Leadership in Islam

History of Management Though and Practice

By:

Febri Tri Intan Azhana (12311299)

Meri Anggraini (12311312)

Danie Amanullah (12311207)

Rizqi Ananto Yandira (12311464)

Preface

Leadership in Islam is a trust (amanah). It represents a psychological

contract 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 doing well.

According to Islam, every person is the “shepherd” of a flock, and occupies

a position of leadership. Leadership in Islam is about how Muslims enact their

leadership role.

This idea of this paper can provide new models that will benefit leadership

of Islamic thought in many ways. There are explained definition of leadership in

Islam in light of new leadership literature shows that many of the teachings of

Islam embodies many of the concepts of modern leadership definition. The

leadership model that we have developed in this paper is rooted in an Islamic value

system but addresses modern needs for leadership.

We hope that this paper will satisfy two objectives: help Muslim readers to

appreciate the richness of their culture, and introduce aspects of Islamic thought on

leadership to non-Muslim readers. We also hope that the leadership model

developed in the article will provide the framework for training programs to train

young Muslims to become the Leaders in future.

CONTENTS

1.0 Introduction ……………………………………………......... 1

2.0 Definition of Leadership In General ………………………………. 2

3.0 Definition of Leadership In Islam Perspective ……………… 3

4.0 Hadith and Surah about Leadership and Leadership Styles … 4

5.0 Leadership in Hadith of Prophet Muhammad SAW ………... 5

6.0 Qualities of Effective Leadership …………………………… 6

7.0 The effectiveness and Importance of a Leader’s Personality

and Character ……………………………………………… 7

8.0 Detailed Characteristics …………………………………….. 8

9.0 Qoutes ………………………………………………………. 9

10.0 Conclusion ………………………………………………….. 10

11.0 References …………………………………………………... 11

INTRODUCTION

Leadership in globalization era is very important to achieve the effectiveness

in a team or organization. In this paper explained well about the definition of

leadership and its importance, especially in Islamic perspective. First of all the

papers explain about what is leadership and benefits around the world, and after

that we explain about definition leadership in islam perfective, Islam teachs many

things about how have a good Islam leadership like phropet muhammad saw,

There are some hadith and surah who expalining about leadership and

leadershipstyles. Leadership has been defined in many ways, According to Michael

H. Hart’s book ‘The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History’

(1978), Muhammad (s.a.w.) has been the most influential personality in the entire

human history. It will be interesting and edifying to know what was his leadership

style which made him the most influential person ever along with other factors.

And in next chapter is leadership in hadith of prophet muhammad saw, in this part,

we explain some example about phropet muhammad leadership thing. to become a

good islamic leader, we must can create a vision for the future, have rational

strategy to move to the vision, can enlists the support workers, and have ability to

motivate core group, a good manager is have a respect and popularity. Becoming

an islamic leadership must have good characteristic and good personality.

A. DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP IN GENERAL

In general, leadership is defined in many ways. Richards and Engle define it

as articulating visions, embodying values, and creating the environment within which things

can be accomplished. Schein refer it as the ability to step outside the culture, while Drathand

Plus say that it is a process of making sense of what people are doing together for

people to understand and be committed. Although leadership has been defined in

many ways but it is mostly agreed that “leadership is about influencing others

towards a common goal”.

B. DEFINITION LEADERSHIP IN ISLAM PERSPECTIVE

Actually the definition of Leadership in Islam is almost the same with its

definition in general. The difference is if in general leadership’s object just the

goals, in Islam the objects are the goals and to seek the pleasure of Allah. So that in

Islamic perspective leadership is leading to achieve a goal and compete others to

seek the pleasure of Allah.

“Thus We made you a moderate community, that you may be witnesses to

humanity, and that the Messenger may be a witness to you. We only

established the direction of prayer, which you once followed, that We may

distinguish those who follow the Messenger from those who turn on their

heels. It is indeed difficult, except for those whom God has guided. But God

would never let your faith go to waste. God is Kind towards the people,

Merciful.” (02: 143)

C. HADITH AND SURAH ABOUT LEADERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP

STYLE

“Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world and have raised some of them above others in degrees [of rank] that they may make use of one another for service. But the mercy of your Lord is better than whatever they accumulate.” 043.032 (Az-Zukhruf)

According to Michael H. Hart’s book ‘The 100: A Ranking of the Most

Influential Persons in History’ (1978), Muhammad (s.a.w.) has been the most

influential personality in the entire human history. It will be interesting and

edifying to know what was his leadership style which made him the most

influential person ever along with other factors.

