The Leadership of Muhammad: A Historical Reconstruction

Given the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's immense impact on history, there are surprisingly few books that specifically analyze his leadership. The few that exist maintain that Muhammad was a wonderful leader because he was a wonderful man; that is, he succeeded in his mission because of his superior morality and personal qualities.

Professor Joel Hayward sees this as an incomplete and almost inadequate explanation. He does not disagree that Muhammad was a moral and decent man. Yet he has approached the Prophet's leadership from a different vantage point. He has scrutinized the earliest Arabic sources impartially according to the strict standards of historical inquiry in order to ascertain whether Muhammad's conscious actions, behavior and methods can provide any substantial and meaningful insights about the effectiveness of his strategic leadership. Hayward concludes that Muhammad was an uncommonly astute, situationally aware and self-reflective man with the ability to create and communicate a believable strategic vision of a necessary and desirable future. When reinforced constantly by his emotionally intelligent, skillful and very hands-on leadership, his cleverly communicated vision persuaded increasing numbers of people to follow him and risk everything willingly in the struggle to make real the bold new world that he foresaw.

Hayward demonstrates through original, meticulously researched and rigorous analysis that Muhammad was "a profoundly effective leader". This engaging, accessible yet deeply scholarly book makes a major contribution to both leadership studies and the Prophet's biography.