Chapter 6
Creating a Positive Workplace
Professional Development
In her provocative book The Trouble with Islam, author Irshad Manji relates a story about a UCLA professor's lecture to Muslim students at a Toronto gathering. Among the paragraphs that left a lasting impression was a challenge that the professor, Khaled Abou El Fadl, posed: “Have you ever known a civilization that grows on the basis of the lowest common denominator? A civilization that can be secure in the hands of its simpletons rather than its geniuses? Civilization is built by the artist, by the literary exponent, by the ability to generate beauty and music and new methods of expression. Civilization advances when there's a premium, not a fatwa, on originality of thought!” ...
