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Henry Ford

هنري فورد

The American industrialist Henry Ford, as presented by Tareq al-Suwaidan: he revolutionised industry in 1908 by adding the assembly line to production, building on the division-of-labour principle.

Depth

At a glance

Region
Global / Diaspora
Review

Politics, governance and authority

Summary

Tareq al-Suwaidan presents Henry Ford as the man behind the 1908 assembly-line revolution, built on the principle of division of labour, which produced a great revolution in industry 1.

The assembly line

Al-Suwaidan recounts that cars used to be assembled by workers moving around a fixed chassis; Ford invented a moving line on which the chassis travels while workers on either side each add a part until the car is complete 2. He says the line takes about two days to complete a car, and that some eighteen thousand people take part in making a single car (needs_source: the figures are the speaker's, unchecked) 3. He adds that 60 to 70 per cent of car manufacturing is now done by robots rather than people (needs_source) 4.

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 1, at 00:25:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  2. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:25:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:27:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Administrative Processus Abilities, episode 1, at 00:26:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Henry Ford”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/henry-ford/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. 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.