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Burning issues The lion and the sheep story: any lessons?
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African culture is made up of many stories that are told to children to let them become mature and wise people as they grow up. These stories help them to grow and become useful citizens so that they will not only be wise when they grow up, but help prevent unwarranted mistakes that can occur in society.
One African story tells us about animals in the bush but with a focus on the lion and the sheep. We know that the lion is a very aggressive animal. On the other hand, the sheep is a very harmless animal that is only concerned about what it seeks to find and eat without causing harm to any other animal.
A LION
There was a lion that was going around the bush looking for animals to eat to satisfy its hunger. In the process of killing animals and feeding on them to satisfy its hunger it became tired and decided to rest. It woke up from sleep and decided to continue its journey. This time it was in a great hurry and, for this reason, overlooked a big hole that was in front of it.
The animal, therefore, fell into this deep hole and started looking around for help. Help came from nowhere and that made it very sad. It started to cry and hoped that help would come very soon. After a short while, the sheep was passing by and the lion called it and passionately appealed to it for help.
The sheep, knowing how ferocious and wicked the lion could be, told it that it would have been willing to help but for the fact that if the lion was able to come out of the hole, it would devour the sheep. Immediately, the lion started crying and looking so miserable, promising the sheep that nothing like that would ever happen.
MANY APPEALS
After incessant appeals to the sheep, the humble animal decided to help the ferocious lion. It asked the lion to promise it once again that it would cause no harm to it when it brought it out of the hole. Once again, the lion promised not to attack or harm the sheep, swearing that it was never a bad person and would always remember it for bringing it out of the deep hole.
Based on this promise the innocent sheep, humble as it is and has always been, decided to find a rope and let it down the hole. It then asked the lion to hold the rope tight and start climbing up. Within a few minutes, the lion was able to use the rope to come out of the deep hole.
On coming out, the lion started smiling and expressing gratitude to the sheep. The sheep smiled back, thinking that the lion would, indeed, go by its promise of ensuring that it would never be attacked.
The lion, ungrateful as it was, decided to catch the sheep, contrary to the promise, and eat it up. Laugh. The sheep started crying and within a few minutes many animals in the bush heard of the cry and became attracted to where the incident was taking place.
HOW WAS THE LION REMOVED?
The animals wanted to know what was happening so they asked the sheep to narrate what has happened and after that they also asked the lion to tell them about its version of the story. All the animals, upon hearing the story from each of them, knew that the lion was wrong, but they were all afraid to say so.
After some time, the rabbit, being a very wise animal, politely told the lion that it did not believe that the sheep was the one who actually brought it out of the hole, and that if, indeed, it was the sheep that brought it out, then the lion should get back into the deep hole for all of them to see how the sheep was able to rescue it.
On hearing this, the lion quickly jumped into the hole and asked the sheep to bring it out again, so that all the animals would know that it was the sheep which really brought it out. After it had jumped into the hole, the rabbit quickly pulled out the long rope and asked the lion to continue to stay in the deep hole.
WICKEDNESS
This story tells us how wicked some people we deal with in this world can be. Some of the people we encounter in life, whether in the marketplace, in organisations, in hospitals, as managers or chief executive officers are so wicked that much fear is put into their subordinates.
The lion was feared by all the animals in the bush, so even though they knew what it did was unfair none of the animals was able to stand up boldly to tell the truth that it was being unfair to the sheep. They knew the truth but were afraid to speak it out.
There are many chief executives and managers who are operating very well in this country. Unfortunately, there are many others who are so wicked that their subordinates, like the ferocious lion, find it very difficult to come out with the truth about the issues.
There are many lessons we all need to learn from this simple story. In the first place, there are many wicked people who have been appointed to positions of authority and who are using dubious means to cover their misdeeds. These wicked people ought to be uncovered and put to shame.
INVESTIGATION
There have even been cases where some of them have been investigated for the truth to come out but the appointing authorities, for some reason, find it difficult to stand by the truth and put such wicked people to shame. When things happen this way, it discourages the majority of the people who serve as subordinates around these wicked people to stand for what the truth is, knowing that at any point in time they may be sacrificed or victimised in a very unfair manner.
