By Jehangir A. Merchant "A thousand years ago, my forefathers, the Fatimid imam-caliphs of Egypt, founded al-Azhar University and the Academy of Knowledge in Cairo. In the Islamic tradition, they viewed the discovery of knowledge as a way to understand, so as to serve better God's creation, to apply knowledge and reason to build society and shape human aspirations" - Excerpt ...
by Zayn Kassam Henry Corbin (1903 - 1978) was one of the 20th century's most prolific scholars of Islamic mysticism. Corbin was Professor of Islam and Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Teheran. Photo: Eranos Archive Introduction: Corbin's Universe If scholarship is an entrance into a mental universe, then the gateway opened to us by ...
Editor's note: In Part I of this essay, Parvin Peerwani provided a brief background of the life of Nasir Khusraw and explained his definition of 'aql and the general categories of knowledge such as the distinction between marifah and 'ilm. The modes of knowledge and the relationship of the human soul with the Universal Intellect was described. Based on Hakim Nasir's ...
Editor's note: Legendary Muhammad Ali passed away on June 3, 2016 at the age of 74. Muhammad Ali carrying the Olympic Torch at the 25th Olympiad held in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996, which marked the centenary year of the modern Olympics. To his daughter the world's greatest athlete, three times heavyweight champion, Muhammad Ali (1942-2016), was simply known as Daddy. In ...
By Parvin S. Peerwani This statue of the Ismaili da'i and intellectual giant Pir Nasir Khusraw stands in his memory in Badakhshan. "Kindle the candle of intellect in your heart and hasten with it to the world of brightness; If you want to light a candle in your heart, make knowledge and goodness its wick and oil," he wrote. Part I: ...
Artist: Hamida Madhani Location: Georgia, USA Profile: Hamida Madhani is a Georgia based contemporary artist, creative director and designer. Her fascination with art began at a very young age which led her to pursue her education in visual communication and digital art. Her art has been commissioned by collectors internationally and has been exhibited in galleries in the US. Hamida Madhani ...
by Abdulaziz Shamsuddin The word Imama, from its Arabic root I-m-m (lit: leader, to be in front of), is normally used for the 'supreme leadership' of the Muslim community after the death of Prophet Muhammad (SAWS). [1] According to the Islamic concept of Divine Guidance and Mediation, man is created in the best form and is given intellect. This is attested ...
The Hijra: Movement of God's People By Omid Safi Editor's Note: The following essay draws from the author's book Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters (HarperOne, 2009). We are greatly indebted to Professor Omid Safi for his permission to reproduce the essay on this Web site. Copyright © Omid Safi. The Islamic calendar does not begin with the year of ...
Profile: Wladimir A. Ivanow Born in 1886 in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wladimir Ivanow, became a fanatical lover of manuscripts at an early age. Following studies in Arabic and modern Persian dialects, Ivanow joined the city's Asiatic Museum where he rose to the position of assistant keeper of oriental manuscripts. In that official capacity, he travelled extensively to Bukhara and other Central ...
By Farouk M. Topan One of the most interesting and profound verses from the ginans is, to my mind, the opening verse of Sayyid Imamshah's 'Aad thaki...'. The content of the first two lines have little in common with the theme of the nine verses that follow them; however, they have been placed at the beginning of the ginan in a ...
Editor's note: To mark the Aga Khan Foundation's 25th anniversary in 1992, an entire issue of The Ismaili, USA, was dedicated to the Foundation and its activities around the world. The excerpt of His Highness the Aga Khan's message produced below and the piece following it by Professor Azim Nanji are taken from this special issue dated July 11, 1992. 25th ...
Editor's Note: We are pleased to publish photos from some of the visits to Kenya made by the 48th Ismaili Imam, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, and the current 49th Imam, Prince Karim Aga Khan during the period 1940's - 1960's. These historical photos are from the personal collection of Nashir and Shaida Kassam of Ottawa, Canada. Nashir's late father, ...
