Leadership and Islam Principles of Success According to the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (s) Effective Leadership principles of Prophet Muhammad (s) Author: Muhammad W. Khan It is a well-known fact that the Prophet of Islam (saw) was the supremely successful man in the entire human history. But he was not just a hero, as Thomas Carlyle has called him. According to the Qur’an, he was the best example for all mankind. He has shown us the way of achieving supreme success in this world. By studying the life of the Prophet (saw), we can derive those important principles which were followed … Continue reading Effective Leadership principles of Prophet Muhammad PBUH

Islam’s Crossroads – Islamic leadership Professor Akbar S. Ahmed, former Pakistani ambassador to London, says that the rise of Muslim fundamentalism means that Islamic leaders face a choice between moderation or militancy. Muslim nations face a crisis of leadership which affects both them and their relationship with other countries. In Muslim society the leader embodies both political and moral authority. Yet even the best-known thinkers who comment on Islam, like Professor Samuel Huntington and Francis Fukuyama, have failed to identify the importance of Muslim leadership. On the surface there is a bewildering range of leadership: kings, military dictators, mullahs, democrats, … Continue reading Islamic leadership

SRI CHANAKYA NITI-SASTRA THE POLITICAL ETHICS OF CHANAKYA PANDIT About 2300 years ago the Greek conqueror Alexander the Great invaded the Indian sub-continent. His offensive upon the land’s patchwork of small Hindu empires proved to be highly successful due to the disunity of the petty rulers. It was Chanakya Pandit who, feeling deeply distressed at heart, searched for and discovered a qualified leader in the person of Chandragupta Maurya. Although a mere dasi-putra, that is, a son of a maidservant by the Magadha King Nanda, Chandragupta was highly intelligent, courageous and physically powerful. Chanakya cared little that by birth he … Continue reading POLITICAL ETHICS OF CHANAKYA

Ikram Sehgal While Pakistan is in the midst of a full-blown political crisis, the security situation, which had reached its worst point in April 2009, when the Pakistani version of the Taliban took over Swat and adjacent areas, has taken a turn for the better after the military’s success in counter-insurgency. The abject surrender by the National Assembly in sanctioning, almost without debate, that the Taliban could administer territory where the laws of Pakistan would not apply, came to its natural conclusion in April 2009, when Sufi Muhammad proclaimed that he did not believe in the Constitution, or the Supreme … Continue reading ‘Gotterdammerung’ in Pakistan?

Ayaz Wazir The war in Afghanistan started with President Clinton striking Khost with Cruise missiles in 1998 culminated with President Bush’s invasion of that country in October 2001. The eight years of insurgency that followed speak more of death and destruction than of help to the Afghans or development of their country. The US seems to have learnt its lesson the hard way that war alone cannot solve the problem, after suffering heavy losses both in men and material. That coupled with the colossal expenditure on conducting the war when even the US economy is faltering seem to be the … Continue reading Dialogue with Afghan Taliban

Zafar Hilaly There is no institution better than the army for PowerPoint presentations. The slides and captions say it all. There is hardly any need for the accompanying commentary. Very often all that the presenter does is to read the captions on the screen and because he reads far slower aloud than the audience does silently, sitting through a session can become tiresome. After a while, as the presenter drones on, doggedly reading aloud one caption after another, one wonders whether he believes that his audience comprises functional illiterates. In contrast, Gen Kayani uses what is on the screen to … Continue reading For real strategic depth

Tayyab Siddiqui Once again, the US has brought India and Pakistan to the negotiating table. The “irreversible” peace process was stalled by India, following the December 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh categorically and repeatedly stated that India would be ready for a bilateral dialogue only if “Pakistan brings the terrorists to book, destroys their camps and eliminates their infrastructure.” This stance was repeated in varying tones by other Indian ministers. Pakistan kept urging that terrorism should not be linked with dialogue which must be resumed in mutual interest of both countries. The two summit meetings between … Continue reading Dialogue with India