LEADERSHIP ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVES

GAROWE- CAMPUS, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES GROUP TWO S\N STUDENT’S NAME:

REG.NO

1

MOHAMUD AHMED ABDALLE

BDES/136/20111

2

BURHAN FARAH MOHAMED

BDES/113/2011

3

FARHIA OSMAN FARAH

BDES/121/2011

4

HAWA MOHAMED OSMAN

BDES/124/2011

COURSE:

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN DEVEOPMENT STUDIES

COURSE UNIT:

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT

ACADEMIC YEAR:

4thYEAR

SEMESTER:

ONE

LECTURER:

MR. ABDULKADIR.A.WARSAME

DATE OF SUBMISION:

29th, NOV, 2014

RESEARCH QUESTION: Qn2: Leadership Perspective in Islamic, Basic principles that govern Islamic leadership in an organization and Islamic countries.

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INTRODUCTION In order to fully appreciate Islamic perspective on leadership, it is important and necessary to first understanding the necessity of leadership and the qualities leaders need to demonstrate. Jobnous (2005) states “leadership is necessary for the success of any collective “.the prophet Mohamed (pbuh) stated, as cited by

Abdul Dawud (vol.2, No.2273), that if

there are three embarking on journey, one of them should be appointed as a leader(Amir), an example of this seen when the prophet Mohamed (pbuh) sent the first migration to Abyssinia and placed Ja’far Ibn Abu Talib as the appointed leader of the group . He was famously the spokes person

for them in the court of Al-Najashi (the Negus) and his qualities in speech

and communication become evident during that encounter (Khan, 1980). Leadership in Islam is a trust. Often, it takes the form of an explicit contract or pledge between a leader and his followers that he will try his best to guide them, to protect them and to treat them fairly and with justice. Hence, the focus of leadership in Islam is on integrity and justice (Kouzes and Posner, 1995).

Defining Leadership in Islam: To begin with, Muslims base their behavior as leader and/or as follower upon the Word of God as revealed in their holy book, the Qur’an. They believe that the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (PBUH), has modeled the way for Muslim leaders and followers for all times. This belief is supported when God says the following about Muhammad (saw): “And you stand an exalted standard of character” (Ali. A.Y. 1989, 68:4.), Muhammad’s (saw) example, then, is what both Muslim leaders and followers seek to emulate. According to the Prophet Muhammad (saw), leadership in Islam is not reserved for small elite. Rather, depending upon the situation, every person is the “shepherd” of a flock, and occupies a position of leadership (Sahih Bukhari: Abdallah Ibn Umar, hadith 3.733). Muhammad (saw) is reported to have said: Each of you is a guardian, and each of you will be asked about his subjects (Sahih Bukhari, hadith 3.733). In most circumstances in life, Muslims are urged to appoint a leader and follow him. According to the Prophet Muhammad (saw), Muslims must appoint a leader during a trip, select a leader to lead the prayer, and choose a leader for other group activities. Leadership, then, can be depicted as a process by which the leader seeks the voluntary participation of followers in an effort to reach certain objectives. This definition suggests that leadership is essentially a process whereby the leader guides willing followers. At all times, a leader must 2

remember that he cannot compel others to do things against their will. “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an, 2: 256.). According to Islam, the two primary roles of a leader are those of servant-leader and guardian- leader. First, the leader is the servant of his followers (sayyid al qawn khadimuhum) (Kasule, Sr. , Omar H. 1998, 3). He is to seek their welfare and guide them towards good. The idea of a leader as a servant has been part of Islam since its beginning, and has only recently been developed by Robert Greenleaf. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) has emphasized a second major role of the Muslim leader: to protect his community against tyranny and oppression, to encourage God-consciousness and taqwa, and to promote justice. A commander (of the Muslims) is a shield for them (Sahih Muslim: Abu Hurairah, hadith no. 4542).

Basic Principles of Islamic Leadership: 1. Mutual consultation (shura): it is made clear in the Qur’an that Muslim leaders are under obligation to consult those who have knowledge or those who can provide sound advice. in this respect the Qur’an declares :“And those who answer the call of their lord and establish player, and who conduct their affair by mutual consultation and spend out of what we bestow on them for sustenance” (ash –shura: 38). 2. Justice: Justice is a dynamic characteristic which each Muslim must strive to develop whether he is a leader or a follower. “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God as witnesses to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice”(Qur’an, 5: 8). The need to achieve a balance and to take a middle road is quite important in a leader, and is stressed repeatedly by God in the Qur’an. He describes those “who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven” as: Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those two extremes (Qur’an, 25: 67-68) Application of justice to leadership: The principle of justice must be observed by all Muslims leaders and followers alike. For example, God admonishes Muslims thus: God does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; due; and when you judge between man and man that you judge with justice (Qur’an, 4: 58).