For fear of being unfairly sacrificed or being victimised, many of these subordinates keep quiet over the atrocities that are encountered in many workplaces. If these things continue, people will keep quiet and the appointing authority will always be unpopular.
One other lesson from this story is that any appointing authority must pay attention to the story and go for the truth at all times. While going for the truth the appointing authority must exhibit boldness, no matter what, to be fair to all and sundry by ensuring that Freedom and Justice is meted out to all. If Freedom and Justice is meted out to all people there will be happiness, and speedy advancement or progress at all times in society.
BY DR. KOFI AMPONSAH-BEDIAKO
There is a culture that permeates all aspects of leadership in the advanced countries which I believe has contributed to the success in all aspects of their national lives. Citizens strive to excel so that they will not find themselves in a situation where they would have failed, to necessitate a decision to resign.
Countries where failure is frowned upon, it pushes the citizens to strive for success. In our part of the world, failure and mediocrity has become an accepted norm and therefore, there is no shame in failing in a particular position of leadership.
A head of an organisation mismanages the place and he does not see the need for him to resign. The appointing authority does not also see the need to sack him and so the merry go round continues.
It becomes friends and family as usual and if care is not taken, the rest of the world will leave us far, far behind.
The practice of resignation in parts of the world for failure in some parts of the world has to be institutionalised in our country too. It encourages the principle of accountability which is good for any organisation, sector of an economy or a country.
It promotes good governance, a necessary ingredient in the growth of the economy of any country.
When this practice becomes a culture, every individual, privileged to hold a position of trust, gives his or her full attention to the job assigned him or her, to ensure that objectives are achieved.
This trickles down to every individual down the chain of command and there are no rooms for errors.
That is how efficient systems are built over time and this is the difference between advanced nations and third world countries.
Where systems are designed such that people take responsibility for things that go wrong under their supervision or ultimate responsibility, there is evidence of development.
There are a few people that I admire in Ghana as far as this culture of resignation based on principled stance. One of them is the late Mrs Emma Mitchell. She was a cabinet member but chose to resign after the confrontation between late President Jerry Rawlings and late Vice President Kow Akaah.
She was not prepared to be part of a cabinet which was lying to the general public that Rawlings did not assault Akaah.
She was of the conviction that telling the truth is more honourable than telling lies and that if she was bound by confidentiality oaths to tell a lie, then she would resign and she did exactly that.
That is how we build a culture of truth and accountability. We have people in positions who have not lived up to expectation but are still holding on to their positions not prepared to let go of it.
This is a clear case of display of selfishness, trying to be a Boss instead of a Servant to serve the people, which leadership is all about.
The ineffectiveness of some leaders, often result in waste of resources which could have been channeled to other sectors of the economy which could have been more productive. A culture of voluntary resignation must be advocated for by all stakeholders, especially the CSOs, traditional leaders and the clergy.
This is the only way the needed growth in every sector of our national life would manifest.
Presidents, Prime Ministers, heads of reputable organisations have voluntarily resigned by taking ultimate responsibility and it is about time, we started seeing it manifest in our country.
The people in charge of our sports especially our soccer, can initiate this long desired culture and resign in view of the embarrassment witnessed from the defeat of the Black Stars by Gambia. God bless.
BY LAUD KISS-MENSAH
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THE QUR’AN FORBIDS RELIGIOUS PROVOCATION
There is a remarkable verse in the Qur’an which every Muslim preacher should memorise.
Allah says:
“And do not insult those they invoke besides Allah, lest they insult Allah in hostility without knowledge.” (Qur’an 6:108).
Think about this carefully.
Allah knows that the unbelievers worship false gods.
Yet Allah tells Muslims: Do not insult their objects of worship.
Why?
Because your speech may provoke an even greater offence.
This establishes a profound principle:
A Muslim must not fight religious provocation with religious provocation.
If someone insults what we hold sacred, we do not respond by insulting what they hold sacred.
If someone attacks Islam, we defend Islam with knowledge.
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), we explain who is Muhammad to him.
If someone lies about Islam, we answer with truth and knowledge.
We do not allow another person’s bad behaviour to dictate our own morality.
