Prophetic Leadership and Educational Governance:

Transnational Legal Perspectives in Contemporary Education

Yusuf Olawale Owa-Onire Uthman

Rahimah Embong

Rosmalizawati Abd. Rashid

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed al-Haddar

 

Abstract: This article examines the leadership of Prophet Muhammad as a model of ethical and educational governance within contemporary Islamic and plural legal frameworks. It draws on the Islamic leadership principles of adalah (justice), amānah (trust), raḥmah (mercy), khilāfah (stewardship) and masʾūliyyah (accountability). Employing a qualitative and comparative legal methodology, the article analyses how these principles are manifested in the contemporary education law and policy in Malaysia, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom. Parallels between Prophetic leadership and leading theories, namely transformational, servant, and ethical leadership, are analysed while highlighting the unique Islamic leadership epistemology of divine waḥy (revelation) and taklīf (divine accountability/ juridical obligation). The analysis illustrates that Malaysia enshrines Shari’ah-informed ethics through accreditation systems. In contrast, Türkiye translates Prophetic ethical principles into civic-ethical norms within a secular constitutional order, and the United Kingdom accommodates Muslim schooling within equality and human rights legislation. The article integrates Islamic jurisprudence, comparative education law, and transnational governance studies to contribute to scholarship on transnational Islamic legal thought. It offers a normative model in which Shari’ah-based moral integrity is aligned with contemporary educational accountability and reform.