A well-done article in the National (UAE) profiles the Muslim Urban Professionals group (MUPPIES). Harvard connections abound. Go Muppies!

At age 21, Farhan Syed, then a recent graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, started a new job at Accenture, the giant consulting firm. Almost immediately, he was confronted with an enviable problem. The enviable part: his superiors took him and his newly-hired colleagues out to lunch constantly over their orientation period. The problem: Mr Syed was fasting. His start date fell during Ramadan, and as a Muslim he could not partake of any of the lavish, corporate-sponsored meals.

"How was I going to explain this to the executive sitting next to me?" he remembers. "Here I was surrounded by people who not only didn't share my faith, but most of them knew nothing about it whatsoever. I promised myself that if I made it, I wouldn't let anyone else face that kind of awkwardness." Now 34, Mr Syed has made it. He works in Palo Alto, California, as a consultant at Bain and Co., a top-tier management consulting firm that accepts few of the legions of pedigreed hopefuls who apply. To his Berkeley degree, Mr Syed has added an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League institution. And he has succeeded in helping younger Muslims navigate the worlds of high finance and consulting through his involvement with Muslim Urban Professionals, a service organisation with a two-pronged mission: to help Muslims maintain their religious identities in these heavily Judeo-Christian professional environments, and to provide advice about the fiercely competitive schools and firms to which all ambitious business types - Muslim and otherwise - aspire.

Known by its absurdly endearing nickname of Muppies, the organisation was founded in 2006 by three men scarcely out of school themselves. Faisal Ghori, now 27, Hassan Jaffar, 28, and Umair Khan, 28, formed the group after comparing notes on experiences such as that which Mr Syed describes. "When I started at an investment bank" - where hours are notoriously long and the workload Sisyphean - "I found the culture to be really homogenous," recalls Mr Ghori, now an associate at Emerging Markets Management, an asset management firm based in the US capital. "Was I going to be able to leave in the middle of the day for Friday prayer?"

Mr Jaffar brings up another challenge, one he experienced as a young management consultant at McKinsey & Co. (he is now an associate at Seneca Capital, a hedge fund) "Drinking was a big deal," he says. "Whenever there was a social event, or if people from work went out on Friday nights, it was always at a drinking venue. As a practicing Muslim, I can't drink, and I can't be in a place where people are drinking. I didn't want to be antisocial, because I'm inherently friendly and I enjoy meeting people and going out."

Mr Jaffar says his choice to forego the social outing led to alienation and exclusion from the camaraderie of his colleagues. Then, he says, it occurred to him to "step in and be an organiser", and he started planning group brunches and daytime meet-ups in the park. Problem solved. These tactics, born of workplace anxiety, are just the kinds of solutions that Muppies offers its members, who now number more than 600. Mr Ghori points out that many Muslims in finance and consulting are the children of immigrants who have spent their careers in different professions. Parental guidance is therefore, he says, not helpful.

"My parents came to the US from Pakistan in the 1960s," he explains. "A lot of Pakistanis in that wave of immigration were engineers and physicians; they weren't in the professions that we are. If I were looking for a residency in dermatology, then I would be all set." Mr Ghori and his Muppies associates believe that there is "perhaps a half-generation" of Muslims ahead of them in their fields, but that Muslims are essentially new to the finance and consulting professions. He is hard-pressed to identify any well-known role models for Muslims in these fields, mentioning "the head of quantitative trading at Citigroup, and the head of strategy at Merrill Lynch", without naming them. Mr Syed self-deprecatingly calls himself "an elder statesman" at the age of 34. After cogitating, he does, however, nominate some Muslim stars on the US business scene: Omar Hamoui, the CEO and founder of AdMob (recently sold to Google for US$750 million), and Kamal Ahmed, a managing director of Morgan Stanley.

