Leadership Failure in Crisis Management: A Comparative Analytical Reading of the Models of the King and Pharaoh in the Qurʼanic Narrative

Leadership failure in crisis management has been extensively studied in contemporary management literature, yet the Qur'anic narrative remains largely underutilised as an analytical framework for understanding this phenomenon. This study addresses that gap by conducting a systematic comparative analysis of two contrasting Qur'anic leadership models — the King in the story of Joseph (PBUH) and Pharaoh in the story of Moses (PBUH) — to identify the structural determinants of leadership success and failure in critical contexts. Drawing on a deductive qualitative method, the study applies a five-element analytical framework derived from crisis management and leadership literature: cognitive flexibility, information openness, institutional delegation, de-escalation management, and emotional intelligence. The analysis reveals that leadership failure in crisis management is fundamentally rooted in the leader's internal disposition rather than external circumstances, and that the Qur'anic narrative offers a rich and methodologically rigorous source for developing leadership models that integrate classical Islamic scholarship with contemporary management theory.