ambassador sada cumber - university of vermontand islamic mysticism, and have been trodden by...

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Profile Series: #2012:1

Published March, 2012

James Jeffords Center for Policy Research @ the University of Vermont

Note on series and disclaimer: This publication series is meant to provide personal accounts of notable public officials who have served the United States at various tiers of government. The intimate narrative format is meant to give ethnographic detail which is often lacking in second-person accounts. The profile is not meant to be an endorsement of any particular perspective on the part of the James Jeffords Center or the University of Vermont and all views expressed are those of the author alone.

The James Jeffords Center at the University of Vermont

As an American land grant university, the University of Vermont has the obliga-tion to play a significant role in fundamental research, as well as evaluation and analysis of policies and programs that affect the public at large in a variety of disciplines critical to global policy-makers. In recognition of this, the University established the James M. Jeffords Center in 2009, so named to honor former United States Senator James M. Jeffords for his long and distinguished service to Vermont and the nation. The center is, however, a nonpartisan organization and works in the spirit of independence that Senator Jeffords championed during his career. The Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security is a signature project of the James M. Jeffords Center.

Edited by Hamza Balkhi

Autobiographical Profile Series of Public Officials

Ambassador Sada CumberThe first United States Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (The largest intergovernmental Muslim organization)

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James Jeffords Center for Policy Researchwww.uvm.edu/ ~jeffords

Introduction: When Streams Become Rivers

My earliest memories are of the smell of the sea, water and the sound of the waves – the beginning of a lifelong fascination with water. My father’s people were from Kharadar, the pre-colonial fishing village that Karachi has grown to encompass. Despite its amalgamation into Karachi, the village maintained its traditional way of life. I still vividly remember roaming the streets as a boy – watching the fishing fleet unload their catch in the neighborhood bazaar and listening to the fishmongers in the marketplace calling out their goods.

My father also spent time in Gwadar, a port city in Baluchistan, near Iran, which had belonged to Oman until it was purchased by Pakistan 1958. From my father, I learned about the larger Pakistan, about Balochistan, about the Iranians and Omanis – I came to understand that the world was not just the tranquility of Kharadar, it was a diverse, fascinating and very complicated place.

When I was young man, my mental and spiritual awareness began to expand and my world expanded as well. I began to explore the historically and culturally rich regions of Sindh and Punjab. Both these regions find their heritage in Sufiism and Islamic mysticism, and have been trodden by Sindh’s Abdul Latif Bhittai and Punjab’s Bulleh Shah. These men were saints, reformers and poets who contrib-uted greatly to the fabric of the two regions. The Sufi teachings deeply impacted my own spirituality, I would eventually name my own daughter Rabia, after the Sufi mystic and poet Rabia Basri. Especially moving for me was the story of Rabia Basri, climbing a mountain with a torch of fire in one hand and a pitcher of water in the other. When her disciples asked her what she was doing, she explained that the torch was to burn Heaven and the water was to extinguish Hell – because, for one who truly loved God, that love alone should be enough without the promise of Heaven’s reward or the threat of Hell’s punishment. Love needs to be selfless.

Growing up in Kharadhar (Ambassador Cumber is the smallest child in the photo)

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From Pakistan to Manhattan

As I continue to honor the civility and mysticism that gave me a spiritual direction in a small corner of America, it is being erased, stolen and strangled in Pakistan. My native land is on the path to entering a stone age where extremists who un-derstand little of true Islam are running amok. Extremist political theocrats from other nations are destroying the cosmopolitan, pluralistic society and religion of the subcontinent by encouraging sectarian and theological divides and violence. The momentum of sectarian violence has escalated to a seemingly unstoppable level. We cannot delude ourselves about the current state of affairs – the cosmopolitan, pluralistic society and mystical, enlightened Islam of the subcontinent is on the verge of becoming historical practices and too few are working to revive the plu-ralistic Sufi identity. These contemporary social developments are also important to me, not because of the memories or heritage the region holds for me – rather because these developments would go on to provide the benchmark against which I would judge my adopted country of the United States and the Pakistan I would visit later in life.

