foundation – Hybrid Learning

KING FAISAL FOUNDATION

Batoota — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:20:55 +0000

KING FAISAL FOUNDATION. A philanthropic organization established in 1976 by the eight sons of King Faysal ibn `Abd al-`Aziz Al Sa’ud (1906-1975), who play a major role in the civic and cultural life of Saudi Arabia, the King Faisal Foundation is intended to promote within Saudi Arabia and abroad all charitable endeavors that the late king strove to accomplish, namely, helping fellow Muslims, expanding Islamic da,wah (missionary activity), and fostering solidarity among Muslim states. The foundation is comprised of three distinct entities: The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, the King Faisal International Prize, and the King Faisal Foundation General Secretariat. The director general of the foundation is Prince Khalid al-Faysal, emir of ‘Asir Province, and most of the high-ranking posts of the foundation, particularly in the finance and investment section, are held by Saudis. In I99I, the research center’s library held some 63,000 books and 2,000 periodicals in sixteen languages as well as 10,300 manuscripts. The children’s library attached to the center provides a reading space for eighty children, and it holds 15,000 children’s books and serials in Arabic, English, and French. The computer search services of the center provide college students and researchers, free of charge, with full bibliographies on any topic related to the Arab world and Islam.

The King Faisal International Prize, valued at 350,000 Saudi riyals (approximately US$93,000), is awarded annually to outstanding international figures whose contributions are universally recognized in five major fields: service to Islam, Islamic studies, Arabic literature, medicine, and science. Since the inception of the prize in 1979, an average of six scholars per year, from twenty-six countries, have won this award.
In financing philanthropic projects in Islamic states, the foundation oversees a multitude of programs directed to nongovernmental institutions, particularly schools, orphanages, and hospitals. This aid is independent of any assistance programs provided to these countries by the Saudi Government. The only requirement is that such bodies must conform to the sunnah (authentic teachings) of the Prophet and be run on sound business principles.
The foundation also encourages young students and scholars from the Muslim world to pursue medical and engineering studies in advanced industrial countries. Open to both men and women, most scholarships have gone to Muslim students from countries other than Saudi Arabia. In I99I, forty students received full scholarships; another twenty-two had already graduated and returned to their home countries.
Structurally, the foundation’s secretariat is divided into two main divisions: the investment section and the programs and research section. A steering committee coordinates the work of the two divisions. The foundation’s assets amounted to $332 million in 1991. Its holdings include a large shopping mall in Riyadh, one residential building, two high-rise office buildings, a fivestar international hotel, a supermarket, and a modern boarding school. The foundation is also developing two more shopping centers in the southern Saudi cities of Abha and Khamis Mushayt. In addition, the investment section actively deals in shares, stocks, and bonds, and it holds partnerships in some business and touristic ventures in eastern Saudi Arabia. Earnings from these investments in the past fourteen years were directed toward financing some ninety-nine projects in twentyseven countries. In 1991, total earnings amounted to $18 million, half of which was spent on programs and projects and one-fourth on administration; the remaining quarter was kept as a reserve and for the upkeep and maintenance of existing facilities.
[See also Da`wah, article on Institutionalization; Saudi Arabia.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The foundation publishes a multitude of pamphlets, a newsletter, and an annual report, mostly in Arabic. It also publishes a monthly Arabic cultural journal, Al -faysal, with a circulation of twenty-two thousand. The foundation commemorated its tenth anniversary by the publication of two books in Arabic reviewing its accomplishments. Few articles about the foundation’s work are available in English.
SALEH ABDUL-REHMAN AL-MANI`

