Global -- When done right, skills development can improve productivity and reduce unemployment, thereby helping to enhance quality of life. In Afghanistan, volunteers from Canada and elsewhere are helping the Jamat to acquire the right skills to thrive in a changing environment. The Afghanistan, Badakhshan, Canada (ABC) programme, designed to assist the Afghan Jamat to expand their horizons, extends also to ...
The heritage of ginans of the Nizari Ismaili community comprises hymn-like poems in various Indic dialects that were transmitted orally. Despite originating in the Indian subcontinent, the ginans continue to be ...
Teacher Khadija from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, describes how her journey with Human-Centred Design has helped her to create new ideas for meaningful lessons, and has supported her students to truly engage, become more confident and achieve better results. ...
Over the span of the last seven decades, Ismaili Imamat has contributed immensely to improving the quality of life of the people of Pakistan. The history goes back to Sir Sultan ...
USA -- Launching Institutional Spotlight, a segment highlighting members of the professional staff that serve the Jamati institutions. Our inaugural edition features Eram Mansia, Regional Academic Lead of the Secondary Teacher Education Program. Eram Mansia We are pleased to launch Institutional Spotlight, a segment by which we will periodically highlight members of the professional staff that serve the Jamati institutions. These ...
Third two-year-old Group 1 winner for Siyouni. On a productive day at The Curragh for the Aga Khan silks on Irish Champions weekend, TAHIYRA stole the show with a scintillating performance in the Gr.1 Moyglare Stakes on just her second racecourse start. Always travelling smoothly, she won by two-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of the much more experienced favourite Mediate. TAHIYRA is a ...
THEEPOCHTIMES.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam, 1965: "The danger is that the left-wing attitudes tend not only to destroy the Faith of a man towards his religion but also the respect of one individual towards another. When the Faith is broken down everything goes with it: the family, society, the individual, the intelligence."] ARTICLE: Attacks on religion are amplifying and, today, it is becoming difficult to live Christian values without interference from the government or cultural opposition. The left has essentially declared open season on Christians. To Hollywood, Christians are fair game for marginalization and ridicule. Lucas Miles, an ordained minister, says people of all religions should be appalled at this. "If Christianity is not safe in the United States of America, then no religious belief is safe." He says Marxist ideology, which has attacked America for some time, is the cause. "If you understand Marxism, you understand the church is an obstacle to their goals." Religion poses two threats to Marxism's authority: religion offers a firm foundation of morals and values and also a higher power that governs people. Destabilizing society is a root tactic of ...
HUMANEVENTS.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam, 2003: "Take your tasbih, take your tasbih, call "Ya Allah", "Ya Muhammad", "Ya Ali". Call the tasbih because that, in its own way, is a prayer at that time."] ARTICLE: Each section of beads on a rosary represents a series of prayers. To pray the rosary is meditative, contemplative, peaceful, and hopeful. But for The Atlantic, the beads are now a symbol of hate. In their piece, "How the Rosary Became an Extremist Symbol," Daniel Panneton declares the rosary has "acquired a militaristic meaning for radical-traditional Catholics." The attempt to paint the rosary as extremist is yet another way the progressive, ideological left attempts to divorce Americans from faith. It's obvious, based on The Atlantic's ethos, that they would only dare take aim at Catholics and Christians for their faith. Any other religion ...
WESTERNJOURNAL.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam, 1986: "Not everything within traditions is old and outmoded and not everything within modernity is a vehicle for progress or highly effective." ~~ Hazar Imam, 1999: "[I watch and draw lessons from others as to whether] they have decided that the past is the past, there is nothing of value to bring forward, and therefore that all their traditions, their knowledge, their historic memory, all that is wiped aside."] ARTICLE: The Queen, 1957: "Because of these changes [all around us], I'm not surprised that many people feel lost and unable to decide what to hold on to and what to discard, how to take advantage of the new life without losing the best of the old. But it is not the new inventions which are the difficulty. The trouble is caused by unthinking people who carelessly throw away ageless ideals as if they were old and outworn machinery. They would have religion thrown aside, morality in personal and public life made meaningless, honesty counted as foolishness and self-interest set up in place of self-restraint. At this critical moment in our history, ...
GOOGLE.COM -- The holy Qur'an again says: "Similarly (that is like Kaaba) I have made you the middle or just people, so that you may be the guardians of. the people, and that the Prophet shall be guardian over you." In connection with this Ayat, it is narrated by Salim Ibn Kais that Hazrat Ali declared, he (Ali) was meant by the "middle or just". Sufyan Suri quotes from Saddi that Hazrat Ali had asked the Prophet the meanings of the Ayat: "I sent down the Book to you, and made those selected by Me to be its inheritors", and the Prophet replied that from "I chose them and made them inheritors of the Book" are meant "my descendants". Imam Muhammad Baqir ...
