USWA's Election

It is perhaps a season of change in Islamabad that almost everything is under scrutiny and subject to transformation. Of course, we are not concerned here about the quality and dynamics of change which is altogether a different ballgame. The wind of change is now apparently affecting us too at IIUI and the latest is about the elections of University Staff Welfare Association (USWA). USWA is the oldest among IIUI employees associations (The other of two are: Academic Staff Association (ASA) and Officers Welfare Association). By very look, IIUI appears to be a vibrant and pulsating academic institution with the existence of such associations which are essential for the establishment of an ethical workplace. But unfortunately, this is not the case and we know about it. Academic Staff Association is relatively a new experiment at IIUI and it is still struggling with teething problems. We have earlier blogged here about the concerns regarding ASA. USWA's elections are unique in the sense that it is for the first time that IIUI employees (PBS 1-16) have been given a chance to elect their representatives. There was a democratic significance of this process too as two panels contested elections and as a result existing leadership was thrown out with the power of vote. USWA has a new leadership now and we'll see in future that how the new leadership embraces the challenges ahead.

USWA's election has a lot to offer to all stakeholders at IIUI in terms of positioning and policy formulation. First of all, it has a lot to do with USWA itself. This election was a reflection and USWA members have overwhelmingly manifested their opinions about the old leadership and their policies. We don't want to go into details of issues which dominated the election campaign and the result is so clear now. There were all sorts of issues ranging from administrative cooption to illicit and backdoor recruitments; of course with the help of highhanded administration. We also know about the role of old leadership in the property scam which ultimately led to the creation of a tri-partite (some USWA's leaders, some faculty members and some admin's high ups) property mafia consortium depriving IIUI employees from their legitimate rights. Now with a new leadership, we hope that USWA will critically analyze its previous actions by initiating an accountability mechanism. All of us are keen to see the future direction USWA takes and if it ends up as a co-opted body, as some of our friends have anticipated during campaign, then its fate will not be substantially different.

USWA's story has a lot to offer to ASA too. The organizational landscape of IIUI clearly establishes that ASA is nowhere and virtually a nonentity. For ASA leadership, this is mainly because of an authoritative administration at IIUI which is not ready to accommodate a dissenting and alternative voice. We'll strongly disagree with such reasoning. USWA has once again established that you get a "space" which you "create" for yourself and at time you do it in the name of fresh look and new vision. Leadership is all about making inroads in difficult terrains by suggesting doable and probable alternative solutions. But it needs a strong support base within your constituency which ASA apparently lacks.

Islamic Studies Published

The latest issue of Islamic Studies, a research journal of Islamic Research Institute-IIUI, is now published.

Contents

A Comparative Study of the Intended Sacrifice of Isaac/Ishmael in the Bible and the Qur’┐n
AYAZ AFSAR

Ibn ‘Arab┘’s Metaphysics of the Human Body
QAISER SHAHZAD

Modern Historiography: The Relevance of the Crusades
KHURRAM QADIR

Documents

Islam at Universities in England: Meeting the Needs and Investing in the Future

Book Reviews

David R. Smock. Ed. Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding.
MUHAMMAD KHALIFA HASAN AHMAD

Elma Ruth Harder in consultation with Muzaffar Iqbal. ConcentricCircles: Nurturing Awe and Wonder in Early Learning — A Foundational Approach
SHABANA MIR

Arthur John Byng Wavell. A Modern Pilgrim in Mecca and a Siege in Sanaa
MURAD WILFRIED HOFMANN

Saba Mahmood. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject
JUNAID S. AHMAD

Tim Wallace-Murphy. What Islam Did For Us: Understanding Islam’s Contribution to Western Civilization.
UZMA ABID ANSARI

Muhammad Arif Zakaullah. The Cross and the Crescent
MADIHA YOUNAS

Annual Table of Contents

Abstracts

1. A Comparative Study of the Intended Sacrifice of Isaac/Ishmael in the Bible and the Qur’┐n
AYAZ AFSAR

This article is an attempt to make a comparative study of the story of the intended sacrifice of Isaac/Ishmael in the bible and the Qur’┐n. The texts are analysed from a narratological perspective without concerning ourselves with the question as to which one has a better composition or definitive version. The focus is on considering not only to look at what the texts tell but also to find out how they tell it. The analysis shows that the texts are significantly different in the presentation of subject matter, characterization and worldview. It is suggested that further analysis on the same grounds may give a more accurate and exact relationship between the two scriptures.

