Aga Khan honoured

June 13, 2009 by bipin.

Aga Khan honoured

 

His Highness the Aga Khan, Bill Gates and other honorary degree recipients processing into Senate House for the degree ceremony. Photo/Courtesy of University of Cambridge

Posted Saturday, June 13 2009 at 19:13

 

CAMBRIDGE, Friday

His Highness the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, on Friday received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from the University of Cambridge’s Pembroke College.

The Aga Khan becomes the first Muslim to receive the distinction in the university’s 800-year history.

“As we celebrate our eight hundredth anniversary, it is perhaps fitting that we first honour a man who traces his ancestry to the sixth century, and to the Prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him,” said Dr Rupert Thompson, classicist and Fellow of Selwyn College, in a citation read out in Latin, in keeping with the College’s tradition.

“Since becoming the fourth Aga Khan, he has worked tirelessly, through his development network, to ensure that those who are pressed by the worst poverty should enjoy a reasonable standard of health care, education and financial security. And this is not humanitarianism, as he says, but the requirement of his faith.”

The Honorary Doctorate of Divinity is awarded to individuals who have made a global impact through their religious leadership.

Earlier in the week, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta in recognition of his efforts to improve the lives of the world’s poor and build a global culture of tolerance.

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Aga Khan becomes sixth person in history to become honorary Canadian citizen

June 10, 2009 by bipin.

Partnership Between AKU and University of Alberta Expanded; Aga Khan Receives Honourary Degree and Will Be Granted Honourary Canadian Citizenship

Please also see: Photographs and Speech

Aga Khan To Receive Canadian Honorary Citizenship: Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared in the House of Commons today that Canada will grant honourary citizenship to His Highness the Aga Khan.9 June, 2009, Edmonton, Canada  - The University of Alberta and the Aga Khan University today signed a memorandum of understanding that advances their respective goals to increase global engagement and to promote equitable human advancement and social justice throughout the world. The agreement was signed at Government House by University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera and Aga Khan University President Firoz Rasul in the presence of Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, and His Highness the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, and founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network.

His Highness the Aga Khan received an Honourary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta in recognition of his efforts to improve the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people and build a global culture of tolerance.

On the same day, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared in the House of Commons  that Canada will grant honourary citizenship to His Highness the Aga Khan. “He is truly a beacon of humanitarianism, of pluralism and of tolerance throughout the entire world,” said the Prime Minister, calling him “a great partner and long-time friend of Canada, and a great benefactor to humanity.”

Speaking at the MoU signing, University of Alberta President and Vice-Chancellor I.V. Samarasekera said: ” In a world that is too often envisioned as divided and broken, His Highness has given voice to another possibility. He has shown us the possibility of a world where understanding and compassion can heal division, where education and self-reliance can raise the poorest communities out of poverty, where the celebration of beauty in all cultures can bring joy, and where an ethic of service to humanity can unite us all.”  (For more information, please see the University of Alberta site: http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/ro.cfm?id=377.  A broadcast of the ceremony can be see here: http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/ro.cfm?id=1014.)

“The expansion of this partnership puts the University of Alberta on the forefront of international capacity building,” said Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach at the signing ceremony. “AKDN’s extensive reputation in economic, social and cultural development allows the university to harness Alberta’s research and teaching innovation to benefit communities not only in Alberta, but also in East Africa, and Central and South Asia.”

The agreement expands on an existing relationship between the two universities and includes two additional agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network: the University of Central Asia and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

“The University of Alberta, along with the Aga Khan Development Network, is deeply committed to providing globally engaged higher education and research,” said Samarasekera. “Through our partnership, the university will move much closer to fulfilling one of our most important goals—to reach out to the developing world in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia, and engage in meaningful and effective dialogue and exchange.”

Areas identified for immediate collaboration include health sciences education, humanities development and library planning, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land use programs with particular emphasis on mountain environments and semi-arid regions with the University of Central Asia.

“This partnership will enable the University of Alberta’s expertise to impact parts of the world that would not otherwise benefit from these capabilities,” stated Rasul. “Their innovative approach to research, teaching and service in healthcare, education, and sustainable economic and environmental development in northern Canadian communities could greatly benefit the developing countries in which AKU, UCA and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture currently work.”

The deepened partnership will also facilitate the participation of the U of A in the development of the Undergraduate Medical Education Programme in East Africa and will build on previous successes to move beyond health care and the health sciences into areas that will benefit the larger AKDN vision.

The collaboration between the two universities builds on an initial agreement signed in June 2006 on academic and scientific cooperation together with Alberta Health Services. As a result of that agreement, faculty and staff from the AKU School of Nursing and the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, have recently completed graduate programs and training at the U of A in areas such as interventional cardiology, breast conservation surgery and physiotherapy.

Over the past 25 years, the Aga Khan University has fostered partnerships with several universities in Canada and across the world including McMaster, the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Harvard University and Oxford University. Based on common values and approaches to sustainable development, these partnerships have improved the quality of curriculum development and teaching standards at AKU and raised the profile of professions such as nursing and teaching in the developing world, giving students the impetus to enter these desperately needed careers. Students and faculty from partner institutions have further benefited through professional exchanges, joint research projects and teaching opportunities.

“Partnerships, such as this one, build capacity in the developing world where it is needed most, but more importantly, they build compassion and understanding across our interconnected world. By expanding this partnership to other AKDN agencies, we hope to spread the benefits further afield,” said Rasul.

For more information, please contact:

Jan DameryAga Khan University Department of CommunicationsDirector, Development Canada403-830-8975janet.damery@aku.edu

Semin AbdullaSecretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan60270 Gouvieux, Francesemin.abdulla@aiglemont.org

Deb HammacherUniversity of AlbertaExternal Relations780-492-8458 or 780-233-7269 celldeb.hammacher@ualberta.ca

Website: www.akdn.org

Notes:

His Highness the Aga Khan

His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The AKDN is a group of private, non-denominational development agencies working to empower communities and individuals to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East. The Network’s nine development agencies focus on social, cultural and economic development for all citizens, regardless of gender, origin or religion. The AKDN’s underlying ethic is compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget for philanthropic activity is in excess of US$500 million.

