FOR a Muslim society or nation to progress and prosper, one cannot dispute that the ability to produce effective leadership should a major agenda. Effective leadership can influence others to accomplish social tasks and objectives.
Some say leaders are born and come into existence in no other way. If this view is adopted, their quantity will be very scarce. Research proves this wrong. Many leaders who were later acknowledged as great leaders went unrecognised for years.
Many researchers are of the view that a good many people who could become effective leaders just didn’t know how. They were brought up as effective leaders through education and training. In advanced countries there are various institutions of learning which provide leadership training.
Muslim history has proven beyond doubt that the success of the earliest Muslim community was during the time of the Holy Prophet . Then followed the communities during the period of his earliest successors, Caliphs Abu Bakar, Umar, Othman and Ali. We noticed that the Holy Prophet himself was a great leader. Not only that, he was also responsible for producing a number of other effective leaders among his various companions.
They excelled in politics, administration, business and war. The Holy Prophet began by developing their faith and
commitment to Almighty Allah. At the same time they were equipped with knowledge and practised high moral conduct.On top of that they worked very closely with one another to lead society towards becoming a great civilisation. This great achievement of the Holy Prophet contributed significantly to Muslim advancement. The four immediate Caliphs, successors of the Holy Prophet who were also his close companions, were individuals of great leadership.The religion of Islam as we know it today achieved its final and definitive form before the Holy Prophet passed away, but the evolution of Muslim society and the Muslim state had by then only just begun. This process was nurtured and came to fruition under the leadership of the Caliphs.
For this historical fact of the great success of the earliest Muslims to be repeated in the present millennium, a serious and effective effort has to be made to develop a new breed of leaders.
They must have strong faith in religion, equipped with knowledge that will enable them to have proper understanding of the operation of the present social reality and be very sincere and serious in embarking on planning to develop society in all spectra of human requirements and development.
Future success depends on present planning. Past experiences are for the present society to learn from and minimise its shortcomings. The present and future leadership qualities should be based on the above requirements.
Religious commitment will contribute significantly to a leader possessing a very high sense of responsibility. He will feel accountable before Allah for the success of everything under his influence. Thus he has to do his utmost best to perform.
The knowledge of social reality, locally and internationally, requires every leader to be able to grasp the issues pertaining to society, politics, economic, law, culture and technology.
The ability to have the right and holistic perspective on these issues will enable them to optimise their efforts to
produce the best result under the circumstances. Natural laws operate within social limitations. The reality spells out these limitations.
At the organisational level, leadership has to do with getting things accomplished by acting through others. It is the art of influencing and encouraging others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective, or project.An effective leader thus must have the ability to win the co-operation of all around him. He must first win the minds and hearts of his people. The hearts can be won if the leader is sincere and truthful to his mission.
This requires Muslims to seriously subscribe to the principle of leadership by example. Allah said: “O you who believe! Why say you that which you do not? Grievously odious is it in the sight of Allah that you say that which you do not.” (Quran 61:2-3)An effective leader normally gives clear direction and creates space for others to take the initiative. He has good vision for the future because he has a good ability to grasp the reality and has a clearer perspective of what needs to change. He is also capable of recognising the limits of what he can do.
This ability allows him to focus his efforts where he can succeed. The essence of leadership thus is very straightforward. It is to motivate people to perform to their optimum potential to achieve goals that the leader sets for the organisation.
Ibn Umar reported: “I heard the Messenger of Allah say: Everyone of you is a leader and everyone of you shall be questioned about those under your leadership; the king is a ruler and he shall be questioned about his subjects; and the man is a leader in his family and he shall be questioned about those under his care; and the woman is a leader in the house of her husband and she shall be questioned about those under her care; and the servant is a leader so far as the property of his master is concerned and he shall be questioned about that which is entrusted to him.”From the above saying of the Holy Prophet it is very clear that every one of us is a leader in our own right. To be an effective leader one has to learn and train in the art of leadership.
The Holy Prophet also emphasised the importance of accountability to Allah as leader at all levels of organisation and society. This is the motivational factor for everyone to strive for excellence.
This spirit of accountability among leaders is very essential to ensure that they are morally and spiritually responsible for all that they do.
Individual leadership has far-reaching effects. Islam would like to ensure that the Muslim community is better off by having good leadership at all levels of organisation and society.