2. Ibn ‘Arab┘’s Metaphysics of the Human Body
QAISER SHAHZAD

In his important study Religion and the Order of Nature Seyyed Hossein Nasr has pointed out that it is in Ibn ‘Arab┘ that one finds the most elaborate picture of the sacredness of body in the Islamic tradition. The present article relates doubly to Nasr’s work. Inasmuch as it discusses Ibn ‘Arab┘’s views on human body, it aims to carry forward Nasr’s discussion. It differs, however, from the latter in taking into account the variety of approaches to human body in the traditional doctrines by concentrating on the views that are disparaging to human body. What emerges from such contrast is the existence of considerable variety among the traditional mystico-religious views on human body. We try to show that Ibn ‘Arab┘’s views on human body, which are extraordinarily positive, are immersed in his unique understanding of the Qur’┐n. In the conclusion an explanation of the difference in attitudes to body in Christianity and Judaism-Islam is offered in the light of Frithjof Schuon’s work.

3. Modern Historiography: The Relevance of the Crusades
KHURRAM QADIR

Historiography in the modern West, particularly during the last century, has made many contributions to the study of the Crusades whereas Muslim scholars are few and far between. Muslim contributions to this subject generally come from lands that suffered from the event directly or they emanate from pens of Muslims who work in research institutions of the West today. A view that gained converts among Muslims since the birth of Israel, which registered a surge among the intelligentsia of Pakistan when Iraq was attacked, is that military advances of the West are an attempt to achieve the unfinished agenda of the Crusades. However, not much seems to have been written on the subject in the Muslim world. In contrast, European historians have contributed considerably to the subject in recent times. Some of the works have been reconciliatory and some defied the apologetic trend regarding the “modern crusade.” The present paper seeks to compare three British works in the light of general trend of scholarship on this subject in the English language.

IIUI Lost its Chancellor!

With the resignation of President Musharraf from his office, IIUI has also lost its chancellor. His resignation immediately reminds the days which IIUI has experienced during his tenure in office. He was not merely an iconic chancellor of IIUI as he had been actively involved in many important policy decision affecting the role and direction of IIUI. Immediately after seizing power in 1999, General Musharraf was keen to set up a cabinet which could help him resolve governance problems in Pakistan in the context of legitimacy deficit which he was facing at the very outset. In the beginning he successfully co-opted many leading technocrats to form his first cabinet as a chief Executive. Among the co-opted slot, IIUI offered its "best" brain at that time and Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi (then Vice President, Academics IIUI) was administered oath as Minister for Religious Affairs. When the Chief Executive of Pakistan metamorphosed into the President of Pakistan through a dubious referendum, Dr. Ghazi was picked up as a blue eyed member of newly established National Security Council and he served Musharraf regime for some good time during his absolute dictatorship regime. Later Dr. Ghazi was first removed from the National Security Council and finally he also resigned from the Cabinet. Unlike many early days colleagues and aides of General Mushrraf, Dr. Ghazi never dare to speak publically about his differences, if any, with President Musharraf. Dr. Ghazi did not even bother to perform "sajda e sahev" for what he had done by cooperating with a dictator and instead he started teaching Constitutional Law at IIUI immediately after completing dictator's job. Those who used to walk around the corridors of IIUI old campus during those days must have witnessed the following scene regularly:

During early days of Dr. Ghazi's ministerial responsibilities, Dr. Hasan Abdul Latif Shafi was the President of IIUI. Dr. Ghazi was obviously quite busy in advising Musharraf about a bunch of critical and strategic matters ranging from Madarsah reforms to proposed constitutional amendments and it was really difficult for him to spare quality time for his IIUI job. He was Vice President Academic but he hardly had any time to attend his office before 2 o clock and people had often seen Dr. Shafi, the President, rushing to Dr. Ghazi's office immediately after he reached IIUI from Ministry of Religious Affairs. Dr. Shafi would be holding several files and documents during each of such meetings to get them endorsed by his Vice President!! However, later situation changed and Dr. Ghazi resigned from the Ministry and joined IIUI as a full time employee. He was perhaps so touched and mesmerized with the personality of Musharraf that in his meetings with faculty and staff, he was frequently citing the quotes of general!

