IIS School is not a Business but a Sustainable Project for a Great Change - Dr Zakir Naik
Dr. Zakir Naik explains that the IIS School is not a profit-making business, with fees being subsidized even for full-paying students. He emphasizes the importance of building sustainable organizations that outlast their founders, noting that Islamic Research Foundation has over 15 speakers to ensure continuity.
Summary
Dr. Zakir Naik opens by clarifying the financial model of the IIS School, stressing that it is not a business venture. Unlike IRF's other initiatives which are offered free of charge, the school is the first IRF project that charges fees. However, he emphasizes that even students paying full fees are receiving subsidized rates, meaning IRF is supplementing costs from its own resources. The goal, he states, is to create a new and better society through education.
Dr. Naik then shifts to discussing the structural challenge facing many Muslim organizations — the 'one-man show' problem. He observes that when a single charismatic leader departs, the entire organization typically collapses. To counter this, IRF has deliberately built a system with redundancy and succession in mind. He notes that the Islamic Research Foundation currently has more than 15 speakers besides himself, many of whom have already represented the organization internationally in countries such as the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Africa. He concludes by expressing hope that the children being educated through IIS School represent the future generation who will carry this mission forward.
Key Insights
- Dr. Zakir Naik claims that even students paying full fees at IIS School are receiving subsidized rates, meaning IRF is spending additional funds from its own pocket to cover the true cost of education.
- Dr. Naik notes that the IIS School is the first IRF initiative to charge any fees at all, as all other IRF programs and content have historically been offered free of charge.
- Dr. Naik identifies a systemic weakness in Muslim organizations — that most are 'one-man shows' that collapse when the founding leader departs — and frames this as a core problem IRF is actively working to solve.
- Dr. Naik states that IRF has developed more than 15 speakers beyond himself, who have already traveled internationally to countries including the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Africa, as a deliberate strategy for organizational continuity.
- Dr. Naik frames the IIS School's students as IRF's 'future generation,' suggesting the school's purpose extends beyond standard education to cultivating long-term successors for the organization's mission.
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