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This is why the Prophet (saw) emphasized that justice must never be compromised by personal affiliations or other considerations. 3. Freedom of thought: An Islamic leader should provide the conducive environment for a free flow of thoughts and views from his team members and subordinates. Muslims are advised to provide sincere advice whenever necessary. This Islamic principle on leadership the Qur’an declares: “Let there be no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an, 2: 256). 4. Trust This concept of trust stresses the idea of responsibility towards organizational stakeholders, and holds true whether those entrusting something to Muslims are themselves non-Muslims. “O you that believe! betray not the trust of God and the apostle nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you” (Qur’an, 8: 27).. As a core value, trust fits within the overall Islamic etiquette governing social relationships. Application of trust to leadership: Trust is explicitly linked to leadership in the Qur’an. We refer to the story of Prophet Joseph (as). After the king had indicated that he placed great trust in him, Prophet Joseph (as) deliberately asked to be put in charge of the granaries and storehouses, and the demanding task of establishing them and guarding them. As one translator of the Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, points out, Prophet Joseph (as) “understood the need to build reserves better than anyone else, and was prepared to take on this task himself rather than throw on to another the burden of restricting supplies in times of plenty” (Ali, Comment 1716). 5. Righteousness: Righteous behavior is described as follows: “It is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfill the contracts which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity” ( Qur’an, 2: 177). These general attributes will now be linked to the attributes that Islamic leaders and followers should embrace. Application of righteousness to leadership: Based on the above verses, several principles attributes of righteous;

 They act justly and do not allow their personal feelings to hinder justice.  They have iman,

 They take care of those in need, and do so for the love of God, 4

 They are steadfast in prayer and practice charity,  They observe all contracts, and

 They are patient no matter what type of adversity they may be experiencing. 6. Struggle within Oneself towards Self-Improvement: This concept is portrayed very accurately by the Qur’an (Qur’an, 22:77-78). The Prophet Muhammad (saw) stressed the importance of this inner striving to improve oneself: God's Messenger (saw) said, "The believers in the world are in three classes: those who believe in God and His Messenger and do not doubt, but strive with their property and their persons in God's cause; the man whom people trust with their property and their persons; and the man who, when he is about to display greed, abandons it for the sake of God, Who is Great and Glorious” (Islamic scholar software: Mishkat Al-Masabih.1996). The dimension of inner struggle permeates the very progression from iman to ihsan, and continues thereafter. Application of the concept of self-struggle to leadership: This principle encapsulates the process of inner struggle towards self-betterment. Leaders and followers practicing this principle are continuously monitoring and evaluating their intentions and actions, and acting to improve themselves accordingly. They work hard at practicing what they say, and encourage others in this struggle for self-improvement. 7. Promise-Keeping: All Muslims whether leaders or followers are urged to keep their promises. They also cannot make promises that are un-Islamic in nature. “O you who believe! Fulfill (all) obligations” (Qur’an, 5: 1). Keeping one’s word characterizes a Muslim. Breaking one’s word is tantamount to hypocrisy. Application of promise-keeping to leadership: Based upon the above discussion, keeping promises is very important for all, and a leader is not exempted from this important principle. Islamic Leadership Characteristics: The characteristics of an Islamic leader affect his/her behavior, and are congruent with the characteristics of effective leaders identified by Kouzes and Posner (1995). We will now relate the top Six characteristics identified by these researchers to the Islamic model and they are; Honesty, Competence, Inspiration, Patience, Humility, The willingness to seek consultation. Muslim Follower Characteristics: There two main follower characteristics and they are the followings: Obedience and Dynamic followership.