Time changed and Dr. Ghazi became President of IIUI-thanks to Musharraf, Rafiq Tarar and Justice Khalil ur Rehman! By then Jusrtice Khalil was also sent home from the Supreme Court and with the courtesy of his old friend in the President House, Justice (Retired) Muhammad Rafiq Tarar, he managed to secure the position of Rector, IIUI. To cut the long story short, we don't want to discuss the Ghazi-Khalil era of IIUI administration here.

Time changed once again and this time tide was against Dr. Ghazi and Justice Khalil. Both of them were replaced with Dr. Anwar Siddiqui and Dr. Manzoor Ahmad and this time Chancellor was active with an agenda of modernization and enlightened moderation. For the very first time in the history of IIUI, both the Rector and President were appointed from a background totally irrelevant with the core faculties of IIUI (Usuluddin, Shariah & Law and Arabic). The Chancellor's push for an "enlightened" and "modern" IIUI was not a hidden agenda and he was occasionally expressing his views about it. In a speech at Islamabad based Institute of Strategic Studies, he proudly mentioned his achievements on this front by pointing to the new administration of IIUI. Rest of the story is simple and straightforward and it is very much before us. Starting from the change in the name of Faculty of Usuluddin to recent shuffling up within the university clearly manifest the strategic agenda which Dr. Manzoor and his team are attempting to pursue here. In between, you can see and cite the incidence like Tony Blair's visit to IIUI and the notorious azan fiasco in Faisal Mosque! The establishment of Iqbal International Institute first in Lahore and then its transfer to IIUI and the dubious Ismaeli influence on it is yet another sad chapter of this story.

Once again time has changed but this time for the Chancellor! We wonder that would there be a positive change for IIUI too or not? We believe that there can be but it needs the emergence of indigenous agenda within the IIUI and that is only possible through a bottom-up approach. We have seen that the imposition of top-down agenda fails mainly because of lack of ownership and understanding.

Latest Publications by IIUI Faculty Members

1. Suicide attacks and Islamic law
International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 90 Number 869 March 2008
http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FIRC%2FIRC90_869%2FS1816383108000040a.pdf&code=edcb8a0645f5fd3f3f42f347c677729f

By Muhammad Munir, Assistant Professor of Law at the Department of Law,
International Islamic University, Islamabad.

Abstract

Suicide attacks are a recurrent feature of many conflicts. Whereas warfare heroism and martyrdom are allowed in certain circumstances in times of war, a suicide bomber might be committing at least five crimes according to Islamic law, namely killing civilians, mutilating their bodies, violating the trust of enemy soldiers and civilians, committing suicide and destroying civilian objects or properties. The author examines such attacks from an Islamic jus in bello perspective.

2. Customer acceptance of online banking in developing economies

Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, April 2008, vol. 13, no.1
An open access Internet journal (http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/jibc/)

By Tahir Masood Qureshi, PhD, Assistant Professor, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan; Muhammad Khaqan Zafar, MBA-IT Research Associate, Management Sciences Faculty and Muhammad Bashir Khan, PhD, Professor/Consultant, Management Sciences Faculty, International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Technology is affecting the life of every individual in this present age. Online banking is also one of the technologies which are getting recognition around the globe. There are a lot of customers around the world who are accepting this technology very quickly but in growing countries like Pakistan the adoption ratio is very high. There are many banks which are providing these facilities to customers. The basic purpose of this research is to evaluate the customer acceptance of online banking. Almost 50% of the clients shifted from traditional banking to online banking system. The core reason of this transfer is perceived usefulness, security and privacy provided by online banking.

Keywords: Pakistan, customer acceptance, online banking, perceived usefulness, security and privacy, amount of information, perceived ease of use.

