JUSTICE is a dynamic characteristic, which each Muslim must
strive to develop whether as a leader or a follower.
(Umar-Ud-din:1991:24) “O you who believe! Stand out firmly for God as
witnesses to fair dealing and let not the hatred of others to you make
you swerve to wrong and depart from justice,” (Al-Maidah.:5:8) “Do not
put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness… You shall
not follow the crowd to do evil, nor will you testify in a dispute so as
to turn aside after many to pervert justice...keep yourself far from a
false matter do not kill the innocent and righteous...” (Ex. 23:1-2,
7-8).
The need to achieve a balance and to take a middle road is quite important in a leader, and is stressed repeatedly by God in the Bible and the Qur’an. The Qur’an describes those ‘who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven’ as: Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those two extremes; (Al- furqaan,25:67-68).
Application of justice to leadership
The principle of justice must be observed by all Muslim-leaders and followers alike. For example, God admonishes Muslims thus: God does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and when you judge between man and man that you judge with justice (An-Nisaa.4:58) You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor ... you shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land, which the LORD your God is giving you (Dt. 16:18-20). This is why the Prophet (saw) emphasized that justice must never be compromised by personal affiliations or other considerations.
• Trust
This concept of trust stresses the idea of responsibility towards organisational stakeholders, and holds true whether those entrusting something to Muslims are themselves non-Muslims. “O you that believe! Betray not the trust of God and the apostle nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you. (Al-Anfal.8:27)
As a core value, trust fits within the overall Islamic etiquette governing social relationships.
Application of trust to leadership
Trust is explicitly linked to leadership in the Qur’an. We refer to the story of Prophet Joseph (as). After the king had indicated that he placed great trust in him, Prophet Joseph (as) deliberately asked to be put in charge of the granaries and storehouses, and the demanding task of establishing them and guarding them. As one translator of the Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, points out, Prophet Joseph (as) understood the need to build reserves better than any one else, and was prepared to take on this task himself rather than throw on to another the burden of restricting supplies in times of plenty. (Ali, comment 1716). Once an individual has accepted to be the leader of a group or organisation, he has become their trustee. In a for-profit Muslim organisation, the management of the organisation is entrusted with the shareholders’ investment. In a non-profit organisation, the management of the organisation is charged with watching over the properties in the trust. Consequently, any managerial decision must be balanced with respect to this trust. The concept of trust can be extended to other dimensions of one’s work as a leader or a follower. Should one be wasting time or organisational resources in performing one’s task, one is violating his/her employer’s trust.
• Righteousness
Righteous behaviour is described as follows:
It is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, those who ask [...]; to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts, which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity (Al-Baqarah.2:177) Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov.14.34)
Application of righteousness to leadership
Based on the above verses, several moral attributes of righteous leaders become salient:
•They act justly and do not allow their personal feelings to hinder justice.
•They have imam.
•They take care of those in need, and do so for the love of God.
•They are steadfast in prayer and practice charity.
•They observe all contracts, and are patient no matter what type of adversity they may be experiencing.
In general, then, organisation participants of all faiths are entitled to be treated with basic human decency and dignity and with the maximum of fair play and justice. In an Islamic organization, a leader is expected to be sensitive to their needs.
•Promise-keeping.
“All Muslims-whether leaders or followers-are urged to keep their promises. They also cannot make promises that are unislamic in nature. O you who believe! Fulfil (all) obligations,” (Al-Maidah.5:1) “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, Whatever things are just, Whatever things are pure… whatever things are of good report, meditate on these things,” (Phil.4:8).
Keeping one’s word characterises a Muslim. Breaking one’s word is tantamount to hypocrisy.
Application of promise-keeping to leadership
Based upon the above discussion, keeping promises is very important for all, and a leader is not exempted from this important principle. I bought something from the Prophet (peace be upon him) before he received his Prophetic commission, and as there was something still due to him I promised him that I would bring it to him at his place, but I forgot. When I remembered three days later, I went to that place and found him there. He said: I have been here for three days waiting for you. (Abu Dawud)
Leader characteristics
The characteristics of a leader affect his/her behaviour. (Kouzes and Posner 1995). We will now relate the top four characteristics identified by these researchers to the model we want to suggest to Nigerian leaders-Christians and Muslims:
Honesty
Leaders are considered honest to the extent that there is ‘consistency between word and deed. ‘They do what they say they are going to do. In the Qur’an, the Prophet Moses (as) is himself labelled as ‘strong and trustworthy’ by one of the damsels (Al-Qasas. 28:26) and the Prophet Joseph (saw) is described as one who is truthful (Q.12:46). Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) used to be called Sadiq (the truthful) and Amin (the trustworthy) during his youth. Why is honesty and integrity so important with respect to leaders? As people of faith traditions, both Islam and Christianity teach that leadership is more than an assignment or a job; it is a trust — as already pointed out earlier.
