THE IDEAL PROFESSIONAL IN A MODERN-DAY ORGANIZATION: THE PERSPECTIVE OF

‘ALI IBN ABI TALIB

Paper

Ethics 4.3

Haydar Azhari

1800213@student.vu.nl

Lecturer: Prof.dr. E. Kimman

Master Business Administration

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands

February 06, 2009

THE IDEAL PROFESSIONAL IN A MODERN-DAY ORGANIZATION: THE PERSPECTIVE OF ‘ALI IBN ABI TALIB

A historical piece of Islamic calligraphy:The name of Imam ‘Ali bin Abi Talib written in the form of a feline predator

1

1. Introduction

For as good as every aspect of life the monotheistic religion of Islam has an elaborate

treatment, from highly spiritual (e.g. morality, metaphysics) to material, including the

code of conduct in business contexts (Uddin, 2003). The ethical codes of conduct are

derived from The Qur’an (the holy book) and the narrations of the prophet Mohammed

and his successors. Its objectives are twofold: evaluating human practices by calling upon

moral standards and giving prescriptive advice for moral conduct in particular situations

(Azmi, 2005).

These objectives were always attended to by Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, one of the

prophet’s successors who effectively showed the practical value of morality and ethics.

His body of thought is captured in the corpus containing his sermons, letters and

aphorisms. Its intent is to discipline the believers' consciences, correct their moralities

and guide them to honourable conduct and ideal behaviour.

The timelessness of this body of thought makes it very well applicable in contemporary

times such as in an organizational context, as it also covers work ethics and code of

conduct in business context. Islam saw work and business more than fourteen hundred

years ago as acceptable pursuits and dignified activities (Uddin, 2003), but thoughts and

deeds of the involved individuals must be intentionally right. Morality and ethics are

therefore of paramount importance in an organizational context.

Who was ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and how can his body of thought be of value in our modern

times of individualization and moral decay in society and organizations? What should be

the personality and mindset of a professional in an organization and how should he deal

with ethical dilemmas? The purpose of this paper is to discuss these topics from the

perspective of the body of thought of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. The following research question

is therefore formulated:

“What is the ideal professional in a modern-day organization according to the perspective of Imam ‘Ali

ibn Abi Talib?”

2

To be able to follow a path towards formulating a logical answer or solution to this

question, a ‘pattern of thinking’ that is widely known in the field of moral philosophy will

be naturally applied throughout the chapters: the virtues and vices ethics. Virtues and

vices ethics emphasize the character or personality of role models as justification of given

acts or behaviour. I have chosen for this approach because it suits best with the overall

body of thought of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib narrated in his sayings and writings, which

extensively cover human virtues and vices. The following aphorism captures much of his

way of reasoning on virtues and vices: “A virtuous person is better than virtue and a

vicious person is worse than vice”.

This paper is structured as follows. In the first section of chapter two I will shortly

portray the life and legacy of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. In the second section of chapter two I

will describe the body of thought of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib as I will do this in a broader

fashion by discussing his view on the development of certain qualities and interlocking

virtues for building the ideal human personality and society. In the third chapter I will

depict what the ideal mindset is of a professional in a modern-day organization and how

he should deal with a given ethical dilemma in accordance with that mindset. The

concluding chapter four is dedicated for describing the ideal professional in a modern-

day organization by combining the relevant aspects of chapter two (the ideal human

personality) and chapter three (the ideal mindset) with the appropriate moral principles

through a diagram that represents a visual answer of the research question. The virtues,

attributes, ideals and principles depicted in this diagram render the ideal professional and

they will be elaborated on.

2. The ideal personality

2.1 ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

‘Ali ibn Abu Talib was born in the year A.D. 598 in Mecca. Unique is the fact that he

was the only person born inside The Ka'aba sanctuary, considered the House of God

and the holiest place for all Muslims.