"I have taken this stand not out of arrogance or pride, neither out of mischief or injustice. I have risen to seek reform in the community of my grandfather. I would like to bid good, forbid evil, and follow the tradition of my grandfather and my father 'Ali bin Abi Talib." --Imam Hussein (a.s.) It is generally believed that Imam Hussein ...
see details below Winners of the essay competion "Why I am Excited About the Aga Khan Museum, the Ismaili Centre and their Park" WINNER CATEGORY 1 (youth): Emmanuel Iduma (Nigeria) WINNER CATEGORY 2 (open): Zohra Nizamdin (USA) Please click on their names to read their respective essays. ******* Winners of the essay competion "Why I Like This Photo" WINNER CATEGORY 1 ...
Editor's note: This post was updated on May 5, 2013 with the following opening remarks made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Business Leader's Award Ceremony of the END HUMAN TRAFFICKING NOW: ENFORCING THE UN PROTOCOL, Luxor International Forum. The background information about the ceremony and the fight against human trafficking was first published on December 12, 2010, and ...
December 13, 1986, Geneva: On his 50th birthday, His Highness the Aga Khan is seen ordaining a new constitution for the worldwide Ismaili community. Click for enlargement. Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Karim al Hussaini, His Highness Prince Aga Khan, in direct lineal descent from the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) through Hazrat Mawlana Ali (a.s.) and Hazrat Bibi Fatima (a.s), is the Forty-Ninth ...
His Highness the Aga Khan pictured with Ismaili leaders at the Toronto International Centre as he celebrates his 42nd birthday with a cake in front of a large gathering of Ismailis during his visit to Toronto, Canada, in November 1978. The 49th Shia Ismaili Imam was on the final leg of his first tour to Canada since the Ismailis' large scale ...
Majestic Building in Kensington Radiates Peace and Humility Built from 1978- 1983 by the firm of Casson, Conder, and Partners, the Ismaili Centre is the religious and cultural center for the United Kingdom's 15,000 Ismaili Muslims. The first building of its kind in the West, it was commissioned by the current 49th Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, to raise awareness ...
Editor's note: In 1991, Ali M. Rajput of Birmingham, England, set out on an extraordinary mission to serve the Jamat in Badakhshan. To this day - he is now 86 - he travels to Tajikistan every year to give his best to the community there. A Khalifa* in Khorog has responded to Dr. Rajput's contribution, and submitted a moving letter to ...
A Photo Essay May 28, 2010: The Aga Khan and Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, view the model of the Aga Khan Museum, the Ismaili Centre and their Park at the unveiling of the foundation plaque. Photo Credit: The Prime Minister's Web site, pm.gc.ca Introduced by Abdulmalik Merchant Editor and Publisher, Simerg.com Jim Bowie is a photographer hobbyst, who has made ...
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933 - 2003) Editor's note: Begin by reading Prince Sadruddin's profile in: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan: A Rare and Insightful Interview With The UNESCO Courier. The following excerpts are taken from a selection of statements, interviews and speeches that the late Prince Sadrudding Aga Khan made when he was the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. A ...
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1933 - 2003). Photo: UNESCO Courier. Copyright Profile: Born in Paris, France, the late Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, KBE (17 January 1933 - 12 May 2003) was the son of Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, His Highness the Aga Khan III, 48th Imam of the Shia Nizari Ismailis. Prince Sadruddin studied at Harvard where he came to abhor ...
A BRIEF NOTE By Jehangir A. Merchant The Ismaili place of worship is seen as that House in which the Light is found, where Allah's praise is sung in the mornings and in the evenings, and where mu'mins (believers) offer their prayers and fulfill their religious duties. The frontispiece of the Jamatkhana in Mashhad, Iran. Photo: Ilm magazine, July 1978. Mashhad ...
Compiled by Simerg BACKGROUND A report announcing the Aga Khan's establishment of an Award for Islamic architecture. Click image for enlargement. Credit: Ilm Special Supplement (1976), Mawlana Hazar Imam's and Begum Salimah's visit to Pakistan in February/March 1976. The creation of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture was first announced by His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th and current Ismaili ...
By Ali M. Rajput I am pleased to share with readers of Simerg an account of my memorable trip to the Ismaili Castle of Alamut, which became the capital of Ismaili power for 171 years, following the Nizari-Musteali Ismaili split upon the death of the Fatimid Imam, al-Mustansir. The trip took place during the summer of 2007, when I spent a ...
By Abdulmalik Merchant Editor, Simerg.com The autobiography of the 48th Ismaili Imam, Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, was first published in London in 1954 under the title The Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough and Time. While the English versions of the British and American editions were circulated widely in the English-speaking world, a remarkable fact is that the ...
