Faculty of Arts

Undergraduate - Unit


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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL


FacultyFaculty of Arts
Organisational UnitCentre for Studies In Religion and Theology
OfferedClayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Dr Salih Yucel


This unit will examine leadership in Islam in the 20th century and analyze examples from multiple perspectives. The unit will give students a good working knowledge of different Muslim leadership styles, principles, models, procedures, and practical applications. It will explore major spiritual, political, and cultural leaders through individual biographies and look at the relationship and tensions between spiritual and political leaders. Students will develop their understanding of leadership from the both Sunni and Shiite perspectives. The student will learn about the important link between leadership and group functioning and touch upon various methods of conflict resolution.


Students successfully completing this unit should:

  1. Understand Islamic models of effective leadership in a modern context;
  2. Have the capacity to evaluate critically theories relating to conditions surrounding influential Muslim leadership and the factors that made them effective in the 20th century;
  3. Have explored different approaches to leadership from early Islam to the contemporary period;
  4. Have gained insight into the relationship and tensions between the different fields of leadership, such as political, cultural and spiritual leadership, and religious and secular leadership;
  5. Have understood the leadership style, contexts, impact and consequences of different leaders, particularly moderate leaders;
  6. Have developed the ability to assess a leader's actions objectively from a variety of perspectives and from the point of view of relevant theories;
  7. Will have acquired research skills appropriate to second and third level study and necessary for analyzing different leadership styles, approaches, and goals, and for evaluating the achievements and failures of selected Muslim leaders;
  8. Third year students, in addition, will have developed a more sophisticated understanding of both ancient and modern leadership traditions and displayed a more thorough knowledge of contexts and theoretical approaches.


Essay (2500 words): 50%
Presentation (1000 words): 10%
Tutorial participation: 10%
Examination (1 hour, 1000 words): 30%

Chief examiner(s)

Workload requirements

  • One 2-hour lecture per week
  • One 1-hour tutorial per week

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study