A critical review of John Adair’s ‘The Leadership of Muhammad’

Abstract

‘The Leadership of Muhammad’ is a famous book written by the prominent Management trainer John Adair which documents the leadership qualities and skills of Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) elaborately. It is widely accepted and praised by all the scholars – Muslims and Non Muslims – all around the world. This article intends to shed light on the appreciable aspects of the book as well as to criticize the way it was compiled and documented. However it is an academic criticism about the inappropriate data collection and methodology adopted by the author. This paper is divided into three parts: Firstly introduction, then eight topics and finally, conclusion. The main purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the contents of the book critically. In the due course of the review, it also explains the structure of the book, its methodology, background of the author, his expertise, his objective, views and opinions. It also evaluates the historical data mentioned in the book, analyzes the authenticity of the Prophetic traditions quoted by the author and pinpoints some of the factual errors mentioned.