The news on Wednesday, December 4

When we agree to do business, it no longer makes sense to not make ourselves stronger in negotiations.

We said that negotiation means involving the other party in a conversation so that it happens repeatedly to the extent that the customer’s mind is still occupied with those thoughts even after speaking to us.

On the other hand, we know that we live in the information age.

The information age means that we are bombarded with information from every direction.

We hear things from all sides.

We watch films from all sides.

We read texts from all sides.

Our minds are full of diverse inputs that come from everywhere—up and down, left and right, through our eyes and ears.

The question is, how should I, as a trader, negotiate with my customer so that I don't get lost and forgotten amidst this vast amount of information entering their mind?

In one of the Prophet's journeys, companions who were with him came and asked about sins, questioning why some of them remain in our memory while others fade away.

Coincidentally, they were near a river at that moment.

The Prophet asked them to go near the river, pick up stones, and bring them back.

They went and returned.

Then the Prophet instructed them to place the stones in a specific spot and asked each person to remember which stone was theirs.

He then asked them to look carefully at all the stones.

After watching for a while, he gestured for them to take their stone, go back to the river, and place it where it was. If they couldn’t find the exact spot, they should return the stone.

They went and returned again.

This time, some had their stones, and others did not.

The Prophet asked them to place the stones together again and look at them as they did before.

He then asked, "What difference do you notice between the first and second observations?"

They said, "O Messenger of God, the large stones are gone, and all that is left are the small ones."

The Prophet said, "Human actions are like that.

The big ones remain in memory, while the small ones fade away."

Let’s recreate what happened during the Prophet’s time for ourselves.

Your customer carries a world of stones in their mind every day.

Your conversation—does it feel like a large stone or a small stone?

Forget the saying "a large stone signifies a missed shot." (when people talk about doing a big or difficult task, while the likelihood of it actually happening is very low).

There are times when a large stone hits you so hard that you realize most of these proverbs are meaningless.

If you really want to stay in your customer’s mind and have them think about you, one of these two things, or both, must be significant.

1. Either your personality and charisma are so great that they think, “If I collaborate with this person, I will grow too,” which keeps the idea of working with you in their mind.
2. Or you must make them a big promise that occupies their mind.

Unfortunately, some people speak to customers weakly and sloppily, thinking this shows honesty, but it is a satanic deception.

Certainly not.

Because you know it’s just advertising, and the ad designer used a technique to make it more memorable.

Otherwise, you know that instead of the little cartoon figures, a burly man will come and install the TV.

These are not lies but techniques that make the brand more memorable in the audience’s mind.

What techniques or promises do you use in your conversations to ensure that when the conversation ends, the person doesn’t forget you?

What promise do you give them that makes them feel that if they don’t work with you, they’re losing out and will be miserable?

What do you tell them to ensure that you won’t be forgotten in the flood of information entering their mind every day?

Lady Fatima (peace be upon her) saw how people didn’t believe the truthful promise her father, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), made to them. It had been just a day since her father passed away, and they abandoned the rightful successor and pledged allegiance to others.

After the tragic events, one day she stood on her father's pulpit and addressed the people.

She first praised and thanked her Lord.

Then she spoke about the virtues of her father, recognizing him as a clear proof and a sign of God's power, reminding them with beautiful words.

She then addressed the people with titles they had created for themselves and reminded them of the commands and prohibitions of the Qur’an and the Prophet.

She said:

When God chose for His Prophet an eternal place among the previous prophets, the signs of your hypocrisy became apparent, the garment of religion grew old, and those who were once silent and had no permission to speak began to raise their voices.

The lowly gained position, and the pampered camel of the people of falsehood began to move.

Satan, who had hidden in the presence of my father, reappeared and called upon you, and he saw how eagerly you responded to his call.

He had not yet planned to deceive you, but he saw how easily you could be deceived.

He asked you to extinguish the light of God, and you did so without hesitation.

He sought to enrage you and saw how easily you became angry. Then, you marked steeds that were not yours, claimed them as your own, and drank from waters that were not your share.

This happened while only a short time had passed, and the wound of my father had not yet healed, and you had not yet buried him.

You did not attend his funeral and made excuses, claiming that you needed to devise a solution because you feared the fitna (unrest or rebellion against a rightful ruler) among the Muslim community, while my father had already provided a solution for this matter.

Beware, for you were already in fitna, and the Hell of the disbelievers surrounds you.

How did you do this while the Book of God was before you, and all of you were guardians and reciters of the Qur’an?

How did you disregard the clear signs and strong proofs and incline toward the oppressors?

All of this happened while you did not even give me time to find comfort in my heart from the grief of my father.

You gathered your fuel and set a fire in front of my house, intending to extinguish the light of God.

Then you took from us what was ours, claiming that we, the family of the Prophet, do not inherit.

While it is as clear to all of you as the day when the sun shines that I am Fatima, the daughter of your Prophet, and that there is no other child of your Prophet on this earth except me.

Is it fair that this son of Abu Quhafa should take the inheritance of my father from me?

Does the Book of God say that you should inherit from your fathers, but I, the daughter of your Prophet, should not inherit?

How wicked is your judgment, and how grievous is the heretical innovation you have introduced into the religion of God.

Doesn’t the Qur’an say that Sulaiman , the son of David, inherited from him?

And isn’t it stated in the story of Zechariah that he asked God for a son who would inherit from him and the family of Jacob?

Isn’t it God’s command that relatives are more entitled to inherit from one another?

And doesn’t He say that you should give twice as much inheritance to your sons as to your daughters?

And it is also in the words of God, when He said: "When death approaches any of you, it is obligatory upon you to make a will for your parents, relatives, and near ones; this is a duty for the God-fearing."

And you say that you have a share of your fathers' property, while I have no share from my father?

Is there a verse in the Book of God that says this?

Has God revealed a new verse to you that excludes my father from it?

And you claim that those of different religions do not inherit from each other.

Do you consider my father to belong to one religion and me to another?

Do you know more about the apparent and hidden meanings of the Qur'an than my father and my cousin Ali?

Then she turned to the wicked one and said: "Here you are, and here is the inheritance of my father that you have seized.

Take it and go.

I will meet you on the Day of Judgment, and what a righteous judge is our Lord! Surely, my father will claim my right from you.

The very day when the regret of the people of falsehood will avail them nothing, and for every matter there is an appointed time.

Then she turned to the people and said:

On that day, all of you will know who the humiliating punishment will descend upon, and whose eternal disgrace will be sealed.