3. Globalization and a coalition for peace: the issue of global action by an enlightened and concerned Public
http://english.safe-democracy.org/2008/06/26/globalization-and-a-coalition-for-peace/
By Sohail Mahmood, Professor of the Department of Politics & IR, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

As globalization increasingly provides access to resources necessary for the spread of militant radicalism, it also allows valuable opportunities to begin healing animosities between certain Western countries and the developing world. The slogan of the environmental movement, think globally and act locally, would be an appropriate point of departure for building a global peace movement.

4. The law of insider trading in Pakistan
Publisher Federal Law House-Pakistan, July 2007.

By Samia Maqbool Niazi, Assistant Professor of Law at the Department of Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

The book was published in July 2007 and it surveys the insider trading regulation law in Pakistan with several policy recommendations for reforms and amendments. Some of the recommendations are now taken up through the Finance Bill 2008.

5. Therapeutic Jurisprudence in the Context of Islamic Legal and Judicial System: Judges and Amicable Settlement
Paper presented at an International Conference on "Justice and Policing in Diverse Societies" held under the Auspices of John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York. http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/ic/IC_Program.pdf , San Juan, Puerto Rico on 9-12 June 2008.

By Muhammad Ahmad Munir, Lecturer, Islamic Research Institute International Islamic University, Islamabad.

6. Common Fixed Points of Fuzzy Mappings

By Muhammad Arshad Zia, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

Presented at Conference on Recent Advances in Mathematical Methods, Models & Applications, April 26-27, 2008, Centre for Advanced Studies in Mathematics, Lahore University of Management Sciences

7. 'Al-Hadanah'
'Hamdard Islamicus': Quarterly Journal of Studies and Research in Islam published by Bait-ul-Hikmah at Madina-tul-Hikmah, July-September 2007, Vol: XXX

By Mrs. Mudasra Sabreen, Lecturer, Faculty of Shariah and Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

8. Concept of Rights in Islamic Law
'The Islamic Culture': Research journal published by Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre, University of Karachi, Vol XII 2006

By Mrs. Mudasra Sabreen, Lecturer, Faculty of Shariah and Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

9. Marriage in Islam: A Civil Contract or a Sacroscant?
XXXI, No. 1, Hamdard Islamicus, January-March 2008, pp. 77-84

By Muhammad Munir, Assistant Professor of Law at the Department of Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

10. Stipulations in a Muslim Marriage Contract with Special Reference to Talaq al-Tafwid Provisions in Pakistani Law
12 YIMEL (2005-2006), pp. 235-262

By Muhammad Munir, Assistant Professor of Law at the Department of Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

11. International Islamic Law: Siyar
VII Research Papers (No. 1-2), (2007), pp. 923-940

By Muhammad Munir, Assistant Professor of Law at the Department of Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad.

Dr. Siddiqui & Recent Faculty Appointments

What is the basic difference between the way Dr Ghazi used to run IIUI and Dr Siddiqui does now? There might be a number of differences and answer may differ from person to person but the most important difference that sets both apart is their attitude towards disposing off the day to day affairs of IIUI. People who are experienced in the affairs of IIUI would testify that Dr Ghazi used to take much longer in deciding about matters and marking the files. The eye-witness accounts of Ghazi sahib’s marking practices show that Dr Ghazi would keep on classifying the files that he would inspect for marking. He would mark some and leave some unmarked. He would keep some files after marking on his right side and some on his left. Some of the files would go to the ground and some would go to one of the cabinets. Dr Siddiqui is very straight in this matter. He must be appreciated for his uprightness as well as his quickness in deciding about the files that come to him and he does not leave his office until all the files of the day are marked and returned. Now in this quickness, there is a possibility that some decisions are not as sound as others but in all honesty, it is better than never deciding the matters.

Dr Siddiqui should also be appreciated for developing the physical infra-structure of IIUI in terms of accommodations for students as well as faculty blocks. It would have a long term impact on the expansion of IIUI in future. Similarly, the way he upgraded the posts of IIUI faculty as per the decision of HEC is also worth appreciating. One of the recent actions of Dr Siddiqui for which we want to pay him a tribute and which has raised the eyebrows of many at IIUI is the appointment of some faculty members as full professor in BPS 21. We think that the faculty should also join us in appreciating Dr Siddiqui’s bold decision. We think it is for the first time in the history of IIUI that some members of the teaching faculty have seen their rise to a scale that was earlier the sole monopoly of simple graduate bureaucrats. The IIUI faculty is also aware how people on the administrative side in IIUI with a lowly qualification rose to grades higher than many teachers. So in the context of such examples, the faculty at IIUI should be happy and they should also try to improve their qualification and publish papers which are a prerequisite for such promotions and use the recent promotions as a precedent for their case.

