Writer: Lieutenant Colonel Tahir Najeeb Raja, retired

Indeed in the Messenger of Allah (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), you have an excellent model to follow, for him who hopes for (the meeting with) Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.
(Al Quran 33:21)

Today the world is in chaos and a state of desperation, because it is devoid of sound, visionary and ethical leadership, or we may say that the global leadership crisis today is the root cause of turmoil. No one thinking rationally can dispute that leadership matters everywhere, be it a small unit like a family, an organisation, a country or an international body.

In leadership, an example is everything. No one becomes a leader in essence unless he or she walks the talk. This holds since time immemorial. A Chinese philosopher of the 4^th century BC, Huananzi, brilliantly summed it up in the following words, “When leaders are worthy of respect, the people are willing to work for them, when their virtue is worthy of admiration, their authority can be established”.1

It is therefore imperative to look in the right direction for inspiration and guidance. Do we have some exemplary role models to learn from and follow? I believe yes, we are fortunate to have the recorded example of one such leader, Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم before us, to follow regardless of the walk of life we belong to, as his role is not confined to any particular sphere of life. Minutest details about every role in his life are recorded.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was the flag-bearer of the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam. A religion followed by more than 1.8 billion2 people across the globe today. Prophet Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم following is highly inclusive and diverse. Apart from Muslims, the pool of admiration constitutes people from other faiths, including his rivals, which suggests the high appreciation for the content of his character, competence and conduct, by those who are under no religious compulsion to follow him. To quote a few;

A famous French historian and educator Alphonse de Lamartine, wrote:

“If greatness of purpose, the smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, then who could dare to compare any great man in history with Muhammad

صلى الله عليه وسلم? Philosopher, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?3”

Michael Hart states, “Today, thirteen centuries after his death, his influence is still powerful and pervasive.”4 Indeed, if centuries later an individual could have such a strong influence

over so many, there can be no doubt in his leadership. Hart also emphasises that the Holy

Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is ranked as the most influential person in the world because he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.5 Thomas Carlyle pays tribute to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, stating  that he is “Hero of the Prophets”.6

Professor Joel Hayward, a British scholar, writer, and poet who currently serves as professor of strategic thought, introduces the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم in these words, “He was

both a military leader involved in wars that created new power structures and a prophet who ushered in dramatically original ways of understanding monotheistic religion and its relationship with politics”.7 He writes “Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم had what he called a sound grasp of military judgment, strategy, and tactics. It is hard to argue against this, given that only during a decade, from 622 to 632 CE, he quickly transformed from an inexperienced and unsure military leader to a highly successful routinely successful, and battle-hardened military commander capable of skillfully handling armies with thousands of warriors”.8

Imam Murtadha Gusau9 and Nabeel Al-Azmi10, both in their independent and separate studies, drawing on their analyses of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم life, identified a comprehensive list of over fifty prophetic leadership qualities. Both reviewed these critically to further narrow them down. After extensive filtering, merging, and examining the list against Seerah11 based evidence, they arrived at eleven qualities, and concluded that each of these eleven was vital, and hence it be considered definitive list”. In essence both the lists are common, however expression varies a little. The list given below is in the words of Nabeel Al-Azami.

• Integrity
• Vision
• Courage
• Competence
• Holistic justice
• Pragmatic decisiveness
• Servant-leadership
• Practical wisdom
• Resilience and patience
• Compassion
• Emotional and spiritual intelligence

It shall be endeavoured to encapsulate the aforementioned traits of Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم within the following four, which in effect encompass all the essentials of military leadership:-

1. Integrity II. Competence

III. Courage         IV. Conduct

I – Integrity

Kouzes and Posner in their pursuit to identify the most essential qualities of leadership, conducted various studies and surveys over three decades, involving more than 75,000 respondents from across the world, who were asked to complete the checklist “characteristics of admired leaders”.12 The authors state that literally in every survey, irrespective of its geographical location, country or type of organisation they chose since the research work was initiated in 1980, honesty is chosen as the topmost essential attribute of leadership. ‘Honesty is essential to leadership.’

