Leadership in the Islamic Perspective

Introduction

Leadership is the ability of a person to lead a group of people to achieve a given task, Leadership is an inspiration for the people, and those people are leaders who inspire others. Leaders are present around us, we can see them in every day life, when some one among them attain the level where he can demonstrate and exercise his ability for the common purpose, they excel and then we recognise them as a leader

Islamic Leadership

Mohammad (peace be upon him) is the greatest leader of world, in the history of mankind there is no other person who can reach to his level or status. He is model for all humanity, how to lead the people, if we read all the modern books about leadership today, we will see the qualities of Mohammad (peace be upon him) in these books. How he guide his followers, how he inspire the people of Arab at that time. Imagine about the people of Arab at that moment, most of them were illiterate and rigid and ready to kill each other for nothing, buried alive baby girls when born in their family.

Mohammad (peace be upon him) motivated those people and changed them completely, from negative to positive and those were the Arab who later on ruled half of the world for a long time.

Leadership concept

Leadership is the ability of a person to lead cluster of people for the completion of a certain mission.

Islamic leadership in Islam means” A person or a group that will lead humanity from the brink of destruction to the way of Allah the Almighty”

Leader qualities

To understand the model of Islamic leadership, examine the life of our beloved prophet and his companion as Leaders and the qualities they have;

Inspired the people

Love and kindness for his follower.

Built relationship between them like brothers

Trust them and give them the lesson of trust and Build trust between them

Give respect to the people

Create the environment of Confidence between them

Always open to suggestion

Acceptable as a leader

Ready to sacrifice his own interest for the sack of others

Understand the responsibilities

Open-minded

Ability of quick decision making

To understand the problem of the people

Communication skills

Planning

Organizing ( utilizing the resources to reach the target )

Implementing of the plan

Dynamic ready to lead every time

Islamic leader is the man of words

Leadership in Islam is a trust. Often, it takes the form of an explicit contract or pledge between aleader and his followers that he will try his best to guide them, to protect

them and to treat themfairly and with justice. Hence, the focus of leadership in Islam is onintegrity and justice. Giventhe recent emphasis on ethical behavior inthe

leadership literature

The Principles of Islamic Leadership

Many verses in the Quran and in the Sunnah refer to leadership principles. The most important principles from the Islamic perspective include the following:

1)Principle of Shura (consultation and participation)

An important principle of Islamic leadership is Shura. Muslim principals should work by seeking the suggestions of their subordinates through consultations. Leadership

in Islam is not authoritarian, but participatory by the leader and the members of the

leadership team, including the Shura [13]. The Holy Quran states, ‘Their matters are settled through Shura among them’ (Chapter 42, Verse: 38)

2)Principle of Ihsan (forgiveness)

The word Ihsan can be used in many contexts. Forgiveness, amelioration, completeness of faithare some of the meanings of Ihsan; however, it is a way of attainingAlmighty Allah’s satisfaction toworship Allah as you see Him and

as He sees you [19]. Ihsan is related to Iman, which meansFaith in Almighty Allah.

3)Character as a Role Model: the Prophet said:“Mark your personality decent for the individuals.” The leader must have all the characteristics that may let everyone wants to be like him.

4)Sincerity / Positive Attitude:the reason of sincerity isIman, if it is good the leader will behave well, if it is nothe won't.

5)Selflessness: leader must think of the organization as a whole not onlyabout himself and his own goals.

6)Ethics: The prophet is the best example of the ethical leader,as he was known as Al Sadiq Al Amin: the honest and truthful.

7)Loyalty: workers must trust their leaders all the time.like what happened with the Prophet when he told his wife Khadeeeja and his friend Abu-Bakker about the Revelation Jibril, they trusted him and didn't think even that he was dreaming.

8)Fairness/Mercy: Allah (SWT) guided Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to be compassionate andkindhearted to his supporters in the succeeding arguments:

"واخفض لهما جناح الذل من الرحمة وقل رب ارحمهما كما ربياني صغيرا"

Leadership in the Islamic Perspective

Leadership concept

Leader qualities

The Principles of Islamic Leadership

1