From the beginning of his life ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib was adopted, raised and educated

spiritually and mentally by the prophet Mohammed himself. The prophet shared his

contemplations with his ‘foster son’ to strengthen moral notions. As such he learned

3

from an early age to live with dignity and he intensely grasped the veracity of the

prophet’s character. As a young boy at the age of thirteen ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib

distinguished himself by declaring three times in a gathering of close relatives of the

prophet that he believed in Mohammed as a messenger and prophet sent by The

Supreme Being to humanity, whereupon the prophet took his hand and proclaimed ‘Ali

ibn Abu Talib status in relation to him by saying: “You are my brother in this world and

in the hereafter”. He himself said about this in a later stage of life: “When truth was

revealed to me I never doubted it”. This firm conviction of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib at such an

age made men of thought like historians, scholars and clergyman perceive it as exemplary

proof that he as a youngster had a free will and had developed a rational mind.

He proved to be a brave and loyal soldier in the spiritual and physical sense for the

religion of Islam. When the prophet Mohammed said he was ordered by God to give his

daughter, Fatimah al-Zahra, to ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib in marriage he also became the

prophet’s son-in-law. In A.D. 661 he was struck a fatal blow on his head by the poisoned

sword of a mercenary killer while praying in the mosque in Kufah (modern-day Iraq) and

died a few days later. He is buried in the nearby city of Najaf and his shrine is still visited

by millions of people from all over the world.

According to the scholastic paradigm dominant in Islam, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib was the most

truthful person among the reporters of the prophetic traditions and the leading scholar

of religious law after the prophet. As such, it considers him the most knowledgeable,

faithful and virtuous person in Islam after the prophet Mohammed. His legacy to Islam

can be broadly divided in two categories of sciences: intellectual ('aqli) and transmitted

(naqli). The intellectual (and spiritual) sciences consist of a range of disciplines such as

literature, grammar and rhetoric, philosophy, metaphysics and theosophy, mysticism and

gnosis, and Islamic numerology (i.e. an esoteric science dealing with the symbolic

significance of the letters of the Arabic alphabet). The transmitted sciences are the

sciences which depend upon transmission from some source, which for him was

predominantly the prophet Mohammed, like the science of Qur’anic exegesis in the form

of tafsir (the literal explanation), and ta’wil (the spiritual exegesis), hadith (narrations) and

theology. Much of his knowledge and wisdom is captured in the compilation of his

sayings and writings (i.e. sermons, quotations and epistles), known as Nahj al-Balagha

4

(Peak of Eloquence). This book is considered of significant importance for Islamic

civilization due to its intellectual, political and religious insights (Motahhari, 1997).

2.2 Body of thought

Since the prophet Mohammed said “I was appointed for prophet hood so that I may

accomplish moral perfection” and ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib his closest disciple was, the task of

‘Ali ibn Abi Talib after the prophet’s departure from this world was to extend and

consolidate this mission. This post-prophetic task of continuing to herald moral

perfection is embodied in ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s body of thought, which encompasses a

broad perspective because its tenor concerns humanity as a whole.

2.2.1 Human personality and ideal society

It begins with outlining the importance of human personality in order to build an ideal

society. Through the lens of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib society is perceived as a personality

formed on the basis of virtues and the building of human personality is through the

development of reason, ideals and personal qualities (Kattani, 1983).

Reason is for him the inner meaning of man, a crucial feature of man to survive. It is the

womb of the brain to bring forth thoughts, making it a seminal tool to comprehend

knowledge. Reason results in transferring the personality to its proper sphere, where

strong qualities and virtues prevail (Kattani, 1983).

Strong personal qualities are according to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s view of the existence of

man a pillar embodying the value of man (Kattani, 1983). What follows is the concise

description of qualities that can be discerned and which were a natural part of his

personality. Integrity and truth are gentle qualities making all action principled. Right and

justice are correlated qualities which have a conscientious nature and the values between

the two qualities can be found in faith. Love and sincerity are an inseparable set of

virtues giving the world warmth to continue the path of harmony. Determination and

resolution are two virtues resulting from being steadfast, strength and will, to shape focus

and overcome adversities.

