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Despite continuous public interest in leadership studies as well as the abundance of extant literature, the world continues to face leadership predicaments. Given the global crises mankind has been recently exposed to, which include the financial crisis of 2008 as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, further exploration of leadership concepts seems warranted. This edited book aims at introducing the concept of Balanced Leadership from an Islamic perspective. Drawing on both leadership and Islamic studies, the book synchronizes between secular and religious knowledge domains whilst introducing the notion of balance to mainstream leadership literature. The conceptualizations presented in the book serve to dissect the leadership literature, present historical and philosophical accounts of the balanced leadership concept and infuse that with Islamic theology. The book is useful for practitioners interested in leadership studies as well as scholars and researchers aiming at extending the leadership literature

The pilgrimage to Mecca predates the religion of Islam. Upon receiving the revelations from God, the Prophet Muhammad took an initiative to cleanse the city of Mecca of its idols and "Islamized" the pilgrimage. Muhammad banned the practice of idolatry but still allowed the pilgrimage, declaring it a "pillar" of Islam. By doing so, the Prophet demonstrated that the pagan Arabs were wrong in worshipping the idols but noted the significance of the Ka'ba and the city of Mecca. Based on this idea I investigate whether it was the religious significance of the Ka'ba and the city of Mecca that was the important factor for both the pagan Arabs and Muhammad. I investigate whether the pagan Arabs and the Prophet sought to control the city due to the strength of their faith or simply because it offered them a way to generate revenue. If the latter theory holds true, it would explain why the pagan Arabs offered to make Muhammad the richest man among them in order to have him stop preaching his ideas. As the Prophet did not agree to the offer made by the Quraysh, I then began to question whether or not if there were any compromises that might have existed between the prophet and his Kinship group, where the Prophet would declare the Hajj mandatory for all Muslims, ensuring the free flowing of revenues that would be generated by pilgrims for years to come. Perhaps this compromise would allow the pagan Arabs to convert to the religion of Islam. I survey a time period of both pre and post Muhammad's lifetime in to see what political and economic benefits the Hajj served in order to conclude whether a compromise could have existed between Muhammad and the Pagan Arabs.

Die These der Feminisierung der Religion im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, entstanden in den 1970er Jahren in den USA und seit den 1980er Jahren im deutschen Sprachraum rezipiert, hat eine rege Forschungsdiskussion ausgelöst. Als Reaktion auf die Feminisierungsprozesse soll es zu Remaskulinisierungsvorgängen besonders in den christlichen Konfessionen, vor allem ab dem beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert, gekommen sein. Ein internationales und interreligiöses ausgerichtetes Forschungskolloquium an der Universität Graz, an dem renommierte Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen aus Europa und Amerika teilgenommen haben, hat sich mit den aktuellen Forschungsdiskussionen um die Feminisierung und Maskulinisierung der Religion auseinandergesetzt. Der vorliegende Band vereint detailreiche Studien von Autorinnen und Autoren, verschiedene Länder, christliche Konfessionen, Judentum und Islam betreffend.