Procedure and Morality in Hadith-Based Leadership: A Thematic Study on Leader Selection and Ideal Character

Abstract

Contemporary political dynamics in Muslim societies raise critical questions regarding ethical leadership and the standards for selecting public leaders. This article aims to analyze the concept of leader selection and the characteristics of the ideal leader through a thematic (maudhu’i) study of prophetic traditions employing takhrīj (hadith tracing), chain-of-narrators analysis, and classical commentary (syarah), as well as the fiqh al-ḥadīth approach (Sukron, 2021, 2024). Using qualitative library research, the study examines relevant hadiths from major canonical collections (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Sunan Abū Dāwūd, Jāmiʿ al-Tirmiżī) and engages classical commentaries such as Fatḥ al-Bārī and Sharḥ ṢaḥīḥMuslim. The findings reveal that hadith literature constructs leadership as a moral-spiritual trust (amānah), emphasizing collective responsibility, consultation (syūrā), and the prohibition of ambition-driven office-seeking. Essential qualities of an ideal leader include justice (ʿadl), trustworthiness (amānah), integrity, competence (kifāyah), and accountability. The study concludes that procedural legitimacy and moral qualification are inseparable dimensions of prophetic political ethics. This research contributes to the development of political hadith studies and offers a normative ethical framework for interpreting contemporary democratic practices from an Islamic perspective. Furthermore, it enriches discourses on religious moderation, ecological justice, and gender bias deconstruction in the interpretation of political hadiths.