This is not to suggest in any way that merit should be trampled at IIUI. Any promotion bypassing merit must be condemned. As far as we have been able to investigate, we believe that the two recent appointments in the department of Computer Science (Professor Muhammad Sher) and department of Law (Professor Farkhanda Zia) appear to be in accordance with the merit. Those interested to see the works of Muhammad Sher, please check the following link:

http://www.av.tu-berlin.de/?sher

The case of Farkhanda Zia is more interesting in the sense that she is a graduate of IIUI who has made her mark in the legal world by publishing research in internationally reputed journals. Faculty of Shari’ah and Law and IIUI should be proud of her and we believe that she has been rightly rewarded. Some of the following links and papers demonstrate her ability and skills to publish:

http://lsr.nellco.org/uconn/cpilj/papers/32/

http://perseus.herts.ac.uk/uhinfo/library/c90671_3.pdf

Farkhanda Zia-Mansoor, “The dilemma of child soldiers: Who is responsible?” published by King’s College Law Journal (Summer 2005)—(35th item)
http://www.cameronmay.com/store/index.php?ProductID=92

Farkhanda Zia Mansoor, "Exploitation of child domestic labourers: the limits
of the current law", International Journal of Discrimination and the Law,
2006, 8(3), 169-189?

WTO Obligations And Opportunities: Challenges of Implementation / Editors, Koen Byttebier And Kim Van Der Borght ; Associate Editors, Jan Wouters & Farkhanda Zia Mansoor.

We hope that Dr Siddiqui would not hesitate rewarding other IIUI faculty who fulfil the conditions for a specific post and the faculty members would consider it an incentive for them.

IIU students continue to hold protests

IIU students continue to hold protests

University president denies all accusations

Monday, August 11, 2008 Myra Imran Islamabad

Courtesy: The News, http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=129419

Female students of Usooluddin (Islamic Studies) Department at the International Islamic University (IIU) continue to hold regular protests on the campus over frequent changes being made in the faculty and course schemes.

Alleging that such moves were part of a strategy to introduce a specific religious mindset within the department, the students told ‘The News’ that contract of about seven senior teachers had either been terminated or they were transferred to other departments in the past 12 months.

"Most of these teachers were funded by foreign institutions and were masters in their respective fields,” said one of the students.

Naming some of the teachers, the protesting students said that the most recent case involved Professor Suhail Hassan who was transferred despite having served the department for 20 years. He was said to be quite popular among students.

Similarly, contracts of Professor Nizamuddin Nafeh and Professor Tahir Mahmood, were not renewed. Also on that list were professors Manshavi, Abdul Tawwab, Dr. Fazal Elahi and Dr. Aziz ur Rehman.

The students claimed that Professor Hassan was notified of his transfer while out of town and that too in the middle of a semester. “The faculty of our department was not informed of the change for several weeks,” they said.

They thought that the move was aimed at reducing the number of principled teachers from the Academic Council, a 60-member body that rules on academic matters. The protesting girls pointed out that since the university was facing financial problems, therefore the management would never be able to hire teachers of the same calibre from its own resources. Young teachers with no experience or foreign ones were appointed in place of known religious scholars, they said.

They alleged that classes comprising boys and girls were also taking place in the Urdu Department despite the IIU being a declared non co-education institution.

The students were also angered by the increase in annual fee that has almost been doubled compared to last year’s. They believed that the administration also planned to abolish specialisation at the bachelor’s level.

The series of changes began in 2006 when the name of Usooluddin Department (USD) was changed to the Department of Islamic Studies. “The USD came into being in 1981 then why it took the management 25 years to go for name change,” asked the students.

They said that their course schemes were also changed quite frequently as compared to other departments and they were all deeply concerned over this state of affairs.

IIU President Anwar Hussain Siddiqui denied that all this was happening on the campus. “We changed the name of the department because it was in Arabic and therefore difficult for the common people to understand,” he said adding that both names were being used in documentations.