September 5, 1978 began a new chapter in my life. Newly married, my wife Mumtaz and I arrived in New York as immigrants, a few dollars and little else other than big dreams. As with most immigrants, our early years in our new homeland were challenging. Before I arrived, I was sure I knew everything about life in America. After all, we had seen it in the movies. Instead, we experienced a thousand forms of culture shock even as we faced the snow and bitter winds of our first real winter. My wife got a job working at the headquarters of the Girl Scout of America while I looked for an opportunity.

We quickly discovered that America not only allows immigrants to succeed – it en-courages, even demands, it of them. This was a stark contrast to our friends who immigrated to Europe. They were invited as guest workers who were expected to return home after helping European countries build their economies. As immi-grants in America, we were expected to become part of the melting pot and think of laying long term multi generational roots.

The Lonestar Allure

After a few months in New York City, we moved to Miami, Florida where three of my siblings were living. My wife got a job at an insurance company and we purchased a small sundry store. It was not glamorous work and we were not wealthy but the store was ours. Shortly thereafter, we sold the store and purchased a custom mailbox building business. I also worked at night as a freelance photographer in a large hotel on Miami Beach, where I processed pictures in a dark room. While in Miami, we were blessed by the birth of our daughter, Rabia.

As our commercial enterprise stabilized, I set my goals on acquiring our own photo lab – and the first opportunity presented itself in West Texas thanks to a chance meeting during a layover in Houston. The lab was in Midland, and the owner was

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living in Lubbock. I still remember the drive to Lubbock, the endless fields of bright yellow sunflowers, cultivated for their seeds and oil, stretched out infinitely towards the horizon of a perfectly blue sky. It was during this trip that I also experienced Texas-style barbeque for the first time. In Pakistan, of course, most meat is grilled and this was my first experience with the Texas tradition of cooking meat indirectly by slowly smoking it. The beef was tender, moist and tangy, one of the most deli-cious things I have ever eaten. Today, I will stop for small town barbeque every chance I get.

Eventually, I was ready to make my entrepreneurial activities to the next level. My wife and I struggled to decide between San Francisco, California and Austin, Texas. Both locations had booming economies, a high quality of life and vibrant Muslim communities. Eventually, cost of living helped us decided in favor of Austin. For the price that it would have taken to purchase one photo lab in San Francisco, I was able to buy two in Austin – and we eventually expanded to seven throughout the city.

In Midland, we were blessed by the birth of our son Ali. We named him in tribute to our faith, showing reverence to the first Imam of the Shia as well as highlighting the bravery and virtue which we hoped for our son.

While photo labs were satisfying and profitable, I wanted to move in a more chal-lenging direction. No longer content to make use of someone else’s technology, I wanted to become directly involved with developing and commercializing new technologies. Not only potentially more rewarding financially, this approach to business was more exciting and an opportunity to do something meaningful.

I sold the photo labs and used the money to establish R&D ventures focusing on photographic technologies. Surrounded by one of America’s premier high-tech clusters, I soon plunged into other areas of entrepreneurship. I have founded a dozen companies working with wireless imaging, photographic technology and web security as well strategic consulting and wealth management firms. Many of my business have been acquired by publicly traded companies such as Kodak, CISCO Systems, HP and American Greetings.

An entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to create businesses that develop new solu-tions to challenges is a fundamental part of who I am. A passion to serve my com-munity, state, nation and planet through public service, however, have also been with me from the very beginning.

Diplomatic Demeanor and Citizenship

My first exposure to diplomacy and international governance came when I was still a young boy. I remember seeing large expensive cars drive by on the streets of Karachi, often with flags waiving on them. I remember asking my mother who these cars belonged to – and being told they belonged to Ambassadors and ex-plained who ambassadors were and what they did. Though I was a young small

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child, I looked at her and said, “Mama, one day I am going to be an Ambassador and have a big car.”

As I got older, my interest in diplomacy deepened. My father was a member of the Pakistan-Japan Cultural Council and sometimes he dressed me up and took me to their events as well as cultural programs presented by other countries. I remember visiting the U.S. Embassy in Karachi several times as a child and in those days, there were no barricades or barbed wire outside. It was a different world from today, with embassies being built with the look and function of fortresses.