Recent Canadian Initiatives

In 2006, the Aga Khan and the Government of Canada signed a funding agreement towards the development of a new international initiative, the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, dedicated to the creation of successful societies. The Centre is founded on cherished Canadian values of tolerance, openness and understanding towards the cultures, social structures, values and faiths of other peoples and that these values are now essential to the very survival of an interdependent world.

The Aga Khan, an Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada, last visited the country in December 2008, as part of the commemoration of his fifty years as the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismaili Muslims. During the commemorative visit, the Aga Khan inaugurated the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa, in the presence of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper.

The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, serves a permanent representational role for the activities of the Imamat in Canada, and as stated by His Highness the Aga Khan represents “a new creative link between the spiritual dimensions of Islam and the cultures of the West, and even more particularly, it represents another new bridge between the peoples of Islam and the peoples of Canada.”

Other projects under development in Canada are the Aga Khan Museum, housing exceptional collections of Islamic art, the gardens and the Ismaili Centre in Toronto.

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“Nothing and nobody, except the prince, can resolve the problem”

December 16, 2008 by bipin.

Airlines 11:49 am - Tuesday Meridiana flight assistants: Anpav, we will protest under Aga Khan’s home

Rome, Italy - Against the decision of the company to lay off 145 among pilots and flights assistants(WAPA) - “Nothing and nobody, except the prince, can resolve the problem” wrote in a note “Anpav” (Italian flight assistants association) which made the blitz in France. “In the forty-five years of Meridiana’s work, it was never happened that the workers went to demonstrate under Karim’s home. It is a political sign”. So about fifty employees with Meridiana’s uniform will protest today under the house of Aga Khan in Aiglemont, municipality of Gouvieux, thirty kilometres in North Paris, against the lay off of 145 people among flight assistants an pilots. The group yesterday was close to Paris, as confirmed by phone to AVIONEWS by Anpav national coordinator Fabrizio Contini. For them today a new “Bastille” to conquer… (Avionews)

(042) 081216114913-1097767 (World Aeronautical Press Agency - 2008-12-16 11:49 am)

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Minister Kenney Extends Birthday Wishes

December 13, 2008 by bipin.

itizenship and Immigration CanadaDec 12, 2008 15:33 ET

Minister Kenney Extends Birthday Wishes to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan

OTTAWA, ONTARIO–(Marketwire - Dec. 12, 2008) - The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued the following statement on the birthday of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, which is on December 13:”I would like to extend warm birthday wishes to His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan.As a spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim people, the Aga Khan is an extraordinary example of compassion and tolerance. This is most evident in the Aga Khan Development Network, which he founded and now chairs. The network, which works towards social, economic and cultural development in Asia and Africa, will be headquartered in Ottawa at a new Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat. This stunning building was officially opened by the Aga Khan and Prime Minister Harper just a few days ago on December 6. I am proud that Canada was chosen to house such a significant structure, the first of its kind in the world.I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with the Aga Khan several times, most recently during his latest visit to Canada. Each time, I was impressed by a man who has done so much for the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim people and humanity. In the words of Prime Minister Harper, “his name has become synonymous with humanitarian aid and development in countries beset by conflict and poverty. Just as importantly, he has worked tirelessly as a bridge-builder between faiths and cultures.”His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan is truly an inspiration and I wish him a long, healthy and blessed life.”

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France Visit

December 3, 2008 by bipin.

France visit

The Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum (LIF) is happy to inform the Jamat that, at the invitation of the Government of France, Mawlana Hazar Imam will visit the country from 8 – 11 December 2008.

During this period, Mawlana Hazar Imam will grant a final Golden Jubilee Darbar in Paris for the French jurisdiction Jamats. Hazar Imam will also consult with senior government and civic officials on potential areas of collaboration with the Ismaili Imamat and the Aga Khan Development Network.

Further information on the France visit is available on the visit website.

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MAWLANA HAZAR IMAM’S ARRIVAL IN CANADA

November 20, 2008 by bipin.

MAWLANA HAZAR IMAM’S ARRIVAL IN CANADA

Yesterday, Mawlana Hazar Imam landed in Ottawa, commencing an eight-day Golden Jubilee visit to the country at the invitation of the Government of Canada.In a ceremonial welcome, which included a rendition of the Nashid al-Imamah and the Canadian national anthem, Mawlana Hazar Imam was received on behalf of the Government by the Honourable John Baird, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Mohamed Manji, President of the Ismaili Council for Canada, was joined by a delegation of Jamati leaders from the local Ismaili Councils for Ottawa and Quebec and the Maritime Provinces, in welcoming Hazar Imam on behalf of the Canadian Jamat.. Video of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s arrival in Ottawa can be found at http://www.theismaili.org/?id=632

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Aga Khan lays foundation stone for Jamatkhana

May 22, 2008 by bipin.

Aga Khan lays foundation stone for Jamatkhana

Staff Correspondent

Visiting Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, and Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury jointly laid the foundation for the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Centre in Dhaka yesterday, which will be used as a place for congregational gathering of the Ismailis and their administrative functions.

“We see this new addition to the Dhaka cityscape as a symbol of our continuing historic commitment to this country and further reinforcement of the warm relations which the Ismaili people have enjoyed here,” Prince Karim said at the foundation stone laying ceremony.

The centre, which will be built in Bashundhara Residential Area, will also bring the community members together at seminars, lectures, cultural and educational events and other programmes.

Saying that the Jamatkhana will be a place of peace and tranquillity, filled with the spirit of humility and prayer, the Aga Khan said: “It will not be a place for conceit or self-satisfaction, but a place for search and enlightenment.”

Recalling his grandfather Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan’s call to Ismailis to settle in the then East Pakistan after the partition of subcontinent, he said the commitment to Bangladesh has continued in more recent years, often channelled through the activities of the Aga Khan Development Network.

He said the Jamatkhana and the Aga Khan Academy in Dhaka will play complementary roles as they will work to dispel ignorance, cultivate a cosmopolitan outlook and nourish the cause of peace and harmony among peoples and cultures within this country and around the world.