Sidiqui said that the teachers left when their contracts expired or their original departments called them back. He made it clear that course schemes were changed on the directives of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) and applied to all departments.

“According to these directives, 60 percent of the course matter would be directly related to the subject whereas 40 percent of it would be about general knowledge, things other than the actual subject,” he said, stressing that the aim was to enhance the knowledge base of students.

He said that the administration wanted the USD students to also know about people like Ghalib, Mir and Iqbal but a small fraction of the department wanted to run the faculty on the pattern of a madrassa. “More and more girls are joining the department from a variety of backgrounds but this narrow-minded group wants to impose its version of Islam on the department.”

Siddiqui said that almost 18,000 students were studying in the university at this point of time in different faculties and they came from a variety of backgrounds. “The course schemes are decided by the Academic Council and it is not the decision of one person,” he said.

Terming specialisation at bachelor’s level a non-issue, he said that it starts at the master’s or PhD levels in all universities.

Our Great Web Team

The web team of IIUI has a lot of marvelous things to offer to keep all of us smiling! We should not underestimate this role of web team as smiling faces are endangered species in our university and we rarely meet people here, who are happy, satisfied and energetic. So, our deep hearted tributes to those who make us smile! While thinking about starting a new series of posts on our blog under the title of “IIUI jokes & tidbits”, we come across the following “puzzle” from IIUI website which qualifies to be the first in the series.

It is a puzzle so we need your help to solve it. First, see the following two pictures (we are sorry about the quality of pictures as it is what we can get from the website).

Having seen these pictures, you would ask so what? Here we go. That was puzzle’s setting and now our “tricky” questions!

1. Can you tell us who is who in two pictures?

2. If you would say that these are pictures of Dr. Tahir Mansoori (Dean Faculty of Shariah & Law) and Dr. Yousuf Farooqi (Professor IRI), then we’ll say that it is too generic! So specify. You would perhaps say that Dr. Mansoori is on left hand and Dr. Farooqi is on right hand. Isn’t it?No…….you are wrong-we’ll shout- …absolutely wrong! How come it is possible that you are working at IIUI but you cannot differentiate between Dr. Mansoori and Dr. Farooqi?

3. What is the answer then? Of course the one which is authenticated and officially endorsed by IIUI on its website. You should not believe in hearsay and it is quite likely that your personal information is flawed, especially when it comes to “official” information. The official information on IIUI website reveals that Dr. Mansoori is on right hand! No question and arguments please and if you want us to cite an authentic source, please visit: http://my.iiu.edu.pk/Faculties/Shariaandlaw/tabid/171/Default.aspx

Rest, we’ll also request you to intimate both Dr. Mansoori and Dr. Farooqi as well about this “change” which is perhaps “made” and “notified” by the competent authority because we have never seen a notification in our university which is issued without the orders of competent authority.

Bravo IIUI!
Bravo our web team!; and
Bravo Dr. Mansoori and Dr. Farooqi!

Update on 12-08-08

After our post, the picture of Dr Yusuf Farooqi has been removed from the website. But an important question to be asked here is that who authorizes the uploading of the material on IIUI website. Is there a prior approval before a change is done on the website or new material added. If there is no such system it is shameful. If there is a system, it must be investigated how Dr Yusuf Farooqi's picture was uploaded against the name of Dr Mansoori.

IIUI: A Dumping Ground

First of all read the following latest news item from IIUI website:

“Professor Danishmand Joins IIUI

Professor Danishmand, former Director of the Institute of Business Administration Karachi (IBA) has joined the International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI) as Dean of the faculty of management sciences (FMS). Professor Danishmand is a renowned scholar in the field of management science. He also has a very rich experience of private sector and has been managing director of several companies including Honda Motors and Pak Suzuki Motors etc. He has been managing IBA which is a pioneer and leading institution of Business Administration in Pakistan, for the last six years. He is also an old graduate of the IBA and received his advanced education from the university of southern California USA”

