Prophet Muhammad’s unique communication and leadership style led to the spread of Islam, not only within Arabia but also outside to the north, south, east, west and southwest of Arabia . As a leader during wartime or as a leader during peacetime, Prophet Muhammad proved to master skillful techniques with which he accomplished his goals in delivering the message of Islam.
Prophet Muhammad communicative values of liberty, justice, modesty, and politeness were matched with practical deeds. The people saw this action of his and identified with. Prophet Muhammad' skills as manifested in his speeches demonstrated to the eyes of all humankind that he was indeed a great leader worthy of note.
The messages of the Prophet as viewed and analyzed in this study have a multipurpose implications both for the Moslem world and the Western world. His skillful use of rhetoric demonstrated his commitment for meaningful competent communication for humankind in general. His speeches demonstrated that he sought to see all humankind from the lens of kindness, modesty, moderation, justice, liberty, gentility, generosity and love.
Regardless of religion and political affiliation, Prophet Muhammad use Islam as a channel to preach kindness. This study has shown through his manifold communicative talents that he tried to influence thoughts by advocating kindness in our dealings with one another. By indicating to his wife Aisha that she should love the poor, it was an indirect way to teach all humankind to share love and kindness regardless of a person’s economic background. This same implication in the speeches of the Prophet can be discerned in his notion of modesty.
The world today is far from modest. Political factions and all sorts of social and economic discrimination have segmented the human race. People now think more in terms of class. Modesty is exclusive to ‘members of the club’. If you do not belong you can neither be heard nor seen. Prophet Muhammad speeches on the need for modest behavior and his exemplary behavior seen throughout this study have a significant meaning to our lives. When he said that every religion must have some kind of meaningful character, he laid emphasis on the fact that Islam was a modest religion.
On the other hand, he was calling on all Islamic believers to question their conscience whether by following the belief system of Islam, they were practicing its basic tenets of modesty. He who is not has to examine his conscience and choose the rightful path and not be a hypocrite. This is how significant Mohammad’s message is to the world of today. This is what he intended to achieve in his message. Since modesty is akin to moderation, the Prophet’s communication themes also laid emphasis on it.
His speech about abstaining from extremism in the practice of Islam has a greater significance to our world of today. His intended his message about religious extremism to be upheld through out the lifespan of humankind. He was so emphatic about this issue because he believed that by practicing extreme Islamic rituals or ideals, the person or persons doing so would be following something else than Islam and that kind of attitude could send a different signal to his enemies. And the only way to show to potential followers of Islam that by practicing extreme Islam, they were not true followers of Allah, he said: “ Those people who went to extremes( in practicing their religion) were destroyed.” ( This therefore, shows in no ambiguous terms that Prophet Muhammad condones extreme religious practices.
The findings on the Prophet's values of moderation revealed that he placed a lot of weight on mannerism. Humankind has to match words with deeds. Believers were not to say one thing and do the other. When told by some of his followers that they will abstain from women and devote their entire energy to prayer, he responded by stating that he was married. This was like an indirect way to inform the speaker that there was no room for pretense. By choosing to abstain you open yourself to irresistible temptation. Getting married would therefore serve as the means to shun sin and other forms of temptation. This is certainly the landmark of difference between Muhammad and other spiritual and secular leaders of his time and today. To begin with, some other spiritual leaders remained unmarried and by deciding to do so created a pattern for their followers to follow suit. But experience has shown that most of these followers could not faithfully follow their religion without falling into the temptation of bodily pleasures. This could have been unwelcome by Muhammad. He foresaw this kind of contradiction and so taught by examples. It was like doing justice to natures calling. The Prophet was in essence advocating justice between sexes.
Muhammad suggested Justice for all humankind. Without justice to the weak, the poor, and the women, there could not be peace in the entire world. “….Whether it be against rich or poor…follow not the lust of your hearts, lest you swerve from doing justice.” (Qur’an, 4:135) This powerful statement has become apocalyptic. Humankind today have all prone to worshipping themselves and yielding to mundane pleasures of money and women and as such have resorted to indulging in all forms of corruption at the detriment of justice. The poor and the weak remain poorer and weaker while the powerful -those with influence and affluence have hijacked the world and set wrongful precedence of monetary and political gains. This study has found out that what Muhammad said echoes in our world of today and no one seem to heed his advice. Hence, this study is like a mirror or an awakening to those in spiritual and moral slumber to reconsider their thoughts and do justice because Allah tolerates only justice in his kingdom. He intended this message for all and not only to Arabs.