“Bangladesh has made a courageous commitment through the years to values which have grown out of Islamic traditions, but which are of universal applicability: a dedication to human dignity; to taking and giving the hand of friendship; to humility in the all-enveloping divine presence which impels one to celebrate God-given differences, rather than denigrating them, and to the persistence of hope, and to the resilience which hope bestows,” he said.

Bss adds: Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman yesterday called on visiting Prince Karim Aga Khan at his hotel suite.

During the meeting, he proposed a forum for holding annual exchange of views session, which would play a pioneering role in the country’s education sector. The prince supported the proposal, an official handout said.

Aga Khan suggested further promotion of the university research activities and improvement of the child-level madrasa education. He also recommended inclusion of moral education, culture and subjects related to freedom from fundamentalism in the curriculum.

Prince Aga Khan assured of providing all possible assistance in the education sector of Bangladesh, the handout said

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Aga Khan seeks reforms in madrassa education

May 14, 2008 by bipin.

NEW DELHI: The Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, yesterday called on President Pratibha Patil and discussed a host of issues, including reforms in madrassa education and the conservation of monuments in India.
The Aga Khan, who is on a week-long trip to India, met Patil for about a half-hour. According to official sources, the 70-year-old leader, also known as Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, spoke enthusiastically about the need for reforms in Islamic religious schools.
“He talked about the possibility of replicating a programme of reform of madrassa education at the Aga Khan’s Educational Institution in Hyderabad,” said an official.
The Ismaili leader also visited Humayun’s Tomb and Sundar Nursery to survey the progress of a project for the revitalisation of several cultural heritage buildings located in Nizamuddin area in the heart of New Delhi. The Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Aga Khan Foundation forged a partnership with several Indian government agencies, including the Archaeological Survey of India, for the preservation of the historic buildings in 2004. The project is modelled on the Bagh-e-Babur integrated conservation project being implemented by the Aga Khan Trust in Kabul, Afghanistan.
He also met opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani.
The Aga Khan arrived here on Monday on a visit that marks his 50th year as the imam of over 25mn Ismailis worldwide.
He met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday.
The Aga Khan, one of the world’s pre-eminent philanthropists and businessmen who runs one of the largest private development networks focusing on the poor, will go to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmedabad before he heads to Dhaka on May 19.
In Mumbai, the Aga Khan - one of the world’s wealthiest Muslim investors - will get a grand reception from the 6,000-odd Ismailis in the city.
In Gujarat, he will meet Chief Minister Narendra Modi and will also visit Siddhpur, a town in northern Gujarat that is home to a large Ismaili community.
The Aga Khan last visited India in September 2006, when he laid the foundation of the Aga Khan Academy for Excellence in Education in Hyderabad.
Earlier, in 2004 the spiritual leader gave away the Aga Khan Award for Architecture at a presentation ceremony at Humayun’s Tomb here. – IANS

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Aga Khan makes rare visit to U.S.

April 15, 2008 by bipin.

By Tricia Escobedo
CNN

updated 2:26 p.m. EDT, Tue April 15, 2008

 

(CNN) — The leaders of three world religions will be visiting the United States this week, and although the media spotlight is focused on Pope Benedict XVI and the Dalai Lama, thousands of Ismaili Muslims are celebrating a rare U.S. tour by the Aga Khan.

The Aga Khan says a “clash of ignorance” has led to friction between Islam and the West.

The Aga Khan doesn’t exactly fit the image that may be expected for the spiritual leader of 20 million Ismaili Muslims across the world; he usually wears a suit and tie.

But his followers see him as the final authority on interpreting the Quran. One one Muslim scholar said that in that regard, “he is more powerful than the pope.”

The Aga Khan, 71, arrived Friday in Austin, Texas, where he met with Gov. Rick Perry and signed a memorandum with the University of Texas on behalf of his Aga Khan University.

The two schools agreed to share research and cooperate in what was described as “a move towards narrowing the gap between the West and Islam.”

Aga Khan University is an international University with teaching sites in eight countries: Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Syria, Egypt and the United Kingdom.

The agenda for the Aga Khan’s first U.S. tour in 20 years includes stops in Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; and Atlanta, Georgia; places he described as having “particular importance to the Ismaili Community over the last half century.” Watch the Aga Khan’s arrival in the U.S. »

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His trip to the United States and to other Ismaili communities around the world is in celebration of his “Golden Jubilee” — which actually fell last year — marking 50 years as the spiritual leader.

“It’s not very often that the Ismaili community gets this opportunity,” said Saloni Firasta Vastani, a volunteer community leader in Atlanta.

The Aga Khan “has a worldly responsibility in addition to spiritual,” Vastani explained. And that is why the centerpiece of his role is his $150 million nonprofit, nondenominational foundation that focuses on helping the poor.

The imam’s personal life has sometimes overshadowed his message of tolerance, which a spokesman for the U.S. Ismaili community says has “not been well covered” by the media.

“In the Western world, he is not as well-known, except for the British tabloid press, which will talk about his racehorses and the private life of his father,” Dr. Mansoor Saleh said.

The Aga Khan repeatedly focuses on a “clash of ignorance,” not a clash of cultures, that has led to the current friction between Islam and the West.

“The hope is that this visit will provide the impetus … for the West to understand what he does and what he stands for,” Saleh said.

Last year, Forbes Magazine listed the Aga Khan, who lives in the Paris suburbs, as the 10th richest royal in the world, valued at $1 billion. In a previous article, the magazine heralded him as “venture capitalist to the world,” saying the Aga Khan “was early among experts in Third World development to grasp that government handouts and multilaterally funded megaprojects often foster dependence, not self-reliance, in the people they’re meant to help.”

Prince Karim al-Husseini became the current Aga Khan as a 20-year-old Harvard student, after his grandfather passed the title on to him and not his father, Prince Aly Khan, who was once married to the American actress Rita Hayworth.

Despite the Aga Khan’s immense wealth, the imam shuns the title of “philanthropist” because he feels that the Aga Khan Foundation is part of his mandate as a religious leader.

His teachings also stress respecting other cultures and faiths, Vastani said.

“There’s not enough education on both sides, and we’re living in such a global place now, so learning about each other is important,” she said. “That’s the way the Ismaili community views it.”

Dr. Liyakat Takim, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Denver, said it is not the Aga Khan’s wealthy lifestyle that draws the most criticism from fellow Muslims but his authority to interpret the Quran for Ismaili Muslims.

