By Malik Merchant, Editor One would think that Gerald Ferreira of3d Car Showswould only focus on cars. Only my love for cars and what Ferreira’s website represents would take me there, but yesterday I went to his blog for a totally different reason – a short but accurate literary piece about Nasir al-Din Tusi, the great Muslim scholar, and some ...
(Introduction adapted from The Metropolitan Museum of Art) An amulet [similar to a talisman] is any object that is imbued with protective powers, and all cultures and faiths have manifestations of such objects. In the world of Islam, they bear Qur’anic inscriptions, and religious narratives. Many Muslims believe that an object that is inscribed with the word of God will ...
Images clickable for enlargement Three striking and important areas of Tanzania in eastern Africa are shown in this color-coded shaded relief image from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The largest circular feature in the center right is the caldera, or central crater, of the extinct volcano Ngorongoro, which is surrounded by smaller volcanoes, all associated with the Great Rift Valley, ...
BY ELIA BADRUDIN Salaam , al Salaam, O salaam to all of humanity, Peace al Salamiyeh , KNOW that Peace will be again. the heavens will smile on you again. all humanity which speaks for Peace has promised that the planet has your place al Salamiyeh, more than a thousand years before prayers were seeds of this ground a grassland ...
Jabal Mashhad is one of the two mausoleums in Syria which is of special historical significance to Ismailis. The mausoleum is thought to hold the tombs of the 8th Ismaili Imam, Wafi Ahmed, and his two sons as well Rashid al-Din Sinan, a Syrian dai from a much later period in Ismaili history. Photo: Ari Babul, Vancouver, Canada. Copyright. The ...
The website for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reported as follows on January 22, 2007: The Aga Khan visited NATO Headquarters on 22 January 2007 to meet with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer [who held the position from 2004 until 2009 – ed.]. They discussed ways of stepping up support to the Afghanistan government. The Aga Khan ...
BY KHIZAR HAYAT “…Indeed, the scout movement has forever embodied amongst the noblest of human aspirations amongst the most admirable of the qualities of the human heart – courage with self-sacrifice, independence with service and honour to others, honour with duty and with loyalty and with discipline…” — Prince Amyn Mohamed Aga Khan THE SCOUT MOVEMENT Lord Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941), ...
By Hussein Rashid Who is the Ali, the universal hero of Islam? The last of those who are known as the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the greatness of Imam Ali (a.s) is best represented by story of Khaybar. The story begins that Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s) laid siege to the fort of Khaybar, but the walls were so well-fortified that the army ...
Compiled by Malik Merchant Editor, Simergphotos.com & Simerg.com INTRODUCTION: On Sunday November 25, 2012, Simergphotos began a weekly/bi-weekly series of historical illustrations that underline an artistic, ethical, moral, religious or scientific theme. This fourth piece is on the Blue Qur’an, an exquisite work of art, which has been referred to as “the Picasso of Islamic Art, because the folios (leaves, ...
Editor’s note: During the short 4 month period since its launch in September 2012, Simergphotos has published over twenty remarkable photo stories as well as historical images. A few of the published photo essays have been adapted for this blog from the original pieces which first appeared at the companion literary website, Simerg.com, both during and before 2012. The following ...
Compiled by Malik Merchant Editor, Simergphotos.com & Simerg.com INTRODUCTION: On Sunday November 25, 2012, Simergphotos began a weekly/bi-weekly series of historical illustrations that underline an artistic, ethical, moral, religious or scientific theme. This third piece in the series is based on Wellcome Library’s Arabic manuscript collection, and includes the well-known medical encyclopedia, the Canon of Medicine, by the famous Ismaili ...
Compiled By Malik Merchant, Editor From time to time Simergphotos will publish historical illustrations that underline an artistic, ethical, moral, religious or scientific theme. This second piece introduces readers to a rare copy of the Qur’an which was purchased by Thomas Jefferson, and shows his insight and vision for religious freedom and worship, a right in America which was reiterated ...
Introduced by Malik Merchant On an occasional basis Simergphotos will publish an historical illustration which underlines an artistic, ethical, moral, religious or scientific theme. The following illustration was created/published in 1861, at just about the time the American Federal Goverment was making the abolition of slavery a Civil War goal. c1861: The American Declaration of Independence illustrated / Fabronious ; ...
By Malik Merchant Editor, Simergphotos.com and Simerg.com President Barack Obama holds a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, July 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) The White House is a serious place, where important legislative matters affecting the USA are handled on a daily basis. Amidst all the complex and tense situations which ...
By Shamas Nanjijuma (Exclusive to Simerg) The rooftop Islamic Garden at the London Ismaili Centre. Photo: Shamash Nanjijuma Collection. With a burbling fountain, delightful plants and flowers, the rooftop garden is one of the most striking parts of the Ismaili Centre in London, England. As Shellyza Moledina wrote in her piece for this website’s sister blog, Simerg.com, the rooftop garden ...
Compiled by Malik Merchant (Photographs and captions for this piece are from the Matson (G. Eric and Edith) Photograph Collection at the Library of Congress, USA. Introductory material on mainland Tanzania – then known as Tanganyika – and Zanzibar was compiled from Wikipedia) Zanzibar Zanzibar is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres (16–31 mi) off ...
Compiled by Malik Merchant, Editor (On some browsers, please refresh page if only thumbnails appear) I. 1885: Enthronement at Age Seven as 48th Ismaili Imam November 2, 2015, marks the 138th birth anniversary of the 48th Ismaili Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah. Born in Karachi in 1877, he succeded his father, Imam Shah Aly Shah ...
