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DISC personality analysis

تحليل الشخصية بنموذج ديسك

The DISC model (and its British counterpart Thomas) as Tareq al-Suwaidan teaches it: classifying leadership personalities on the axes of task- versus people-focus and fast versus gradual — dominant, influencer, steady, cautious, and the centre — applied to hiring and team building, with a stated error margin.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Global / Diaspora
Review

Politics, governance and authority

Summary

Tareq al-Suwaidan presents the DISC model for analysing leadership personalities — and its British counterpart Thomas — on two axes: task-focus versus people-focus, and fast versus gradual 1 2.

The five patterns

Top-left 'alif' is the dominant: task-focused and fast. Top-right 'ba' the influencer: people-focused and fast. Bottom-left 'jim' the steady: task-focused and gradual. Bottom-right 'dal' the cautious: people-focused and gradual. And 'ha' in the centre between them all — in his view the best pattern for middle leadership 3 4 5 6. Combining letters extends the division to one hundred and four classes: an 'alif-ba' is a strong, fast leader balancing task and people — among the best long-term leadership personalities — while a 'ba-dal' is an 'oscillating' pattern swinging between caring for people and tightening the work 7 8.

Rules of use

He states that every personality-analysis test carries an error margin; DISC's is fifteen per cent — excellent in this field — while older analyses reach forty per cent (needs_source: the figures as he gave them) 9 10. That a person's pattern is shaped by the nature of his work — a long-serving accountant becomes a 'jim' even if he was not one — and that a person can reshape his pattern as he wills, though with strain and acting 11 12. He uses it in hiring (noting that Kuwait Finance House hires nobody without a Thomas test) and in forming work teams — a personnel section, for instance, is built of one 'alif-ba' head with two 'dal' and two 'jim' 13 14. He cites that the Prophet ﷺ distributed his Companions over tasks according to what suited each, and that rare people possess an unusual capacity to reshape themselves — whoever finds them should not let them go 15 16.

People and things also explored

Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)· Ahl al-Hall wa al-Aqd (those who loose and bind: the men of power whose choice confirms the imam)· Ahl al-Mahalla (the people of a quarter, their imam, call to prayer, and their part in the oath and blood money where a body is found)· Islamic management· Experience versus service, and self-development· The nominal group technique· Leadership and the leader's six roles· Situational leadership

Sources

  1. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:28:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  2. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:47:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:29:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:30:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:46:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:42:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:34:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  8. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:40:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  9. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:45:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  10. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:46:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  11. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:49:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  12. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:50:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  13. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:53:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  14. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 01:57:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  15. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 02:00:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  16. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 3, at 02:01:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “DISC personality analysis”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/tahlil-disc/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ahl al-Diwan (those paid from the state register of soldiers and officers, and the rules of their conditions and distribution)

Diwan is a Persian loan-word meaning a collection of sheets and writings, in which the army and those given grants were written; for the jurists it is the register in which the names of those in state service who receive a stipend from the public treasury are recorded, and the office that keeps it. Umar ibn al-Khattab was the first to set up the diwan, according to two accounts. The people of the diwan are of several kinds: soldiers, on conditions that are regulatory, such as puberty, freedom, Islam, health and fitness for fighting; holders of office, such as governors, judges, scholars, collectors, imams and muezzins; and the needy. The Companions differed on preference in distribution: Abu Bakr and Ali made it equal, while Umar and Uthman preferred by precedence in Islam, and Umar added kinship to the Prophet; Abu Hanifa and Ahmad followed the latter view.