ISLAMIC FOUNDATION

Batoota — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 00:55:33 +0000

ISLAMIC FOUNDATION. Established in 1973, the aims of the Islamic Foundation are to encourage research into the implementation of Islam in the modern world, to project the image of Islam in Britain and Europe, and to meet the educational needs of Muslims, especially young people. To implement these objectives, the foundation works with young people and publishes research, especially in economics and about issues of Islam in the modern world, Christian-Muslim relations, and Muslim Central Asia.
The foundation came into being primarily at the initiative of a Pakistani Muslim economist, Professor Khurshid Ahmad, who was a leading figure in the Jama’at-i Islam! of Pakistan. Ahmad was the foundation’s first director, serving until he returned to Pakistan to become minister of planning soon after President Muhammad Zia ul-Haq came to power. He was succeeded by Khuram Murad, another leading member of the Jama’at-i Islami. Both men have since become deputy amirs of the organization. The current director is Dr. Manazir Ahsan, who is not a member of the Jama`at. The foundation is registered as an educational institution under the British law governing organizations with charitable purposes.
Initially housed in a small office in Leicester, United Kingdom, the foundation moved into an eighteenthcentury mansion in 1976. At the end of the 1980s it bought a small conference center from the regional health service, some ten miles north of Leicester. This Markfield Da’wah Centre now houses the foundation and hosts courses and conferences.
The foundation traditionally has relied for its funding on gifts from wealthy individuals around the Muslim world, with some particularly large donations coming from Saudi Arabia; such a donation allowed it to establish the Markfield Centre. More recently, the flow of such donations has abated, and the foundation has resorted to more intensive fundraising methods.
In its early years, the foundation was involved in establishing about twenty mosques and community centers. It owns the buildings of the Sparkbrook Islamic Centre in Birmingham, although it has handed over the running of its programs to the United Kingdom Islamic Mission. The foundation was the first Muslim organization in Britain to establish cooperative relations with higher education institutions, working with the then Leicester Polytechnic on multicultural education and with the University of Leicester on Islamic economics. Ahmad played a leading role in the establishment of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham.
During the 1980s the foundation increasingly concentrated its efforts on publishing; today most members of its permanent staff are working in this area. Regular bulletins on Muslim Central Asia and on Christian-Muslim relations have been published, and a series of books for Muslim children continues to appear. The Foundation has published a range of books on Islamic subjects, including theoretical works and those relating to various particular regional situations. Islamic economics has been a particular area of concentration, and, currently, a multivolume English translation of Abu al-a’la Mawdudi’s large Qur’anic commentary is being published (1990-)
The foundation has taken the lead in encouraging Muslim youth organizations, and it has a close relationship with the National Association of Muslim Youth. The wider Muslim community perceives it as being an expression of the Jama’at-i Islami, although the links to the Pakistani movement are personal rather than organic. While large parts of the Muslim community thus have an ambivalent view of the foundation (when it is not one of outright rejection), outside the community the foundation has established itself as a major representative of Islamic interests and expression, especially in educational circles.
[See also Great Britain.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Islamic Foundation. The Islamic Foundation: Objectives, Activities, Projects. Markfield, England, n.d. Nielsen, Jorgen S. Muslims in Western Europe. Edinburgh, 1992. See Pages 43-51, 134-136.
JORGEN S. NIELSEN

HAMDARD FOUNDATION

Batoota — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 06:46:26 +0000

HAMDARD FOUNDATION. The name Hamdard or “companion in pain” was given by Hakim `Abdulmajid to the herb shop he established in Delhi in 19o6. The Greco-Arab system of treating illness with herbs was an established practice among Muslims and was used at Hamdard. When `Abdulmajid died in 1922, his work was continued by his family. Shortly before the partition of India in 1947 Hamdard was given the status of an Islamic waqf (an irrevocable charitable trust) by the family.

