Navigating the Path: Islamic Leadership, Islamic Organization Citizenship Behaviour and Islamic Work Ethics Unveiled

Lecturers’ performance plays a pivotal role in shaping the quality of higher education programs, necessitating continuous revisions to identify dimensions that foster innovation. While prior research highlights numerous variables, leadership competencies grounded in Islamic principles emerge as a critical yet underexplored factor influencing employee performance within Islamic private university contexts. Although studies affirm the positive impact of Islamic leadership tenets on multifaceted employee outcomes across industries, their application in higher education remains sparse. Scholars emphasize the urgency of analyzing how purpose-driven Islamic leadership shapes lecturers’ performance in these institutions, particularly when linked to organizational citizenship behaviour viewed through an Islamic lens. This study seeks to bridge gaps in the existing literature by exploring connections between Islamic leadership, Islamic work ethics, and contemporary performance metrics such as teaching, research, and service within the Social Exchange Theory (SET) framework. Current scholarship lacks cross-cultural and Islamic perspectives despite growing global interest in how faith-aligned leadership and ethics influence workplace dynamics. By integrating these elements, the paper aims to clarify how Islamic values shape task performance, contextual performance, and citizenship behaviours among Islamic private university lecturers. It also proposes empirical research strategies to validate prior findings and address theoretical limitations, offering fresh insights into culturally responsive leadership models in Islamic private universities.