The Imam's charisma: an analysis of Imam Warith Deen Mohammed's leadership
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation examines the concept of charismatic leadership and authority during Imam Warith Deen Mohammed’s leadership of the Nation of Islam, beginning in 1975. It focuses primarily on his interpretation of Islam, with considerable implications for his status as one of the first prominent American Islamic reformers. It is based on Max Weber’s ideal-type model of charismatic leadership. Weber’s overarching definition of the charismatic leader-follower dynamic and its need-based orientation are the focus of my research. For my study, the most critical part of Weber’s theory of charisma concerns the relationship between the leader and the follower. The follower sees the charismatic leader as uniquely or divinely qualified to fill a need or needs, thus creating a sacred bond that allows their relationship to flourish. Weber argues that the fate of charismatic leadership is routinization; however, this is not the case for the leadership transition from Elijah Muhammad to Warith Deen Mohammed. In fact, the leadership transitions in the Nation of Islam were from one charismatic leader to another, beginning with the leadership transition from Fard Muhammad to Elijah Muhammad and culminating in the transition from Elijah Muhammad to Warith Deen Mohammed.Although it is a popular notion that there is no clergy in Islam, the ‘ulama or the scholarly class have established themselves as the gatekeepers of Islamic authority and the purveyors of the Islamic tradition. In traditional Islam, any person who does not attend traditional Islamic schools and receive various ijazas or certifications from different scholars is considered unqualified to teach on any subject related to the Islamic sciences. Although this requirement has declined in the modern Muslim world, it still remained strong enough that it created problems for Imam Warith Deen Mohammed because, although reports indicate that he learned Arabic and Islamic studies from individuals such as Jamil Diab at the Muhammad…
abstract: This dissertation examines the concept of charismatic leadership and authority during Imam Warith Deen Mohammed’s leadership of the Nation of Islam, beginning in 1975. It focuses primarily on his interpretation of Islam, with considerable implications for his status as one of the first prominent American Islamic reformers. It is based on Max Weber’s ideal-type model of charismatic leadership. Weber’s overarching definition of the charismatic leader-follower dynamic and its need-based orientation are the focus of my research. For my study, the most critical part of Weber’s theory of charisma concerns the relationship between the leader and the follower. The follower sees the charismatic leader as uniquely or divinely qualified to fill a need or needs, thus creating a sacred bond that allows their relationship to flourish. Weber argues that the fate of charismatic leadership is routinization; however, this is not the case for the leadership transition from Elijah Muhammad to Warith Deen Mohammed. In fact, the leadership transitions in the Nation of Islam were from one charismatic leader to another, beginning with the leadership transition from Fard Muhammad to Elijah Muhammad and culminating in the transition from Elijah Muhammad to Warith Deen Mohammed.Although it is a popular notion that there is no clergy in Islam, the ‘ulama or the scholarly class have established themselves as the gatekeepers of Islamic authority and the purveyors of the Islamic tradition. In traditional Islam, any person who does not attend traditional Islamic schools and receive various ijazas or certifications from different scholars is considered unqualified to teach on any subject related to the Islamic sciences. Although this requirement has declined in the modern Muslim world, it still remained strong enough that it created problems for Imam Warith Deen Mohammed because, although reports indicate that he learned Arabic and Islamic studies from individuals such as Jamil Diab at the Muhammad…
author: El-Amin, Luqman
language: eng
keywords: Religion, African American studies, Islamic studies, African American Islam, Charisma, Islam in America, Muslims, Nation of Islam, Warith Deen Mohammed
license: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
date published: 2026-05
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:19:39Z
provider: Temple University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Temple University. Libraries