Hakeem Saeed

When Pakistan came into being on 14 August 1947, the younger son, Hakim Muhammad Saeed, migrated and settled in Karachi, where he opened the Hamdard clinic in a small room in 1948. The work expanded rapidly and attracted many physicians, both male and female. By 1953 Hamdard Pakistan had become a fullfledged pharmaceutical industry. In the same year Hakim Muhammad Said made it a waqf with a board of trustees, constituting the Hamdard Foundation of Pakistan. Hamdard clinics are now established in other major cities and towns of Pakistan. Treatment is inexpensive, and free for the poor. Under Sa’id’s leadership the Hamdard Foundation has expanded; it currently holds assets worth several billion rupees and employs a staff of several thousand.
The Hamdard Foundation derives its inspiration from Islam as expressed in the Qur’an and exemplified by the life of the prophet Muhammad. Islam is interpreted as an eternal code of life based on love, equality, and respect for all human beings that urges believers to avoid extremes, practice temperance, spend generously on charity, avoid amassing wealth, seek knowledge, and promote health. The Hamdard Foundation bases its practice on eastern medical philosophies. It declares as its primary mission the worldwide propagation of the scientific nature of eastern medicine, including the Arab, Indian, and Chinese systems, and its development in the light of modern research. In this connection the foundation sponsors lectures, scientific conferences, the creation of international networks of scholars, and the publication of journals and pamphlets. The Hamdard Foundation also publishes scholarly books, academic journals, children’s magazines, and story books.
International recognition of and support for various Hamdard initiatives in the field of medicine, culture, and education have been growing, with the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the World Health Organization among its supporters. In 1983 Hamdard laid the foundation stone of a new city called Madinat al-Hikmat (“city of knowledge”) about 27 kilometers from Karachi. This visionary project aims at the development of a self-contained residential educational complex for men, women, and children. It will promote learning in every branch of knowledge. In 1991 a charter was granted by the government of Pakistan to establish Hamdard University. The Bayt al-Hikmat Library contains more than half a million books in addition to specialized journals, newspapers, and magazines, with the capacity to house three million volumes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
D’Silva, Lily Anne, and Masood Ahmad Barakatee. Hakim Mohammad Said: Profile of a Humanitarian. Karachi 1989. Good sketch of the multifarious activities of the founder of the Hamdard Foundation of Pakistan.
Madinat al-Hikmat, City of Education, Science, and Culture: The Vision and Reality. Karachi 1990. Useful presentation, with pictures, graphs and tables, of the Hamdard Project to build a new city of learning outside Karachi.
ISHTIAQ AHMED