Map of Canada with Alberta highlighted. Image: Wikipedia; text added by Simergphotos to show other provinces etc.. Alberta is a province of Canada. It had a population of 3,645,257 in 2011 making it the most populous of Canada’s three prairie provinces. Alberta and its neighbour, Saskatchewan, were established as provinces on September 1, 1905. Alberta is located in western Canada, ...
President John F. Kennedy Meets with His Highness the Aga Khan, Prince Karim al-Husseini, at the Oval Office, White House, on March 14, 1961. The Ismaili Imam had first met the President in France some six years earlier. Photo: Robert L. Knudsen (Robert LeRoy), 1929-1989. ~~~~ President John F. Kennedy Meets with His Highness the Aga Khan, Prince Karim al-Husseini, ...
Introduction: The Foundation for the Safe-keeping and Development of the Chantilly Domain created by His Highness the Aga Khan in 2005, is on a mission: to restore to original magnificence, the Château of Chantilly, its park and its gardens, as well as the Great Stables. The French Institute has entrusted the foundation, with the management of this heritage for a ...
By Malik Merchant Isabelle Prondzynski’s flick photostream (prondis_in_kenya) has some marvellous photos of the Nairobi Aga Khan hospital grounds and the surrounding neighbourhood. When asked to comment about the hospital, Prondzynsk replied: The highest profile Ismaili buildings in Nairobi are probably those of the Aga Khan Hospital. This is an excellent hospital, very beautiful too. There is a [Kitengela] sculpture ...
Originally aired on PBS to a word-wide audience exceeding 150 million people “CANDID, THOUGHTFUL AND VISUALLY STUNNING” – Los Angeles Times Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s) changed world history in 23 years and continues to shape and inspire the lives of more than 1.4 billion Muslims around the world. Simerg and its companion photoblog are pleased to make available for their readers ...
This a very rare collection of photos of the 48th and 49th Ismaili Imams, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and Prince Karim Aga Khan respectively, taken during their visits to Kenya. The photos are from the personal collection of Nashir Kassam and his wife Shayda of Ottawa, Canada. Nashir’s late father, Mr. Nurmohamed Kassam of Kendu Bay, Kenya, was ...
By Malik Merchant INTRODUCTION Crazy Horse Memorial is a tribute to the culture, tradition and living heritage of American Indians and the spirit of the legendary Lakota leader, Crazy Horse. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began carving the world’s largest ongoing carving in 1948. Today his family and the Crazy Horse Foundation continue the dream and work on the sculpture that will ...
A digital portrait by Akbar Kanji This digital mosaic rendering is based on an existing photo portrait of His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th Ismaili Imam. For graphic artist Akbar Kanji of Toronto, the concept is to “portray our Imam’s entire life and his dedications at a glance which we cannot imagine until we come closer to him.” Says ...
BY SHARIFFA KESHAVJEE A stunning view of the Indian Ocean from the roof-top of the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana. Please click on photo for enlargement. Photo: Shariffa Keshavjee, Nairobi, Kenya. Copyright. When I was a little girl, one of my favourite pastimes was to be in the presence of adult company. As the youngest in the family I was too often labelled ...
Tashkorgan in the Xinjiang Province of China is 295km (183 miles) South West of Kashgar. The town marked the end of the Silk Routes for Chinese traders arriving from Kashgar. Their goods would be transferred to caravans, which continued on to Gilgit and thence either south to the Indian Ocean along the Indus River, or west through Kabul, Herat, and ...
By Malik Mirza The dome of Pir Hasan Kabirdin’s mausoleum. Photo: Malik Mirza. Copyright. THE JOURNEY BEGINS While I was on a training assignment related to micro-finance in Bahawalpur, a thought came across my mind: Why not visit the mausoleums of our ancient Pirs, and try to explore the current on ground situation of the mausoleums? After all, the devotional ...
By Malik Merchant “…Your gift of this unique volume, which was prepared by your father, Alwaez Karim Pirani, and which contains articles and drawings by numerous Ismaili individuals as well as messages of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah and Mata Salamat is a veritable treasure…” (message to Mr. Sadru Pirani from the Institute of Ismaili Studies) The late Karim Master, in ...
By Muslim and Nevin Harji Summary: There are no words to describe the hospitality, kindness, love and gentleness of the Iranian people. We have ventured into over forty countries, but never have we experienced such generosity. Our bodies may be back in Montreal, but Iranian hospitality has stolen our hearts which are probably somewhere either in Esfahan or Shiraz. When ...
Compiled from the resources of the Institute of Nautical Archaelogy “Drop a light bulb. Try to put it back together again. Drop three light bulbs. Stir the pieces. Then try to put them back together again. Drop six light bulbs, four glass vases, and a dozen wine bottles, stir the pieces, and try to put them all back together, as ...
By Ali M. Rajput A map showing Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria. Some of the places Dr. Rajput visited in Iran were Tehran (inserted to original map), Qazwin, Alamut, Lamasar and Mashad (Eastern Iran, not shown above). Map: I am pleased to share with readers of Simerg an account of my memorable trip to the Ismaili Castle of Alamut, ...
By Muslim and Nevin Harji Exclusive to Simerg During the past 8 years, we have visited dozens of cities in over forty countries all around the world. We have to say that the magical quality of the Old City of Jerusalem is unsurpassable. Perhaps it is due to the glorious history of the towering stone walls and ancient buildings, or ...