In 1986, I became a US citizen. It was the 100th anniversary of the completion of Statue of Liberty. Senator Bob Dole had passed a bill in congress allowing each state to send two of its exemplary residents to take their oath of citizenship in a special ceremony at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. I was privileged to be selected as one of the two from Texas. President Ronald Regan of the United States and François Mitterrand of France looked on as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Berger administered the oath. I remember waving my US flag while Justice Burger told us that now we were citizens of this great country and could apply all our God-given talents to take us to any heights because we were free and no one could tell us what to say, do or how to practice our faith.

My first years in America were spent raising my family, building my businesses and finding my place in society. Over time, I came to realize that, as a citizen in a strong democracy, I had a responsibility (not merely an option) to become a socially active citizen of my new country to be personally involved in my community, state and nation.

Principles, Religion and Politics

One of the first political question one American asks another is, “Are you a democrat or a Republican?” Answering that question required a long, gradual process of self examination for me. I was unsettled by some things I saw in the Democratic Party at the time. I was uneasy about the rapid expansion of social programs in ways that did not seem well thought out. Instead of creating an empowering environment for growth, Democrats seemed to encourage stagnation and a dependency on entitle-ments. I strongly felt that creating a segment of society dependent on government took away the dignity of the people who could become trapped in that segment. At the same time, I also felt (and still feel today) the right wing of the Republican Party was beckoning the nation to disaster. History tells us that extremist, right wing rhetoric creates fear and despondency in people. Slowly, that gives more power to fear mongers, who then grab more power and consolidate control as they take away liberty. If you look at theocracies in the world today, they all began with fear of “the other” followed by the consolidation of power by extremists and, ultimately, the loss of their population’s fundamental rights.

I also diverge from many Republicans in believing that there are small segments of society that truly need and deserve the help of society at large. In part, I think

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this believe derives from my identity as a Shia Ismaili Muslim. As an Ismaili, I am reminded of a quote by my Imam of the Time, The Aga Khan that illustrates this point:

“There are those who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink back into renewed apathy, degradation and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.”

Ultimately, I came to understand that I was a Republican – a pragmatic Republican from the centrist wing of the party. It was similarly moderate and results-oriented Republicans like Colin Powell and the Rockefeller Republicans of an earlier era with whom I most identified.

Texan Politics and Beyond

Living in Austin in the 1990s, as an entrepreneur and someone who was active in civil society, on several occasions I had the opportunity to interact with then Governor George W. Bush, and Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry. Since then, Rick Perry has become the longest serving Governor in Texas history and has also made a bid for president by putting his name into the hat for the Republican Presidential nomination.

Press conference in the Oval Office with George W. Bush, 2008

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As I crafted and cultivated my network in the Republic community and civil society at large, I was able to successfully raise my profile to a level where I soon found I was being called upon for public service. As an entrepreneur, my perspective and experience were viewed as things that could be harnessed to further catalyze the state’s growth. I was appointed to the board of the Texas Enterprise Fund, a $300 million dollar fund that is used to recruit and retain high-priority businesses in the state. I also served on the board of the $200 million dollar Emerging Technology Fund, which was created to support companies pursuing new technologies in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, clean energy and information technology. I served as a representative on the Texas Business Council, which represents more than 26,000 businesses in the Lone Star State. The Texas Business Council works closely with the state government to advocate sound economic policy as well as with educational institutions to support strong education as the foundation of a healthy economy.

I was tapped for the public service in other ways as well. For example, I was ap-pointed to the Texas Taskforce on Higher Education. While great strides have been made, Texas higher education does not yet perform at the level of Texas busi-nesses and lags other top-performing states like California, Massachusetts and Washington. These Education Taskforces seek to close this gap by working with the Texas Education Agency and other stakeholders to make recommendations strengthening higher education in the state.

Ambassadorial Trajectory

In 2005, I took my first formal step into the diplomatic world when I was appointed honorary Consul General for the Republic of Malta in Texas. I spent the next three years representing the commercial and consular interests of the island nation of Malta in Texas. Malta is also a member of the European Union.

