so many friends and family came to her funeral that the farmer had to slaughter the bull to feed them all.

So – the next time one hears that ones team mates are facing a problem and think it does not concern or affect one, then remember that "when anyone of your team is in trouble we are all at risk".