Bouquets and Briclbats

A couple of years ago, Dr. Jamal Badawi and I published a book entitled ‘Leadership: An Islamic Perspective.” I am now following up on this book, Insha Allah.


I am writing a new book on leadership in Islam, and I would like to include examples of situations where Muslim business leaders have referred to the model embodied by Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) to guide their behaviour. The example should be an action or a decision that the CEO or business leader took and the hadith or an incident from the life of our Prophet (Pbuh) that inspired the CEO or business leader to act that way. I request readers of Islamic Voice to help me in this regard by sharing their experiences or anecdotes that Muslim business executives or community leaders have related to them. I would appreciate if they would kindly e-mail such anecdotes to me directly. They can disguise their names and any location if they wish to retain their anonymity.
Dr. Rafik Beekun, Professor of Management and Strategy, Managerial Sciences Dept /28, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0016, USA. beekun@scsr.nevada.edu

Rafeeq Ahmed’s letter in Islamic Voice-May 2005-”Muslims Pray in Masjids” was an eye-opener. As Muslims we should strictly abide by the Quranic principles and any form of shirk-be it small or big should be avoided. Grave or tomb worship has become a ritual among Muslims in many parts of India. But sadly we have not been able to do anything to stop this practice.

“Growing Old Gracefully” (May 2005-Islamic Voice) by M.Hanif Lakdawala was a very interesting story. Old age is part of life, but one should handle it well. There are many instances of NRI children leaving behind their old parents in India among Muslims. Loneliness and depression becomes the companion of these old parents. The once -in -a- month email or phone call from the kids abroad is what keeps these parents going. As Islamic Voice covers many contemporary issues on the community, it will be nice if your team can make a feature on Muslim NRI kids and their old Parents.

Video clippings of Saddam’s statue being pulled down in the heart of Baghdad and a frenzied Iraqi mob climbing over it in frantic jubilation (as portrayed by western media) never seem to fade away from memory. As the Iraqi leader was shown on T.V.sets, helplessly opening his mouth while U.S defense personnel tested his saliva using swabs, the Arab world watched in dismay. The Al-Ghraib prison abuses put even the horrific Nazi atrocities during World War II to shame. Then the report published in ‘Newsweek’ that a copy of the holy Quran was placed in a bathroom of Guantanamo Bay prison. And now pictures of Saddam Hussain in half pants washing socks in his cell, which appeared in a British tabloid ‘Sun’. As one could perceive it, the satanic superpower United States of America is resorting to a malicious campaign by heaping humiliation on the Arabs and besmirching their religion Islam. E-mail: sultanmohiddin@hotmail.com

I keep reading many business magazines in English and newspapers too. Most of these mainstream newspapers specially the business publications have their annual “best businessman of the year award”, “best company of the year award,” etc. It is amazing that across India, such awards do not figure Muslim names. I am sure there are plenty of Muslim men and women who are doing great work as entrepreneurs. At least the community should recognise them and credit them for their achievements through such awards.

I am a reader of Islamic Voice since 1993. I find lot of fruitful information from Islamic Voice regarding Islam and the Islamic world. But how come you are not covering the Pen Friendship column? In 1995, I have collected a prospectus of Osmania University through my pen-friend Muniruddin Zahir of Hyderabad. So this is a very useful column. So publish this too.

Islamic Voice has a secular touch. I was happy to read the article about The Pope’s Legacy in the May 2005 issue. Please do carry more articles about other faiths too like inter-religious dialogue and communal harmony. This will enhance not only the image of Islamic Voice, but also widen your readership to people of other faiths too.

Islamic Voice is a nice paper and keeps us up to date on what is happening in the world.
E-mail: adnan_jan14@yahoo.com