NJ: Please do.
I see a continuum of civil society layers, if you will, in which new grass-root layers continuously arise in reaction to new needs when existing, higher ranks face capacity constraints or the new needs are outside of their mandates or priorities. As Hazar Imam has said, "the role of civil society is to complement government efforts, not compete with them."
ME: We tend to think of civil society as something that engages with society at large, working in co-operation with governments. However, I think this view is far too narrow and limiting: I view civil society as the constituents of a community applying themselves to address their needs instead of waiting for the existing bodies or institutions -- whether governments or, in our case, community institutions -- to address them. In other words, I see a continuum of civil society layers, if you will, in which new grass-root layers continuously arise in reaction to new needs when existing, higher ranks face capacity constraints or the new needs are outside of their mandates or priorities. As Hazar Imam has said:
The role of civil society is to complement government efforts, not compete with them.
And so to me civil society is about the citizenry having the will and the confidence to step up to the plate and take action when it is clear something needs to be addressed.
Consider, for example, our own institutions, not just the AKDN institutions, but also our various community boards and councils, from a local library committee right upto the LIF. From Hazar Imam's vision of civil society, as I understand it, these are all civil society institutions. Some, like our schools and hospitals, arose over a hundred years ago, in East Africa and elsewhere, in response to needs we faced as a community but which were not adequately met by existing national institutions. Others, like our community boards and councils, help and offer the infrastructure to enable us to organise ourselves so we can help ourselves. However, like all institutions, as ours matured they were tasked with specific mandates and became unavoidably bureaucratic to some extent -- this is not a criticism but just the reality of institutions as they grow. And, in particular, they develop inevitable capacity constraints. When institutions reach this level of maturity, they automatically become less responsive to new needs due to their own inertia and that is when the opportunity arises for the constituents of the community to forge a new, grassroots layer of civil society to address those unmet needs.
NJ: And that's when the people can step in?
[T]here is a very crucial underpinning to this layering process, without which it risks degenerating into a free-for-all: It is essential and necessary that a relationship of mutual recognition exists between a civil society organisation and the layer above it. To me the nature of this relationship is best characterised by what I call "co-operative autonomy."
ME: Exactly. However, there is a very crucial underpinning to this layering process, without which it risks degenerating into a free-for-all: It is essential and necessary that a relationship of mutual recognition exists between a civil society organisation and the layer above it. To me the nature of this relationship is best characterised by what I call "co-operative autonomy."
What I mean by this, is that for a civil society organisation to work creatively and efficiently it needs to be autonomous from the organisation or institution with jurisdiction over it but, at the same time, it must work in co-operation with that higher authority to maintain order. So for example, AKDN institutions are autonomous yet work in co-operation with the governments under whose jurisdictions they fall. Similarly, when we engage in new private Ismaili initiatives outside of our community institutions, and create the next layer of civil society, we need to work in co-operation with our institutions. As in all partnerships, such co-operation necessarily requires mutual compromises and a mutual spirit of good-faith, respect and reasonableness. We all are aware of Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah's advices about the importance of compromise as a means to bridge differences and move forward.
NJ: Do you think our community institutions hold these notions?
ME: Yes I think they do, although perhaps not all to the same degree. Mawlana Hazar Imam has spoken of the Enabling Environment which governments must foster in order to encourage private initiative, stating in particular that:
What a sound Enabling Environment must do is to create a favourable framework in which human creativity can flourish (emphasis added).
To me this extends across all the layers civil society -- each layer of authority must create an Enabling Environment for the layer below it, only then can the creative spirit and energy of a community's constituents be unleashed without reservation and anxiety. Indeed Hazar Imam said as much in 1981:
Man is an extraordinary creature, a creation, and that assisting him to become creative, productive within his national context, is the most productive thing an institution can do (emphasis added).