GOOGLE.COM -- Now the principles that we must always have are the principles of Islam and particularly of Ismailism and that is why I always want you not only to know your religion, but to understand the principles upon which it is based.... I want you to be able to understand your religion and if there are any questions, do not hesitate to ask. It is much better to ask and receive an answer than to have a feeling of frustration inside you. When you are studying Quran, when you are studying the history of Imams, when you are studying the history of pre-Islamic Arabia, I would like you to take ...
By MALIK MERCHANTPublisher/Editor Simerg, Barakah andSimergphotos Simerg's series entitled "Books by Ismaili Authors" continues with Toronto based based Mahmoud Hirji's book "Monkey Tales and Other Short Stories." We follow the same Q/A format as our earlier presentations of books written by Zul Premji (Calgary), Azim Jiwani (Vancouver), Naznin Rahemtulla Hébert (Montreal), Shairoz Lakhani (London, UK), Shelina Shariff Zia (New York), Ali ...
Samina Baig spoke at Aga Khan University's (AKU) Faculty of Arts and Sciences Library series titled Beyond the Shelves. Karachi, September 8, 2022: "Don't be afraid of failures as you learn ...
Parindey, founded by Sonal Dhanani, is a social enterprise working to build resilient communities through wellness, peace building and mental health programs in Pakistan. In Pakistan and other third world countries, ...
Ismaili Digest Exclusive for August 2022 -- Each month enjoy the most popular new articles and videos viewed by the Jamat from over 36 of the best Ismaili websites with just one click! 'Most popular' means most viewed post(s) on each website (excluding duplicate postings, Event Alerts and COVID-19 advice) without social media influence. NOTE: Posts are randomly ordered.
UK -- In response to the flooding emergency in Pakistan, The Aga Khan Agency for Habitat Pakistan (AKAH-P) has provided emergency relief supplies, evacuation and shelter support and technical coordination services with funding support from Focus Humanitarian Assistance. Extreme temperatures in early July 2022 led to glacial melting, high river levels and flash flooding throughout Pakistan, intensified by heavy monsoon rainfall. ...
Portugal -- Se a aprendizagem ao longo da vida faz parte da sua forma de estar, então, esta sugestão é mesmo para si! English O Aga Khan Museum leva-nos numa viagem pela Arte Islâmica, dando-nos a conhecer o que está por trás da palavra e da imagem nas diferentes formas de arte - da arquitetura à caligrafia. Propomos-lhe três cursos, que ...
Portugal -- If lifelong learning is part of your way of being, then this suggestion is for you! Portuguese The Aga Khan Museum takes us on a journey through Islamic Art, showing us what lies behind word and image in the different forms of art - from architecture to calligraphy. We are suggesting three courses, which you can take online and ...
Ginans are a vast collection comprising several hundred poetic compositions which have been a central part of the religious life of the Nizari Ismaili community of the Indian subcontinent that today resides in many countries around the world. Derived from the Sanskrit gyan, meaning contemplative knowledge, Ginans refer to the poetic compositions authored by Ismaili Da'is, known as Pirs, who were ...
Who would imagine that undergraduate students curious to learn more about Gujarati, Kachchhi or Sindhi heritage could do so in Canada? What's more, this international research experience studying fascinating topics such ...
Global -- Featuring almost a decade's worth of photos, Prince Hussain's exhibition The Living Sea - Fragile Beauty finally arrived in the UK. Entering the social hall of the Ismaili Centre, London yesterday, visitors found themselves in a dazzling underwater world. Guests at the launch event included Princess Fareen, the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, the High Commissioner of Pakistan, senior ...
To coincide with Prince Hussain's exhibition "The Living Sea - Fragile Beauty" currently on display in the UK, The Ismaili is pleased to present Child of The Ocean, produced and performed by the Ismaili Community Ensemble in the UK. For more information on the exhibit, visit #AgaKhan #LivingSea #ClimateChange #SaveOurOceans ...
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Uganda's former dictator, Idi Amin, expelling the 80,000-member Asian community. Vancouver's Salim Rahemtulla, who never set out to be a playwright, is releasing a special play "90 Days" that tells the story of an Ismaili Muslim family's forced exodus from Uganda in 1972. Salim Rahemtulla's father waited until two days left before the deadline ...
Global -- My blindness is not my weakness, but my greatest strength. I could see one day, but the next I could not. Once I realized I would be blind for the rest of my life, the challenge placed before me cultivated a strong motivation. I wanted to learn new and diverse ways of doing things. Each barrier became a challenge, ...
#Speech made by His Highness the #AgaKhan at the Conference of #IndigenousPhilanthropy in Islamabad, Pakistan on 17 October 2000. Read the full speech here: For more about the Aga Khan Development Network, visit ...
"I know welcoming me into your homes every night is not a right; its a privilege. I will work hard with our team to earn and build your trust for that continued privilege. That's my commitment to you. And that is our commitment to you." -- Excerpt from Omar Sachedina's message to CTV viewers, September 5, 2022 ( see link to ...
