entrepreneur

The rise and fall of innovation in the Muslim world Going back to the past to save the future. Solutions to Encourage Commercial Growth in The Middle East The proud, Muslim history is one in which commerce and engagement with other cultures were part of the Muslim Empire culture – a part of the fabric of everyday life. There was a strong merchant class that encouraged entrepreneurship. The institutions that once created an empire that spread from Spain to the borders of China have, over time, become dysfunctional. The reason for this is that commerce changed from personal to impersonal exchange. No longer were life-long business agreements made on a handshake as they were in the time of Ismail Abu Taqiyya. Governments, religious institutions, educational systems, media and other driving forces must take a more pro-active stance in (1) stabilizing political environments to encourage internal commercial growth and investment capital from global partners and () providing an effective means of pooling fiscal resources to enable a concept to become a company. With the advent of the world wide web, the impersonal, “corporate” mentality toward innovation is under strong pressure to change. Today, through the use of digital technology, virtual companies exist only on the world wide web (W). These companies employ technology to facilitate such common activities as: The ability of new businesses to grow through outsourced service providers will only leave the Middle and Near East further behind the technology curve. • On-line conferencing • Distance learning • Real-time collaboration across numerous time zones • Order capture and order fulfillment (Client Relations Management, or CRM) Today, in a global economy, business is impersonal, further inhibiting commercial growth in the region. Islamic law, while promoting the spirit of entrepreneurship, fails to develop the means to pool resources on a large scale. Entrepreneurs and innovators require financial support, which in turn, puts Muslim venture capital at risk. Islamic law does not adequately address the creation of a “corporate” mentality. In fact, just the opposite is true. TheIslamicconceptsoffatalismandbid’ahavebecome encultured over the past centuries, diminishing the ambitions of potential entrepreneurs of Muslim faith.This is not the age of bid’a. If the nations of the Middle and Near East reject innovation, they will fall further and further behind, finding it increasingly difficult to compete in a technologically advanced, world-wide marketplace. This requires a fundamental change in Islamic teaching, placing more emphasis on religious teachings that encourage entrepreneurship and, yes, risk taking. • Technical support • Outsourcing to significantly lower operating costs • The use of talent and expertise on an “asneeded” basis • The free exchange of concepts, theories and ideas through open forums • The development of profitable, on-line businesses such as Amazon.com and Google.com Indeed, if the commercial decline of the Islamic culture is based on a failure to provide for the pooling of capital and human resources on a global scale, this decline will only hasten in the years ahead.The ability of new businesses to grow through outsourced service providers will only leave the Middle and Near East further behind the technology curve. Now is not the time to debate the place of bid’a in Islamic culture.Today is not the day to discuss the impact of fatalism on Middle Eastern commerce.These effects can be seen clearly and provide the solid, empirical evidence needed for institutions to recognize the need to join this advance in technology and to embrace the potential it delivers to the region. 10 www.digitaldaya.com