This indeed has been asserted by Almighty Allah. The Quran says; “And verily, you (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) are an exalted (standard) of Character” (68:4). Allah combined in His final Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, the most illustrious qualities. His unimpeachable trustworthiness won for him the title of as-Sadiq al-Amin (the Truthful, the Trustworthy, a faithful custodian, and unfailing trustee). The unique part is that even though infidels of Mecca repudiated his message and persecuted him, yet they trusted him with their most valuable assets. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم consistently exhibited matchless strength of character from childhood. Let us have a look at an example from the Battle of Badr, in the context of military leadership. The ratio of forces was 1:3 in favour of the infidels. Similarly, the Muslim army was far inferior in number and quality of sinews of war. In these circumstances a Yemenite, Hudhaifa ibn al Yemen narrates; “I was not prevented from taking part in the Battle of Badr on the side of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم except for the fact that when my father and I accepted Islam and passed through Makkah en route, we were detained by the Quraish, they suspected that we had embraced Islam and that we would take part in the war ahead. We assured them that we were going to Medina on our private vocations, and had no intentions of joining the forces of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم; on our taking oath, they released us. We came to Badr and narrated the incident to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, He asked us to go to Medina and carry out the pledge and said: God will help us against the Quraish.13 The Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم life is full of such incidents reflecting his matchless character.

II – Competence

In order to comprehend the essence of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم leadership, it will be helpful to go through an overview of the struggle and transformation process, or revolution brought about by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Dr Israr Ahmed14 (late), states that he deduced the stages of revolution from the study of the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم (Seerat-un-Nabi). An overview is as under;

Stage-1: Communication, Publicity, and propagation of the message or ideology. In this case, it was TAWHID, meaning unification or oneness of Allah (monotheism) as per Islam. Its implementation and implications in the social, economic, and political domains combined, are the essence of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم message, which in reality was a challenge to an idol-worshipping society plagued by tribal feuds and other social ills.

Stage-2: Unite and organise all those who accept the message and are willing to endure hardship as a consequence of joining Islam.

Stage-3: Training and grooming is fundamental to bringing about the revolution, which becomes a precursor to societal change.

Stage-4: Passive resistance implies patience, which is a great virtue. Brigadier* A I Akram15,

dwelling upon the significance of patience, states that this aspect, though one of the most essential qualities of leadership, is often ignored.

Dr Israr Ahmed is of the view that there is no need to be apologetic and shy about the fact that conflict is initiated by the preacher of new ideology, or the one who challenges the status quo. Though the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم communicated a divine message, it however, challenged beliefs, norms, customs and way of life of the idol worshipping Quraish of Makkah. The reaction

was obvious. During the initial three years of prophethood, they targeted the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم alone. The Quraish applied all possible tools of physical and mental persecution and humiliation to break the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم will, determination and perseverance, to stop him from preaching Islam. On failing to achieve this, the next step adopted was to attack followers of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.The siege of Sha’ab e Abi Talib is one such heinous example of persecution. This attempt also failed to achieve their objectives. However Muslims, based on divine command, migrated, leaving behind everything. This implies that passive resistance continued throughout the period till migration to Medina. Here we see a supreme example of patience. Patience indeed is the leader’s ability to hold and control himself from anger and panic in dealing with people, and hardship in the course of undertaking his responsibilities.

Stage-5: Active resistance commenced as Muslims’ migration to Medina took place. Since Allah granted them permission to fight against the aggressors, hence we may call it a stage of active resistance. Here we will only briefly touch upon various activities prior to the Battle of Badr.

• Economic Blockade. Employment of patrols and raid parties on the trade route to Syria and Yemen, to establish and show the presence of Muslims on these routes, and threaten Quraish’s trade caravans.
• Agreements and alliances with tribes, to make them allies, or at least persuade them to be neutral in any war being waged against Muslims. In today’s terms, we call this the political isolation of Quraish.
• Internal Stability. The first six months at Medina were utilised for internal stability and organisation, while in the next one and a half year, prior to Badr, eight military expeditions carried out different minor operations of war.

Stage-6: Armed Conflict. Now having gone through the rigours of initial stages up to active resistance; it is time for consolidation and execution of military plans, as divine permission for war has already been accorded. This is also the last phase of the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم revolution within the Arabian peninsula. This stage was decisive and it heralded the advent of Islam as a way of life which would last till eternity.