AL-KHOEI BENEVOLENT FOUNDATION

Batoota — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 07:34:36 +0000

Established in the late 1980s, the Al-Khoei Benevolent Foundation has centralized religious centers and institutions for Islamic education that were acquired through pious donations managed by the late Ayatollah Abol Qasem al-Kho’i (Abu al-Qasim Khu’i, d. 1992) in his position as the marja` al-taqlid (supreme juridical authority) of the majority of Shi`i Muslims. Practical considerations prompted lay and religious leaders among al-Kho’i’s Persian and Arab followers in Europe and North America to seek the establishment of the foundation to supervise the large number of religious endowments and other tangible and intangible assets that had been managed by al-Kho’i’s wukala‘ (personal representatives). Shi`i religious law recognizes the marja` as the superintendent of religious assets as long as he lives. In the absence of any established legal procedure for the succession of juridical authority, there is no provision to ascertain legal conveyance of these assets to the subsequent marja` acknowledged by the Shi’is. The convention is to treat these assets as pious endowments supervised by appointed trustees or by the newly created ministry of awqaf (sg., waqf; pious endowments) in various Muslim countries.
An additional concern that prompted the advisers of al-Kho’i to venture into this innovative idea of creating a multinational foundation in the name of the mar ja` himself, who was not the actual owner of the trust, was that foreign assets were registered in accordance with laws in nations that did not recognize the jurisdiction of Islamic law or the supervisory role of the ayatollah in governing them. This left the Shi’i public trust in the West open to embezzlement by even the ayatollah’s close family members.
The trustees appointed by al-Kho’i himself included highly successful businessmen. They expanded the mandate of the foundation by registering it as a nonprofit corporation, empowering it to solicit, raise, accept, hold and administer, invest and reinvest, the funds and other property. Hence, the foundation has expanded its activities in many parts of the world and has successfully established centers and schools in London and New York. It has also engaged in humanitarian activities that include feeding Afghani war victims and digging wells in East Africa, as well as voicing concerns related to the violation of the human rights of Shfis in Iraq with the UN.
The danger of the foundation turning into a family empire was not unforeseen by the community in general. Following a dispute in the New York branch of the foundation in 1990-1992, which led to a court case in the County of Queens, New York, the board amended the foundation’s constitution to protect its charitable nature, recognizing the need to hand over its supervision to the next leader in the event of al-Kho’i’s death. However, this new leader had to be recognized and confirmed by three-quarters of the foundation’s trustees. Such a provision implied a clear departure from the traditional role of the supreme juridical authority as the trustee of the Hidden Imam, as conceived in Shi`i jurisprudence. The trustees of the foundation thus reserved the legally and traditionally recognized supervisory role for themselves while assigning the ceremonial role of a patron to the marja`. From the viewpoint of the Shi’i community, this development in the empowerment of the trustees raises serious questions regarding the limited authority invested in the marja` by the shariah and the ever-expanding mandate claimed by the foundation in the name of the marja`. There is also an increasing awareness among Shi’is (whose donations the marja` merely manages) about their right to know how their pious donations are being distributed among competing needs and priorities of various sectors of the transcultural and transnational followers of the ayatollah. The Western notions of public accountability and democratically created institutions in management of religious donations are not part of the traditional religious endowments among Muslims.
Al-Kho’i’s death in 1992 left the Shi’i community with an evident vacuum in religious leadership. It also created a crisis for the board of trustees, who were caught between a traditional autocratic vision and modern public accountability. After much deliberation and in order to establish its credibility among the followers of the late Ayatollah Kho’i, the board decided to acknowledge the next marja` as its ceremonial patron in August 1993 In the absence of any other universally recognized leader of the Shi’is, the board requested Ayatollah Muhammad Riza Gulpaygani (d. 1993) of Iran to assume the newly created post of “patron of the Foundation.” However, Gulpaygani’s death has once again left the foundation without a legitimating patron. It is likely that Ayatollah Muhammad al-Sistani of Najaf, a disciple of Kho’i and the board’s favored candidate for the post, will assume the patronage. Public accountability to the plurality of Shi’is in the West still remains a disputed matter. So far, following the traditional method of the marja` (who never publicized accounts because of the extreme trust in which he was held by his followers), the foundation has not made accounts public. The only thing to date made public in the organ of the foundation, Al-Noor Magazine (August 1993) is the list of centers and schools, both secular and religious, that it has established in various cities around the world. Moreover, although the foundation has as its objective representation of Shi`i interests worldwide, its exclusive goals are defined and executed by the board, which is made up of the followers of the late Ayatollah Kho’i from Iran and Iraq, including his two sons.
[See also Marja` al-Taqlid; Waqf; and the biography of Kho’i.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The constitution of the Al-Khoei Foundation is contained in Petition No. 18915/90, filed with the Supreme Court of the State ofNew York, Eleventh Judicial District,CountyofQueens. For other information on the foundation, consult the following:
Al-Khoei Foundation: Concepts and Projects.London, 1992. Informational publication distributed by the head office of the foundation. AI-Noor [Al-Narl, no. 27 (August 1993). Arabic-language journal issued by the AI-Khoei Foundation inLondon. This particular issue lists all the centers and schools founded and administered by the foundation.
ABDULAZIZ SACHEDINA

