A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Qur’anic Narrative of Moses and Khidr: Developing an Organizational Behavior Model from the Perspectives of Knowledge Management and Transformational Leadership

Document Type : Original Article

Author

PhD Student in Public Administration, Qom, Iran.

10.22081/jikm.2026.75334.1131

Abstract

This study aims to develop a conceptual model of organizational behavior management based on the Qur’anic narrative of Moses’ companionship with Khidr. The main research question was: “How can principles and a model of knowledge management and leadership in organizations be derived from this Qur’anic narrative?” The study hypothesized that the story of Moses and Khidr contains principles applicable to organizational behavior management that can contribute to the development of humble leadership, knowledge management, and ambiguity tolerance in organizations. The research employed Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis framework, which comprises three stages: description, interpretation, and explanation. Data were collected through library-based and documentary research and analyzed using authoritative Qur’anic exegeses, including Al-Mizan, Tafsir Tasnim, Tafsir Nemooneh, Al-Kashshaf, and Majmaʿ al-Bayan. The findings revealed five key principles that can be derived from the narrative: the multilayered nature of organizational knowledge, the need for leaders to acknowledge their cognitive limitations, ambiguity tolerance as a prerequisite for learning, the differentiation of roles in organizational learning processes, and the importance of interpretation and reflective retrospection. Accordingly, the study proposes a conceptual model entitled “Multilayered Learning in Organizations: From Certainty to Reflection,” comprising five stages: awareness of limitations, seeking new knowledge, accepting the role of a learner, tolerating ambiguity and exercising patience, and discovering deeper interpretations and achieving profound learning. The study demonstrates that Qur’anic texts can serve as rich sources of knowledge generation in organizational behavior management and help bridge the gap between religious knowledge and contemporary human sciences.
 

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References

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Islamic Knowledge Management
Volume 8, Issue 1 - Serial Number 15
February 2026
Pages 288-312

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History

  • Receive Date: 01 October 2025
  • Revise Date: 01 March 2026
  • Accept Date: 16 March 2026

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