A consistent set of virtues is a firm fundament to have a sound intellect to understand

and a sound program to follow in daily life (Kattani, 1983). The outward behaviour of an

individual must reflect his inward structure of virtues to be able to contribute to the well-

5

being of the environment he is part of. Developing virtues however is never finished;

virtues need polishing. This is an ongoing process to refine moralities and ameliorate the

human personality, which at its turn will enhance the individuals’ solicitous efforts for a

better society. Striving towards a better society therefore begins with the individual taking

his responsibilities and be a living example for others. The universal educational slogan

“creating a better society begins with yourself” fits therefore perfectly with ‘Ali ibn Abi

Talib body of thought, with the emphasis that the basis of this body of thought is the

responsibilities toward the Divinity, because the transient reality in this world heeds

continuous attention and refinement.

So what are the springs of the ideal human personality who can adequately meet the just

mentioned responsibilities in order to make up the ideal society from the perspective of

‘Ali ibn Abi Talib? This is summarized in the diagram on page seven. It begins with being,

because being is the source of everything, which is in its totality God: the Great Cause,

the Almighty and Exalted. God is the complete essence, the perfect reality and constant

subsistence. Out of being comes man with the two features of reason and body. Reason is not

negatively influenced by body and it is able to ‘connect’ with the essence of being. From

this ‘connection’ reason can obtain the conception of knowledge. Knowledge is in contact

with the reality of essence and transformed from the caves of the soul to become the culture

of man. Culture amalgamates with the reality of essence and what subsist from this,

results in virtues, skills and glorious deeds. These three features saturate each other to

generate respectively truth, goodness and beauty. Truth, goodness and beauty form a union

that cultivates the civilisation of man. From civilization are born equally justice, happiness

and idealisation. These three elements jointly bring forth the perfect being.

The second feature of man, body, obtains ability through its contact with the essence by

its link with reason. Ability has no value without the glory of knowledge touching it to

become will. Will doesn’t know where to head without the guiding of rich culture, as ‘Ali

ibn Abi Talib said that there is “no greater heritage than culture”. Thereupon it is bravery

that embellishes will. Bravery as a just virtue is polished by the union of truth, goodness

and beauty. Consequently it is transformed in heroism, an intrinsic feature related to soul

and mind before it is measured by extrinsic actions. Heroism is covered by beauty, truth

and idealisation. It adorns perfection and perfection renders the ideal person.

individual taking his explicit responsibilities towards society as well as implicit

6

From the perspective of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib the ideal society then is an outcome of the

development of all the aforementioned interwoven virtues into a society that is free of

flaws due to its internal consistency. For ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and his adherents it is a

timeless ideal of freethinking humans which must serve as a basis to organize terrestrial

life, for humans have a mind and a free will while life doesn’t possess a self-organizing

scheme or mechanism. Men like ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and alike took the lead to realize this

ideal in their epoch. In this sense his aphoristic wisdom speaks volumes: “Do not be one

of those who hope for a better world to come without working for it”.

7

Figure 1: The ideal human personality and society (Kattani, 1983)

BEING

ESSENCE BODY

MAN

REASON

ABILITY

WILL

KNOWLEDGE

CULTURE

REALITY

SUBSISTENCE

VIRTUES GLORIOUS DEEDSSKILLS

BEAUTY BRAVERYGOODNESS

TRUTH

IDEALISATIONHAPPINESSJUSTICE HEROISM

THE IDEAL PERSONPERFECTION

CIVILISATION

THE IDEAL SOCIETY

8

3. The ideal mindset

3.1 The attributes of the mindset

An organization always wants steady focus and continuation in the words and action of

the professional employed at it. The mindset of a professional is indispensable for

creating the mindset of the organization, which is embodied in the dominant work

culture of the organization. Developing the ideal mindset implies adopting certain

attributes to set the right example for other professionals in the organization.

