By Mohammad Tariqur Rahman
The leadership qualities of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are unparalleled. Michael H. Hart in his book “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History” placed Prophet Muhammad on top of the list. To Hart and perhaps to many others, Muhammad was “the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the secular and religious level”.
His exemplary approaches and leadership strategies left a profound impact on the theory and practice of leadership beyond the boundary of ruling a Muslim nation and the time he lived in.
Prophet Muhammad has been revered for his humane qualities: trustworthiness, honesty, humility, justice, compassion and empathy, patience, vision, adaptability, courage and resilience, wisdom, communication skills, inclusivity, and above all piety. Some emphasize his humane qualities to describe his stature as the best leader of mankind.
Others find him a wise and charismatic leader for his military strategies, planning for Medina-centric nationhood with the Medina Constitution, dealing with enemies to his nation such as signing the Hudaibiya Treaty, and the vision to build the nation with spiritual and worldly views.
However, taking him as a role model as a human and as a leader needs to put together a few missing links (puzzles?) about him which are generally ignored in the discussion.
1. Prophet Mohamamd was chosen by Allah the Almighty as the last Messenger and the leader of mankind – for which he was prepared by divine command since his childhood and became the best example of humane attributes. An example of that preparedness is described in a hadith – as his chest was opened and cleaned by the angels when he was a child.
2. Furthermore, the Prophet did not have any formal education or training – he was illiterate in the sense that he was unable to read and write. The strongest argument in favor of this notion goes with the idea that Allah the Almighty wanted to leave a sign that the Noble Quran is His divine decree and not composed by an educated man. In every aspect of his decision-making from his personal life to leading the Muslim ummah, he relied on the divine codes – the Noble Quran.
3. Prophet Muhammad used the Noble Quran as the constitution to rule his nation. With his political acumen as well as humane and leadership qualities, he followed the principles of the Noble Quran.
4. Prophet Muhammad embraced success the way it is defined in the Noble Quran. The Quran mentions two types of success: falah (success in this life, mainly) and fawz (ultimate success in the next life). Again, fawz has been described as al-fawz-ul-adheem (triumphant success), al-fawz-ul-mubeen (evident success), and al-fawz-al-kabeer (huge success). Thus, success in the spirit of Islam is defined differently than how it is defined in terms of prosperity in modern times.
Now, one might want to relate those aspects of his life to find the relevance of Prophet Muhammad as the role model of leadership in modern-day politics.
Contrary to Prophet Muhammad who was chosen as a leader by the Almighty Allah, the leaders are chosen by their supporters (or voters). While the humane qualities of the prophet Muhammad were guided by divine intervention, the same is not expected for anyone else.
Let us take two of his qualities – truthfulness and a sense of justice. Prophet Muhammad was named al-Amin by the people of Mecca for his truthfulness. He never lied in his life. Albeit, their conviction of Prophet Muhammad reversed soon after he declared his prophethood and invited them to worship none but the Almighty Allah. On the contrary, knowing the art of hiding the truth (or lying in other words?) is an important skill in modern-day political dominance.
Prophet Muhammad set an ultimate example of justice for the people he ruled – irrespective of their race, religion, or faith. Despite having every opportunity to cause suffering to or punish the people of Mecca after conquering Mecca, Prophet Muhammad ordained not to touch anyone or anything that belonged to the Meccans and let them live as they were. However, in modern-day politics, the ability to entrap the people of different tents is a skill and a “must-to-do” in the political arena.
It is true that none of us may reach the level of preparedness by divine control the way Prophet Muhammad was. Nevertheless, his humane qualities were set as the benchmark (Quran 33:21) for mankind so that any individual who aims to be a leader of a community or a nation would want to follow him.
It is often argued that Prophet Muhammad used his personal wisdom or political acumen, besides the divine codes, as he needed. The Medina Constitution and the Hudaibiya Treaty – are often discussed as examples of the strategic leadership quality of Prophet Muhammad . Neither the composition of the Medina Constitution nor the acceptance of the Hudaibiya are part of the revelations.
However, verses from the Noble Quran (53:2-3) confirm his absolute reliance on divine guidance, “Your fellow man (Prophet Muhammad ) is neither misguided nor astray. Nor does he speak of his own whims.”
That leads to the conclusion that a successful leader who wishes to lead a nation for peace, prosperity, and harmony might want to follow the guiding principles of the Noble Quran. That brings an important consideration to address – if a leader would be able to achieve the same level of success without following the Noble Quran that Allah defines as the complete code of life for mankind. Besides, success must be viewed the way Prophet Muhammad viewed that for life here and hereafter.
Muslims are obliged to obey him as their leader and at the same time, obliged to do so with their current leaders (Quran 4:59). For a Muslim, obeying the last Messenger has many dimensions – from practicing religious rituals and following his lifestyle to leading a nation. Not surprisingly then, he remains relevant to motivate the leaders among the Muslim nations using him as a role model.
For every Muslim, Prophet Muhammad should be regarded simultaneously as the best example of a spiritual guide, a statesman, a military leader, and a community organizer- above all the last Messenger. Taking Prophet Muhammad as the role model of a leader necessitates combining all aspects of the last Messenger – his personal humane qualities, his leadership qualities, and his reliance on divine guidance.
Professor Mohammad is the Deputy Executive Director of International Institute of Public Policy and Management, Universiti Malaya.
Leave a comment