About the Initiative
Governance
The Initiative's governance rests on keeping apart those who run it, those who oversee it and those who have the scholarly say. This page sets out what of this applies today, what is planned and what has not yet been decided.
Where things stand
- Management
- Mustapha Bazra, Founder of the Initiative
- Supervisory Board
- Planned, not yet formed
- Academic Advisory Board
- Planned, not yet formed
- External review
- Planned
- Legal form
- Not yet decided
In effect The principles below apply to the Initiative's work from now on. Those that require a body not yet formed will take effect once it is formed.
Principles of governance
- Management and oversight are separate: no one oversees themselves, which is why the founder of the Initiative does not chair the Supervisory Board.
- The scholarly say lies with an independent body: the Charter, the methodology and the publication of figures are subject to a veto by the Academic Advisory Board.
- Interests are disclosed: the founder's business activities are listed in the register of interests, and he abstains from any decision that affects them.
- Funding is independent: contributions from any funder other than the founder are capped, the origin of funds is made public, and the founder's own funds are shown separately.
- Checks come from outside: each year an independent reviewer examines the published figures and the way citations are checked.
- Neutrality: the Initiative takes no side between states, schools of thought or denominations.
- The guardrails bind all its work: no fatwas, no religious rulings, no theological judgements, no verdicts on the authenticity of hadith and no ranking of schools of law.
Planned boards
Supervisory Board
Three independent members, one of whom chairs it. It oversees the management, the annual report and the rules on independence. The founder of the Initiative may attend its meetings and take part in discussion but has no vote on matters of oversight, since a manager cannot oversee himself.
Academic Advisory Board
Three to five people serving in a personal capacity, with a regional balance across the Gulf, Egypt or the Levant, the Maghreb, and Europe, and including at least one specialist in manuscripts. It holds a veto over the Charter, the methodology and the publication of figures.
External review
An independent expert or institution reviews each year the figures the Initiative publishes and the way citations are checked.
Board members serve in a personal capacity, not as representatives of states or public authorities, so that the Initiative stays neutral. Cooperation with institutions rests on written cooperation agreements.
Planned None of these boards has been formed yet, and no one will be named without their written consent.
Conflicts of interest
The founder of the Initiative has business activities outside it, which are listed in the register of interests on the disclosure page. The rule is that he abstains from any decision concerning the companies in that register, and that the independent Supervisory Board takes the decision.
Until the Supervisory Board is formed: decisions relating to the founder's companies are published on the disclosure page, together with the reasons for them.
The Initiative's funds are not spent on commercial products, and the Initiative provides no free services to the founder's companies. The disclosure page sets out the full rules of separation.
Funding and independence
The Initiative does not collect donations while it has no legal personality. If it accepts funds from anyone other than its founder, the following rules apply:
- Each funder's contribution is subject to a cap: no more than one third of the annual budget. This applies to funds from third parties from the second phase onwards, once the Initiative has legal personality of its own.
- The origin of funds is checked before they are accepted and made public in the annual report.
- Funds provided by the founder of the Initiative are shown separately from all others.
- Funding for a defined purpose may be accepted; funding conditional on influence over results is not.
The Support page explains what you can contribute today.
Legal form
Open The legal form and seat of the Initiative have not yet been decided.
Today the Initiative has no legal personality of its own, so it concludes no contracts in its own name and accepts no donations. Legal and tax advisers will be consulted before a legal form is chosen, and the articles of association will be published on this page once they exist.
The legal details for this website are on the Legal page.