“Ismailis see him as the final authority in today’s world,” Takim said. “His word is law.”

That means as a spiritual leader, the Aga Khan “is able to reinterpret” the teachings of Islam and has the authority to “nullify or supersede religious practices.”

“That would include things like daily prayers,” Takim said. “Ismailis see themselves firmly within the Islamic tradition but of course other Muslims have problems with that.”

But for many Ismailis, the Aga Khan’s role transcends that of spiritual leader. Those who feel that way include Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva, who credits his foundation with saving her life, as well as the lives of her husband and their two children.

Now an editor with CNN in Atlanta, Aslamshoyeva saw her life as a television news anchor in her native Tajikistan came crashing down after the collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a civil war in her country in 1992.

Aslamshoyeva lived in the remote, mountainous Pamir region of Tajikistan, isolated from the aid that flooded in following a lull in the fighting.

“There was aid in the capital and in the surroundings, but they could not reach us in the mountains,” she said.

Pamir residents normally stockpile food for the harsh winters, but nearly everyone ran out of food in the middle of winter partly due to an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting in the capital, Dushanbe.

“At home, there was no electricity, no food. I would just sit there and look at my children,” she said. Their faces were pale and thin. Without any paychecks from Moscow, many people were forced to beg on the streets.

“By then, who cares if you have an education or if you are a doctor or journalist? We all had nothing, and we were worried about our children.”

It felt like the world had forgotten about her small region and their suffering, she said.

“Pamir was just a little tiny place,” she said. “People know Tajikistan but not Pamir.”

Despite intermittent power, television remained the only way to communicate. She says her life changed on the day she was called in to the tiny TV station to read an announcement telling residents that food from the Aga Khan Foundation had finally arrived in Pamir.

“I never heard of the Aga Khan Foundation, but I had heard of the Aga Khan,” she said. Her grandmother had spoken of “the imam” in hushed tones during the Communist period.

Since that day, Aslamshoyeva said, aid began pouring in, changing her life forever.

“He helped everyone who lived in Tajikistan: Russians, Germans, Jews,” she said. “It didn’t matter what religion you were.” E-mail to a friend

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Thousands of North Texans headed to San Antonio for rare religious event

April 11, 2008 by bipin.

By ANNA M. TINSLEY

Star-Telegram staff writer

Nadir Meharali knows he has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of a rare religious event.

Today, the Dallas man is heading to San Antonio to join as many as 10,000 other North Texas Shia Ismaili Muslims who are taking part in the Golden Jubilee, a time to celebrate the 50th year of leadership by their spiritual guide, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.

“I think practically everyone from here is going,” Meharali said.

As many as 35,000 Shia Ismaili Muslims from across the state may be there to honor Aga Khan, a descendant of the prophet Muhammad, who succeeded his grandfather in 1957 at age 20. He is the 49th hereditary leader of the Shia Ismailis.

Once he reached his 50th year of leadership, Aga Khan, who lives in France, began traveling to different countries for the yearlong celebration, which began July 11, 2007.

Aga Khan tries to meet with state leaders during his stops and talk about initiatives not only to increase access to healthcare and education but also about ways to reduce poverty and find peace.

This month, he plans to visit four states — Texas, California, Illinois and Georgia.

He is scheduled to arrive in Austin today.

On Saturday, Gov. Rick Perry will meet with Aga Khan and hold a special ceremony at the state Capitol to sign a memorandum of understanding between the University of Texas and Aga Khan University, pledging to work together to showcase educational environments, according to information released about the Golden Jubilee.

Saturday night, Perry and his wife, Anita, will host a private gala dinner at an exotic game preserve in Austin to celebrate Aga Khan’s 50 years of service, according to the governor’s office.

By Sunday, Aga Khan will meet with those in the Shia Ismaili Muslim community who gathered at the convention center and Alamodome in San Antonio, during the private celebration that will include speeches, dances, poetry and celebration.

“This is a first in our lifetimes,” Meharali said. “There are a lot of festivities … and a tremendous amount of cooking.”

Prince Karim Aga Kahn IV

Who he is

Aga Khan became the spiritual leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims on July 11, 1957, at 20. He succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III.

The 49th hereditary imam, or leader, he is a descendant of the prophet Muhammad and his cousin and son-in-law Hazrat Ali, who was the first spiritual leader of the Muslim community.

Born in Geneva in 1936, he grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and graduated from Harvard in 1959 with an honors degree in Islamic history.

The community he leads

The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, known as the Ismailis, are part of the Shiite branch of Islam.

They believe that after the prophet’s death, Hazrat Ali became the spiritual leader, known as an imam. That leadership continues through his descendants.

There are about 15 million Ismaili Muslims living in about 25 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe, as well as central and South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East.

Source: Golden Jubilee committee

atinsley@star-telegram.com
ANNA M. TINSLEY, 817-390-7610

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April 10, 2008 by bipin.

Statesman.com

Texas welcome for imam

By The Editorial Board | Thursday, April 10, 2008, 04:41 PM

Had you read or heard that the governor of Texas was to break bread with a Muslim imam only 10 years ago, you might have thought it highly improbable. It’s a new Texas, however, and a new world.

Gov. Rick Perry is scheduled to welcome the Aga Khan, a religious leader with a global reach and immense wealth with activities that include a formal dinner on Saturday. The imam is celebrating 50 years as leader of the world’s Shia Imam Ismaili Muslims with a world tour, and Texas is the first stop on the U.S. leg of it. The current Aga Khan, 71, has led the sect since 1957.

His Texas followers number 25,000 to 30,000 and are engaged in a wide variety of businesses and professions. They don’t generally attract a lot of attention, but the visit by the Aga Khan and the recognition by the top state elected official will change that a little.

The sect led by the Aga Khan values self-reliance, tolerance and human worth. In addition to tithes from followers, the Aga Khan finances the sect’s activities with more than $1 billion in sales from a variety of businesses, including banks, hotels and newspapers. The sect also builds hospitals and health care facilities.

The immense wealth of the Aga Khan has stirred controversy in the past, including from other Muslims who have disassociated themselves from the Ismailis.

