Islamic perspectives on training and professional development

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to draw a portrait of training and development ideals and practices from the Islamic point of view.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a conceptual paper. The paper reviews the relevant literature on training and development from an Islamic perspective portraying the interface between ideals and practices of training and development in Islam in order to bridge a gap in the extant literature.

Findings

The literature that deals with training and development in Islam seems to belong to two major categories: essays espousing a broad perspective and including catch‐all concepts or other generic Islamic principles; and studies addressing human resource management in Islam that mainly examine training and development from a narrow perspective. The findings of this limited body of literature are far from being consistent as they seem contradictory in nature. Simultaneously, in the area of training and professional development, Islam emphasizes practical wisdom and translating theoretical insights into behaviors and practices rather than solely relying on theoretical principles.

Research limitations/implications

The literature review is not detailed due to the dearth of information on training and development from an Islamic perspective.

Practical implications

Training and learning methods from the Islamic tradition can provide constructive contribution to workplace practices as well as benefit organizations that anticipate offering efficient and effective custom‐designed training methods to best meet the training needs of their Muslim employees.

Originality/value

The present contribution is a unique synthesis of the literature related to the application of Islamic principles in training and professional development.

Citation

Hassi, A. (2012), "Islamic perspectives on training and professional development", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 31 No. 10, pp. 1035-1045. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711211281816