Welcome Professor Danishmand and we hope that he will enjoy his stay at IIUI both as a dean and faculty member. He is definitely bringing a very rich experience with him both as a corporate executive and academic administrator and we hope that our institution would benefit from his presence and leadership. Professor Danishmand can be ranked as a five star dean in Pakistan given the position of IBA among Pakistani business schools. In a modest attempt to fully acknowledge and appreciate his achievements in IBA, we googled him after today’s announcement. Our readers may find following two links interesting in this regard:

http://alumni.iba.edu.pk/html_files/director_interview.htm

and

http://criticiba.wordpress.com/faculty-evaluation/danishmand/

For IIUI administration, we’ll again raise the same questions which we have floated earlier in several posts on this blog and that is all about rationale and modus operandi through which such crucial decisions are made at IIUI. Recently we have seen a firing boom season in the university where contracts of many beginners and mid-career faculty members were terminated mainly because of financial crisis. It is beyond the apprehension of an ordinary prudent man that what savings you are making by firing those who are not getting substantial share in the resources pie? On the other hand, administration is still keen to hire a few high profile people against lofty salary packages. Here the argument is not in fact against the credentials or potential of a person who is recruited (though it can be in certain cases). It is mainly about the duality of policies which university administration sounds out when it comes to allocations of financial resources to regular faculty of IIUI. If you don’t have resources then there should be a uniform approach for every body and every department regardless of the fact that some are generating more money than others as university is not as such a profit making institution. It is one of the prime responsibilities of the administration to create an equitable and uniform working environment in the institution.

We have yet another concern about these appointments and that’s for purely academic reasons. We wonder that why IIUI is rapidly becoming a “dumping” ground of retired and in some cases redundant people? We are sorry to mention few names here but it is all about it: Start from Professor Farhat Mujtaba and the keep on counting and you will find Professor Qaisra Alvi, Dr. Javed Ahsan, Dr. Khurram Qadir, until recently Dr. Siddiq Shibli & Mr. Amanullah and now Dr. Fateh Muhammad Malik too! We are really admirer of at least couple of them but the point is so simple and that is about the driving force. If there is no “force” and “drive” in the leadership then you can imagine about the miserable condition of that institution and so is our case. Apparently Professor Danishmand is a non-PhD though he went abroad for this purpose but there is no mention of successful accomplishment of his degree (on this point an interesting parallel can be drawn with outgoing Dean, Mr. Amanullah!). It is not that a PhD brings wonders and readymade solutions but the institutions try to follow the best practices and we at IIUI have failed here too. It is strange that why we could not appoint a young, dedicated, energetic and visionary person as dean who can set long term reform process in the Faculty of Management Sciences?

Muslehuddin Trust: who is who?

This blog team has a permanent interest in the affairs and operations of Muslehuddin Islamic Trust and we have earlier blogged here and here in this regard. Despite the fact that many people have indeed benefited from the Trust's funding to pursue their higher education both within and outside Pakistan but there is a notorious silence about the Trust's affairs and management.

We have earlier noted that IIUI administrative bosses (previously Dr. Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi and now Dr. Anwar Siddiqui) always narrated stories about the shameful behaviour of some of the Trust's beneficiaries who had allegedly secured funding from the Trust and executed bonds but they never turned up fulfilling their legal and moral obligations. Reportedly some of the "shining stars" and "young academicians" are among the people who accomplished their doctoral degrees from European and American universities and subsequently breached their contractual obligations with the Trust. It is obviously one side of the story which our bosses are frequently sharing with the academic community as a principal reason for the failure of Muslehuddin Trust. We don't know if there are other facts beyond this as nothing is known about the Trust, its trustees, operations, management, beneficiaries etc. We'll be very happy to explore more about the Trust and its affairs.

There are certain immediate questions in this regard:

1. Can you help us identifying the people who are Trust's beneficiaries? Names, where are they and what are they doing? How many of them ever considered looking back to the Trust's affairs and their obligations?

2. Who are the trustees? We possibly know about a few names: Dr. Ghazi, Dr. Siddiqui, Dr. Zafar Ishaq Ansari and Professor Khrshed Ahmad. This is even a hearsay because it is hard to find a source of authentic information about the Trust. What is happening with the Trust these days?

3. Is there any funding left or all swallowed by genius "crooks" as per Ghazi sb and Dr. Siddiqui's version of the story?

It would be great if our readers can help us exploring these questions!