The first of the Ismailis arrived in Texas 40 or so years ago and are concentrated in the state’s metropolitan areas: Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.

The visit to Texas is clearly a message that the Aga Khan wants to pierce stereotypes of Muslims that have grown since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by extremist Muslims in the United States. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan stoke suspicions of Muslims in this country. Lamenting that climate of suspicion, the Aga Khan - who was educated at Harvard - has described the religious conflict “as a clash of ignorance.”

Though the visit is more symbol than substance to official Texas, the participation by Perry sends a positive message to both the Ismailis and their fellow Texans.

It’s a message of understanding and tolerance that we would all be wise to heed: Peace be with all of us.

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Royal visit to draw 35,000 to town

April 6, 2008 by bipin.

San Antonio will host a massive religious gathering just days after the Final Four crowds leave town.The event, called the Golden Jubilee, will bring a gathering of 35,000 Ismaili Muslims and their spiritual leader Prince Karim Aga Khan to the Alamodome and the Convention Center starting Friday.

“His Highness” is considered a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad, and his visits with large gatherings of his congregation are rare.

“He hasn’t visited the congregation collectively in about 21 years. This is a major and religious occasion to meet the spiritual leader,” said Dr. Mansoor N. Saleh of Georgia, who’s a member of communications council for the U.S. Ismaili community.

Event coordinators first looked into having their event at Reliant Park in Houston, but the center was unavailable. So they came to San Antonio a few weeks ago looking for space. A lot of space.

“The city benefits from having the Alamodome readily available,” said Michael Sawaya, the city’s director of convention, sports and entertainment facilities. “The economic impact of this is going to be like an Alamo Bowl. We were only given several weeks to plan this when normally a group this size will plan for four years.”

City officials say this is the largest three-day event San Antonio has seen since HemisFair in 1968. It’s estimated the group could spend about $37 million while here.

Sawaya said even though visitors here for religious gatherings typically don’t spend as much as business travelers, this group is affluent.

But they didn’t need as much hotel space — they have a block of 3,000 rooms — because many Texas Ismailis will be staying with family and friends in San Antonio during the event.

The three-day event will include a visit on April 13 from the Aga Khan — the spiritual leader of the Ismailis, which is a Shiite branch of Islam.

Born in 1936 in Geneva, the Aga Khan spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, and graduated from Harvard in 1959.

(Bloomberg News file photo)

Prince Karim Aga Khan, shown in 2005, leads 12 million to 15 million Ismaili Muslims, with an estimated 1,500 to 1,700 in San Antonio.

The Aga Khan leads a community of 12 million to 15 million Ismaili Muslims living in some 25 countries, according to the official Web site of the Ismaili community.

During the Golden Jubilee, which began July 11, 2007, and will continue until July 11, 2008, the Aga Khan will visit numerous countries, including stops in the U.S.

The Aga Khan also is making visits in April to Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. The San Antonio visit is considered a private event for Texas Ismailis.

Amin Makhani, an owner of an Asian grocery store in Northeast San Antonio, said he has cousins coming from Houston and Dallas just to attend the gathering.

“You can say he’s like a pope. This is the best opportunity for our people to see him,” said Makhani, who estimated there are about 1,500 to 1,700 Ismailis in San Antonio.

Makhani’s family is so excited about the visit they have been celebrating for the last 15 days, he added.

Another person who’s happy about the Aga Khan’s arrival is Greg Kowalski, president and owner of The RK Group, a local catering company.

RK Group is taking on the mammoth task of serving more than 200,000 meals in 60 hours. This is one of the largest events the firm has had to handle on such short notice.

“This piece of business came about suddenly and to amass this much food and supplies to feed roughly 200,000 meals in a matter of 60 hours is really an incredible logistic opportunity,” Kowalski said.

Local hotel officials said despite the short notice, the group is coming at a great time.

“It’s a weekend piece of business, and it’s short term. It’s a nice group to have right after the Final Four,” said Scott Lane, the Grand Hyatt director of sales and marketing, who said the event will use a couple of hundred rooms at the new luxury hotel.

While the ultimate event features Aga Khan, the closed festivities also include traditional dancing, youth activities, poetry and live devotional music.

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Aga Khan opens Ismaili centre in Dubai

March 28, 2008 by bipin.

DUBAI (AFP) — The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s Shiite Ismaili Muslims, on Wednesday inaugurated an Ismaili cultural centre in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, the first of its kind in the Middle East.

The Ismaili Centre, which houses a library and will host conferences and an early childhood education programme, will serve as “a place for peaceful contemplation, ” he said at the inauguration ceremony.

“It is not a place to hide from the world, but rather a place which inspires us to engage our worldly work as a direct extension of our faith,” the Aga Khan said.

The centre is the fourth for the 15-million-strong Ismaili community. Others are in London, Lisbon and Vancouver.

Around one million members of the Shiite sect live in the Middle East.

The 71-year-old Aga Khan, who is based in France and has been the “imam” of the Ismaili community for half a century, said the choice of Dubai as venue was driven by the “diversity” that characterises the city state, which is home to some 1.4 million people, mostly foreigners.

Dubai, one of the seven members of the United Arab Emirates, has become “a truly global crossroads” and “the very embodiment of the global village,” he said.

The inauguration was attended by Sheikh Ahmad bin Saeed al-Maktoum, a member of Dubai’s ruling family and chairman of the city state’s carrier Emirates, and by UAE Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister Sheikh Nahayan bin Mubarak al-Nahayan.

Officials at the centre said it took four years to build and cost 22 million dollars.

“The variety of expressions within Islam is not a curse but a mercy,” said the Aga Khan, referring to various Sunni and Shiite sects.

Up to 8,000 Ismailis, mostly expatriates, live in the UAE. Members of the sect are scattered across the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and central Asia. Ismailis can also be found in Africa with smaller numbers residing in Europe and the United States.

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Aga Khan to open Ismaili Centre on March 26

March 25, 2008 by bipin.

23 March 2008DUBAI - The Ismaili Centre in Dubai will be opened on March 26 by The Aga Khan. As the fourth Ismaili Centre in the world and the first in the Middle East, the opening of this centre is historic for the community.