Bernard M Bass and his colleagues have differentiated five distinct styles of

leadership. In ‘Directive Leadership Style’, the leader tells the followers or

subordinates what to do and how to do it. This leadership style is quite

authoritarian and dictatorial, and is often frustrating for the subordinates or

followers whose creativity and initiative is often not valued in this style of

leadership. The directive leadership style is also known as autocratic style and is

mostly prevalent in Military and in Authoritarian Governments. This style is,

however, important and effective in situations of urgency when there is no time for

discussion or consultation.

In ‘Delegative Leadership Style’, the leader delegates his decision-making

authority to his followers or subordinates. The competency of the followers, the

availability of the requisite resources at their disposal and the trust and confidence

of the leader in the followers are some of the pre-requisites for the success of the

delegative leadership style.

In ‘Negotiative Leadership Style’ the leader usually puts his personal or

party interests before the interest of an organization or the interest of the country or

people as a whole, and uses carrots and sticks approach to further often his

personal or party agenda. Most modern-day political parties and politicians use the

negotiative leadership style.

In ‘Participative Leadership Style’, the leader seeks the opinions and

thoughts of the followers or subordinates to reach a collective or unanimous

decision. If the decision is reached by a majority vote, this is a ‘Democratic Style

of Leadership’. The responsibility of the decision is borne collectively and not just

by the leader. The participative leadership style is mostly prevalent among the

Boards of Governors of various organizations and among the cabinets of the many

democratically elected prime ministers.

In ‘Consultative Leadership Style’, the leader takes the opinions and

thoughts of the followers or subordinates but he alone has the ultimate authority to

make the final decision and also bears the responsibility of the decision. According

to the Fiedler, different leadership styles may be effective in different situations.

In a passage in the Quran, Allah has enjoined the ‘Consultative Style’ of

leadership to the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.)

“So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if

you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from

about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the

matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves

those who rely [upon Him].” [Al-Quran 3:159]

According to Al-Quran 3:159, Allah has commanded the Prophet (s.a.w.) to

consult the believers (in public matters, as the context of the verse suggests). It is

also clear from the verse that the final decision had to be taken by the Prophet

himself (s.a.w.). Furthermore, the verse describes some additional leadership traits

of the Prophet (s.a.w.), i.e. (a) he used to be very soft and gentle with his followers

(b) he was never rude to them, (c) he was very soft-hearted towards them (d) he

used to overlook their minor shortcoming and pardoned them, (e) he also used to

seek protection and security for them. It was indeed his consultative style of

leadership along with some excellent traits that he became the

most influential human ever in the history of mankind

It is also clear from Al-Quran 42:38 that all the believers also adopt a

consultative approach in their affairs.

“And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend.” [Al-Quran 42:38]

D. LEADERSHIP IN HADITH OF PHROPET MUHAMMAD SAW

“ Behold! Everyone of you is a leader and you shall be asked about those

you lead. Imam is a leader over the people and shall be asked about them; a

man is a leader of the house and shall be asked about his household ; a

woman is a leader over her children and she shall be asked about them.”

(Reported Abdullah Ibn Omar in Bukhari and Muslim ).

Leadership in Hadith Prophet (SAW) said the following regarding leadership in an

Islamic Jamaah: “Who so ever obeyed the leader, he obeyed me and whosoever

disobeyed the leader, he disobeyed me.” (Muslim) “I order you of five things: to

be with Al Jamaah, to listen (to the leaders), to obey (the leader’s orders), Hijrah

(migration) and Jihad .” (Ahmad, Tirmizi) “If one dies and there is no ring of

Bayah (pledge of allegiance) in his neck, he died in jahiliyyah ( that is out of

Islam.). (Muslim). “Whenever three of you are traveling, you should elect one as

your leader.” (Abu Dawood) “ Listening to and obeying ( the commands of the

leader) is obligatory upon a Muslim whether he likes it or not as long as it is not in

the disobedience of Allah (SWT).When a command is given in the disobedience of

Allah (SWT), then there is no listening and no obedience.” (Bukhari and Muslim).

E. QUALITIES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

- Creates a vision of the future

- Rational strategy to move to the vision

- Enlists the support of workers

As a leader, we cant work alone, we can ask a help from worker, maybe our

worker have a good idea or can solve company problem, company have many

workers, maybe from them we can found an idea that we did not expect.

- Ability to motivate core group of people

A leader must have skill to motivate the followers, because, if the followers

is down or feeling not comfortable, as a leader must motivate the followers

to feel right again, if not it will make a problem in the group. If not the

leader who else can make the followers feel right.

