This book examines the concept of leadership from within the Islamic worldview, exploring its meaning and various manifestations through textual evidence from the two primary sources of Islam, The Qur’an and hadith. Using this theoretical framework concurrent with contemporary leadership theory, the authors scrutinise the distinctive leadership dynamics of Islamic organisations within a minority-Muslim context and a focus on Australia. Drawing on empirical data gathered over four years, the nature of leadership and its processes within this unique context is examined. Leadership in Islam reconciles the problematic processes that exist within Muslim organisational context and offers a set of measures and strategies to improve leadership processes including enacting leadership, enacting following, accommodating complexity, sense making and embracing basics as the core processes. This book will be beneficial for anyone who seeks to understand the meaning of leadership in Islam, the way Islamic organisations operate, and the way forward for improving leadership processes within an Australian/Western context.

Beekun and Badawi, both professors of management and strategy, have written this primer on leadership integrating contemporary business techniques with traditional Islamic knowledge. The leadership paradigm is changing, and a leadership model based on ethical principles is finally emerging-a position that Islam has taken from the start. The synthesis of the authors results in a highly practical and inspiring manual for developing leadership skills.

Leaders nowadays need to know, learn, and apply the concept of qalb leadership where it has been taught by the Prophet Muhammad as well as explained by Islamic scholars. The comparison with other mindful leadership concepts is required to provide solutions and options in leadership for better outcomes and spiritual awareness. It is found that leadership literature, in general, is unable to generate an understanding of a leadership concept that is both intellectually compelling and emotionally satisfying. As for qalb leadership, it focuses on the spirituality of leadership that can aid in facing unpredictable manners and provide better outcomes for followers. Research on Islamic leadership and spirituality may pave the way for better leadership practices in the future. The Role of Islamic Spirituality in the Management and Leadership Process will elaborate the spirituality and qalb in human life and leadership along with providing a discussion on the role and function of qalb in the overall leadership process. Through spirituality, human interdependence, creativity, and social justice can be created and molded. This type of leadership enables transformation in a natural way without denying basic human nature and imparts balance to both the outer and inner needs of humans. With the discussion of four cardinal virtues of Al-Ghazali, leaders can solve many problems that emerge in their organizations. This book is ideal for managers, executives, theologians, professionals, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in how Islamic spirituality plays a role in leadership.

Educational institutions are undergoing complex and sensitive changes in the context of immigration, international mobility, globalisation, and shifting economic scenarios, making highly challenging demands on educational leaders. Leadership is increasingly being perceived and theorised as pivotal to students’ achievement and institutional performance. In this book, Saeeda Shah considers educational leadership from an Islamic perspective to debate theoretical positions underpinned by Islamic texts and teachings, and the resulting conceptualisations and interpretations. While educational leadership literature and research have flourished in recent years, this is predominantly informed by Western ideologies, concepts, theories and practices. Education, Leadership and Islam focuses on contemporary educational settings and practices, drawing on research and empirical evidence from multicultural contexts in order to enrich theory and inform policy and practice in relevant frameworks, particularly in relation to the growing Muslim population in the West. Chapters also discuss gender in Islam, educational expectations and Islamic faith schools to comprehensively explore education in relation to Islamism. Situating Muslims within contemporary societies, this book extends debates regarding educational philosophy and leadership, endorsing diversity and plurality through an appreciation of difference. Education, Leadership and Islam will appeal to education researchers as well as social and political scientists attempting to understand Muslim educational issues in contemporary life, both in the east and in the west. This book offers critical insight into educational theory and practice, and as such will be key reading for policy makers and educational leaders.

Islamic law has traditionally prohibited women from being prayer leaders and heads of state. A small number of Muslims today are beginning to challenge this stance, but they face considerable opposition from the broader Muslim community. ‘Women and Leadership in Islamic Law’ examines the assumption within much existing feminist scholarship that the patriarchal nature of pre-Islamic and early Muslim Near Eastern Society is the primary reason for the development of Islamic legal rulings prohibiting women from leadership positions. It claims that the evolution of Islamic law was a complex process, shaped by numerous cultural, historical, political and social factors, as well as scriptural sources whose importance cannot be dismissed. Therefore, the book critically examines a broad survey of legal works from the four canonical Sunni schools of law to determine the factors that influenced the development of the legal rulings prohibiting women from assuming various leadership roles. The passages that elaborate rulings about women’s leadership are presented in translation as an appendix to the research, and are then subjected to a variety of critical analyses to identify the reasons, influences, and assumptions underlying those rulings. This is the first time works of all four schools of law have been subjected to this kind of analysis for the express purpose of determining the extent to which gender attitudes have influenced and determined the rulings. This book will therefore be a vital resource for students and scholars of Islamic Studies, Religious Studies and Gender Studies.

Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts explores the administration of justice during Islam's founding period, 632-1250 CE. Inspired by the scholarship of Roy Parviz Mottahedeh, ten scholars of Islamic law draw on diverse sources including historical chronicles, biographical dictionaries, exegetical works, and mirrors for princes.