It all begins with authenticity. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib said that “blessings are for the man (...)

whose intentions are always honourable”. Authenticity will automatically generate a

conscious attitude of doing things incorruptibly with clean intentions. Like said above,

the mindset of the professional creates the mindset of the organization. If the majority of

professionals within the organization don’t have clean intentions, the culture within the

organization will be polluted and the organization will gradually see itself in decay. Often

it is vital for an executive to give the right example by communicating a vision and

showing authenticity. Being transparent and showing empathy are means to let people

perceive it as authenticity, but people have the ability to distinguish genuine behaviour

from attitudinizing behaviour.

The aspect of diligence is irrefutably important in the work sphere. Nowadays the field of

organizational psychology extensively researches the importance of work and

productivity for the mental happiness of the individual, while more than fourteen

hundred years ago ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib gave advices emphasizing the importance of

diligence. Like being perseverant as an intrinsic motivation: “Persist in your action with a

noble end in mind… Failure to perfect your work while you are sure of the reward is

injustice to yourself”. Or working hard as an extrinsic motivation: “whoever is not

diligent in his work, will suffer”. If a professional in a modern organization fails to meet

the required performance level, the manager will usually inflict disciplinary punishment

on him. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation will push the professional to do his utmost

best to achieve the highest results possible, because wanting something without effort is

a reprehensible attitude, as ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib said: “Do not be among those people who

want to gain good returns without working hard for them”. It is therefore a duty upon

the professional to always avoid laxity in work, for laxity limits progress and results in

9

losing or wasting opportunities, and the latter will result according to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

in “grief and sorrow” (like the disciplinary punishment of a manager on the professional).

Within the organization the professional has to work together with colleagues in teams or

projects. This kind of method of working is an effective structure to divide work. In the

era of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib the division of work was also a way to divide responsibilities

among people, witnessing the advice to his adherents: “Divide and distribute work

(among your servants) so that you can hold each one responsible for the work entrusted

to them; this is a better and smoother way of carrying on a work than each one of them

throwing the responsibility of every bit of work on somebody else”. In modern-day

organizational context distributed work activities often impel the need for consultation.

The significance of consultation in the view of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib was clear when he said

that “no support and defense are stronger than consultation”. Consultation is about

exchanging ideas, information and knowledge. Through this exchange one can often

come to a satisfying compromise or solution to certain issues that appear to the surface.

Another goal of consultation in the view of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is “to learn something

from the experience of the learned and the wise”. A (young) professional benefits much

from consulting senior colleagues in the organization, as their experience, knowledge and

advice is valuable to limit mistakes and make progress.

Progress is also what an organization strives for, but times arise when its activities are on

the decline. It therefore wants from professionals an attribute on which it can count in

times of prosperity and in times of hardship: loyalty. Loyalty implies commitment and

participation, which can mean in ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s body of thought for a professional

to “never make excuses in discharging (…) responsibilities”. Commitment and

participation is then a predictor of promise keeping, an important virtue of a professional

to be perceived as trustworthy and plausible. ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib’s expressed the

significance of promise keeping by saying: “whenever you have promised anything, keep

it with all the strength that you command, for whatever differences of opinion might

exist on other matters, there is nothing so noble as the fulfilment of a promise”. When

disputes occur in an organization that might prompt the professional to break his

promise, he should persevere at such moments and “wait in patience for wholesome

results to follow than to break it out of any apprehensions”. In sum, loyalty makes the

10

professional transcend expediency to think and act for the collective benefit of the

organization by way of commitment, participation and promise keeping.