Situated on Oud Metha Road, the centre introduces a timeless statement of Islamic architecture to the contemporary landscape of the Middle East. With the state-of-the-art facilities for lectures, presentations, seminars and conferences, the Ismaili Centre Dubai will host initiatives to enrich dialogue in areas of social, economic and cultural endeavour as well as recitals and exhibitions to educate people on Islamic heritage.

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Hamdan meets with Aga Khan

March 25, 2008 by bipin.

Published: March 25, 2008, 00:34

Abu Dhabi: Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, on Monday received Prince Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Islamic Ismaili sect. Shaikh Hamdan and Aga Khan reviewed a number of educational, social and developmental projects implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation in Arab and Islamic countries. Among those present was Shaikh Tahnoun Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Emiri Flight Authority.

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BDB eyes Aga Khan tie-up for key fund

December 11, 2007 by bipin.

BDB eyes Aga Khan tie-up for key fund

By REYADH HUSSEIN MANAMA: The Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) is planning to collaborate with the Geneva-based Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance in a bid to develop a poverty alleviation fund. A meeting between Finance Ministry Under-Secretary and BDB chairman Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance general manager Jacques Toureille took place yesterday at the Bahrain Business Incubator Centre (BBIC). “Poverty alleviation is a noble cause and through productive activities physical evidence of success will always be visible,” Shaikh Ebrahim told the GDN. “The BBIC has been a success story and having outside officials visiting the centre will have a ripple effect that will help display its position as a main player in society. “The development of microentrepreneurs at the BBIC has proven itself as being a success. Through microfinance a difference can be made to benefit nations struggling with poverty. “Using microfinance to provide the investment needed to develop housing projects is something that the BDB is hoping to expand into, and with the help of the Aga Khan Agency we hope to benefit other countries not only in the region but wherever needed.” “The agency is well-known in over 35 countries in the world,” Mr Toureille said. “Through delivering materials cheaper in economies where the labour of building housing is done by the family itself we can strategically position ourselves to make a difference. “We are currently active in countries including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Syria and we hope that with the help of the BDB we will further expand. “The possibility of developing co-operation in poverty alleviation to build a programme together will not only benefit us but our partners worldwide. “With this we hope to further integrate into society with a joint effort to help emerging economies.” The meeting at the BBIC also included a presentation from Unido head Hashim Hussein who introduced a number of companies currently operating from the BBIC. “Microentrepreneurs can compete anywhere with tailor-made solutions dedicated to specific communities,” Mr Hussein said. “With the help of the BBIC developing companies into small or medium sized businesses has been 84 per cent successful provided that the companies can survive the initial training period. This allows them to accumulate their wealth sufficiently enough to begin to develop into their next project. “Our objectives include the ability to teach independence and self reliability that will allow our patrons to develop into fully fledged grown companies.”

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Uganda: Aga Khan Group Joins $650 Million Sea Cable Project

November 19, 2007 by bipin.

Edris Kisambira

 Kampala

 The Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) has joined SEACOM to back the construction of a US$650 million undersea optic fibre cable that will link Mozambique, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania with international broadband cables in South Africa, India and Europe (France). SEACOM wants to build the 15,000km long state-of-art cable with other African investors. IPS is part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED). SEACOM’s venture, which will be ready for service in 2009, will provide faster, cheaper, broadband capacity for Africa. SEACOM will be one of four submarine cables that are being planned for the eastern seaboard of Africa. Others are the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy), The East African Marine System (TEAMS) and the NEPAD-backed BAHARICOM. High bandwidth at low costs will be a catalyst for productivity and the growth of service industries such as call-centres, back offices and research institutions in Africa. The additional bandwidth offered by the new cable will also contribute significantly to bringing the cost of connectivity down. “The agreements signed today (November 15) make the SEACOM broadband cable a reality for Africa, and with it access to much cheaper, much faster fibre optic links between countries in the south and east of the continent to the rest of the world,” said Mr. Lutaf Kassam, IPS (Kenya) group managing director. “The project will in turn spur economic growth and social development in the region through employment and connecting business opportunities,” Kassam said in a press statement AKFED issued last week. “Ten years ago, very few believed African markets were capable of the tremendous growth experienced in the mobile industry. Today, we see the dawn of a similar revolution in the growth of data communications,” said SEACOM president Mr. Brian Herlihy. East Africa is the only part of the world without access to international cables and is desperate for low cost, high quality, international bandwidth. The estimated cost of satellite bandwidth on a monthly lease ranges from $1,700 to $6,000 per megabit/second per month. The same bandwidth on the SEACOM cable will be approximately 20% of current costs. The investors in SEACOM are IPS (25%), Venfin Limited (25%); Herakles Telecom LLC (25%); Convergence Partners (12.5%) and the Shanduka Group (12.5%). Nedbank Capital, the investment banking arm of Nedbank Limited, was appointed as the Mandated Lead Arranger for all debt funding requirements of the project and the funding will be provided by Nedbank Capital and Investec Bank. Industrial Promotion Services (IPS) is the infrastructure and industrial development of AKFED. IPS has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and DR Congo and is also actively pursuing investment opportunities in Rwanda, Mozambique and Madagascar. Outside the East and Central Africa region, IPS also operates in Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Canada. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our continent, because the cable gives us the technical capacity for much closer integration into the world economy where Africa will significantly share in the new opportunities and efficiency gains arising from this project,” said Shanduka Chairman, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa. “We are extremely happy that the investors from South and East Africa have partnered with an international counterpart around our shared vision of linking Africa to the world in the spirit of NEPAD.” SEACOM has already invested more than $10million in the marine survey and engineering of the cable. This advance work has allowed SEACOM to maintain its ready-for-service-date of June 2009. Actual production of the high-tech cable and undersea repeaters starts next week. The statement said SEACOM’s 1.28-terrabytes-per-second broadband capacity would bring prices for businesses, institutions, communities, and individuals down significantly. It will provide sufficient bandwidth to accommodate high definition TV, peer to peer networks, IPTV, and surging Internet demand. SEACOM will also make a direct contribution to meeting the New Partnership for Africa’s Development’s (NEPAD’s) goals of development for Africa’s renewal and its full and beneficial integration into the global economy.