By Jehangir A. Merchant "Upon them will be green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver; and their Lord will give to them to drink of a Wine, Pure and Holy." (Holy Qur'an, 76:21) "O brothers! By the remembrance of the Shah's name (in contemplative prayers), the Lord will extend to you ...
By Ali Mohammad Rajput Special to Simerg "My child, you are going to UK, very different to your country of origin, always remember my words of advice and never forget as it is for your own good. Pick up their good principles and make them your own, and leave their vices and bad habits to them alone." Dr. Rajput at Yakimour, ...
By Ghulam Abbas Hunzai The Holy Qur'an's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims. Exchanges of knowledge between institutions and nations and the widening of man's intellectual horizons are essentially Islamic concepts. The faith urges freedom of intellectual enquiry and this freedom does not mean that knowledge will lose ...
His Highness the Aga Khan delivered a major speech on Pluralism at the 10th annual LaFontaine-Baldwin Symposium held in Toronto on Friday, October 15, 2010. In the snapshots shown above, he is seen delivering his address to a packed audience. When the lecture concluded the Ismaili Imam was given a standing ovation, which he is seen acknowledging in a gesture of ...
This thoughtful study of the late Aga Khan, 48th Imam of Shia Imami Ismailis, was done in clay by his wife, the Begum Aga Khan, Om Habiba. Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS Editor's note: The following piece is an adaptation from Bashir Ladha's excellent tribute to the 48th Ismaili Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan III, which appeared in Ilm, Volume 3, ...
Editor's Note: Bashir Ladha was in Toronto at the beginning of October (2010) for a family wedding. On October 10, he visited Wynford Drive to see how the construction work of the Ismaili Centre, the Aga Khan Museum and the Park was coming along. He writes: "It was a thrilling moment and I was full of excitement when I saw the ...
Nazrana, Tere Liye Na jaa, kahin ab, na jaa Dil ke siva Tasvir teri chupake, Rakhdoon, Jahan koi na dekhe Falak se todkar dekho, Sitare log laye hein Magar mei woh nahi laya, Jo sare log laye hein Koi Nazrana, leker aaya hoon, Main deewana tere liye. Koi Nazrana, leker aaya hoon, Main deewana tere liye. Dekho mere chere par Dil ...
"I am deeply moved and extremely grateful that the Aga Khan has chosen to make this wonderful gift to Brown University in my honor. It is particularly meaningful to me because the Aga Khan is internationally recognized as a major activist for civilized humanity and in promoting the universal values that unite and transcend us all." Vartan Gregorian, now President of ...
Tare Mare Kevi-Re Sagai ENGLISH TRANSLATION You are the Sun, I am a ray, You are the Poet, I am the poetry, You are the Guide, I am the guided, You are the Ocean and I am a river. What is our relationship? From thee unfathomable ocean, (I) sometimes exist in the clouds, sometimes in the lake, sometimes streaming by the ...
People say expressions is the easiest thing to do, They say just express yourself however you want to, But they don't think that may be we don't know how to. If they leave us to ponder We just get left to wonder, How does it come to them? Why can't we be like them? But then it hits, The barriers are ...
To the Rope of Imamat, we must remember to hold strong, With this Rope as our guide, we will never go wrong. From our spiritual responsibilities, we must never go astray, The balance between Din and Duniya we should uphold everyday. We love our Hazar Imam and in our hearts he is always near, How fortunate we are to be witness ...
The 1025 CE Shipwreck at Serçe Limanı, Turkey The hull of the submerged ship which contained Fatimid artefacts. Photo credit: INA. Copyright. "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 ...
By Sayyeda Samia al-Kaslaania Sayyeda al-Kaslaania belongs to an organization dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts, skills, and traditions of pre-17th-century Europe. Author's note: The Fatimids were a Middle Eastern Caliphate in Egypt from 909-1171 C.E. The period which carries their name is considered by many to be the height of medieval Islamic art. This period is noted for a ...
Jamatkhana is a wonderful place And always keeps a smile on your face! The smile is so wide - from ear to ear, It makes all unhappiness disappear! And those Tasbihs that look so new, When you use them you shine too! To me Jamatkhana is a time of joy, For man, woman, girl and boy! But sometimes I wonder why ...