General human condition, the world over was the main preoccupation in the speeches of Prophet Muhammad. When he spoke lengthily about truthfulness, he was indirectly sending the strong message of truth as the pillar of strong faith in any religious person. The society that we live today is constantly turning its back on truth and replacing it with untruth or multiple truths to justify falsehoods. Humankind has sort of fashion a way to go around truth and honesty by resorting legitimizing falsehood intended to achieve political, social, economic, cultural and spiritual gains. The Prophet’s message about truth analyzed in this study serves as a waking call to our consciences about hell and Paradise . We may be having temporary pleasures on earth by resorting to false statements, teachings, lectures and counseling but we are in effect preparing ourselves for hell and not Paradise because Allah has no place for liars in his kingdom. We should therefore refrain from such wrong practices and be models of truth while still on earth.
The Prophet’s message of Islam was intended for the Arabs during the seventh century and to all humankind at all times thereafter. He took advantage of the peace treaty between himself and the Quraish tribe, his main enemy, and sent ambassadors to the world leaders of his time. He informed them about the message of Islam. Most of these leaders responded positively. He used Islam as an example to convince and influence other leaders of his time.
The Prophet Muhammad was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level. As a private person, he was a husband, father, friend and businessman; as a public figure, he was a leader, legislator, judge, statesman and general; as a Messenger of God, he was a law-giver, preacher, theologian, saint and mystic. Such a combination is unique in history. There are sayings from the Prophet related to every activity that a person might encounter during the day or during the night. Islam is a way of life. By exemplifying these qualities that he preached to his people, the Prophet was in essence warning against all other rulers who were saying what they do not practice. He also laid the foundation stone for responsible leadership. A leader was not to be protected by the army and fierce dogs but by the loyalty given by his people. By shaking hands and taking children under his arms, the Prophet made himself human and approachable. This was a lesson that he wanted to teach to all other leaders in the world.
The farewell speech of the Prophet Muhammad was directed to all humankind at all times and for all generations. He laid down the foundation of morality, justice, equality, brotherhood, and accountability. He abolished economic exploitation and human enslavement. In his speeches on liberty, he preached against the institution of slavery. When he witnessed the slave beating episode as reported in Bukhari, The Prophet demonstrated one of the rare instance of humane leadership by letting Abu Mas’ud Ansari, the accused in this instance that only Allah has ‘power and control over human beings’. This served as a powerful lesson to him awakening his conscience to the realization that indeed, he was doing something very wrong. The fact that he let go of the slave by referring to Muhammad that he let the slave go because of his intervention is to show the power of communicative skills of the Prophet. He did not speak harshly or threateningly, rather he used speech in such a subtle way as to prick the conscience of people. This is what most leaders do not do today. This study then serve as the panacea for future leaders who want to rule spiritually or secularly. Communicative tactics should be the first consideration for any leader. It is with it that you either make or mar. He has set the tone for interpersonal communicative interaction especially in the case of conflict resolution. Liberty , according to Muhammad did not mean carrying a large army to invade your enemy. Rather, it was the management of speech delivery.
He demanded that the congregating Muslims deliver his message to all humankind. Accordingly, they did deliver the message. For this reason, the message of Islam has spread through the centuries to every corner of the world. The global population of Muslims is now more than one billion. He has used Islam as the vehicle to transport others into his flock. The values espoused in his speeches have generated untold number of response exemplified by the geometric increase in the number of his followers. This is prove of the fact that people all over the world are recognizing the power behind his messages and are slowly becoming aware of themselves. He demonstrated how political leadership can be fruitful.
In his political leadership communication, the Prophet’s demonstration of extreme self-control made his followers to love him and his enemies either to give up and join his religion or to fear him and stay away. There was no human being who had his life more scrutinized and documented than the Prophet Muhammad. His behavior toward his companions was perfect and towards his foes was fair. In essence, he was kind of educating them about governance.
In his educational communication, the Prophet used different approaches in dealing with different circumstances. Education and training are not merely the matter of correcting mistakes; they also involve teaching and showing the basic principles of the rules and the regulations and using various methods to establish these concepts firmly in peoples minds and hearts, by example, by exhorting them, by telling stories or by discussing incidents.
The study finds that the narrative methods that the Prophet used to deliver his message through his sayings made his ideas clear and convincing. His narrative fidelity and truthfulness raised no questioned from his followers or enemies. Even before his Prophet hood, he was known by “the trusted and the honest one”. The textual analysis of his speeches clarified his message to be correctly understood. By talking of values that are necessary to influence and inspire others, he provided a basis for understanding how he was able to accomplish so much during his brief Prophet-hood. Hundreds of books have been written for that purpose in most languages of the world. The Prophet taught exactly what the ancient Prophets had been teaching. The high and noble aim of preaching such a universal religion is to unite the nations of the world, establish peace, and eradicate all causes of conflict. Today the world is out of joint. People all over the world are searching for peace. The light of scientific knowledge is spreading. But it has signally failed to dispel clouds of hatred and hostility which spread darkness. Every now and then, plans for world peace are put forward. But they prove all to be superficial. The most effective panacea for world peace was proclaimed by the Prophet Muhammad. He forcefully exhorted the people that they should cherish reverence for the Prophets of all nations, and live up to their revealed teachings. This style of speech communication was tried with unparalleled success in Arabia , where the warring tribes were cemented into brotherhood. It can even be tried today. It will surely lay the foundations of real and enduring union and peace. Belief in the unity of God alone can bring about unity among nations. As this teaching is universal in character, the Prophet who gave it to the world, was rightly entitled "mercy for all people” (Bukhari). Just as one universal religion is an effective means of uniting the nations, it is also a guarantee for establishing international peace and justice. The Prophet laid the foundation and the guidelines for establishing peace and justice among the nations. If any teachings can put an end to conflicts and strengthen the bonds of human brotherhood in these times of crisis, it is the Prophet's teachings.
