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Leadership
Western and Islamic A conceptual and an explorative study

Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman Md. Zainul Abedin Majumder

Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thought

Leadership : Western and Islamic

A conceptual and an explorative study
Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman Md. Zainul Abedin Majumder

ISBN 984-8203-00-1 First Published, 1996 Second Published, 2009 Price Tk : 70.00, 6.00 Dollar

Published by

Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thought

House # 2, Road # 4, Sector # 9, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka-1230, Bangladesh. Phone : 8950227, 8924256, 06662684755, 01554357066 Fax : 8950227, Email : biit_org@yahoo.com. Printed by Chowkash Printers Ltd. Dhaka.

Leadership : Western and Islamic, A conceptual and an explorative study, wirtten by Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman and Md. Zainul Abedin Majumder and published by Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thought, Dhaka, Bangladesh. House # 2, Road # 4, Sector # 9, Uttara Model Town, Dhaka-1230, Bangladesh. Phone : 8950227, 8924256, 06662684755, 01554357066 Fax : 8950227, Email : biit_org@yahoo.com. Price : Tk. 70.00, 6.00 Dollar

Dedicated to those for whose sacrifices Mankind is being guided by Heavens light.

Allah 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. [Al-Qur an 4:58] And We raise some of them above others in ranks so that some may command work from others. But the mercy of your Lord is better than the [Wealth] which they amass. [Al-Quran 43:32] Religion is sincere advice. We said, to whom? He said, To , His book, His messenger, the leaders of Muslims, and to their common folk. [Sahih Muslim : narrated by Tamim Ibn Aws] Everyone of you is a shepherd and every one of you is responsible for what he is shepherd of.
[Sunan al Tirmidhi, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim]

Contents

Foreword Acknowledgements : Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 : : The Concept of Leadership : Organizational Leadership in Western Culture : The Nature of Leadership in Islam : Islamic Leadership at a Glance : Toward Islamic Leadership in Some Bangladesh Organizations

6 8 10 11 23 30 37 44 52 56 57 59 60

Appendix A : Questionnaire Appendix B :Organizations and respondents Bibliogaphy : Name Index : Subject Index :

Foreword
Since the beginning of recorded history leadership has played a vital role in determining the course of history as well as managing the affairs of human society. There is a strong demand for good leadership in family, business, organizations, governments, political parties etc. i.e in all spheres of living. That is why in modern time huge amount of money is spent in preparing leaders with high qualities, training personnel and improving human relations in all types of formal and informal organizations. Organizations are now characterized by differences in contributions of their participants. All these indicate that leadership is one of the core concerns in our social action. In western literature, the phenomenon of leadership has been studied widely and we find that this has been approached

7 in different ways in respect of leadership style, qualities, functions etc. Islam as a divine code of life has a clear dimension to add to this issue. We desired to explore this issue and fortunately Dr. M. Anisuzzaman and Mr. Md. Zainul Abedin Majumber were requested to make a study on it and prepare a manuscript for publication. This presentation is the outcome of their efforts. Dr. M. Anisuzzaman had been a Professor of Public Administration at the University of Chittagong and lately served as a member Directing Staff at Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre, Savar, Dhaka. Mr. Md. Zainul Abedin Majumder is an Associate Professor of Psychology. M.C. College, Sylhet. Prof. Majumder belongs to the Bangladesh Civil Service (Education) Cadre. We are grateful to them for adding this book to BIITs publication prograinme. We express our heartiest gratitude to Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad of Hampton University in the U.S.A. who has been kind enough to review this book thoroughly and make necessary comments and suggestions to which due consideration has been given by the authors. All these efforts will be fruitful if this book can stimulate thinking in the relevant field and benefit our readers. Above all, we are grateful to Allah (SWT) without Whose mercy we could not present this book. We invite the intellectuals and the professionals on leadership to make worthy comments for further improvements and corrections.

Dhaka March 1996 M. Zohurul Islam FCA Secretary General, BIIT

Acknowledgements
Alhamdulillah! All praise be to Allah (SWT) for his infinite mercy in preparing this essay and in asking His forgiveness for any error of judgment. We have received intellectually stimulating ideas from number of individuals and organizations. The Secretary-General of Bangladesh Institute of Islamic Thought (BIIT), Mr. M. Zohurul Islam FCA, suggested that we examine this area. The publications of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (BIIT), particularly those on of Islamization of knowledge and Islamization of Disciplines and the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences have been of immense value to us. These have broadened our horizon and urged us to explore new fields of study. We came across the citation of Louay M. Safi, Islamic leadership (unpublished, Detroit, 1990) in some magazins, but could not locate it for consultation although his article, Islamic Law and Society in the American Journal of Islamic Soical Sciences 7:2, 1990, has been of considerable assistance. Two other publications viz, Hisham Altalib, Training Guide for Islamic Workers (BIIT, 1992) and Proceedings of the Seminar on Islamic Principles on Organizational Behavior (BIIT, 1983) have been very helpful.

9 The top policymakers and officers of some Bangladesh organizations with Islamic nomenclatures (see Appendix B) have generously given us their valuable time and energy in responding to our questionnaire. The officers and staff of BIIT particularly Mr. Muhammad Abul Kalam and Mr. Sanwar Hossain have extended their ungrudging and unstinted cooperation to us throughout the study period. We are grateful to all of them. Dr. Mumtaz Ahmad, Senior Fulbright Fellow, South Asia Regional Research Program, Department of Political Science Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, U.S.A. has placed us in his debt by reading the manuscript and offering valuable comments. His suggestions have been so helpful to us in revising the manuscript. May Allah grant him a long life to assist fellow Muslims. If this small effort succeeds in generating both scholarly and practical interest in the seminal role of Islamic leadership in all walks of life, we will consider our labor amply rewarded. May Allah (SWT) accept our work for his sake alone.

Dhaka August, 1995.

Dr. Muhammad Anisuzzaman Md. Zainul Abedin Majumder

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Preface
Encouraged by the growing efforts of Islamizing Disciplines, we undertook a study on leadership. We wanted to explore the basics of Western and Islamic leadership and examine the nature of application of Islamic leadership in some Bangladesh organizations using Islamic nomenclature. As to methodology, we first studied the extant literature on the subject. and then identified the concepts in terms of constituent dimensions. Most literature on leadership is from the West. so we decided to bring the Western exposition in our presentation together with the basic characteristics of Islamic leadership. We compared the two approaches and finally endeavored to explore the application of Islamic leadership in some Bangladesh organizations which have used Islamic nomenclatures. Our effort in this regard was limited to obtaining views on Islamic leadership with Islamic names and hopefully, with Islamic leadership styles. Our purpose has been to put together in one piece the basic approaches regarding Islamic leadership as enunciated in the Quran and the Sunnah, the initial efforts of the first four caliphs, and by Islamic jurists and scholars. For, we believe, efforts in such direction are most likely to buttress the on-going Islamization of Disciplines process, and supplement the attempts of those few enterprises who have already initiated some Islamic organizations in Bangladesh. All such initiatives, however small, will hopefully lead to more serious attempts at identifying and expatiating Islamic Leadership patterns in organization and management. Authors