Review of Leadership of Muhammad by Joel Hayward
Professor Joel Hayward’s dynamic book ‘The Leadership of Muhammad: A Historical Reconstruction’ gives an excellent insight into the life of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a leader based on historical evidence.
Many of the books written about the Prophet are hagiographical and from a Muslim perspective. Professor Hayward’s book appeals to a Muslim and non-Muslim audience and explains everything in the Prophet’s life with a thorough explanation and evidence of the sources.
He gives a thorough overview of historical critical methods including:
Bias and objectivity
Primary and secondary sources
Context and manipulation of evidence - and myth making
Archaeology and coins
The book describes the leadership of the Prophet, showing traits that made him not only a good person but someone who possessed exemplary skills of a great leader.
Professor Hayward explains that Prophet Muhammad was an exceptional person who was highly intelligent, resourceful and strategic.
The Prophet’s success is evident in all his achievements in his life. Hayward says: “His leadership proved, profoundly successful, changing Arabia within his lifetime and creating a corpus of Sunnah, behavioural examples, that 1.8 billion Muslims, a quarter of the world, still fastidiously and zealously emulate.”
Joel Hayward emphasises the need to be mindful of anachronisms when studying the life of the Prophet. We cannot possibly use a modern lens and make comparisons or judgements on 7th century Arabia which was a completely different time and society.
The Prophet was a strategic leader. Learning about how the Prophet strategised was extremely interesting and relevant to my work today. I am so impressed with the insight and tactics the Prophet used at that time, and are now taught as staples of creating a strategic communications strategy. The Prophet had a clear mission of spreading knowledge of Islam. He had stages of his mission, and realised he would not achieve his objectives straightaway. He did things sequentially. The Prophet understood actions created opportunities. He conducted audience analysis - there was even a census he issued at the time to see what skills were available in the community.
A new tolerant monotheistic community where everyone was welcome was created under the Prophet’s leadership. “Regardless of tribe, status, or wealth, anyone could belong and everyone mattered” says Hayward. Young people were especially attracted to his message as they found it dynamic and inspiring. This tolerance embodied by the Prophet Muhammad, is an early example of diversity and inclusion. The Prophet drew up and signed treaties of cooperation and peace. This was a huge deal in a society where war was commonplace.
An accusation normally presented to Muslims is that their religion is one of war and violence. In fact, Islam is a religion for justice. It is not pacifistic faith, but when the Prophet fought, it was for logical reasons, and war fought by Muslims was always just and the appropriate force was used with minimum deaths. The deaths were of military and not of civilians, including women, children and older people. And prisoners of war were to be treated with dignity.
Professor Hayward lays out the justification of war from the Prophet’s teachings. Wars would be fought for two reasons including just cause and the right intentions:
Just cause included:
Self defence
Preemption against evident threat
End of religious oppression
Opposition to evil
Right intention included:
Pursuit of peace
Absence of greed
Absence of hatred
Forgiveness where possible
The Prophet’s successor, Abu Bakr followed his teachings of behaviour during war. Abu Bakr’s instructions to ‘fighters’’ were:
Do not be treacherous
Do not steal from the booty
Do not engage in backstabbing
Do not mutilate
Do not kill a youngster or an old person, or a woman
Do not cut off the heads of the palm-trees or burn them
Do not cut down the fruit trees
Do not slaughter a sheep or cow or camel except for food
When you pass by people who devote their lives in cloisters, leave them and their devotions alone
When people offer you all sorts of food, eat it, but mention Allah’s name over it
The book goes into further detail about the leadership style of the Prophet, and includes the themes of:
Being a shepherd to his followers
The importance of consulting with his community
Delegating responsibility to those who showed potential and could be trusted
Diplomacy at all levels
The Prophet stated that leadership had responsibility, and if you were a leader you had a duty to God and to those whom you lead. He was not impressed by those who sought status but had no substance. Prophet Muhammad wanted to up-skill people, preparing them for leadership by giving them knowledge and his example. But he also wanted his followers and those that came afterwards to use their own judgement in absence of finding answers in the Quran or his sunnah. This was a form of what we now call ‘ijtihad’.
The book paints such an inspiring and holistic picture of the Prophet, and it is easier to understand him as a human being as well as the messenger of God. The example that we have been left by the Prophet is there to encourage us in every action of our lives, even through the low points of which the Prophet had many.
Professor Hayward is to be commended on his thorough research and analysis, using critical historical method to tell the story of the Prophet in a way that resonates with readers of all backgrounds. It was a joy to read and has quickly become a much-referred to reference book.