3.2 Dealing with ethical dilemmas

In modern-day organizations professionals can be confronted with moral issues. Ethics is

about truly understanding what is right and wrong and distinguishing between them

when confronted with in a certain situation. When a professional has to question what

the right or wrong thing is to do, he is confronted with an ethical dilemma. An ethical

dilemma by default means choosing between alternatives. It can be of the ‘easy’ type in

the plain case of right versus wrong conduct. Or it can be of the ‘complex’ type, when it

involves a matter of right versus right. So how to deal as a professional who has

developed the ideal mindset with an ethical dilemma?

The ideal mindset as described in the preceding section consists of four coalescing

attributes: authenticity, diligence, consultation and loyalty. They coalesce because one

cannot attend to one attribute and mitigate the other. How does this apply in a practical

situation? Take for example a professional who has to finish a report within a limited

time span or before a given deadline. Having begun working on the report is the

professionals’ implicit agreement or promise that he will finish the report on time. From

the perspective of the manager this predicts in a sense the loyalty of the involved

professional. However, while working on the report the professional discovers that the

given time span or deadline is too narrow for finishing the report in an excellent manner,

while he usually takes his time to work diligently on given assignments and tasks (since

impeccability is his trade mark). He decides to ask a colleague to assist him in making the

report and the colleague agrees (consultation and loyalty). The two work jointly till

shortly before the deadline. The colleague decides to leave due to other commitments

and not long after he left, the professional discovers some huge mistakes done by his

colleague. Here begins the ethical dilemma, as the professional has a choice of two

alternatives. The first alternative can result in sacrificing yourself, blemishing your

reputation and following two attributes while neglecting the two other attributes of the

ideal mindset. And the second alternative means sacrificing the colleague who has helped

you out when it was needed (though he made mistakes unwittingly), blemish his

reputation and like follow two of the four attributes of the ideal mindset. They are as

follows:

11

The first alternative is that he can correct the mistakes himself, neglect the deadline

and hand in the flawless report later. In that case the manager wants an explanation

for the delay, and this delay can blemish the reputation of the professional. After all,

since the professional is involved in a boss-employee agreement he is attended to be

genuine, work hard, keep promises, be communicative and report possible flaws.

From the perspective of the professional he has followed in this situation two of the

four attributes of the ideal mindset, namely authenticity and diligence, while not

acting upon the two other attributes of consultation (not reporting the mistakes of

his colleague to the manager) and loyalty (breaching the implicit ‘covenant’ of

promise keeping, albeit in an unintentional manner). As such the professional has

chosen not to involve the colleague who has helped him out so that the colleague’s

reputation won’t be blemished, while he accepts that this choice will probably have a

negative effect on his reputation. Because from the perspective of the employer this

professional has neglected all of the four attributes due to the mere delay in finishing

the report, out shadowing positive opinions and experiences dominating the

reputation that the professional had prior to this incident;

The second alternative is that he can confront his colleague face-to-face with the

mistakes he made and demand from him to correct those mistakes alone or offering

him to correct them jointly, resulting in handing the report not on time due to this

correction. In that case the professional follows the attributes of authenticity (clean

intentions towards his colleagues) and diligence (correcting mistakes to produce a

flawless report). Or the professional can demand from his colleague to confess his

mistakes in the manager’s office, thus making him take full responsibilities for his

mistakes. In that case the professional follows the attributes of consultation (be

transparent and report flaws) and loyalty (by adhering to the manager’s policy). Or

else the professional can opt to confront his colleague in front of the manager

without their prior knowledge, with the risk of blemishing his reputation indirectly by

the mere reporting of this incident, or directly through the unexpected confrontation

which can be so intimidating that it forces him to confess the errors he made.

Likewise in that case the professional would follow the two attributes of consultation

and loyalty.