In addition to its US chapters, Muppies has recently launched a Gulf chapter in Dubai, a move Mr Jaffar, who is originally from Oman, attributes to the recent development of the United Arab Emirates as a business hub. "If you grew up Emirati, what do you or anyone in your family know about investment banking?" There is a similar lack of accumulated familial and cultural knowledge about finance and consulting in the Gulf as there is among Muslim families in the US, he maintains.

The Dubai chapter, which currently has between 20 and 30 members, will take its lead from the other chapters, says Mr Jaffar. "We have an informal presence in Dubai. However, we are planning on launching a formal chapter soon." The last Muppies "event" was the TEDxDubai conference, which was organised, supported and attended by Muppies members. The primary modality in which Muppies works reflects its post-millennial date of origin. Many of the organisation's activities take place virtually, either through its website and e-mail blasts, or on sprawling conference linking scores of members to a moderator who leads discussion. During a teleconference last year, the Muppies co-founder, Umair Khan, answered questions from young Muslims seeking admission to Harvard Business School (Mr Khan is a second-year MBA candidate at Harvard). Most queries could have come from believers of any faith: What is the best strategy for answering the essay questions on the application? How important is the interview portion of the screening process? But Mr Khan's answers sometimes took a distinctly Islamic twist, peppered with insha'Allahs.

A moderator of another Muppies teleconference, also regarding admission to Harvard, advised listeners that they should not shy away from referencing their faith in their application essays "if it's an important part of who you are as a person". The moderator, Sofina Anne Qureshi, an American who is studying at the Harvard, then recounted her own admission essays, in which she told the committee of her work as a chairperson of Ramadan dinners at her undergraduate university. "Just be careful of the Arabic-to-English translations," she cautioned.

"Give the essay to someone who isn't Muslim, and let them read it through. If they say, 'What the heck does that mean?' then you know you need to explain better." Although Muppies relies on female members such as Ms Qureshi to help conduct its operations, the founders concede that the leadership is, for now, entirely male. "At some of our events, the majority of participants are women," Mr Jaffar says, explaining the absence of women at the top by saying that Muppies came about as a collaboration between friends. One of Muppies' partner organisations, the Muslim Finance Professionals Association, is headed by a woman, Dahlia Mahmoud, and Mr Jaffar says that Muppies is actively seeking to place women in leadership positions.

As part of its goal to aid those seeking advice about professional opportunities, Muppies often visits universities, where the organisation is hosted by Muslim student associations. Information sessions offer students the chance to quiz accomplished bankers and consultants about their path to success. (All are welcome at these sessions, regardless of faith, Mr Ghori notes). Thus far Muppies has paid visits to Berkeley, Stanford University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Harvard, and the University of Texas.

In addition to the access to seminars, conference calls and job listings, Muppies members have a powerful tool at their fingertips - a database of all Muppies searchable by employer and alma mater. Mr Ghori encourages members interested in, say, Goldman Sachs to call up fellow Muslims with experience at the bank and ask for advice on applying. True to their ambitious natures, the founders of Muppies aren't content to be idle. They have recently expanded the group's outreach to include Muslim professionals in the governmental and non-profit sectors.

There is also talk of a Muppies capital fund, which Mr Jaffar says will take investment from interested members and channel it to community-level businesses relevant to the Islamic faith; he cites a start-up halal meat processing plant as an example. Investments would be sharia compliant, with investors seeking only their principal in return. That body would grant scholarships to Muslims seeking to study business and make a bid for success in the growing list of professions under Muppies' remit.

Although many American Muslims may feel the need to educate non-Muslims about the realities of Islam, Muppies does not concern itself with that particular task, though their "experiences are very much framed by September 11," Mr Ghori explains. He tells the story of one friend who was advised by an older Muslim to shave his beard when applying to an investment bank, while another used his middle name rather than his Muslim-sounding first name when seeking jobs. Mr Ghori himself was once asked in a job interview for his opinion about the Danish cartoon controversy. "Totally inappropriate," he says, shaking his head.