#Speech made by His Highness the #AgaKhan on receiving the Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy in Edinburgh, Scotland on 4 October 2005. Read the full speech here: For more about the Aga Khan Development Network, visit ...
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: Hazar Imam, 1999: "[One reason the Ummah may disappear is that they] adopt the modern world and forget their traditional values."] ARTICLE: There are about 38 million U.S. households (about 1/3) who live lives significantly persuaded by their faith. New research on these faith households, which include evangelicals, Catholics, Muslims, and Jews, finds that 84% of them "lean conservative." However, major corporations have increasingly left faith-driven households out of their financial equations, claims Brad Benbow, a growth strategist who has advises Fortune 500 companies and co-author of "Spiritugraphics." In their marketing plans, they ignore how people's beliefs drive their decisions." As a culture at Disney, do they view people from traditional and faith-centric families as, essentially, bigots?" he asks. The marketing guru points out that "most of the world" has for millennia viewed "the traditional family model as the norm." Pew Research reports ...
NATIONALPOST.COM -- Elite activists and Big Tech endlessly promote conspiracy theories suggesting religious believers will seize power and force their religious views onto others. While they look upon the faithful with contempt, these elitists hypocritically force their new, godless religion upon the public: wokeness. Wokeness is the belief that discrimination is present at all times. However, wokeness is mostly performative and ritualistic. Its adherents show piety by simply reciting approved political scriptures about alleged injustices and condemning others for not being woke enough, without actually helping anyone overcome injustice. Wokeness appropriates many concepts found in traditional faiths: blasphemers (with "problematic" opinions), heretics (targeted by social media mobs), damnation (cancellation), sin (privilege), righteousness (victimhood) ...
In a Tweet dated September 4, 2022, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Shariff has expressed his indebtedness to Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, for contributing US $10 mission for relief efforts following the severe flooding in Pakistan. He said on his Twitter page: "Deeply indebted to His Highness the Aga Khan for contribution of $10 million for the flood ...
Lisbon, Portugal, 4 September 2022 - The Ismaili Imamat has announced it will be donating US$10 million to support relief efforts following the severe flooding in Pakistan. $5m will be donated directly to the Government of Pakistan while a further $5m will be provided to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) agencies in the country, which are engaged in the relief ...
GOOGLE.COM -- Our ginans are an invaluable treasure we Ismailis have inherited from our Pirs and sayyids. They can be classified as hymns of devotion and piety; hymns ethical in essence; "venti" (prayer) and metaphysical hymns. I shall limit this discussion to ginans in which firstly the writers make human beings (higher selves or souls) realise their real status and make them aware of the destination they have to reach, and secondly they show the way (tariqa) by which to attain the goal (ma'rifa). In order to discuss this particular sufi content, I have selected most of the verses from Imam Begum's collections because I think she is the most comprehensive of all in this aspect. We must not forget ...
Featured Image at top of post: The floods in Pakistan have turned plains into seas. The featured image shows the district of Qambar on August 4, 2022 (left) and on August 28 (right).The following piece has been adapted from the NASA website. To read the article on NASA that contains additional information and features, please click Devastating Floods in Pakistan - ...
Tune in live from the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada, for the 2022 Lapis Ball & Digital Benefit: The Art of Transformation. The event will bring together the best of our in-person and digital offerings to highlight the Museum's incredible impact on individuals and communities both locally and globally. We look forward to sharing how we have harnessed the power of art ...
TABLETMAG.COM -- We are told that only large, randomized control trials (RCTs), with positive results, can inform us if new treatments are useful. However, "only the RCTs matter" is not the position in mainstream practice. In 2017, the New England Journal of Medicine published a piece by Thomas R. Frieden, former head of the CDC (about as "mainstream" as it gets), in which he said, "Despite their strengths, RCTs have substantial limitations." One problem with RCTs are their "exclusion criteria" which exclude people from a study. So many are used that study samples no longer represent real-world patients. A review of RCTs found that 71.2% were not representative of real-world patients. Many of the patients studied were less sick than real-world patients. That, combined with ...
Professor Leif Stenberg is the Dean of the Aga Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC). His latest research has been on the various intersections between football, religion ...
[Much of the material in this post on the floods in Pakistan is reproduced from reports by Voice of America's Lisa Schlein who is based in Geneva. Her full reports on the floods can be read HERE and HERE -- Ed.] "Pakistan is awash in suffering. The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids -- the relentless impact of epochal ...
USA -- Aga Khan University leadership meets with the Jamat in Texas and Georgia The President of the Aga Khan University (AKU), Dr. Sulaiman Shahabuddin, and the Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Pakistan, Dr. Rozina Karmaliani, recently visited Jamats, donors, and alums, in three U.S. cities in Texas and Georgia. They were accompanied by Dr. Zeenat Sulaiman, ...
Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Calgary, Canada It's a rare day when you meet someone whose generosity has impacted the lives of so many others -- someone whose dedication to ...