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CONCLUSION Islamic leadership which emerged at the time of the prophecy of Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdulmudalib (PBUH) had developed gradually in Arabian Island. The initial base of the leadership was Mecca-Saudi Arabia where the holy Mosque (Ka’ba) was constructed before the prophecy by Apostle Ibrahim and his son Ismail (PBUT). After a few years the headquarter of the leadership was transferred to Medina, the second holy place for the Islamic followers when non-Muslim Qureish had expelled him to Medina where it grew and expanded to many other places in the Arabian Island. The purpose of moving to Medina had two objectives –increasing the number of believers and expansion of the religion. After years the prophet and Islamic followers had returned to Mecca in tens of thousands in number and seized the holly place without resistance. Since then, the religion and leadership was to reach all Arabian Island and gradually to many parts of the world. Referring to the Qur’an and Sunna, Islamic leadership was the right and the best one of all ruling systems of the world. Its base was the principles of justice and equality, trust, competence, consultation, righteousness and etc. The decision-making process was conceived on mutual consultation to avoid any illegal ruling on both Muslims and non-Muslim citizens. When the Islam took over the power, it laid down agreements between the heterogeneous populations in Arabian Island to live in peace and harmony together. Only those that break the pact were fought and ousted or imposed Gisya (little tax) and remain in their homes as other communities without any problem. Some of the best attributes of Islamic leadership had included the support of the poor from the collection of Zaka and other resources got in war zones when the non-Muslim warriors were eliminated. Another quality attribute of Muslim ruling was maintenance of justice among Islamic and non-Islamic communities. People were equal in front of Sharia (the Law) and that administration had worked well for a long time even after the death of our prophet. Then what happened? The major phenomena of conflict had arisen when Ali bin Abu Dalib the leader of Islam and Mo’awiyah had disagreed on certain issues under the leadership functions in that time. From that time on the decline of equality Islamic leadership was forming its slope to down wards to the point it is today. So, the question is “What had caused the steep decline of the Islamic leadership on the world? There came a decrease of Iman of Muslim individual leaders and Muslim communities all over the world; there came wealthy and resource oriented attitudes among Islam societies abandoning the true faith of the 6

struggling for the second world; There came practices of not carrying out the personal obligations to Allah; There came the likeness of western living styles and mingling (mixing) into their cultures. Those issues caused the emergency of big gap between Allah (S.W) and Muslim societies at all levels. RECCOMENDATION: The group two having seen the desperate situation of Muslim world today would forward to conclude their recommendations to the following points:1. The Islam communities must restore their Iman and carry out what Allah (S.W) commanded to fulfill. 2. Muslim societies are obliged to select honest and straightforward leaders for their organizations and countries. 3. The Islam societies must trust on Allah (S.W) and Seek support from their God and loose ties with non-Muslim communities. 4. Muslim leaders and communities must unite their people through justice and equity. 5. Muslim communities and their leaders must fight against corruption and divert big portion of the national resources to the social services. 6. Muslim communities and Muslim leaders must unite their minds and muscles, exploit their resources, develop their communities through education and skills required to raise production and economic growth, building infrastructures and creating employment opportunities for their population. 7. Finally, Muslim communities and their leaders are expected to revive the role of Islam on the World and refrain what made the Muslim’s world humiliated and backward in respect to non-Muslim societies.

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REFERENCES 1. Abu Dawud. (1996.) “Sunan” in Winalim. USA: ISL Software Corporation, Release 4, 1996. 2. Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. (1989). “The Holy Qur’an: Text, Translation and Commentary”. Brentwood, MD: Amana Corporation, 1989. 3. Robert K. Greenleaf. (1970). “The Servant as Leader” (Indianapolis, IN: Greenleaf Center for Servant- Leadership, 1970. 4. Islamic Scholar Software. Mishkat Al-Masabih. South Africa: Johannesburg: Par Excellence Computers, 1996. 5. Islamic Scholar Software. Sahih Muslim. South Africa: Johannesburg: Par Excellence Computers, 1996. 6. Kasule, Sr. , Omar H.( 1998). “Leadership Module. General Theme: Leadership. Workshop 1.” In Muslim Leaders’ Forum 98 Handbook. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: IIIU, Malaysia, 1998. 7. Kouzes, J. and Posner, B. (1995). The Leadership Challenge: How To Get Extraordinary Things Done In Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995. 8. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (1980). “The Ethical Philosophy of Al-Ghazzali”. Lahore, Pakistan: Pakistan: Lahore. 9. Sahih Bukhari: Abdallah Ibn Umar, hadith 3.733 10. Al-Buraey, Muhammad. (1985). Administrative Development: An Islamic Perspective. London, UK:B KPI, 1985. 11. The holy of Qur’an. (Quran; 2:256, 4:58, 5:1, 5:8, 8:27,22:77-78, 25:67-68, 26:38)

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