Beyond Autonomy: Ontological Alignment and Leadership in Spiritually Grounded Organizations

Abstract

This conceptual paper advances a metaphysical framework for understanding agency, coherence, and leadership in mission-driven organizations. Drawing on Said Nursî’s Islamic concept of Zerre (the smallest particle), we reconceptualize organizational actors not as autonomous agents but as morally embedded participants aligned with a transcendent ethical order. This Zerre-based logic contrasts with secular-functional paradigms by grounding legitimacy and leadership in humility, symbolic resonance, and ontological coherence. We develop an analytical model that maps this metaphysical lens onto organizational constructs such as agency, leadership, and moral purpose. The framework contributes to emerging post-secular and spiritually informed theories of organizing by integrating Islamic metaphysics with contemporary challenges of decentralized leadership, ethical alignment, and valuebased management. Illustrative examples from Islamic Relief, World Vision, and Extinction Rebellion highlight the model’s relevance for spiritually inspired organizational action across faith traditions.