• Consultative Process. The cornerstone of any military strategy is the process of consultation. The historical records clearly suggest that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم firmly believed in a meaningful consultative process, and he would remain steadfast once the decision had been made. In the Battle of Badr, the exercise of the option to fight the Quraish Army at Badr, instead of attacking Abu Sufian’s trade caravan, was taken after a rigorous consultative process.
• Superior Military Thinking. Selection of positions taking into account the direction of the sun, the layout of ground and its implications, intelligence gathering and thorough reconnaissance during the first major battle at Badr, all reflect professional acumen, and superior military and strategic thinking of a military leader.
• Treaty of Hudaibiyah. Allah says in the Quran, “Surely, We have granted you an open victory” (48:1). This verse was revealed after the return from Hudaibiyah. The open victory refers to the treaty of Hudaibiyah, which in the relevant circumstances was a victory in its own right, as it paved the path for an overall victory for the Muslims. In the treaty of Hudaibiyah, although the terms of the treaty were discriminatory in favour of the pagans, the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم agreed to them in the wider interest of the Ummah (Islamic community). The enabling strategic environment necessitated nullifying the pact between the Jews of Khaybar (north of Medina) and the Quraish (south of Medina), which stated that in case of a conflict with Muslims by either of the parties, the other will attack Medina. It appeared later that this treaty resulted in the much wider publicity of the Islamic message, and it was a prologue to the conquest of Makkah, because it was within only two years that the pagans violated the terms of the treaty, and the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had to announce its termination.

These events made it possible for the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to march towards Makkah with his ten thousand blessed companions, and the pagans had to surrender the city to him without bloodshed. It is pertinent to mention here that by signing this treaty, the Quraish accepted that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was a power to reckon with. This reflects the strategic vision, practical wisdom, pragmatic decisiveness and farsightedness of the Prophet .صلى الله عليه وسلم

III – Courage

Richard A. Gabriel16 writes, “Had Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم not succeeded as a commander, however, Islam might have been relegated to a geographic backwater – and the conquest of Byzantine and Persian empires by Arab Armies might never have occurred”. He further elaborates this statement by stating that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was undoubtedly a great general, who within a short period of one decade, led eight major battles, eighteen raids and planned around thirty-eight other military operations which were led by commanders designated by him, but operating under his orders and strategic direction. During these campaigns he was wounded twice, and also experienced having his positions overrun by numerically superior forces, before he succeeded to turn the tables on his enemies and rally his men to victory*. More than a great politicalmilitary leader and organisational reformer, he was also a strategic thinker, military theorist, field general and tactician, operational level combat commander, and a heroic soldier.17 This leaves no ambiguity about his courage, resilience, and persistence.

The best example of the manifestation of Ralph Nader’s famous quote: ”the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers” is apparent in this case, where within 15 years of his departure to the eternal world, the commanders groomed and inspired by him established Muslim rule in three continents of the world.18

He confronted an enemy three times bigger in numerical strength, and sometimes even twelve or more times the force at his disposal, and yet practically he always succeeded to achieve his strategic objectives. The Muslim empire commenced with some of the streets of Medina – a small city-state (as initially not all the residents of Medina joined him in his cause) – expanded at the average rate of over 830 square kilometers19 per day, and within ten years when he left for his eternal abode, he was ruling an area of over three million square kilometers.20

The Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم ethical leadership, compassion, and love for humanity, coupled with his vision and competence, ensured the prevention of human loss as far as possible. The entire area of over three million square km was conquered at the expense of fewer than 250 men killed on the enemy side, while Muslim casualties during combat were less than two hundred.21

IV – Conduct

The Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم was kind, humble, and magnanimous, he always exhibited patience, perseverance, and unflinching faith. His conduct at the time of the conquest of Makkah is the manifestation of his humility and magnanimity. There is no parallel of the act of forgiving murderers of one’s family members, despite having legal and moral authority.22 He truly embodied the Quran, “So (O Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم it is through mercy from Allah that you are gentle to them. Had you been rough and hard-hearted, they would have dispersed from around you.

So, pardon them, and seek forgiveness for them. Consult them in the matter and once you have taken a decision, place your trust in Allah. Surely, Allah loves those who place their trust in Him” (3:159).23 We, as his followers, must bear in mind the lesson that unfair treatment, persecution and undue hardship have to be endured in the larger interest of accomplishing the bigger goal.

Final Thoughts

The life of our beloved Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم will always remain the living example of a leader who possesses all the virtues and traits of a person who is able to lead and guide his followers through trying times, and establish his teachings as the ultimate mode of acquiring divine bliss. As for this life, he is an epitome of 22 Saheh Bukhari, Kitab al Tafseer. 23 Translation of verse is from The meaning of the noble Quran by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani. living and leading the life while observing divine tenets and worldly wisdom. He will always remain the practical manifestation of a leader who has lived up to unparalleled standards of leadership, be it as a statesman, military leader or in his social obligations. Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم impeccable approaches in problem-solving and decision making have earned him the stature of a living legend. One does not need to look through a religious lens to certify his leadership, as is evident from an array of non-Muslim writers over the years. It is time that our future generations align their focus and learn the traits of leadership from the person who is divinely positioned to be our leader in this world and the hereafter.

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing” (Muhammad ibn Isa at-Tirmidhi)