For a professional in an organization confronted with the above depicted ethical

dilemma it is hard to choose between the two described alternatives. It is probably not

12

likely that there can be a situation where the professional is able to cover all of the four

attributes. So in the end it’s about configuring a compromise in order to create some sort

of win-win situation to normalize the state of mind of the involved professional(s), thus

choosing the ‘right’ thing within the sphere of possibilities of doing the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’

thing according to the professional’s conscience and his moral norms. From the point of

view of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib your conduct is always right when you show generosity and

tolerance towards others: “Admonish your comrade by good deeds and kind regards, and

ward off his evil by favouring him”. When confronted with an ethical dilemma a

professional can therefore opt not to act to the detriment of his colleague, for the

professional’s moral standards. In this manner the professional can become a role model

4. The ideal professional: conclusion

What was depicted in the previous chapters will be melt together in this chapter to obtain

a clear picture of the ideal professional in an organization from the perspective of ‘Ali

ibn Abi Talib. The concept of the ideal professional will be treated by discussing the

interlocking relationships of all previous mentioned aspects of human personality,

qualities and attributes, and in addition the appropriate moral principles will be added

and elaborated on in this chapter. The structure of the concept of the ideal professional

is visually depicted on the next page. This diagram is a variant to Kattani’s (1983)

diagram of the ideal society (see chapter two, page seven of this paper). What follows in

this chapter can be seen as a profound suggestion for a more desirable situation of

subordinates’ moral conduct in modern-day organization through the development of

virtues and attributes, ideals and principles.

It begins with the human personality, consisting of reason, qualities (or virtues) and

idealism. These three elements are in harmony with each other when the goal of all

words and deeds is to progress spiritually and materially, for it is the first layer in the

latent structure of the ideal professional. Reason is the essence of man, for there is no

thought without reason. Qualities are virtues that determine the value of man. And the

path of ideals is the runway of conduct with the environment that surrounds the

colleague will sense this goodwill implicitly and this induces him to think about the

for his colleague(s).

13

HUMAN PERSONALITY

ATTRIBUTES

REASON

CONSULTATION

INTEGRITY TRUTH

RESOLUTION DETERMINATION

RIGHT TO ACHIEVEDILIGENCE

SINCERITYCONVICTION

SOLIDARITY

THE IDEAL PROFESSIONALPERFECTION

LOYALTY

RIGHT FOR INTELLECTUAL PROGRESS

AUTHENTICITY RIGHT FOR AUTONOMY

IDEALS

QUALITIES

MORAL PRINCIPLES

THE IDEAL ORGANIZATION

Figure 2: The ideal professional / the ideal organization

14

the individual. Now it is these two latter aspects of human personality, qualities and

ideals, which are the springs of perfection in an organization.

Qualities are related with attributes (of the ideal mindset), and their intermingle is vital to

constitute an individual culture of occupational craftsmanship, pragmatism and no-

nonsense. It begins with the attribute of authenticity to do things intentionally and

incorruptibly. An authentic professional has both integrity and truth as qualities. When

people have a reputation of him that contains integrity and truth, he can easily make

direct appointments for consultations with (junior, medior and senior) colleagues,

managers, customers, suppliers and so forth, as this reputation is based on prior

experiences with the professional. Consultations yield new theoretical and practical

knowledge about which ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib said that they are “the best signs of

distinction”. This newly acquired knowledge generates more resolution and

determination for a professional to complete work (more) diligently. Satisfaction and

happiness from diligence leads to loyalty. As described in chapter three, the attribute of

loyalty is about commitment, participation and promise-keeping. Out of loyalty is born

conviction and sincerity forming jointly the spring of perfection of individual work

culture.

In the lap of the second aspect, ideals, grow moral principles. Moral principles mould the

right work climate of idealism and justice and it nourishes the belief that the nature and

goal of the professional’s actions are in accord with the principal. They are

paradigmatically shaped within the compartment of ideals in the professional’s mind. For

each attribute (of the ideal mindset) a moral principle fits that by default approves of the

goal and nature of the actions that are derived from the attribute. The principles are

elaborated on in the next paragraphs.