LOOK AT MUHAMMAD (PBUH) — HE WAS INSULTED BEFORE WE WERE
Servant of Allah,
Sometimes we speak as though the Prophet (pbuh) lived in a world where everyone respected him.
No.
He was mocked and insulted. Quran 37:36, Quran 15:6
He was called a liar, magician, and a mad man. Quran 51:52, Quran 17:47
He was ridiculed. Quran 6:10
His followers were tortured, and some were killed. Quran 85:8-10
He himself was persecuted, leading to his migration to Madina.
Yet he remained the Messenger of Allah.
Allah said:
“Indeed, we know that your heart is distressed by what they say.” (Qur’an 15:97)
Allah acknowledged the Prophet’s pain.
Islam does not say that insults do not hurt. They hurt.
But the question is: What do you do with the pain?
THE DAY OF TA’IF: WHEN THE PROPHET (PBUH) COULD HAVE CHOSEN
REVENGE
One of the most powerful examples is the journey of the Prophet (pbuh) to Ta’if.
He went seeking support for his message.
Instead, the people rejected him and incited their children and others against him.
He was chased.
He was insulted.
He was struck with stones until his feet bled.
He was physically and emotionally exhausted.
Then the Angel of the Mountains came to him.
The two angels offered to crush the people of Ta’if between the mountains.
The Prophet (pbuh) could have said: “Do it.”
But he did not.
Instead, he hoped that Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Him.
This account is recorded in the authentic hadith literature, including Sahih Muslim (Muslim, 1795).
What a lesson!
The Prophet (pbuh) had suffered injustice.
But he did not turn his pain into indiscriminate revenge.
He saw beyond the offender.
He saw the possibility of tomorrow.
And this is one of the greatest characteristics of prophetic leadership:
The Prophet (pbuh) did not merely ask, “What punishment does this person deserve?”
He also asked, in effect: “What can this person become?”
THE PROPHET IN MADINAH: LEADER OF A DIVERSE SOCIETY
When Muhammad (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, he did not enter an empty city.
Madinah contained different communities, including Muslims and Jews, and there were also Christians who interacted with the Muslim community.
The Prophet became the political and communal leader of Madinah.
The Sahifah (A Covenant) of Madinah, preserved in the early sīrah (Prophet’s biography) tradition, established arrangements concerning mutual obligations, security, justice and relations among the communities of the city.
This is important:
The Prophet did not build Madinah by teaching Muslims to hate everyone who was not Muslim.
He built a society governed by covenant, responsibility and justice.
Allah says:
“Allah does not forbid you from being kind and just to those who have neither fought you because of your religion nor driven you from your homes. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly.” (Qur’an 60:8)
This is not weakness.
This is Islam.
THE PROPHET DEALT WITH JEWS IN MADINAH
‘A’ishah (Wife of the Prophet) narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) bought food from a Jewish man on credit and gave him his iron armour as collateral.
“The Prophet purchased food from a Jew on credit and mortgaged his iron armour to him.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 2068)
Think about it.
This was Muhammad.
The Messenger of Allah.
Yet he conducted lawful commercial dealings with a Jewish citizen.
He did not say: “He is not a Muslim, therefore I cannot deal with him.”
No.
Islam gave him a relationship governed by justice and trust.
Jabir رضيهللاعنه narrated:
“A funeral procession passed before us and the Prophet (pbuh) stood up, and we stood with him. We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, it is the funeral of a Jew.’ He said: ‘When you see a funeral procession, stand.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1311)
Another narration records his response: “Is it not a soul?” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 1312–1313)
What kind of heart did Muhammad (pbuh) possess?
A heart that recognised human dignity even in death.
THE PROPHET AND THE CHRISTIANS OF NAJRAN
The Prophet also received the Christian delegation of Najran.
They disagreed with him theologically.
Yet when they requested a trustworthy person, he did not choose someone because of hatred.
He selected Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah.
The Prophet said:
“I shall send with you a man who is truly trustworthy.”
He then appointed Abu ‘Ubaydah.
This is authentically reported in Sahih al-Bukhari 4380–4381.
Notice something profound:
The Prophet could disagree with people without becoming dishonest toward them.
That is the standard we need today.
The author is the chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
