John Adair and Abdul-Rahman Abul-majd In dialogue

john Adair is acknowledged internationally as an authority on leadership. The world's first Professor of Leadership Studies, he advises many organizations in business, government, education, health and the voluntary sector. An effective speaker with a valuable message, he is one of the very few figures in recent years to have transformed the debate as to what effective leadership is all about.

John has recently been made United Nations Chair of Strategic Leadership. Based in Turin, he has launched a strategic leadership programme in association with the UN. He has also received the Lifetime Achievement in Leadership Award and China has made him its first Honorary Professor of Leadership. The author of over 50 books, now in 25 languages, on leadership and management development, he continues to write and teach throughout the world, inspiring new audiences with his timeless and timely vision of leadership.

Interviewer : Professor John Adair thank you for agreeing to this interview   Professor John Adair : Thank you very much for talking to me and enabling me to share some thoughts with your readers about the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Interviewer : “Sent as a mercy to all people” the Glorious Qur’an 21:107

prophet Muhammad said: I have been sent to perfect the noble traits of character “

Many western writers wrote, Seeing Muhammad as Both a Prophet and a Politician, W. Montgomery Watt. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Muhammad at Medina , Muhammad at Mecca, Armstrong in A Prophet for Our Time, Thomas Carlyle, who was among the first people to speak against the Christian lies against Muhammad, why did you write ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’?

Professor John Adair : Surprisingly enough there has been no book known to me of any substance on the leadership of the Prophet , and yet we live in an age when the importance of leadership , both in politics and in management , is universally recognized . All too often that means that only Western --and in particular American--voices are heard on the subject . Muslims need to return in their minds and hearts to the leadership which was shown in the words and life of Muhammad and given to them as an example to follow.. They need to go back to the fountain.……………..

Interviewer : In his book, The Genuine Islam, sir George Bernard Shaw said: I believe that if a man like him were to assume the leadership of the modern world succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring to this world much needed peace and happiness.

Shaw added that, “ he was by far the most remarkable man that ever set foot on this earth. He preached a religion, found a state, build a nation, laid down a moral code, initiated numerous social and political reforms, established a powerful and dynamic society to practice and represent his teaching and completely revolutionized the worlds of human thought and behavior for all times to come.” What do you see ?

Professor John Adair : My focus is fairly narrowly on the leadership shown by the Prophet and not on other aspects of his life and mission, supremely important as they are to Muslims . As the United Nations Professor of Leadership I believe that there is a universal body of knowledge about 'good leadership and leadership for good' . What I see in the leadership of Muhammad is a living and compelling expression of these truths or universal principles about what works when it comes to leading other people. …………………

Interviewer : It was the general custom of the Arabs living in towns to send their children away to bedouin wet nurses so that they might grow up in the free and healthy surroundings of the desert whereby they would develop a robust frame and acquire the pure speech and manners of the bedouins, who were noted both for chastity of their language and for being free from those vices which usually develop in sedentary societies. why you started The Leadership of Muhammad’ in the first chapter In the back tents of Bani Sa'd.

Professor John Adair : Yes, it was the custom among to do so among certain families in Mecca, a tradition that survived in Arabia into my lifetime. Muhammad attributed his pure Arabic to his early childhood among the Bedouin,but he also acquired the distinctive Bedouin tribal way of leading others..When I was twenty I spent a year as a soldier in a Bedouin regiment and I have to this day a Bedouin name --Sweillim. And so I was able to recognize many features of Muhammad's effectiveness as a leader from my own experience of what works with such free and equal spirits as the Arabs of the desert..……….

Interviewer : “John Adair is without doubt one of the foremost thinker on leadership in the world,” Sir John Harvey-Jones, Professor of Leadership Studies at the University of Surrey (UK).you wrote ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’ for Muslims or non Muslims or both ? why?

Professor John Adair : What it is important for me to share with Muslims and non-Muslims alike is the universal body of wisdom about leadership, for what the world needs so badly are leaders at every level and in every field --men and women, old and young--

who reflect the light of those principles in their daily lives..

Muslims, however, have a special responsibility of showing the way by their example to others . Why? Because this is what the Qu'ran and the words of the Prophet command them to do . My book makes that absolutely clear.………

Interviewer though there is still a desperate attack upon the Religion of Islam and Beloved Prophet Muhammad, : I’m sure that simply putting Muhammad’s name in a title of a book will turn some people off, why did you insist on The Leadership of Muhammad’?

Professor John Adair : A non- Muslim reader- a former British ambassador in various Arab countries- said to me that my book had for the first time brought the Prophet Muhammad alive for him . Although I did not write the book wit

h that intention I hope that it will become a bridge which will enable many people throughout the world to come to know better the Prophet and the times in which he lived..……………..

Interviewer : Professor Esposito stressed this fact: Muhammad’s followers found him righteous, trustworthy , pious, honest and compassionate.”

Please show us what do you see Muhammad ?

Professor John Adair : Yes ,I see all those qualities in Muhammad as a leader, and especially I emphasize in my book his integrity (al-amin) . That for me is the foundation of all good leadership throughout the world . But I see in him, too. that most rare and beautiful quality of leadership we call humility--a complete lack of arrogance and self-importance...He also had that other valuable leadership quality--especially with the Bedouin-- a sense of humour . I would add, too, that I believe he had more than a touch of personal charm alongside his sterner qualities , the kind of charm and generosity of spirit that wins the hearts of people. Muslim leaders have a lot to live up to!…………………

Interviewer : I still remember the Encyclopedia Britannica [vol.12] cited:

A mass of detail in the early sources show that he was an honest and upright man who had gained the respect and loyalty of others who were like-wise honest and upright men. “ … Mohammad is the most successful of all prophets and religious personalities.” How can Muslims show the prophet Mohammad for the West?

Professor John Adair :By example……………

Interviewer : In The Leadership of Muhammad you discuss this ideal leadership and the essential attributes of a leader such as courage, integrity, practical wisdom, and moral authority and humility. we sure that you didn’t write all about the prophet Muhammad, If you had got enough time, you'd have written, show us some other examples that you know and you didn’t write them down .

Professor John Adair : My hope is my book will stimulate not only further thought and research on the subject of the Islamic concept of leadership but also practical leadership training programs based upon the book in schools and universities throughout the Muslim world .When the Arabic edition appears in March this year that should become much more possible.

Interviewer : Armstrong explains how the media in the US attempted to silence opposing voices after 11 September. For example, she had been commissioned by the New Yorker magazine to write an article on Islam, but the article was killed and the magazine published one by the academic Bernard Lewis instead. Do you think that The Leadership of Muhammad may be attempted to silence by strong opposing voices? Why ? or Why not?

Professor John Adair : I have not detected any signs of those negative tendencies so far and I do not expect to do so . Indeed in the United Kingdom 'The Leadership of Muhammad' has been short-listed for the first ever Chartered Institute of Management and British Library prize for the Management Book of the Year . .

Interviewer :What question isn’t asked by Interviewers about ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’ ,well, what your answer.

Professor John Adair : The question would be: What would you say to Muslim leaders in religion, politics and business today? And my answer? Simply this : that you will never be successful as a leader unless you model yourself on the nature of God as revealed in the Qu'ran and upon the example of your beloved Prophet . Lip service is not enough --you have to live his leadership message.

Interviewer : Thank you so much. Professor John Adair for all you've told us.

Professor John Adair : Thank you for listening to me . Ma'salaam…………….