UK -- To commemorate Imamat Day 2020, Ismaili CIVIC donated over 230 meals to Ealing Soup Kitchen (ESK) in West London. The meals were prepared and distributed by volunteers, including members of our Ismaili CIVIC team Khadija Mohamed, Rozmin Madhani and Ali Mohamed.Despite socially distancing, Rozmin prepared the delicious chicken curry and rice from afar, which was delivered to ESK for ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned almost everyone's life upside down -- and artists are no exception. As Chicago-based Canadian creator Brendan Fernandes explains, travel restrictions and physical-distancing measures have forced artists to reconsider how they create, present, and even think about their work. Joining Aga Khan Museum Curator Dr. Michael Chagnon for a REIMAGINE: Global Conversation, Fernandes also divulges the inspiration behind ...
Can you believe we're almost at the end of July already? 2020 has definitely seen it's fair share of major events over the last few months, all while under the cloud ...
Features a short explanation of Judaism; a conversation on the The Future of God: The Merging of Science and Religion at 92Y Talks; a crash course philosophy on the problem with evil; a talk on religious pluralism in democracy by Eboo Patel; a presentation on from Azim Nanji's work on "Beyond the Clash of Civilizations" (Part 2)...and more. ...
Dr. El-Ansary explores the inner teachings of Islam as it relates to numbers, science, and art, and highlights the geometric beauty and harmony between these assumed disparate subjects as reflection of the Unity of God (Tawhid). He also meditates on their educational and pedagogical value. This lecture was part of a two-day event: Intellectuality and Spirituality in the Islamic Tradition. ...
USA -- Volunteers provide boxes of food to those in need at the Ismaili Jamatkhana in Memphis. With the steep rise in unemployment due to the coronavirus, food insecurity is a growing issue in cities such as Memphis, Tennessee. Individuals and families who were already facing social and economic challenges are left even more vulnerable due to the pandemic and are ...
AREOMAGAZINE.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah: "[Muslims] admit that there were similar Divinely inspired messengers in other countries -- Gautama Buddha, Shri Krishna and Shri Ram in India, Socrates in Greece, ..."] ARTICLE: When Socrates was awaiting execution, his wealthy friend, Crito, offers to help him escape. Despite the unjust charges against him and an easy escape, Socrates refuses, arguing that it is worse to commit injustice by violating the law than to suffer injustice oneself. It is better to maintain one's own virtue, even if it means accepting an unjust outcome. Being a just person matters more than injustice generated by institutions. Indeed, for Socrates, it matters more than life itself. Socrates' uncompromising claim about virtue and justice has gone unheeded in our times. Instead, social justice dominates public discussion. Social justice is concerned with outcomes. Whether intentionally or not, social justice tends to destroy what in earlier ages was called natural justice. Natural justice refers ...
AMERICANMIND.ORG -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah: "[Muslims] admit that there were similar Divinely inspired messengers in other countries -- Gautama Buddha, Shri Krishna and Shri Ram in India, Socrates in Greece, ..."] ARTICLE: As Plato (Socrates' greatest pupil) describes it, democracy is basically what American society has become in the twenty-first century -- so much so that one wonders whether he had access to a time machine. Recognizing Plato's profound prescience begins with understanding his psychology, which formed the basis of his political philosophy. Specifically, Plato's four stages by which minds can become progressively disordered, and the ways in which four increasingly corrupt types of society parallel these disorders. The tendency toward disorder and tyranny, that Plato attributes to democracies, is a consequence of their egalitarianism, moral relativism, and sexual license. Plato distinguishes three main parts of the psyche: reason, spirit, and appetite. Naturally, appetite encompasses desires for ...
[H/T MOHIB EBRAHIM] -- OFF-GUARDIAN.ORG -- At a Quaker Meeting, occasionally someone will say, "Could we have some silence please?" when the discussion becomes too contentious and not progressing towards resolution. We wait and listen. What are we listening for? As corny and old-fashioned as it may sound, we are waiting for guidance from God. I have felt increasing awe and reverence for this process by which Quakers have conducted meetings for hundreds of years. No shouting. No interrupting. Instead of voting, we try to discern the "sense of the Meeting" before acting. Just one voice can be the one to heed, even if the whole group is going another way -- because we believe that all have direct access to God's guidance, no one person more than another. In this contentious time of lockdowns, isolations, staggering ...
GOOGLE.COM -- Perfection is not of this world. ~~ The world is like a serpent: its touch soft, but its bite mortal. ~~ Look upon the world with the eye of the cloistered ascetic: not as one loving it blindly. ~~ The inhabitants of the earth are only dogs barking, and annoying beasts. The one howls against the other. The strong devour the weak; the great subdue the little. They are beasts of burden; some harnessed, the others at large. ~~ Every day an angel of heaven cries: ... ...
