The Leadership of Muhammad: A Historical Reconstruction

Description

Given Prophet Muhammad’s (s) immense impact on history, there are surprisingly few books that specifically analyse his leadership. The few that exist maintain that Muhammad was a wonderful leader because he was a wonderful man; that is, he succeeded in his mission because of his superior morality and personal qualities. Although it is widely agreed that Muhammad was a moral and decent man, this explanation seems incomplete and almost inadequate. Joel Hayward approaches the Prophet’s leadership from a different vantage point by scrutinising ancient sources to ascertain whether Muhammad’s conscious actions, behaviour, and methods can provide any substantial and meaningful insights about the effectiveness of his strategic leadership. Through meticulous research and rigorous analysis, Hayward demonstrates that Muhammad was an uncommonly astute and self-reflective man with the ability to create and communicate a believable strategic vision of a necessary and desirable future. This engaging yet deeply scholarly book makes a major contribution to both leadership studies and the Prophet’s biography Review: An important read! - Hayward offer an insightful and very timely analysis on the Prophet Mohammed, which fill a critical gap in both the leadership and Islamic/religious studies literatures. Unlike the founders of other major religions, the Prophet Mohammed led men into battle and governed, and in this sense was a strategic leader in ways that closely resemble the experience of contemporary strategic leaders. The book is incredibly useful for Muslims and non-Muslims alike and for students/scholars of Islamic/religious and leadership studies. For students of leadership studies, the book proffers an important and under-examined case on one of the leadership styles of one of the most important characters in history. And unlike most works within the field of Leadership Studies, Hayward’s book is a serious piece of scholarship and goes far beyond superficial levels of analysis. For students and scholars of Islamic studies the book holds equal weight and engages comprehensively with the theological basis of Prophet’s leadership style with reference to primary sources. The book achieves a great balance in its scholarly meticulousness while being accessible to non-experts. Review: A book like no other. A source of knowledge and wisdom for anyone interested on the subject. - I have gone through a number of books and articles on the topic because I was interested in learning about leadership from an Islamic perspective and this is by far the best book available in the English language. It is a source of knowledge and wisdom for all of those interested on the subject. I just wish it was published a decade earlier when I was doing my own research on the subject. Dr. Hayward is an expert at his craft so I know you will enjoy and cherish this book. I highly recommend this great work, and I look forward to reading the author's future publications.