I think the same applies directly to a person's communal context too and the community institutions which serve him must similarly foster Enabling Environments so creative, private initiative within that community can flourish. In fact in Gilgit, in November 1987, Hazar Imam specifically said his wish was for our Constitution to become an "enabling document" for the community. His choice of words at that time is noteworthy because remember he first coined the term "Enabling Environment" in 1982 and in 1986 convened the first Enabling Environment Conference in Nairobi. I didn't understand then what he meant by the Constitution being an "enabling document", but now I think I do. And by the way, this is a perfect example of how I find the speeches and farmans complement each other and help us understand both better.
I am committed to the two facets of the "co-operative autonomy" relationship because I am convinced of its validity. Without autonomy creativity and capacity are hamstrung and without co-operation communal order, cohesion, strength and unity are compromised, but when the two are combined -- with intelligence, mutual good faith and reasonableness -- progress can be very, very rapid. As I said before, it is self-evident the institutions can't do everything and large, monolithic structures are not the future. In 2006 at AKU, Hazar Imam said:
A vast decentralisation of decision-making is already occurring in many countries; it has the advantage of placing new responsibilities in the hands of local communities.... For the key to future progress will lie less in traditional top-down systems of command and control -- and more in a broad, bottom-up spirit of coordination and co-operation.... Social progress, in the long run, will not be found by delegating an all-dominant role to any one player -- but rather through multi-sector partnerships.
I believe these observations by Hazar Imam are as valid and applicable within the context of our community as they are to the national contexts he was commenting on. No matter what their context, whether national or communal, people's needs are the same and so institutional responsibilities are the same.
It is in all these spirits that the NanoWisdoms Archive project was conceived and operates and I believe the permission granted to it by Aiglemont is a tangible confirmation of their similar conviction to all these principles and in particular of encouraging private initiative within the community.
NJ: So you think more such private initiatives should be done?
I think those communities of people, whether religious, cultural, social, or professional, which embrace this decentralisation will, in the future, be the healthier, vibrant, more richer and most progressive communities because they will tap into and leverage the full spectrum of resources and talents at their disposal rather than limiting themselves to just what can be done through their community's institutional efforts or auspices.
ME: Absolutely. I believe that private initiatives outside of the institutional framework -- like Nano, your website [Amaana.org], Simerg, Ismaili Mail, Ashifa Asaria-Lalani's photography competition project (which by the way has the benefit of institutional support and also of theismaili.org, no doubt giving her book and website immense exposure) -- are the logical extension of the decentralisation process, Hazar Imam spoke of, to the intra-community space. I think those communities of people, whether religious, cultural, social, or professional, which embrace this decentralisation will, in the future, be the healthier, more vibrant, richer and most progressive communities because they will tap into and leverage the full spectrum of resources and talents of their community rather than limiting themselves to just what can be done through their community's institutional efforts or auspices.
My father used to quote a farman Hazar Imam made in 1959 in Tanzania where he said that there just aren't enough openings within the institutions for hundreds of volunteers, and that in the long run the jamat can do a lot more, if we really set our minds to it, outside the institutions than inside by simply reacting intelligently and conservatively to changes and using our education to move forward and support the institutions. Although the term "civil society" was not in vogue then, what Hazar Imam said is a call for the citizenry of our community to step up to the plate and address unmet needs but always working in cooperation with the institutions, that is, within what I call the co-operative autonomy framework. I find what Hazar Imam said over 50 years ago as relevant, if not more so, today given the increasing capacity constraints our institutions face and, particularly, today's breakneck pace of life.
It became clear that a very worthwhile initiative would be to set up what might be called an "Editorial Services Support Group" which could coordinate a crowd-sourced pool of talent which both AKDN and our community institutions could draw on when they need editing, translation, transcription and other language-related services.
For example in Nairobi, I have been asked by several AKDN institutions to help with copy for their literature or monthly publications and it struck me then that this must be a problem across the network both within AKDN and within our community. It became clear that a very worthwhile initiative would be to set up what might be called an "Editorial Services Support Group" which could coordinate a crowd-sourced pool of talent which both AKDN and our community institutions could draw on when they need editing, translation, transcription and other language-related services. With the Internet-based collaborative tools available today, the team could draw on volunteers globally and yet still work very efficiently with client institutions. Furthermore, seniors across the board, from retired secretaries to highly educated professionals to bilingual teachers, could be tapped to undertake this needed work and make their retirement more fulfilling. With a large enough team, the work load would be sufficiently spread out so that it is neither overbearing nor stressful for anyone.