Yet if Muppies seeks in any way to control stereotypes, it is by advising members to remain true to themselves and visibly succeed in their chosen fields. "Be communicative about the functional things like taking Eid as a holiday and fasting during Ramadan," Mr Syed tells his patrons. "You don't need to explain the entire faith of Islam.

Impact Investing’ Teeters on Edge of Explosive Growth

By JONATHAN WEBER
Published: October 9, 2010

Jonathan Weber writes a column for The Bay Citizen
The Bay Citizen

A nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization providing local coverage of the San Francisco Bay Area for The New York Times. To join the conversation about this article, go to baycitizen.org.

Conferences can be a good indicator of the health of an industry, and by that measure the emerging sector of “social entrepreneurship” appears to be booming. The third annual SOCAP conference last week in San Francisco drew more than 1,300 people paying as much as $1,395 a ticket, and you could feel the energy among the amalgam of philanthropists, foundations, investors and idealistic entrepreneurs.

The idea that it’s possible to marry hard-nosed capitalism and bleeding-heart causes has been around awhile, with philanthropic institutions working hard to be more business-like even as many businesses pay more attention to the social and environmental impact of their operations.

But the notion that for-profit companies with a social mission at their core could constitute an “asset class” is fairly new. And though there are myriad challenges in making it real, there is genuine progress.

One piece of the puzzle is a handful of investment funds recently established to finance businesses that address social problems, especially in the developing world. Emboldened in part by the success of the micro-finance industry, which provides loans for small-scale businesses, new funds like Ignia Partners promise the magic combination of strong profits and social impact.

For Ignia, which invests in fields like affordable housing in Latin America, “profit is a great engine” if the objective is reaching a lot of people, said Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, the managing partner. “We have pressing issues, and we need greater scale” than traditional charities can provide, he said.

Ignia, with more than $100 million under management, appears to be the only such fund to attract institutional investment so far.

Another important component of this new sector is mechanisms to determine what constitutes an “impact investment.” A trio of social entrepreneurs has created a certification system called B Corp. — think of LEED certification for green buildings — and last week started a parallel initiative aimed at investors. Just as Standard & Poor’s provides ratings on bonds, this effort, the Global Impact Investing Rating System, would provide social ratings for companies and funds.

“There is a huge community interested in doing business in a different kind of way,” said Andrew Kassoy, a B Lab founder. “But we can’t have a marketplace without some kind of standards.”

Paul Needham, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur with a background in the computer business, exemplifies the most important component of this: creative entrepreneurs with an idea that could make both money and a difference. His company, Simpa Networks, is working on a solar power system that could bring affordable electricity to remote homes and businesses.

Mr. Needham’s first financing was a $40,000 grant from a nonprofit. He then went looking for angel investors, finding one who believed in the dual purpose. “He has given to philanthropies in the past,” Mr. Needham said, “but he’s tired of giving away money and wants to do social good through investment.” A consultant, Miguel Granier of Invested Development, was brought in to help the investor, John Shine, evaluate both the social worth and business potential of Simpa.

Simpa is also counting on offshoots of the micro-finance industry to help poor people buy the systems — an indication of the many interconnections in the impact-investing world.

I know from experience that the biggest obstacle to all of this is the mindset of many investors. When I was raising angel capital for New West Publishing, the company I started in 2005, I pitched it to people who cared about the Rocky Mountain West and believed in both the mission of the business and the financial opportunity.

But many investors I approached wanted to know whether I was offering a business opportunity or soliciting a charitable contribution — requests they evaluated on different terms.

Kevin Jones, a serial entrepreneur who created the SOCAP conference, said such attitudes were evolving rapidly. “There is a changing investor mindset,” he said. “There is a true moral hunger for a new asset class.”

Mr. Jones cited a recent study showing that some $120 billion of investment capital — much of it from wealthy families — is looking for a socially productive, and profitable, home.

Still, it remains an open question how quickly that moral hunger will translate into signatures on checks. The Bay Area especially is full of both investors and entrepreneurs who want to make a difference, and make a profit, too. We’ll soon see whether meaningful numbers of people can really do both.

