Infaaq in Real Estate Development

Text & Photos By Ar. Zain Mankani

Recently I was invited by the managing committee of a residential society in order to advise them on how to resolve problems of encroachments and violations by the residents. Typical problems were: residents parking their cars on the road instead of in the car porch; construction of ramps that extended and encroached onto the roads; commercial activities taking place from smaller residential units; tying of sacrificial animals in the lanes etc.

My answer to them was that all these problems stemmed from the fact that when the society was initially being planned, the needs of the future residents were not taken into consideration. This is the case with the majority of residential developments. The developer’s objective is always to maximize saleable land. He therefore aims to meet the maximum allowable ratio of plots to open area, and this of course means minimizing road widths. The price of land is multiplied manifold after development so that the large majority of buyers are only able to afford small plots of 120 or 240 yards. Thus, these are the popular sizes of plots in most societies, though many have a good mix of small and larger size plots of 300 yards, 400 yards and 500 yards.

No attempt is ever made by the developer to understand the needs or the lifestyles of the buyers and to plan for those needs. The result is that long after the developer has sold off the property and moved on, and the buyers have built their homes and moved in, those unmet needs are satisfied through encroachments and violations.

I asked the managing committee, “Is there space to park a car inside a 120-yard house?” Of course, there isn’t. A 120-yard plot can only fulfil the space requirements of a typical Pakistani family if the building footprint takes up more or less the entire plot area. Sometimes there is place to park a small car, but many times there is none and the residents are expected to park on the street, which is kept too narrow by the developer in order to carve out maximum number of plots.

The solution is either wider roads with parking lots; bigger plot sizes; or by-laws that allow construction of an additional floor on smaller plots with mandatory provision for parking on the ground.

Then there are flat sites in most residential societies, where apartments are eventually built. But these apartments have no provision for parking either. Even for larger plots with a functional car porch, there is no study of the ramp incline that would be required to comfortably take the car inside.

A sectional study of the street is of course unheard of in commercial developments except in the rarest of cases. If such a study were to be conducted, taking into consideration the typical plinth level of the house and the corresponding level of the car porch, it would become clear that any ramp constructed would necessarily encroach upon the road. Design decisions could then be taken accordingly to determine road width, pavement width, maximum plinth level etc.

Similarly, the commercialization of residential units is also the result of an unfulfilled need that expresses itself as a violation. Families living on small plots usually need to run some kind of home-based business in order to supplement their household income. It only makes sense then to plan these smaller units with a provision for commercial activity. If such a provision is made while planning the society, then the future manifestation of this commercialization will not appear as haphazard and chaotic violation, but rather as the actualization of perceived potential.

Other needs like space for keeping sacrificial animals, or for weekly bachhat bazaars or the occasional wedding can also be met by proper utilization of public parks and open spaces. However, in most cases, it is observed that the public parks are the most unplanned and underutilized areas. Many times, they are simply left as open muddy grounds that have very little functional value and serve no real purpose. Investing in design and development of parks is considered a “dead investment” by the developer because it can’t be sold and there is no ROI.

This is where the Islamic concept of Infaaq becomes relevant in the field of real estate development. Infaaq, or spending in the way of God, is diametrically opposed to the capitalist idea of maximizing monetary gain in any way possible. Infaaq is not just any kind of spending, but rather a kind of spending that fills a gap in society or heals a gaping wound. As such, Infaaq is not the work of simple-minded people, but can only be performed by those who possess a certain insight . In order to perform Infaaq, one must be aware of the gaping wounds of society, must be willing to take corrective action and must also be willing to sacrifice personal gain in the process.

It is not possible to do this when the intention is solely to make personal profit. Hence, intention becomes important in the performance of Infaaq.

In the capitalist (i.e., capital-oriented) world we live in today, Infaaq is not an integral part of any career, whether it be architecture, real estate development or anything else. Infaaq is simply thought of as charity to be performed through money (capital) acquired by performing some work. But the intention behind the actual work itself is capital. This acquisition of capital may lead to opening up fresh wounds in the fabric of society, which are not possible to fill up and heal through money that has been acquired by opening up those very wounds. Hence, this form of charity becomes a kind of self-defeating exercise because it does not address the root cause of the problem.

Even the most well-known and well-established developers sometimes acquire land through forced evictions, and strengthen their claim through bribery. Thereafter they spend a small portion of their vast earnings on feeding the poor and consider the matter settled. However, the eviction and disenfranchisement of the poor who dwelled on the land has created a gaping wound that is not easy to heal. Similarly, the bribes paid to establish claims promotes a culture of corruption that is also not easy to eradicate. Acts of charity become meaningless in the face of such assaults upon the social fabric that take place as regular occurrences while engaging in work.

Infaaq has to become an integral part of the work, if not the very basis it, in order to heal wounds. It must be something that is done as part of regular professional practice, rather than something in addition to it to allay the guilt and placate conscience. It must become the very intention of the work we do.

The developer who works with Infaaq as his intention, rather than capital, will be mindful of the needs of the end users that must be satisfied through the development. For such a developer, parking will be a genuine need that must be accounted for; home-based business will be a genuine need that must be provided for; bazaars and weddings will be needs for which appropriate space has to be planned.

Moreover, spiritual well-being and growth will also be seen as needs to be met through design of urban environments. And to this end if the ROI has to be curtailed, that will be accepted as Infaaq in the way of God, because through this act people are elevated out of their daily misery and can continue their spiritual journey towards Him.

It is this approach to planning and development that needs to be inculcated in the coming generation of would-be developers. Only those who are willing to perform Infaaq and heal the wounds left by capital-oriented investors should take on the mantle of real estate development. Only then can society make genuine progress.

The author is an architect. He may be reached at zain.mankani@gmail.com * for more on the Islamic Concept of Infaaq, refer to Ayatullah Syed Ali Khamenei, Seven Lectures on the Topic of Faith, Urdu Translation published by Dar-us-thaqalain.