This is a tangible, practical way, outside of institutional settings, we can increase community capacity using crowd-sourcing, which is a solid, proven approach that is here to stay and completely aligned with our ethic of volunteerism and civil society.
NJ: And so what would you advise others who want to build other archives or set up such support teams?
ME: As Nike says, just do it, but seek to do it well, to high, professional standards. As Hazar Imam has said, "uncompromising excellence is also an ethical principle." Strive for excellence so the project reflects well on the Imam and community and is worthy of its rightful place amongst our community resources and which everyone can be proud of. Furthermore, excellence will always be a prerequisite in obtaining institutional support and buy-in once a project is ready for public introduction.
I am convinced that dedicated individuals or teams, driven by personal passion and interest, can easily surpass the scope, quality and flexibility of similar projects undertaken by the institutions who cannot always dedicate the time and resources for such projects, which may take years or decades to complete. Institutional volunteers just cannot marshal the passion and dedication of an individual or team working for themselves on their own project. Even though our institutions are volunteer driven, there is quite a difference between the passion of a person (volunteer or not) tasked with a duty, which they may or may not enjoy, and the passion of someone choosing to undertake an initiative out of personal self-interest and pleasure and I think it is this conviction Hazar Imam alluded to at the 1986 Enabling Environment Conference in Nairobi, where he said "leaders of government and business must arouse in their professionals, the will and conviction of the volunteer."
Individuals or small teams are, by far, more agile, nimble and flexible than an institution because they are not encumbered with protocols and chains of command.
Individuals or small teams are, by far, more agile, nimble and flexible than an institution because they are not encumbered with protocols and chains of command. The founding team which develops the initial vision for a project can rapidly make decisions aligned with that vision, on the fly, without further approvals or delays. Small teams of like minded individuals sharing a common vision is where creativity and innovation flourishes -- where the envelope can be pushed -- because such teams don't suffer bureaucratic quagmires or unpredictable chains of approval, which more often than not quash innovation and creativity. I always think of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC) as the quintessential example of this.
In the 1970s, PARC had developed the graphical user interface and related technologies we all take for granted on our computers now: windows, the mouse, laser printers, scalable fonts, the Postscript language, Ethernet networks and object-oriented programming. Today all these form the technical foundation of personal computing, and indeed of software development as a whole. However, much to the frustration of the research team, Xerox's management could not see the value of these innovations, any one of which would have been a breakthrough achievement in and of itself for any R&D lab. As we know, when Steven Jobs visited PARC in 1979, he immediately recognised their self-evident value. A few years later the Macintosh was born and the rest, as they say, is history.
We have all experienced the gridlock committees can generate, the incoherent decisions, recommendations and solutions that often emerge from such settings, not to mention the additional remedial work they create. Committees are important to be sure and have their purpose and place, but they are rarely incubators of creativity and innovation. One deciding factor upon which that depends is whether or not they are led by people like Xerox's management or people of vision, passion, courage and confidence like Steven Jobs. The difference in outcomes given the same inputs from PARC is an example for all of us to learn from. Organizing Genius: The Creative Power Of Collaboration, by Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, is a brilliant book everyone should read.
NJ: And what kind of leadership do we have today?
[T]he question, in my mind, is not so much about how to find and engage these rare, visionary leaders, as it may be this: Do our institutional processes and cultures encourage, develop and instill in leadership, at all levels, decade after decade, the confidence and courage to not only be creative and break new ground themselves, but recognize and leverage vision and creativity regardless of where it comes from?