Jonathan Weber is the editor in chief of The Bay Citizen.
jweber@baycitizen.org

Today in sha'Allah I will be attending the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the invitation of Mr. Brint Frith, President of Javelin Investment Managment, manager of the JETS Dow Jones Islamic Market International Index Fund (NYSE Arca-Listed JVS). (I am member of the Shari`ah Board for Javelin Investment Managment.) A live webcast (@ 9:29am EST) as well as an archived version thereafter will be available here.

MIT MSA and Harvard Islamic Society present a panel discussion on

"Fiqh of Personal Finance"

Imam Suheil Laher (MIT Muslim Chaplain) & Taha Abdul-Basser

Have you ever had questions like:

Are my earnings halal (permissible)? Is it OK to take out loans for med school? Are life insurance policies OK Islamically? What does riba (usury) mean?

If so, then this panel discussion is for YOU!

Thursday, April 30th @ 7:00 PM
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 4-231

Here is the transcript of a lecture, "The Incoherence of Claims of Incoherence: Some Remarks on Internal Consistency and Legitimacy in Contemporary Islamic Financial Ethics" that I recently gave at Wharton (U Penn), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 15, 2009.

Given the appropriately intense scrutiny that conventional derivatives are under, in general, and the profound policy implications of increased adoption of derivative-like instruments by the shari`a-compliant financial services sector, I read with interest a recent media interview with Mr. Werner, Policy Director at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), in which he mentioned that ISDA's collaboration with the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM) has produced a draft master agreement for Shariah compliant derivatives. The draft master agreement will reportedly be undergoing final Shari`a compliance review soon. As a student of some of the leading Islamic ethicists (fuqaha') who make up the IIFM's compliance review board, I am particularly interested in the board's decision on the validity of the structure that will apparently be used to implement the proposed profit swap, since it is not a matter of agreement among Islamic ethicists (fuqaha').

I came across an interesting article in Forbes that was published two days ago. The article was essentially about the need for more fuqaha'. Although this piece--and others like it that have appeared in the press recently--stress the need for more traditional Islamic ethicists within the context of one particualr field (i.e. contemporary finance) it should be noted that the need actually pressing in several areas of human activity--including (but not limited to) the following:

bioethics
military ethics
intellectual property ethics
environmental ethics
medical ethics

A week or so ago, I literally stumbled across some complaints that have apparently been made by workers at an Indianapolis-based real estate group against their employer. The employer is poised to act as the manager of an aspiring shari`a-compliant real estate fund (see below for use of the term "aspiring"). Since I am a member of the fund's shari`a consultant committee, I am very interested in these claims. I have not verfied the claims and therefore can not comment on them or their consequence, should they be verified, for the shari`a compliance of the fund once it comes up for review. In sha'Allah, I will update this space as more information becomes available to me. I have contacted an individual, mentioned in several press reports and blogs, who is apparently familiar with the details of the complaints. I am waiting for more information from this individual.

For now, I would like to make a few quick remarks:

* In traditional Islamic ethics (fiqh), treating one's workers fairly is an obligation (wajib). This obligation is indicated by the general signification of multiple passages (ayat) of the Qur'an and multiple, explicit Prophetic traditions (ahadith). As such, this obligation has been transmitted--and related issues discussed--in detail by master ethicist-jurists across centuries of Islamic intellectual history.

* The fund has not yet been launched. Therefore, of course, the fund has not been reviewed by the committee for shari`a compliance. To repeat: the committee has not opined as to the whether the fund is shari`a-compliant. (Hence the use of the phrase "aspiring shari`a compliant fund.")

* The committees known in the shari`a compliant finance sector (aka the "Islamic finance" sector) as "shari`a supervisory boards" are, in essence, ethical compliance review boards. I therefore strongly encourage any party that is aware of possible ethical violations to bring these issues to the attention of the ethical boards of the shari`a compliant financial entities in question. This is why such boards exist. This tactic has been effective on numerous occassions in the past.