AGA KHAN FOUNDATION

Batoota — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:32:58 +0000

A private, nondenominational, philanthropic institution established by the Aga Khan, the Isma’ili imam, in 1967 to translate “the Muslim ethic of care and compassion for those of the society in greatest need,” the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) was conceived as an extension and outreach to the developing world by way of relating Islam’s humanitarian philosophy to issues of modern development that arose in the diverse contexts in which Isma’iliyah and other Muslims live. In this way, the ideals and ethics of Islam could act as a springboard to address economic and social needs in an integrated manner for the benefit of Muslims and non-Muslims. The Isma`ili community has been the catalyst for the development of the AKF’s program, building on its traditions of voluntary service, self-reliance, and commitment to the leadership of the imam. Funding for AKF’s activities is provided by the imam, the community, as well as by international and local donor agencies, foundations, partners, and many other individuals.
Since its inception, AKF has become a recognized international development agency with programs in four continents: Africa (Kenya,Tanzania, andUganda); Asia (India,Pakistan, andBangladesh); Europe (Portugaland the United Kingdom); and North America (Canada and the United States). Its global presence has become one of its greatest strengths, enabling it to bridge the developed and developing worlds. The AKF’s headquarters are in Geneva, and the various country units pursue common objectives under the guidance of a board of directors chaired by the Aga Khan.
Although it is a funding agency, AKF also involves itself in the formation, development, and replication of projects, enabling local populations to create and manage sustainable institutions that are sensitive to cultural values as well as development needs. The current portfolio of projects reflects the following major thematic concerns:
1. Health: improving the health status of the poor and providing financial support and access to primary health care. AKF helped finance studies that led to the development of the now widely used cereal-based oral rehydration solutions to treat diarrhea among newborn infants and is focusing on developing health systems that address the needs of underserved and poor communities.
2. Education: the emphasis has been on addressing the needs of young children and improving the quality of schools through better teacher training and involvement of families and communities. Its approach integrates physical, cultural, spiritual, and cognitive dimensions into the learning process.
3. Rural Development: such programs inPakistan,IndiaandBangladeshhave been among AKF’s major initiatives, transforming degraded environments while generating income and institutional development and alleviating poverty in rural areas. These models have been judged by various international agencies to be suitable for replication in other developing countries.
The thematic areas attempt to integrate concerns that cut across all of the projects: community participation, strengthening of nongovernmental organizations, women’s and family development, the environment and human-resource development and sustainability. One of AKF’s foremost goals is to build what the Aga Khan has called “an enabling environment,” where individuals as volunteers and the private and public sectors contribute jointly to create favorable conditions for building permanent capacities in developing societies.
The following examples of projects in Asia andAfrica, respectively, illustrate the nature of AKF’s approach to program development and to improving socioeconomic status by action at the grassroots level.
The highly successful rural development program in the mountainous northern areas of Pakistanhas been internationally recognized for its innovative and effective approach. In its first phase, the program was able to motivate diverse Muslim communities in the area to form village organizations and women’s organizations on a nonsectarian basis, to build consensus on program development, to act as a channel for the use of collective savings, to utilize grants for the building of small infrastructures, and to train men and women in farming techniques, organization, and fiscal responsibility. Over a decade, this model of participatory community organization has transformed dramatically the economy and the lives of the people of the region, creating a framework for genuine grassroots development and strong community structures for its pioneering efforts to alleviate poverty among a million people in the rural areas of South Asia.
Another example involves the development of preschool programs on the East African Coast(primarily in Kenya and Zanzibar). In cooperation with parents and religious leaders, hitherto underutilized Muslim learning centers for children, which served as places for the instruction of the Qur’an, popularly known as madrasahs, are now equipped to also provide children with educational skills that are aimed at not simply complementing religious education but are responsive to their cultural, spiritual, cognitive, and total health needs. The integrated curriculum has facilitated entrance to and competence in primary school education. A teachertraining program and a resource center have been created to disseminate materials developed by Muslim women teachers, thereby playing an important leadership role in linking families and communities in education.
AKF has been particularly committed to improving the health of the poor through comprehensive primary health-care programs. By working through the Aga KhanUniversity, it has been able to develop programs in squatter settlements in Karachi,Pakistan. A new generation of health-care professionals are specifically trained to work in such poor neighborhoods. Primary health-care programs also exist inIndia,Kenya, andBangladesh. Particular attention is also paid to environmental factors in health, such as clean drinking water and sanitation.
Although AKF is an autonomous institution, it is now a partner in the emerging Aga Khan Development Network, with which it shares a common philosophy and approach to development. Among the other major institutions with which it collaborates actively in the development network are theAga KhanUniversity, the Trust for Culture, the Fund for Economic Development, and the Health and Education Services. Their differing but complementary programs, reflect a breadth of interest that has given the network and the AKF the reputation of a unique and extremely effective global Muslim philanthropic organization.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aga Khan FoundationCanada: An Institutional Review.Toronto, 1991.
Aga Khan Foundation International Strategy, 1991-1999.Geneva, 1992. Overview of the history, mission, and program directions. The. Aga Khan Rural Support Program inPakistan: A Second Interim Evaluation.Washington,D.C., 1990.
Khan, S. S., and M. H. Khan. Rural Change in the Third World:Pakistanand the Aga Khan Rural Support Program.New York, 1992.
AZIM A. NANJI