When George W. Bush became President, Governor Perry would sometimes take me with him to visit George W. Bush during the President’s visits back to Texas. It was during such a visit that the President suggested to me that the time had come for me to give back to the nation that had been so good to me, and put my back-ground and experiences to use by becoming an Ambassador. The names of a few possible postings were tossed around but nothing came of them.

I came to understand that representing the U.S. as an ambassador to a country and dealing with bilateral issues was not for me. The U.S. has two kinds of ambas-sadors: career diplomats who have the experience to deal with host governments and politically appointed ambassadors, which is the kind I would have been. In the latter case the charge d’affaires, a career diplomat who is second in command of an embassy really runs the show. The ambassador is more of a face or figurehead. Because I wanted to get deeply involved and do real work, I knew that I would get bored as a political ambassador and never finish my three-year appointment.

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Then, at a meeting with President Bush in San Antonio, he told me, “There is an opportunity for you to do something multilateral and work with the Muslim world.” When I arrived in Washington to pursue his suggestion, I was told I was one of several American Muslims being considered to be the first U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a 57-member intergovernmental organization. OIC is somewhat like the UN or Commonwealth of Nations, but the OIC’s member nations come from Muslim-majority states. Not long afterwards, I was summoned to the Oval Office and informed that I had been received the appointment.

Security Scrutiny

One thing I later came to appreciate is how thorough the background and vetting process conducted by the FBI and other agencies is before one can assume a post such as Ambassador. I was told my background check was squeaky clean. I have, however, also learned a couple of amusing stories about it. As proof that I possessed the academic credentials I claimed, two FBI agents came and took my diplomas for examination. I later learned they had actually taken them to Karachi, to double-check them and my enrollment at the University. As Pakistanis, we know the haphazard recording keeping our bureaucracies, and the agents were out of luck trying to find thirty year old enrollment and graduation records. To be as sure as they could be, however, the FBI brought in an expert who chemically tested the age of the paper. Further, we also discovered that the FBI had been dropping by our neighbors and “casually” interviewing them about what kind of people my wife and I were, how long we had been living there, and so forth. They even wanted to know if I sometimes left the house late at night (presumably to determine if I was

First MOU signed between the United States Government and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Photo includes Dr. Ali Akbar Salehi (signing), the current Foreign Minister of Iran, and Ambassador Cumber

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having an extramarital affair). As an entrepreneur, I do sometimes leave the house very early in the morning, but only so I can catch the first flight at the airport.

These stories are funny and, of course, no one likes to feel under the microscope. This process, however, is an important one. At the end of the day, for a person to receive a Presidential appointment, the White House must be certain he or she is living a clean life, is not involved in any unethical or fraudulent activities, can pay his or her taxes and is dong so honesty, and that his or her public statements are in character with the honor and dignity of the office.

There is a very important message here for immigrants who come from regions like South Asia and Middle East. We come from countries where the hold of rule of law is much more tenuous. Back there, not only is it possible to get away with cheating, a certain amount of it is culturally condoned and even encouraged. We need to understand that, in places like America, things work differently and we need to leave that baggage at home. This is vital if we expect ourselves and our children to achieve these high level positions and appointments – especially at a time when immigrants (and sad to say, especially Muslims) are often the targets of increased scrutiny.

Ecumenical Diplomat

The role of Special Envoy was an opportunity to serve my adoptive country and build constructive dialogue and cooperation between America and the Muslim world. It was also a unique and insightful vantage point from which to view America, the Muslim world and very complicated relationship between them in the first part of the 21st century.

Meeting Pope Benedict in Rome

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My tenure as special envoy was the most intense time of my life, but also the most gratifying. Collaborating with leaders like Pope Benedict XVI and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, I helped advanced interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims. I worked directly with the OIC leadership to secure from them a condem-nation of terrorism – unprecedented in its directness and intensity. At the United Nations, I represented the United States in high level discussions of religious freedom and human rights. I also worked closely with United States security and intelligence agencies to ensure that counterterrorism efforts did not hinder Muslim Americans from meeting religious obligations, such as zakat. Working closely with the State Department, I helped secure additional international recognition for the Republic of Kosovo. Finally, I was able to arrange to a first ever meeting between top-level OIC leadership and the White House. Also for the first time ever, I signed a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the United States government with the OIC in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The agreement established a framework of co-operation between the United States of America and the OIC.

