Three essays on a theory of leadership from the Noble Qurʾān

Abstract

Leadership is not a universal construct but a cultural one, shaped by language, values, and the moral frameworks of the societies in which it operates. Yet contemporary leadership theory remains dominated by Western models that privilege individualism, efficiency, and instrumental performance. This dissertation develops an indigenous, culturally grounded model of leadership for Arab–Islamic contexts through a multi-method, qualitative design comprising three essays.Essay One analyzes the English lexical field of leadership, leader, and lead using synonyms, antonyms, and example sentences from major American and British dictionaries. The results show that English conceptualizations emphasize hierarchy, performance, influence, and positional authority. Essay Two conducts a parallel lexical analysis in Arabic and establishes conceptual equivalence between English and Arabic terms for leadership. Drawing on classical Arabic dictionaries, bilingual translation, antonymic boundaries, and proverbs, it reveals a leadership lexicon centered on moral guidance, stewardship, justice, consultation, and spiritual accountability. Essay Three draws on the Noble Qurʾān as a cultural text and uses thick description to derive an indigenous leadership theory grounded in Qurʾānic narratives and moral discourse. Analysis of 740 verses across 86 sūrahs (Chapters) reveals six domains of Qurʾānic leadership, highlighting leadership as ethical, accountable, relational, and theocentric, rather than individualistic or purely performance driven. Taken together, the three essays contribute to the enrichment of indigenous psychology by demonstrating how culturally grounded constructs can be systematically developed from language, scripture, and lived cultural practices. The dissertation offers distinct conceptual, methodological, and practical contributions by presenting a culturally anchored leadership theory rooted in the Arabic–Islamic worldview.