A (potentially ongoing) thread of moral/social/political lessons I've understood through Dirilliş Ertuğrul:

A vision that relies too heavily on a single leader is doomed to fail. It must take root and live in the hearts of many.

A leader that values himself (his life, his wealth, his ambitions) over his vision is not even fit to be a follower, let alone leader.

It should be such a vision that it exists far beyond you.

It should dream 1,000 years into the future: that is the true mark of a selfless vision.

You can compromise to achieve your vision, but you must not compromise your vision itself, or it will progressively crumble away until nothing remains. You achieve it fully, or you perish trying.

The effort is your domain, not the outcome: the reality is that you cannot even determine a single breath.

'Sefer bizim, zafer Allah'tan!'
(The journey is ours, the victory is God's!)

The same principle again, in reverse: strive against wrong, even if in total vain.

"It is our duty to go against persecution, even though we know that we are going to be killed. This will be our Karbala. We will neither be sad, nor whine."

A group is only as strong as its weakest member. A leader with a vast vision and harsh path should ensure that those who follow are fit to join on such a journey.

The necessary understanding amongst members of such a group: nothing and nobody is more important than the vision.

You should be resilient and free from physical and superficial needs: the sky your tent, the earth your bed.

"As long as we are not broken, they'll have destroyed just a throne and a crown. And from the sovereign state they thought dead, a far greater state will emerge."

A leader must hold wrongs to account and cannot overlook significant mistakes, even if it comes by the hand of a close friend, or even a son.

'Mercy to wrongdoers is injustice to the wronged!'

Once the arrow has left the bow, it cannot be taken back.

Those who commit injustice against others may be forgiven, but must pay a price first.

Principles must be upheld at every level. The slightest leniency in core principles on a small-scale will very quickly build up into large scale decay and eventual foundational collapse.

Discuss and debate all you wish inside the tent, but in the field you must obey your leader. The success of the group, and more importantly the vision, relies on it.

The leader should be in the field, and not in the tent.

If you are on duty, if you control the territory, you are ultimately responsible for whatever happens under your watch.

If you are in a position of responsibility and you crumble under pressure, bribery, or torture into corruption or silence in the face of injustice, there is no redemption for you.

You either defend justice or perish trying. Better to be oppressed than to oppress.

Let's take a quick interval: it's important to point out that Ertuğrul is modelled very roughly on the Seerah (biography) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and therefore many of the themes here *but not all* are derived from the Seerah in actual source.

Anyway, continued...

Faith, zeal, or brute force alone are things that hold no serious front against a sharp and quick thinking adversary.

Casting doubt upon or questioning someone's loyalty or character is a very serious act: you either prove it, or face justice for your slander.

And, if you cannot prove it, then it's slander, even if it's true.

Dishonesty is an attribute, not an action. Those that happen to reveal it will remain dishonest until they reform their very being.

Engaging in blind trust and graciousness with someone who is a manifestly dishonest person is opening your own gates up for disaster.

"Byzantine has ten tongues, and every single one of them lies."

An honest war is more honourable than a treacherous peace.

Competency naturally comes with growth. Focus on the journey: "if we become an ocean, all rivers will naturally flow to us!"

Difficulty and trial is a vehicle for transformation and growth.

"I heard God was pouring down mercy upon you!"

"Mercy??"

"Yes – your troubles never came to an end!"

A ball of dough placed in the same fire can either burn into ash or form into a great loaf. Similarly from the Urdu poet, Likhari:

Koi jal kar bann jaaye,
Koi jal kar mitt jaaye,
Aag aag ki baat hoti hai

To rise from the flames
Or to perish by burning
Depends from fire to fire!