Although I have left the diplomatic service, I continue to write on politics and policy as well as speaking at events both in the United States and the around the world. My main professional focus, however, has returned to entrepreneurship. My current company is called TCMS, which focuses on beauty technology. We hold 42 patents and are about to do something unprecedented in history, marrying modern tech-nology and ancient ideals of human beauty to allow facial cosmetics to be applied to human skin digitally, pixel by pixel. For thousands of years, in an attempt to hide all of the skin’s flaws, cosmetics have been applied by caking them to the entire face. Underscoring the TCMS approach is the reality is that, to cover these flaws, only 5% to 10% of the face actually needs to be “made up.” The technology and systems we are pioneering will identify and then cover only those areas, creating a much more natural look. Additionally, it will be more comfortable for the user. Many men and women will not even be able to feel that they are wearing makeup.

Entrepreneurship Beyond the Diplomacy

As I have re-immersed myself in the entrepreneurial process, I have also begun reflecting upon the nature of the entrepreneur and the place of entrepreneurship in society. I have come to conclusion that entrepreneurs are fundamentally different from other people. I do not know if this difference is the result of genetics, early environment or a combination of both but, by adulthood, he or she is wired in very distinctive way. At the core of this difference is the entrepreneur’s attitude toward risk. Most people are naturally risk averse. They prefer to work for someone else in an environment that provides job security and a steady income. At the end of the day, they want to go home, make the mortgage payment, pay their children’s school fees and have a good, stable life. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

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Entrepreneurs, however, have a much greater appetite for risk. Along with this is an appetite for change and challenge that leads entrepreneurs to sometimes accept risks that would seem pathologic to most people. Not only are they comfortable living close to the edge, many of them actively seek it out. Starting a business from scratch seems natural to the entrepreneur as does risking his or her entire material wealth on a new idea of concept. They will borrow money on their personal credit cards to pay rent, or develop IP or meet payroll if that is what it takes to chase their vision. It is interesting that accepting these kinds of financial risks seems to have nothing to do with background: most entrepreneurs do not come from wealthy families, they come from normal backgrounds and start from scratch (sometimes several times) on their road to success.

Just as there is nothing wrong wanting a stable, comfortable life, there is also nothing wrong with entrepreneurial drive. Indeed, people willing to accept higher levels or risk are always vital for society to take the next step forward. I believe “entrepreneurs” have always been with us. Twenty thousand years ago, of course, they weren’t in biotechnology, nanotechnology or information technology – but they were the individuals working on a new kind of spear point, taking a risk to see if a new plant was edible or devising a better way to defend against predators.

Of course, just because someone is an entrepreneur does not mean his or her spouse and children have the same appetite for risk. Entrepreneurship can be very hard on family life because it is often stressful for family members to live so close to the edge. That can make home a very tense environment because money is often not there. The entrepreneur has an almost religious faith that at the end of the day things are going to happen, but he or see needs to work very hard to share that belief with the family.

Press Conference with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who worked closely with Ambassador Cumber on many Middle East policy issues.

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The other trait that sets entrepreneurs apart from most other people is a deeply held believe that they he or she knows everything and is good at most things. This plays an important role in giving entrepreneurs the appetite for risk they need to be successful. It must, however, be carefully managed or it becomes self-destructive micromanaging. In the course of building my companies, I have learned that one of the most critical tasks I face is spotting the moment in a company’s growth in which I must back off and bring in professional leadership that will take the enterprise to the next level.

At the end of the day, entrepreneurs want to feel they are indispensable. I was once reading the biography of a business owner in which he recommends that, every time you feel indispensable, you take a glass of water and stick your finger into it. Then, pull out your finger and see what kind of a hole you have left behind – this will quickly let see how “indispensable” you really are. Perhaps, again, it is that special connection with water I feel, but that metaphor has been very helpful in allowing me to accept my own limitations. Some entrepreneurs never master this lesson. Instead, they become paranoid and begin to believe they are indispens-able. The rest of us have to continually work to overcome those tendencies. They key is to move past our perceptions and figure out those things at which we are truly good and then apply ourselves properly. Every business has a role for people who are good at management, finance or operations. That is why we have roles for CEO, CFO and COO. There is a role for people who provide very good gover-nance, which is the board of directors.

