1.Why is a WAQF Being Proposed for Developing Technologies Instead of a Privately Held Technology Company?
When I tell colleagues that I have come to realize the importance of creating a WAQF to develop Islamic Technologies, I often receive odd looks. Most tell me to wait and that I can find a lot of people willing to invest, and that I can still make money, why make a WAQF?
My first response is: who said that a WAQF can’t make money or that it should not? It can and it should, but for the WAQF and its supporting causes and not for those who manage it or oversee it, other than a fair and ethical compensation for their services, and for many good ethical reasons.
Second, the Muslim world is so much behind in technology development that it requires several “technology” evangelists to promote it. As a non-profit, the PIOUS WAQF, for the good and benefit of the Islamic world, will be much friendlier and better poised to promote Islamic Technologies, cooperation, and also encourage the private sector to invest in Technology as well as individual Muslims who understand the need to invest in Technology, may not be wealthy, but can contribute as little as $25 to the WAQF for a Bronze Stock Certificate.
Third, it is important that Islamic Technologies always remain in safe hands, especially with the world moving into cloud computing, where the data warehousing future is in the cloud. The concept of the WAQF helps maintain control over the developed Technologies and better keeps them in safe Muslim hands, as it jails the technologies for it cannot be sold. In essence one of the primary reasons for the WAQF is “Jailing” the Technologies and data in good trusted hands. By contrast, private investment companies might be quick to sell out for profits to non-Muslims once the Technology proves successful, as in what happened with Maktoob.com, founded by a group from Jordan, who successfully captured 16 Million users, then sold out to Yahoo for a reported $75 Million.
Fourth, by comparison to the rest of the world, with very few investments in Technology in the Muslim world, and so many investors concentrating on investing in “tangible” assets, like real estate, the Islamic world has not yet realized the pitfalls of staying away from investing in Technology, and how dangerous it has become not to invest.
In its search for second round financing for Pious Technologies, the founder was stunned to know that all the wealthy Muslims he contacted shy away from investing in Technology for they do not understand it and see it as an intangible high risk. With some exceptions like Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal investing a reported $300 Million in Twitter for a tiny stake; perhaps way more money than the total combined investments in technology companies within the Arab World.
By contrast, non-Muslim American and European investors salivated at the opportunity of investing in Pious Technologies, unfortunately, this was not something the founder Ramadan of Pious could accept for an “Islamic” company; would you hire a Priest to oversee running of a Mosque? Or would you not feel weird going to a Mosque owned by non-believers? Wouldn’t it be weird or even unacceptable if Muslims invested in promoting the Church? You know such investors don’t have on their agendas making the world Islamic friendly as a priority! All of this sounded an alarm to founder Samer Ramadan who realized the need to find a solution that can help the Islamic world innovate in technology but maintain ownership. The WAQF idea presented itself as a necessary mean.
Fifth, Pious Technologies was created as a private company with the intent of the founder Samer Ramadan to reinvest all his proceeds in further advancing technologies in the Muslim world, and since this intent is also realized with the non-profit PIOUS WAQF, it was a no-brainer for Samer to go the route of creating the PIOUS WAQF.
Sixth, with a private company, there is high demand for a large return on investment and an exit strategy because the primary intent is profit. With investors wanting such high-returns, any returns that are only able to sustain operations, maintain and advance the technology, but do no realize major profits and dividends or create a solid exit strategy, are not inviting. Most Investors I met with, like to treat an investment as an investment, and a charity as a charity, and do not see that they can mix the two. In the case of the HajjMabrur.net project, a good, acceptable business plan for a private investor suggests charging $10 per pilgrim for Hajj Management, by contrast, under the PIOUS WAQF, a good plan would be to charge $3-5 per pilgrim, encourage wider usage, and allow more pilgrims to benefit from high-quality Hajj Management.
Seventh, as a non-profit WAQF, the PIOUS WAQF can engage the cooperation of Muslims from all around the world in joining hands and contributing in whatever resource is required for such a great cause in our times. Something a private company would not be able to do to day in the Muslim world.
Eights, and last but not least, depending on which country my colleagues live in, I either receive encouragements or discouragements. That was alarming and caused me to better dig behind the reasons and see if the reasons behind the discouragements can be overcome, or that perhaps something should be done about it, for I know the concept of a WAQF is a Sunnah and is a right thing to do, as every Sahabi who had any wealth to speak of had created at least one or more WAQF.
I also recently learned that my own Ramadan Oglu family who ruled the Ramadan Ogullary Emirate in middle Turkey from 1352 to 1608 A.D. and based in Adana, had created 19 different Waqfs that remain thriving to this date. So perhaps I am just following in the footsteps of my forefathers. And I am proud to say that Ottoman documents show that the Ramadans were the first to ever establish a Waqf and making the “Nazer” (Director) of the Waqf a Woman.
A colleague of mine who lives in Lebanon would feel sorry for me, for no matter how ethical and honest I am, he/she would discourage me out of fears that people would still think and bad-mouth me for creating a WAQF to sniff-off people's money and strike it rich hiding behind a charity. But, a colleague who lived in Malaysia, would encourage me to create the WAQF as the management guidelines and monitoring rules for Awqaf in Malaysia have come a long way and Malaysia has built a great reputation for AWQAF management in employing a very strict and transparent management system.
As it turns out, the non-transparent management system of Awqaf in Lebanon and several other countries built distrust with the system and perhaps opened the opportunity for certain Awqaf oversee directors to give themselves the right to pocket non-righteously from the fund or be seen as such. This discovery has given me all the more reason to create the global WAQF, first, to specifically create it in Malaysia, and with Allah’s help (swt) to work diligently on making it the most transparent WAQF possible, in hopes it can be a good example for others to follow, and perhaps re-educate the public on the importance of the WAQF and that it can still be done right especially if other countries follow in the footsteps of Malaysia and its guidelines.