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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan

November 14, 2007 by bipin.

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan
at the Conference on Central Asia and Europe :
A New Economic Partnership for the 21st Century
Berlin - November 13, 2007

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Your Excellencies Foreign Minister Steinmeier, Dr. Belka
and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner,
State Secretary Erler,
Your Excellencies Ministers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me, first, acknowledge and thank for their kind words those who have spoken before me this morning — the Foreign Minister, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Dr. Marek Belka — as well as Benita Ferrero Waldner, the EC Commissioner for External Relations.

It has always been special pleasure to return to Berlin — a city that continues to be synonymous with the word “cosmopolitan”. Berlin is truly a global connecting point — a fact which has been instrumental in our decision to open an office of the Aga Khan Development Network here.

How appropriate that we should be discussing, in this historic crossroads city, one of the great, inter-cultural projects of our time — the effort to build a partnership between Central Asia and Europe. I commend the German Government for its leading role in this effort, and the European Union for carrying it forward — with its endorsement of a “Regional Strategy” for Central Asia a few months ago. Others have also played welcome contributing roles, including The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

As I offer my own comments today, I will draw on the experience of our Aga Khan Development Network in Central Asia. We have come to know much of this region well, particularly Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; not only has it long been home to significant numbers of Ismaili Muslims, but we have also developed a widening range of programs across the region over the past fifteen years.

It is appropriate that the word “Regional” is at the center of our deliberations on Central Asia. The countries are diverse in many ways — and the development approaches there must be sensitive to divergent requirements. But these countries also have a common historical experience, including several centuries of shared Islamic heritage. Each of them has faced the need to build new political and economic institutions following the breakup of the Soviet Union. And, as the EU Strategy document emphasizes, each of them can only optimise their development through a regional approach.

In this respect, the Central Asian experience parallels the European experience. In Europe, too, the end of the Cold War demanded new political and economic structures and it is striking how quickly Europe is now reaching out to Central Asia — offering, among other things, the great gift of a powerful regional example.

Among other things, the European example demonstrates that a healthy sense of national identity need not be a barrier to constructive regional engagement. So my first objective today is to tell you how warmly I endorse regional diagnosis for Central Asia. And because that diagnosis begins in the right place, it also extends into a series of wise prescriptions for the future. These prescriptions are validated in large measure by the experiences of the Aga Khan Development Network institutions in Central Asia. We have learned a great deal from those experiences — both successes and setbacks, but we can learn a great deal more by sharing our lessons.

The problems of Central Asia are remarkably complex — their causes are multiple and defiantly inter-tangled. Progress requires a multi-faceted and multi-input approach — a proper “policy mix”– to cite the language of the EU Report. The learning curve is steep and there should be a sense of urgency — for all of us — and all the more so, because solutions can be elusive.

In many ways, the greatest obstacle in the struggle for progress in Central Asia is simple human frustration. In this region the sense is that its development partners talk about progress, and then act, and then talk some more — but too often, for the people of the region, progress is just “not happening”. When it does happen, it too often is incomplete, or exceptional, or fleeting. This situation is of course by far the most acute in Afghanistan.

What we face in Central Asia is a race against frustration — which means a race against time and mediocrity. Alternative scenarios, often utopian and extremist, beckon on every hand — and people will not be patient with pragmatic scenarios unless the work in practice is effective. The EU rightly emphasizes the need for greater “continuity” in these efforts — so that each experience, successful or unsuccessful, becomes a building block for the future.

It is a daunting challenge indeed to move in a coordinated way on multiple fronts. But as we do, success can become self-generating. Progress on one, or two, or three fronts can often make progress easier on other fronts — a sense of possibility can also be contagious. I acknowledge the considerable advances that each of the Central Asian countries is making, including recognising the needs of their rural populations.

In a spirit of shared learning and with diffidence — let me highlight a few of our own experiences.

I would begin with the University of Central Asia, founded in the year 2000 by the Ismaili Imamat — and the governments of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

I remember the signing ceremonies well. They were the culmination of six years of planning — an experience which itself illustrated the importance not only of regional cooperation, but also of cooperation among disciplines and among social sectors. Our goal was to address a massive regional problem: how to improve the quality of life of nearly 25 million people who live in the high mountain areas of the region and beyond?

We often talk about Public Private Partnerships — as the EU Strategy does. But such relationships need not be limited to cooperation between

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Aga Khan Trust revives the Middle Ages

November 1, 2007 by bipin.

Aga Khan Trust revives the Middle Ages

The Khayrbek and Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban monumental complexes, two of the finest examples of Islamic mediaeval architecture in the Darb Al-Ahmar district of Cairo, have been restored. Nevine El-Aref was at the opening ceremony

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Click to view caption

The mosque in Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban monument after restoration

Traffic was barred from Bab Al-Wazir Street in the Darb Al-Ahmar district last Friday night as journalists and TV crews joined government officials at the Khayrbek complex to await the arrival of Prince Karim Aga Khan and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, who would announce the inauguration of the Khayrbek and Umm Al-Sultan Shaaban complexes after five years of restoration.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/869/eg3.htm

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Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at Round Table Louvre Museum

October 30, 2007 by bipin.

Mr President
Ladies and Gentlemen

Shortly after the announcement of our museum in Toronto, the aim of which is to present Islamic art in all its beauty and diversity, I had the immense pleasure of receiving Henri Loyrette’s invitation to stage an exhibition here at the Louvre.

I thank Mr Loyrette and the management of the Louvre most warmly for organising this round table and inviting me to speak this evening. This is a completely new situation for me, since I have never previously taken part in this kind of initiative in France, much less at the Louvre. You will not be surprised if I confess that I feel as though I am sitting an extremely important school examination for which I have done no preparation at all!  So I approach the task with deep trepidation!

When I was invited to talk to you about the future of the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto and the objects that will be on show there, I was asked to explain the significance of our exhibition and the role museums might play in improving understanding between East and West.

The meaning of our exhibition was certainly better illustrated by my brother Prince Amyn, and the director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Luis Monreal. I myself could not have explained the technicalities, but I think it is interesting to know about the framework within which our initiative is taking place, and it is to this issue that I shall turn now. It is, of course, risky to generalise about a world as diversified, complex and pluralistic as the Islamic world in this day and age. I shall allow myself to take that risk and attempt to explain to you some of the strategic aims we considered in relation to putting our collection on exhibition.

