The Book Club: How the Noble Prophet Won Friends and Influenced People: Part 1

Ustadh Hatim Yousef

This is part one of a two-part series. Click here to register for the full program and receive the special rate:

How the Noble Prophet Won Friends and Influenced People: Full Program

Welcome to Ustadh Hatim’s latest in the Book Club series! After the popular courses, Life Coaching through the Islamic lens and the Five Love Languages of the Noble Prophet ﷺ, Ustadh Hatim will now teach one of his favourite books, How to Win Friends and Influence People, from an Islamic perspective. The goal is to illustrate with Seerah stories how the Prophet ﷺ impacted people and won their hearts through his noble character traits. Unlike the men Dale Carnegie cites as exemplars of his principles, the Prophet ﷺ influenced people because he genuinely loved them and he did that purely for the sake of Allah, not for worldly gain. For a Muslim, there is enough guidance and example in the life of the Prophet ﷺ that suffices him from needing any other. The principles of Carnegie offer guidelines; the Seerah stories a sincere, real-life, application of greatness and chivalry par excellence. Because of the numerous examples of the Prophet’s influential dealings with people and the explanations necessary to understand their relevance to the principles, this course will be offered as a two-part series: twenty weeks over two terms! Find out more below regarding the special rate for registering for both parts.

At-A-Glance

• Join Ustadh Hatim, a seera specialist, a dedicated Islamic life-coach, and an avid reader and researcher, as he explores one of his favourite works in the self-help genre
• A two-part series (twenty weeks!) covering  many stories and events in the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, using the concepts from Carnegie’s book as a point of reference
• Discover how the Noble Prophet ﷺ applied these very techniques 1440 years ago and he how we should follow them as part of our Sunna and tradition, not only because they are tried and proven. 
• Understand how many of these approaches are essentially describing the Sunnahs of good adab and akhlaq, or excellent manners and character traits, which the Noble Prophet ﷺ taught us with his states and words. . 
• Explore the various titles and positions held by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in both his personal and public life, and how he engaged others in each sphere perfectly.
• Take the first part of this two-part series for $199 (for ten weeks), or take both parts for a special rate of $350. 

About the Course

Ever since its publication in 1937, Dale Carnegie’s book has become a landmark manual on effective dealings with people to win their hearts, inspire them, and accomplish one’s goals through solid, human relationships. The overall message of the author was not to trick others in order to achieve some short-term benefit. Rather, his was a call for building a genuine character, a person who uses wisdom to the advantage of one and all. This course simply explains that the best example of such an approach is our Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He was not master of one principle of people management and uplifting, he was the master of all of them. 

Techniques in Handling People

Study the Seerah at a greater depth to see how the Prophet of Allah ﷺ never criticized or condemned others, but rather gave honest and sincere appreciation–how he created an “eager want” in others to do the good and leave the bad. 

Ways to Make People Like You

Increase in awe and love of the Prophet ﷺ as you explore how he showed genuine interest in other people, how he had a cheerful character, how he remembered people’s names and how they always felt loved by him. See the many examples of the undivided attention he gave to people, how he was a good listener and an excellent conversationalist.  

Win People to Your Way of Thinking

In interactions with his family, his Sahaba, the people of Mecca, the jews of Madina, rulers of that era, and others, the Prophet ﷺ demonstrated unparalleled skill and wisdom in his approach. By shunning argumentation, he displayed his open-mindedness and willingness to hear others’ viewpoints. Did the Prophet ﷺ challenge others? How so? What was the aim of these challenges? Search deeply into the seerah to extract the most poignant examples of how the Prophet ﷺ won people over to the way of Allah. 

Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

The Beloved Prophet of Allah was the champion of the greatest character traits. He used praise and honest appreciation, and avoided calling attention to people’s mistakes directly. Study the many cases where he would ask questions rather than give orders. Learn about his merciful nature as he never humiliated others, but rather allowed them to save face ﷺ. See with your own heart how he was “hearty in his approbation and lavish in his praise” for even the slightest improvement in others. Increase in love of the Prophet as you witness how he used encouragement and gave others a fine reputation to live up to, ﷺ.