Muhammad ? the Only Leader

As a student of leadership, I have always wondered that for all the qualities that we envision or expect from a leader to depict, we have to quote separate examples. After studying various books and biographies it can safely be concluded that there is only one true leader, that encapsulated all the qualities that are expected from a leader.

That true leader, the one leader, the ONLY leader is none other than Prophet Muhammad ?. With this in mind, I am starting a series of Leadership traits and how prophet Muhammad ? depicted all of them.

Leadership Trait: Credibility/Truth

This is the first and foremost quality that any leader should possess.

The 34th President of United States, Eisenhower once said, “The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself?

Even the worst of the enemies of Prophet Muhammad ? couldn’t undermine the fact that Prophet ? not only displayed the highest level of truth, honestly, credibility but was known in the circle as “Sadiq” o “Ameen” literally meaning The truthful.

Nadir bin Haris, one of the worst and sworn enemies of Islam, when asked had to say “Muhammad ? grew up here among you and always proved to be highly obliging, the most truthful and trustworthy young man....”

Even Hazrat Abu Sufyan (RA) before accepting Islam, affirmed the truthfulness of Prophet Muhammad ?.

Narrated Abdullah Ibn Abbas (RA):

Abu Sufyan told me that Heraclius said to him, "When I enquired you what he (i.e. Muhammad) ordered you, you replied that he ordered you to establish the prayer, to speak the truth, to be chaste, to keep promises and to pay back trusts." Then Heraclius added, "These are really the qualities of a prophet." {Sahih Al Bukhari Volume 3, Book 48, Number 846}

These are just some of the examples that confirm this exceptional leadership quality of Prophet Muhammad ?