Idowu-Fearon Ph.D (ABU), delivered this piece at the Arewa Media Forum Yearly Lecture on April 13, 2013.
The need to achieve a balance and to take a middle road is quite important in a leader, and is stressed repeatedly by God in the Bible and the Qur’an. The Qur’an describes those ‘who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven’ as: Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those two extremes; (Al- furqaan,25:67-68).
Application of justice to leadership
The principle of justice must be observed by all Muslim-leaders and followers alike. For example, God admonishes Muslims thus: God does command you to render back your trusts to those to whom they are due; and when you judge between man and man that you judge with justice (An-Nisaa.4:58) You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor ... you shall follow what is altogether just, that you may live and inherit the land, which the LORD your God is giving you (Dt. 16:18-20). This is why the Prophet (saw) emphasized that justice must never be compromised by personal affiliations or other considerations.
• Trust
This concept of trust stresses the idea of responsibility towards organisational stakeholders, and holds true whether those entrusting something to Muslims are themselves non-Muslims. “O you that believe! Betray not the trust of God and the apostle nor misappropriate knowingly things entrusted to you. (Al-Anfal.8:27)
As a core value, trust fits within the overall Islamic etiquette governing social relationships.
Application of trust to leadership
Trust is explicitly linked to leadership in the Qur’an. We refer to the story of Prophet Joseph (as). After the king had indicated that he placed great trust in him, Prophet Joseph (as) deliberately asked to be put in charge of the granaries and storehouses, and the demanding task of establishing them and guarding them. As one translator of the Qur’an, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, points out, Prophet Joseph (as) understood the need to build reserves better than any one else, and was prepared to take on this task himself rather than throw on to another the burden of restricting supplies in times of plenty. (Ali, comment 1716). Once an individual has accepted to be the leader of a group or organisation, he has become their trustee. In a for-profit Muslim organisation, the management of the organisation is entrusted with the shareholders’ investment. In a non-profit organisation, the management of the organisation is charged with watching over the properties in the trust. Consequently, any managerial decision must be balanced with respect to this trust. The concept of trust can be extended to other dimensions of one’s work as a leader or a follower. Should one be wasting time or organisational resources in performing one’s task, one is violating his/her employer’s trust.
• Righteousness
Righteous behaviour is described as follows:
It is righteousness to believe in God and the Last Day and the Angels and the Book and the Messengers; to spend of your substance out of love for Him for your kin, orphans, the needy, the wayfarer, those who ask [...]; to be steadfast in prayer and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts, which you have made; and to be firm and patient in pain (or suffering) and adversity (Al-Baqarah.2:177) Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov.14.34)
Application of righteousness to leadership
Based on the above verses, several moral attributes of righteous leaders become salient:
•They act justly and do not allow their personal feelings to hinder justice.
•They have imam.
•They take care of those in need, and do so for the love of God.
•They are steadfast in prayer and practice charity.
•They observe all contracts, and are patient no matter what type of adversity they may be experiencing.
In general, then, organisation participants of all faiths are entitled to be treated with basic human decency and dignity and with the maximum of fair play and justice. In an Islamic organization, a leader is expected to be sensitive to their needs.
•Promise-keeping.
“All Muslims-whether leaders or followers-are urged to keep their promises. They also cannot make promises that are unislamic in nature. O you who believe! Fulfil (all) obligations,” (Al-Maidah.5:1) “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, Whatever things are just, Whatever things are pure… whatever things are of good report, meditate on these things,” (Phil.4:8).
Keeping one’s word characterises a Muslim. Breaking one’s word is tantamount to hypocrisy.
Application of promise-keeping to leadership
Based upon the above discussion, keeping promises is very important for all, and a leader is not exempted from this important principle. I bought something from the Prophet (peace be upon him) before he received his Prophetic commission, and as there was something still due to him I promised him that I would bring it to him at his place, but I forgot. When I remembered three days later, I went to that place and found him there. He said: I have been here for three days waiting for you. (Abu Dawud)
Leader characteristics
The characteristics of a leader affect his/her behaviour. (Kouzes and Posner 1995). We will now relate the top four characteristics identified by these researchers to the model we want to suggest to Nigerian leaders-Christians and Muslims:
Honesty
Leaders are considered honest to the extent that there is ‘consistency between word and deed. ‘They do what they say they are going to do. In the Qur’an, the Prophet Moses (as) is himself labelled as ‘strong and trustworthy’ by one of the damsels (Al-Qasas. 28:26) and the Prophet Joseph (saw) is described as one who is truthful (Q.12:46). Similarly, the Prophet Muhammad (saw) used to be called Sadiq (the truthful) and Amin (the trustworthy) during his youth. Why is honesty and integrity so important with respect to leaders? As people of faith traditions, both Islam and Christianity teach that leadership is more than an assignment or a job; it is a trust — as already pointed out earlier.
Idowu-Fearon Ph.D (ABU), delivered this piece at the Arewa Media Forum Yearly Lecture on April 13, 2013.
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