- Clear authority must be given by the people and/or by the by-laws

- Respect & Popularity (due to character and conduct)

a. To make people respect to us, first we must respect to them, is like

a feedback.

b. Offer help to other, No matter how busy you are, when you walk

and meet someone who needs assistance, offer some. Step in and

get your hands dirty. It won’t go unnoticed.

c. If we have good characteristic our followers will have a good value

to us, and it will make popularity.

F. THE EFFECTIVENESS AND IMPORTANCE OF A LEADER’S

PERSONALITY AND CHARACTER

The effectiveness of leadership depends on the following:

- Personality and character of the leader.

follow the Qur'an and Sunnah as closely as he can.

- Quality and atmosphere of the Jamaah.

a. Hard Working: The Prophet never felt low in doing any kind of work. He used

to milk goats, patch his own clothes, sweep his house, mend his shoes, and

sometimes cook his own food

b. Forgiveness: Forgiveness to the Companions : In an Islamic Jama’ah, everyone

has the right to criticize or differ with others. It is necessary for worker that when

criticized, he ought not to keep any anger in his heart.

The importance of the personality and characteristics of a leader:

A. Leader is the symbol of the organization and represents its nature and quality

a good leader must have a good quality and characteristic, because leader is a role

model for his followers, if the leader have bad characteristic it will cause a

negative impact to the company, because the followers will follow the bad thing of

the manager.

B. Leader is the center of authority

Leader is the center of authority, so the leader must have a responsibility, because

as a leader, we have a power to control all of the company, without the

responsibility maybe the company will be collapse.

C. Leader is the driving force for the Jamaah.

progress of the jamaah themselves influenced by the leader, because the leader is

controlling a jamaah itself. Need a trust from followers to the leader to make a

good progress for the jamaah, communication can make a trust, so the leader must

keep the good commucation.

G. DETAILED CHARACTERISTICS

1. Taqwah with excellent conduct and character

This divided:

A. Close relation with Allah (SWT)

B. Love of the Prophet (SAW) , Sahaba and Ulama

C. Concern and fear of the accountability in the Akhirah

2. Knowledge and practice of Islam, administrative experience, and wisdom

(hikmah) of leadership. Wisdom (hikmah) includes the following:

A. Respects : Understanding the specific thinking and situation of individuals and

deal with them at their level

B. Know a good solution with the best abilties : Knowing how to perform best with

the best abilities and talents and deal with the difficulties in the way

C. Make a great strategy : Know the circumstances and makes an appropriate

strategy

D. Know more knowledge : In depth understanding of the deen and its application

in the changing environment.

3. Establishing Al Islam is the true objective of his life ; Leader must have true

love and priority for his mission and the Jamaah. And must be an example

4. Honesty, integrity and trustworthiness with history of selfless service ;

successful leader are trusworthy; they are honset, predictable, and dependable

5. Competence ; Leadership should have the critical skills of leadership, i.e.,

observation, analysis, coaching, recognizing the potentials, delegation, feed back.

6. Decision making ; Decision making ability after appropriate consultation and

then ability to implement the decision.

7. Become a good motivator ; to motivate and discipline when necessary and the

leader s enjoy influencing others to achieve

8. Flexible and Firmness ; Leadership should be flexible in his attitude, successful

leader adapt to fit the needs of followers and the demans of situations but he should

be firm in his decisions and zeal to move to the objectives.

9. Interpersonal Skill ; Ability to speak, write and able to use moden

technology(blm)

10. Good physical health ; A leader should be a good leader for his health

In short, Characteristics that should not exist Pride and arrogance. Seek recognition

and notoriety. Desire to seek leadership or other benefits. Considering him perfect

or better than other

H.Qoutes

“ Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want

done by making him believe he wants to do it.” -Dwight D Eisenhower  

“ To be a leader one must be trustworthy…to be trustworthy, one must be

truthful”

I. Conclusion

Positive leadership habits know where your time goes. Focus on concrete

results. Build on strengths and not weaknesses. Concentrate on few major areas or

priorities where consistent hard work will produce results. Put complete trust in

Allah and be afraid of nothing.

REFERENCES

Leadership in Islam (n.d.). Retrieved on December 15, 2012 from The Islamic

Workplace: http://theislamicworkplace.com/leadership-and-islam/

Leader (n.d.). Retrieved on December 20, 2012 from NWlink:

http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html

Leadership style of the holy prophet saw (n.d.). Retrieved on January 5, 2013 from

quranic teachings: http://quranicteachings.org/leadership-style-of-the-holy-

prophet-s-a-w/

Moten, A. R. (2011). Leadership in the West and the Islamic World: A

Comparative Analysis. World Applied Sciences Journal .

Dr. Muthumanickman, A. (n.d.). Need and importance soft skills.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Beekun, R. I., & Badawi, J. (1998). Leadership: An Islamic.