The Prophet Muhammad’s life and teaching center on the values he espoused in his public communication. His teachings focus on values identified by Burns (1978) who defines a transformational leader and in addition focus on extraordinary values which are gleaned from a textual analysis of his public communication. Bass (1985) explained that transformational leaders “inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the group or organization” and that “followers become motivated to expend great effort than would normally be expected” (p. 18) when they are adequately inspired. Muhammad did inspire, and continues today to inspire followers to follow his teachings and public communication and his directives.
Textual analysis was utilized in this research to review the writings of Muhammad in the Qur’an and the Ahadith, or writings about the Prophet, as it allows the researcher to describe and interpret the characteristics of the messages and to ascertain the meaning of the texts. This research is important as it cites the values of transformational leaders as cited by Burns (1978) with the findings here that extraordinary values the Prophet exemplified and espoused include character, and community. Muhammad demonstrated character values of gentleness, good character, humility, kindness, modesty, moderation, politeness, and truthfulness. He suggested community values of charity, forgiveness, hospitality, and mercy. The values he suggested are an excellent complement to the transformational leadership values of liberty, justice, equality, and collective well-being.
Muhammad’s interactions with all people, both in spiritual and secular dealings, impressed upon them the importance of his character and values. Because of his strong values, he was believable and trustworthy, encouraging all to follow the will of Allah.
The Prophet was successful in his leadership because he suggested and lived the values important to leadership. His public communication was successful because he provided a living example of his suggestions within his own interactions with family, believers, and non-believers. His daily interactions as husband, father, friend, businessman, public figure, and messenger of God all reinforced his leadership ability and values orientation. The importance of Muhammad’s public communication through history is unquestioned (Hart, 1992). Muhammad’s extraordinary leadership values, identified in this research, complement the transformational leadership values found and further researched by countless researchers. These additional values can inform current and future leaders who want to be truly inspiring and transformational in theory and practice, at home and in organizational settings. This textual analysis found more than 70 values in the public communication of Muhammad and they were condensed into the broader categories of family, character, and community values. There are many future research opportunities using the public communication of the Prophet Muhammad.
This study concludes that the life of the Prophet Muhammad was like an open book, especially when he started to deliver the message of Islam. Prophet Muhammad practiced what he preached. The Prophet’s wife Aisha was asked about his moral character. She responded that his morals were based on the Qur’an. It is clear that his extraordinary values, which allowed him to accomplish so much, too were based on the teachings of the Qur’an and the words and will of God.
Prophet Muhammad was a farsighted visionary leader. The Hudaybia treaty showed the Prophet’s wisdom in accepting some terms in the treaty that a companion of the Prophet like Omar ibn al Khatab refused. It was proven later on that these terms that the Prophet accepted and Omar refused were for the benefit of Islam.
This study concludes that Prophet Muhammad intended for his message of Islam to be global. As soon as he signed the Hudaybia with Quraish, he sent ambassadors to invite kings and states around the Arabia to Islam. The Prophet said “each Prophet used to be sent to his people in particular, while I was sent to all humankind, and Allah, glory to him, the exalted said in the noble Qur’an: “say: humankind! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah to you all, (the messenger) of Him to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth” (Qur’an, 7:158).
The results and discussion of analyses showed that the Prophet Muhammad possessed not only transformational leadership values but that he also possessed extraordinary values which made him a unique leader in the history of humankind. The transformational leadership values Prophet Muhammad exemplified are liberty, justice, equality, and collective well being. His public communication also demonstrated the values he espoused. He preached of family values that include affection and kindness for children, children honoring their parents, the importance of educating the children, financial security for wives after the husband’s death, husbands treating their wives with kindness and gentleness, respecting even foster parents, brothers, and sisters, and the importance of loving and honoring relatives. The Prophet Muhammad’s speeches focused also on character values that include gentleness, humility, kindness, moderation, modesty, politeness, and truthfulness. His public communication included the admonition of community values that included charity, forgiveness, hospitality, and mercy.
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