I believe that today the Islamic world’s view of its own future is seriously affected by a divergent squint. It is a world split into two tendencies: on the one hand, modernisers and believers in progressive change, on the other, traditionalists who might even be described as hidebound. Both seek to determine future directions to be taken by the Ummah which will reinforce its identity, or rather its identities, while remaining rooted in a truth which is firmly Muslim. In practice, these two tendencies can be seen in the political domain in the differences between theocratic governance and the secular state; between the application of Sharia in all legal fields and the complete absence of Sharia or its application only in the domain of civil law;  between economic and financial systems based on Sharia and systems that are essentially liberal and westernised; between religious education at every level and  a national system with no reference at all to religion throughout the whole educational process, apart from the madrasa option for very young children.

In this context, we thought it essential, whichever choice Muslim populations may indicate to their governments, to clarify certain aspects of the history of Muslim civilisations in order that today’s two main tendencies, modern and  traditional, can base their ideas on historical realities and not on history that has been misunderstood or even manipulated.

Firstly, the 1,428 years of the Ummah embrace many civilisations and are therefore characterised by an astonishing pluralism. In particular, this geographic, ethnic, linguistic and religious pluralism has manifested itself at the most defining moments in the history of the Ummah, hence the objective of the Aga Khan collection, which is to highlight objects drawn from every region and every period, and created from every kind of material in the Muslim world.
The second great historical lesson to be learnt is that the Muslim world has always been wide open to every aspect of human existence. The sciences, society, art, the oceans, the environment and the cosmos have all contributed to the great moments in the history of Muslim civilisations. The Qur’an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God’s creation. Our collection seeks to demonstrate the openness of Muslim civilisations to every aspect of human life, even going so far as to work in partnership with intellectual and artistic sources originating in other regions.

The third important observation we can make about the Ummah today is that the two main tendencies, traditional and modern, are trying to maintain, indeed to develop, their Islamic legitimacy. Loss of identity, anxiety about the risk of being caught up in a process of westernisation that is essentially Christian and is perceived as becoming less and less religious, are deep and very real concerns. Where the two tendencies diverge is on the question of how to maintain and strengthen this identity in the future.

Here, I would like to digress in order to illustrate how deep this loss of identity can be, even though it passes unrecognised until it is too late. Thirty years ago, I and a number of Muslim intellectuals met to ask ourselves an apparently simple but in reality extremely complex question: “Has the Muslim world lost the ability to express itself in the field of architecture, a field admired and acknowledged as one of the most powerful manifestations of every great Muslim civilisation?”  The response was a unanimous ‘Yes’. Since then, many efforts have been made to reverse the situation, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, but one of the causes was that, throughout the Ummah, none of the teachers in any of the schools of architecture had studied in their home countries. Without exception, every teacher of architecture in every school and university in the Muslim world had been trained abroad, without any reference whatsoever to the Muslim world.  This is, by the way, one of the reasons we are pleased to have been able to include in our collection some documents of unique architectural interest.

For the populations of the Ummah, loss of identity is an unquestionable reality, as it is for all societies. Perhaps one of the keys for the Muslim world will be to perpetuate their cultures in the modern world by means of rediscovered ancient and newly inspired sources. The Muslim world’s two main tendencies, traditional and modern, will both have a role to play but if one attempts to achieve exclusivity at the expense of the other, the consequences will be predictable and highly damaging.

The second issue about which I have been asked to talk to you is what the role of museums might be in promoting understanding between East and West. It is a huge question to which I shall not try to give a comprehensive response but I should nevertheless point out that the Muslim world, with its history and cultures, and indeed its different interpretations of Islam, is still little known in the West.  Even today in secondary and even university education in the West, the study of the Muslim world is still a specialist subject.  One example is how little the Muslim world features in the study of humanities in the West, where courses are essentially centred around Judeo-Christian civilisations.

This lack of knowledge is a dramatic reality which manifests itself in a particularly serious way in western democracies, since public opinion has difficulties judging national and international policy vis-à-vis the Muslim world. There are an infinite number of historical reasons for this, but perhaps there is also a fear of proselytisation. Be that as it may, the two worlds, Muslim and non-Muslim, Eastern and Western, must, as a matter of urgency, make a real effort to get to know one another, for I fear that what we have is not a clash of civilisations, but a clash of ignorance on both sides.  Insofar as civilisations manifest and express themselves through their art, museums have an essential role to play in  teaching the two worlds to understand, respect and appreciate each other and ensuring that whole populations are given fresh opportunities to make contact with each other, using new, modern methods imaginatively  and intelligently to bring about truly global communication.

Western museums, particularly those in Europe, have some extraordinary collections of Muslim art. Obviously, the Louvre and the Museum of Decorative Arts are the richest and I congratulate and thank them for the efforts they are making, with government backing, to fill the enormous void, a veritable black hole, which threatens us in this conflict of ignorance. Rest assured that you can fully count on us to play our part, however modest.

I shall finish by saying a few words specifically about our museum in Toronto. As you will have gathered, I am firmly convinced that better knowledge of the Muslim world can overcome distrust and therefore that city has been a strategic choice.  While some North American museums have significant collections of Muslim art, there is no institution devoted to Islamic art. In building the museum in Toronto, we intend to introduce a new actor to the North American art scene. Its fundamental aim will be an educational one, to actively promote knowledge of Islamic arts and culture. What happens on that continent, culturally, economically and politically, cannot fail to have worldwide repercussions – which is why we thought it important that an institution capable of promoting understanding and tolerance should exist there.

The museum will also belong to the large Muslim population living in Canada and the USA. It will be a source of pride and identity for all these people, showing the inherent pluralism of Islam, not only in terms of religious interpretations but also of cultural and ethnic variety. Furthermore, the museum will show, beyond the notoriously politicised form of Islam which now tends to make headlines, Islam is in reality an open-minded, tolerant faith capable of adopting other people’s cultures and languages and making them its own. There is no doubt whatsoever that the Muslims of North America will play an important role in the development of states and populations within the Ummah.

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