ME: Well visionaries are rare. Furthermore, they jealously guard their independence so they can pursue their dreams and passions. Visionary leaders are even more rare. Finding visionary leaders willing and able to serve is probably harder than trying to find a needle in a haystack! And therein lies the real problem: capacity and sustainability. Visionary leaders are needed everywhere, yet they are exceedingly hard to find. And so the question, in my mind, is not so much about how to find and engage these rare, visionary leaders, as it may be this: Do our institutional processes and cultures encourage, develop and instill in leadership, at all levels, decade after decade, the confidence and courage to not only be creative and break new ground themselves, but recognize and leverage vision and creativity regardless of where it comes from? In other words, do our institutions create the Enabling Environment which Hazar Imam stresses -- that is, "a favourable framework in which human creativity can flourish" -- both within the institutions themselves and among the community, or not? In my mind, that is the question because if they do, then vision and creative endeavour from the entire community is at their disposal to be tapped and progress is not dependant on that rare, visionary leader. Perhaps that is why Hazar Imam has stressed in his farmans that the jamat should have a clear vision of where it wants to be 10, 20 or 25 years in the future.
NJ: Have you worked on other community projects professionally for pay, or voluntary and who was your sponsor?
ME: I've not taken any paid positions nor worked for pay within the community, although I have been part of several community and AKDN projects voluntarily. Some of my recent ones were in Nairobi during the Jubilee where I designed and produced a dozen exhibition panels for AKF (Kenya) in preparation for Hazar Imam's Jubilee visit. And for the Jubilee Games I designed and produced the exhibition panels and time-line murals for both the AKDN and Kenya booths at the International Bazaar. One of my most satisfying projects was putting together a summary of the main themes from Hazar Imam speeches and interviews made between 2000 and 2007, which was then used in the Jubilee Communications Kit sent globally. That summary can be found on Nano [click here].
NJ: Can you tell us a bit about your professional background?
ME: My degree is in Computer Science and Mathematics, and I have generally been involved in software development or IT since I graduated. Currently I am Chief Software Architect at MasterFile, which develops a state-of-the-art system for litigators, investigators, academics, historians and graduate students. You may wonder what all these have in common, but they all work with large amounts of documentary evidence from which they cull critical information that is pertinent to the relevant issues related to the matter they are researching or arguing. MasterFile lets them do this efficiently. Actually it's quite unique and even Nano's organisation is modelled directly from MasterFile's design. In fact, I've used MasterFile myself for all the historical projects I've done to date.
NJ: And finally, what do you do for recreation?
ME: Well I've been an amateur astronomer for almost 40 years now.
NJ: What is it that you love about astronomy?
ME: There really isn't quite anything that will give you the same feeling as looking at the universe first hand, even through a small amateur telescope where all you may see is a small, faint smudge. The point is that what you're looking at is live -- not a Hubble image. It's the difference between going on safari and seeing a rhino for yourself, or seeing a photograph. There's just no comparison no matter how excellent the photo. Of course some are not too impressed with small, faint smudges, but as one amateur aptly said, you have to bring your imagination with you to the eyepiece. Then, when you reflect on what you're actually looking at is real, but so large and so far away that you can't even begin to understand the numbers involved, and all you can see of this enormous creation is just a tiny, faint smudge, you have a new appreciation for the grandeur of Allah's creation and just how magnificent it is -- how, from the smallest microscopic scale to the grandest universal scale, it's all connected together, layer upon layer of complexity all working in perfect harmony.
NJ: Thank you for your time and insights. It's been eye-opening, very informative and thought provoking.
ME: Thank you.
Return to Mohib Interview Page 1
His Highness the Aga Khan on Reconciling Modernity and Tradition in Islam - Wisdom par excellence!
The Importance of Spiritual Literacy By M. Ali Lakhani
Social Responsibility as Explained in the Qur'an by Dr. Ali S. Asani
A Good Word is Like a Good Tree speech by Annemarie Schimmel
Prophet Muhammad Collection
Hazrat Ali Collection
Collection of Speeches by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Ismaili Web
Collection of Interviews of His Highness the Aga Khan at the Ismaili Web
Sign our guestbook
Muslim Celebrations - Comprehensive List
| Present Imam Shah Karim Aga Khan IV| 48th Imam Mowlana Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III | Hazrat Ali | Prophet Muhammad | Ismaili Heroes | Poetry | Audio Page | History | Women's Page | Legacy of Islam | Current Events |