When I first started my companies, I was running the stores. My wife and I would open the stores and we would both run the retail operations. I quickly realized my wife was much better at operations than I was. By contrast, I also learned that I was good at corporate governance.

Concluding Lessons of an Ambassador and CEO

I have learned that for an entrepreneur, or anyone else in a leadership capacity, the key is to play to his or her expertise and leave the rest of the team. Several years ago, I was invited to Malta by the Prime Minister of Malta for a luncheon. Guests included his cabinet and Malta’s European Union Ambassador. At that time, my son Ali, was studying at Boston University. I invited him along because I thought it would be educational for him to see how decisions are made at the top level of leadership. The lesson I wanted him to take away is that, even at this high level, most decision-making occurs by applying common sense. As long as you apply common sense and have the team that brings the expertise, you do not have to micromanage the company or a country.

During our flight back to the states, Ali asked me what I thought were the attributes of a successful CEO. I had to think about that for a minute but then told him I thought there were two key things. The first is self-confidence. To be a successful CEO you must have sure confidence in yourself. If you are confident in yourself,

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you will hire “A+ level” candidates because you know they will make you look good by doing the best job and bringing success to your company. If you lack self-confidence, then you are a B-Level CEO so you will always end up hiring “C-Level” people because you are afraid of being upstaged or supplanted.

As part of this self-confidence, a successful CEO needs the ability to accept the truth. This is because the second critical attribute of a successful CEO is that he or she has access to correct, critical and timely information. You need to surround yourself with the people who will tell you what you need to hear rather than the people who will tell you what you want to hear. A successful CEO is one who has a team that gives him or her correct, relevant information in order to make a correct decision.

Another factor, as an entrepreneur, that I have come to appreciate in recent years is the value of failure. Failure is one of our greatest teachers. It imparts wisdom about how not to make mistakes. To benefit from this wisdom, however, one must also master the virtue of persistence.

I believe that one of the reasons some societies naturally excel at entrepreneur-ship is a specific cultural attitude towards failure. One of the beautiful things about America is that you are encouraged to apply yourself and chase your dreams—im-migrants as much as anyone else. While quitting may be stigmatized in America, failure is not. Rather, it is seen as learning.

Thomas Edison encapsulated this idea perfectly. During his long quest to develop the electric light bulb, one of Edison’s detractors accused him of failure. Edison quickly responded, “How can I be a failure? I can tell you 10,000 things that won’t work.”

In many other cultures of the world, including Pakistan, failure is seen as some-thing shameful and final, a defeat. In America, by contrast, “failure” is just part of the road to success. You always have another chance.

As a Pakistani born with an entrepreneurial spirit, who then had the opportunity to move to America, where that spirit was given free reign to express itself – I feel extraordinarily blessed. I hope that all others in a similar position do likewise.

In conclusion, my exposure to public policy and commercial entrepreneurship can be summed up by a speech I delivered to the Association of Muslim Scientists and Engineers on how it was imperative to remember that, in Islam, the creation of wealth is a bounty. It is explicitly encouraged in the Revelation. However, greed is highly discouraged. The Revelation also articulates that not only does a person in need have a right into your wealth, but that it is your ongoing religious and social responsibility to be proactive in helping the needy. The duty is upon the one who has been blessed by Allah with success and wealth. As part of this, rather than insulating yourself in a gated compound, a successful and affluent Muslim must be part of the community’s daily life, interacting and serving those from all walks of life.

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Hence the creation of wealth should be seen a means to an end – i.e. the benevo-lent distribution of wealth. Whether in Pakistan, America or anywhere in between, empowering entrepreneurs creates wealth that can help make a genuine differ-ence in the lives of people.

Family photo, Thanksgiving 2011

ambassador sada cumber - university of vermontand islamic mysticism, and have been trodden by...

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