Nasir al-Din Tusi, one of the major intellectual scholars of the thirteenthcentury who contributed to many fields of learning, was born in 1201 in Tus, northeastern Persia into a Twelver Shi'i (Ithna'ashari) family. His father, a prominent jurist, encouraged al-Tusi to study all branches of knowledge and examine the views on the various schools of Islamic tradition, because his father "was ...
First of all, I wanna say Imamat Day Mubarak/Jashn Tabrik to all my Ismaili friends all around the world. This is my humble nazrana to our beloved Hazar Imam for Imamat ...
Ukraine-born Nastasia Y [na-STA-s'ya] is a world/soul musician from Canada, highly immersed in Toronto's versatile multi-cultural music scene. With degrees in contemporary jazz & classical music, Nastasia is the front woman of DoVira [Do-VEE-rah] - a fusion group that blends contemporary experimental sounds with traditional Eastern European music. Nastasia also performs with the multi-lingual all-female folk band Blisk, her "Arabic meets Balkan" ...
The guest speakers for the Museum's latest REIMAGINE: Global Conversation want you (yes, you!) to accelerate a worldwide movement promoting harmony between peoples and effecting positive change in local communities. Joining the Museum's Dr. Ulrike Al-Khamis and Amirali Alibhai for a lively virtual discussion are Ubuntu Love Challenge founders Bodour Al Qasimi and Mamadou Kwidjim Toure. Learn about the genesis of their ...
Jessica Hana Deutsch is an in-demand violinist, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer in Toronto's music scene. She is incredibly versatile, sounding equally comfortable in Afro Cuban, Klezmer, Brazilian, classical, and Arabic music. Classically-trained from the age of 3 and a three-time national finalist in the Canadian Music Competition, Deutsch studied with Mark Skazinetsky (assistant concertmaster of the TSO). She currently leads and composes ...
A Mother's Plea By FARAH TEJANI With one hand on his expanded stomach and another wiping his eyes, The hot sun shows no mercy, and the despondent mother cries. She has no fear and curses God, for how could this not shake her, She vows to make her reasons heard just when she'll meet her Maker. "Why must my babe go ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- Rare 1930s vintage video of Peshawar City, British India (now part of present-day Pakistan). See "The Frontier Mail" the railway arriving at Peshawar Cantt Station ~ "Paris of the Pathans" a view of Peshawar from the Western Gate of Gor Khatri ~ Khyber Bazaar and Kabuli (Edwardes) Gate ~ Peshawar Walled City, a melting pot of cultures and multi-ethnic diversity ~ A tonga ride through Qissa Khwani (Street of the Story Tellers), Bazaar-e-Misgraan (Coppersmiths' Bazaar) and Chowk Yadgaar (Remembrance Square) ~ Slide show features: Kabuli Gate, Qissa Khwani, Bazaar-e-Misgraan, Chowk Yadgar with Col. Hasting's memorial, Sarafa Bazaar (Andar Shehr), Town Hall and Kacheri Gate, Cunningham's Clock Tower. ...
Dance your eyes across the patterns and shapes on a 15th-century Iranian door in the Museum's Collection. Inspired by what you see, create your own geometric masterpiece using pencil crayons, paper, and your imagination. Watch this video to get started! Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and promote understanding between peoples. To learn more about ...
Tanzania -- More than 800 million people menstruate on a daily basis, and 500 million of them do not have access to safe sanitary products and facilities. Globally, many menstruators are absent from school because of their menstrual cycle which in the long run, affects their education and missed opportunities in life, thus causing them to be trapped in a cycle ...
JollyGul.com presents Pir Sadardin's very popular ginan "Hansapuree Nagaree Maanhe" recited by Zaynah Bhanji with guitar accompaniment by her brother Areez Bhanji. Zaynah is 16 years old and is very passionate ...
Stakes successes for Dariyma and Valia. The famous green and red colours of H.H. the Aga Khan have been in prolific form recently, with a series of victories in France and Ireland. The beautifully bred pair VALIA and DARIYMA provided the highlights with Listed victories at ParisLongchamp and Chantilly and represent high hopes for the future. By Sea The Stars and ...
USA -- The Gillani family provides products and meals to North Carolina residents. "Anwer is the kind of person who sees a need and he finds a way to fill that need," Said Mayor Steve Little of Marion, NC, during a dinner for the Sheriff and Police Departments, and First Responders, hosted by Anwer Gillani in 2016. A volunteer wearing the ...
Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III (r. 1885-1957) established a research institution, the Ismaili Society (Anjoman-e Esma'ili), on February 16, 1946 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. According to the Charter, its primary objective was "the promotion of independent and critical study of all matters connected with Ismailism with the stated policy of refraining from all religio-political missionary activities" (Daftary, Anjoman-e ...
BIOLA.EDU -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: In 1999, Hazar Imam said he watches other (non-Ismaili) communities to learn how they retain their heritage, identity, and traditions.] ARTICLE: A well-known faith educator said "one of the problems in our churches is that we answer questions nobody is asking and we fail to answer the questions people are asking." Now, a landmark new Barna Group study offers unprecedented insights into Gen Z, born between 1999 and 2015, right after millennials. In many ways Gen Z are vastly different from millennials -- less religious, more success-oriented, more ... Born when religion is no longer a major influence in American culture, the study found teens 13 to 18 are twice as likely as adults to be atheists. However, confirming other research, the study also found engaged Christian teens are just as likely as adults to affirm their Christian faith and convictions. Nominal Christianity is disappearing in ...
Global -- Amin Bhatia and his musical composing partner Ari Posner have been nominated for the Canadian Screen Awards for the last five consecutive years, including two nominations this year for Canadian TV shows. However, with no wins to show from the previous years, Amin wasn't expecting to win this year. The pair were nominated for their work on children's show ...
Daler Jumaev, General Director of Tajikistan's Pamir Energy (part of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development), spoke at the World Hydropower Congress 2019 in Paris about bringing clean and affordable energy to Tajikistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. It was 6:57pm on 9 September 2018. We turned on electricity for the township of Murghab. Within two minutes, a wave of celebration came ...
Ginan Central at the University of Saskatchewan is pleased to launch Ginan Survey 2020. The purpose of this survey is to gather community needs on the effectiveness of online ginan resources ...
QUOTESPACE.ORG -- "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H. L. Mencken ...
When I first thought of going abroad to study, the number one barrier for me was money. Coming from a humble background, I was aware that I did not have personal ...
Portugal -- Vivemos atualmente tempos complexos, marcados por inúmeros desafios e incertezas, que exigem da parte de todos nós mudanças na forma como vivemos, trabalhamos e lidamos uns com os outros. São tempos que suscitam uma profunda reflexão sobre o sentido da vida e a nossa relação com a fé. English A história Ismaili está repleta de circunstâncias em que o ...
We're all living under a new normal, but a better, kinder, more connected way now feels within reach - we need only to imagine it. Here at the Aga Khan Museum, ...
USA -- Initiatives in the US that assist new arrivals, others with business assistance, job placements, and marketing their products. Even in one of the richest countries in the world, many are financially insecure, including members of the Jamat, so improving the quality of life of the Jamat is a priority for our institutions. The Aga Khan Economic Planning Board (EPB) ...
Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Evora University Symposium, Evora, Portugal, 12 February 2006. Read full speech: ...
For over 100 years AKDN has been creating schools, hospitals, newspapers, electricity generation plants, parks and museums, institutions which have helped improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Some of these institutions have been setting or raising standards in their fields for decades. All of them endeavour to bring about a more inclusive society that would ...
France -- Cher Jamat, Nous sommes très heureux d'informer le Jamat de la réouverture des Jamatkhanas en France. Après les Centres de Chantilly, Grenoble, Montpellier, Nantes et Nice en France ainsi que les Centres de Genève et Zurich en Suisse, les Jamatkhanas de Paris - Région Parisienne - Lyon - Pau - Tarbes et Toulouse vont à leur tour ouvrir à ...
The Aga Khan Development Network is largely an implementing partner. It actively seeks to co- operate with like-minded institutions in the design, implementation and funding of innovative development projects. Its agencies need and welcome institutions and individuals throughout the world as partners. AKDN also works closely with local, state and national governments in each country in which it is active. ...
USA -- The first revelation of the Qur'an, which invites Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) to "Recite" ("Iqra"), underscores the value of knowledge as a central facet of Islam. In the Qur'an, Allah describes the universe as embodying His signs, or ayat, accessible to those who reflect upon them. Surah Ar-Rum, Ayat 22 encourages believers to engage in such a search: "And among ...
When it opened in 2014, the Aga Khan Museum set out on its mission to promote pluralism through the arts. Nearly six years later, Henry S. Kim, the Museum's Director and CEO, and Meredith Preston McGhie, the Secretary General of the Global Centre for Pluralism, investigate why this work has become even more crucial and speak to barriers facing groups striving to ...
The Canadian Youth Chinese Orchestra (CYCO) was formed in 2017 by a group of youths who represented the City of Markham to tour in China. Led by Amely Zhou, the conductor of CYCO, the group has since been invited to give concert performances at numerous prestigous venues, including the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, the Markham Theatre, the Art Gallery of ...