The principle of right for autonomy is about voluntariness in thought and behaviour and

a determined consideration. As an effect this principle has a strong correlation with the

attribute of authenticity, as this correlation means that the professional decides and acts

upon own values and ambitions in life. This is possible in the perspective of ‘Ali ibn Abi

Talib, as he attested that human beings have “complete freedom to do as they like”. The

right of autonomy thus means being a free agent in an organization to do things with

authenticity (voluntarily and determined).

15

The principle of right for intellectual progress is about acquiring knowledge, of great

significance in the body of thought of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib as he said that “no exaltation is

superior to knowledge” and “the more you make use of knowledge the more it

increases”. Acquiring knowledge inside and outside the organization by all lawful and

honorable means necessary is thus strongly exhorted to the professional and this is

backed by the principle of right for intellectual progress.

Intellectual progress is a predictor of high performance by diligence. This is backed up by

the principle of the right to achieve, for every professional in the organization must get

equal chances and be offered all the possibilities and conditions to excel in work, as this

is of benefit for the professional as well as the organization.

Finally the principle of solidarity corresponds with the attribute of loyalty, for this

principle is about feelings of unity, altruism, generosity, tenderness, devotion and

goodwill in an organization. Solidarity and care for others like colleagues is according to

‘Ali ibn Abi Talib a good affair to make people be loyal towards you in the end: “Care for

them with the tenderness with which you care for your children, and do not talk before

them of any good that you might have done to them, nor disregard any expression of

affection which they show in return; for, such conduct inspires loyalty, devotion and

goodwill. Attend to every little of their wants not resting content with what general help

that you might have given to them, for sometimes, timely attention to a little want of

theirs brings them immense relief. Surely these people will not forget you in your own

hour of need”. The professional then always ought to be solicitous towards individuals

with whom he has to deal with in the work sphere, like his colleagues, managers,

customers and suppliers. Showing solidarity as a professional certainly bears its fruit in

the organization, as it is the trade mark characterizing the ideal professional in an

organization.

In sum, each layer in the diagram corresponds with the mindset for professional

perfection in an organization. The result is an organization that develops its professionals

through the interlocking aspects, hence turning them into the ideal professionals who

make up the ideal organization which is not impaired by weaknesses or flaws.

16

When striving for professional perfection the behaviour that should be shown according

for it is you who can craft your own personality, set the right example for others and

hence distinguish your position in organizational and societal contexts. That is the

paramount lesson that we can discern from the described body of thought of ‘Ali ibn Abi

Talib: an inspirator living in the minds of the impressed, amazed and speechless.

References

Azmi, S. (2005). An Islamic approach to business ethics. Economic Issues, May 2005.

Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. (1984). Nahjul Balagha (Peak of Eloquence) – Sermons, Letters and

Sayings of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib. Transl. Askari Jafri, eleventh revised ed. Accra: Islamic

Seminary Publications. All quoted sayings in this paper come from Nahjul Balagha and

from the famous epistle to Malik al-Ashtar (governor of Egypt appointed by ‘Ali ibn Abi

Talib). Both available online:

http://www.al-islam.org/masoom/sayings/saying5.html and

http://www.al-islam.org/nahjul/letters/letter53.htm

Jamal Uddin, S. (2003). Understanding the framework of business in Islam in an era of

globalization: A review. Business Ethics: A European Review, 12 (1), 23-32.

Kattani, S. (1983). Imam Ali: A Beacon of Courage. Transl. I.K.A Howerd. London, UK:

Muhammadi Trust.

Motahhari, M. (1997). Glimpses of the Nahj Al-Balaghah. Transl. Ali Quli Qara'i. Tehran,

IR: Islamic Culture and Relations Organization.

Source image (pag. i):

http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/GeogHist/histories/Oldcivilization/Egyptology/

Calligraphy/art5.jpg

to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is the behaviour that let other people “crave for your company”,