VIDEO: Quote of the week
Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019 Presentation Ceremony, Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation (13 September 2019). Read full speech: ...
VIDEO: #Navroz2020
As we look forward to celebrating Navroz this Saturday with our families, join us in a virtual celebratory experience. Use your phone to record a Navroz Mubarak greeting to our brothers and sisters around the world. Also, share a video or photo of your Navroz activity by tagging #TheIsmailiUSA #Navroz2020. #Ismaili #OneJamat #OneHumanity ...
VIDEO: COVID-19 UPDATES
Kenya -- The information provided here is not intended to cause undue stress or anxiety, but rather to help the Jamat to take reasonable measures to prevent transmission and infection, and to support one another in line with the ethics of our faith. Let us ensure that in this difficult time, we look out for each other, and especially for the ...
An effective treatment for Coronavirus has been found in a common anti-malarial drug
WATTSUPWITHTHAT.COM -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: UPDATE 30 MAR: FDA approves chloroquine to be "distributed and prescribed by doctors to hospitalized teen and adult patients with COVID-19, as appropriate." UPDATE 19 MAR: In his news conference today, President Trump confirmed the US government is already acting on these findings and fast-tracking availability.] ARTICLE: Three new medical studies show a commonly available, anti-malaria drug known as chloroquine is showing strong results against COVID-19 infections in both China and South Korea. Excerpts from three studies, including one published in Nature are below. "In consultation with Stanford University School of Medicine, UAB School of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences researchers. Use of chloroquine (tablets) is showing favorable outcomes in humans infected with Coronavirus including faster time to recovery and shorter hospital stay. US CDC research shows that chloroquine also has strong potential as a prophylactic (preventative) measure against coronavirus in the lab ... Chloroquine is an inexpensive, globally available drug that has been in widespread human use since 1945 against malaria, autoimmune and various other conditions. " ...
Conceit and Contagion: How the Virus Shocked Europe
QUILLETTE.COM -- WHO announced that Europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus epidemic. As the announcement was made, many countries in Africa and Asia were imposing strict restrictions on arrivals from Europe. It felt like a great historical reversal, one full of irony. Suddenly Europeans were being kept away, they who for so long fortified their borders against the developing world. It was serious, but no one in Europe took it seriously. And now the instincts of less developed societies and the excessive precautions they took -- precautions the developed world chalked up to less advanced societies' "backwardness" -- take on a new meaning. What of the developed world's belief that we had conquered nature once and for all? Perhaps premature. Or its feeling that science can be replaced with postmodernism? A dangerous delusion. In a penetrating piece published ...
Sofia Babool: What changes we can make in the world right now, matters
By Sofia Babool As I walked through the frozen aisle with my mom, she stared in awe as a few packets of frozen vegetables were left from the usually fully stocked ...
Electricity expansion begins at Azito Power Station in Côte d'Ivoire
Phase IV to increase Côte d'Ivoire's electricity by 30 percent. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 17 March 2020 - In the fourth phase of its production, Azito Energie SA is working towards expanding Côte d'Ivoire's (Ivory Coast) installed electricity-generating capacity. When complete, Azito Energie will supply an additional 250 MW of electricity to approximately 706 MW, amounting to approximately 30 percent of the ...
Shahzadi Devje (@Desiliciousrd): How to Boost Your Immune System To Potentially Resist Diseases #Covid19
While there are currently no vaccines, medication or treatment for COVID-19, thereCoronavirus attack in microscopic view. Virus causing pandemic around the world. are standard precautions to prevent the infection from spreading. ...
Must read: TIME magazine's explanation of terms used in the Coronavirus coverage, and a video on the making of a test vaccine in record time
Please click to read TIME article On January 9, 2020, Chinese TV confirmed a novel coronavirus in the city of Wuhan, citing laboratory tests. A 61 year old man living in the city died of pneumonia after testing positive for the virus. In a live update, Worldometer is reporting thousands of confirmed cases and more than 7000 deaths around the world. We ...
Aly Sunderji: Seeking Protection from our Calamities - Mushkil Asaan Zikar - ઝીકર તસ્બીહ
At times of dificulty and need the only One we can turn to is God, please join me in this Tasbih seeking protection from COVID-19, Truly faith is the only thing ...
VIDEO: Theodore Levin, Dartmouth College
Musical Geographies of Central Asia: Conference & Concert - Theodore Levin, Dartmouth College ...
JollyGul.com: Special Prayers For Extraordinary Times
JollyGul.com: Special Prayers For Extraordinary Times 1) We pray to Allah for the good health of the entire humanity and for the healing and recovery of those afflicted with illness. And ...
Message from the Ismaili Council for the USA
USA -- Our dear brothers and sisters, We wanted to share some thoughts with you as we deal with this unprecedented time in our lives. We fully appreciate that all of us are concerned but we humbly request you to remain calm. As we confront this global pandemic, let us consider what this means for our Jamat, our families, friends, neighbors, ...
On the glorious day of Nawrūz
A composition by Sayyid Fatḥ ʿAlī Shāh Shamsī (d. after 1206/1792) specifically about Nawrūz, which is recited annually by the South Asian Ismailis at the time of the festival. The Pīr ...
5 Simple Homeschool Secrets to Lighten Your Coronavirus Quarantine
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- As schools across America close to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, those of us in the homeschool community are a little giddy over our sudden mainstream status. Let me give you a few simple ideas, informed by decades of homeschool experience, that will help you and your kids make the most of your weeks at home together. 1. Don't Think You Have to Fill Your Day with Academics. 2. Make the World Your Classroom. 3. Read, Read, Read. Aloud. 4. Use This Time to Teach Life Skills. 5. Channel Your Inner '80s Parent One of the first things I tell new homeschoolers often surprises them: for young children, homeschooling doesn't take much time. When my kids were in kindergarten through ...
Nutrition Month 2020: Discussing This Year's Theme "More than Food"
By Shahzadi Devje via March is Nutrition Month in Canada - an exciting time for dietitians. This year's theme "More than Food" is dedicated to going beyond food and nutrition. ...
Protecting the Jamat - COVID-19 series
UK -- Social Distancing In light of the recent developments in the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we take care of our health. Social distancing is a public health strategy attempting to prevent or slow the spread of an infectious pathogen like a virus. Social distancing is for everyone, not only for the ill. It includes any method to keep ...
Maintaining a healthy immune system through diet and lifestyle~ @ShireenKassam1
By Shireen Kassam via Medium.com We are facing an unprecedented health crisis with COVID-19 now classified as a pandemic. I am unable to offer any guarantees and don't mean to appear ...
Como lidar com uma crise
Portugal -- Nos últimos dias, a pandemia do COVID-19 ocupou grande parte dos noticiários, das redes sociais e da comunicação em geral. Embora seja importante manter a perspectiva e a esperança, a ameaça do coronavírus é grave. No futuro, poucos de nós esqueceremos as semanas estranhas de março de 2020. Comboios vazios, ruas tranquilas, prateleiras de supermercados vazias. Neste momento, enquanto ...
VIDEO: Religion in America #1: Religious Studies, Religious Diversity, and Religious Literacy
Discusses Religious Studies and whether it involves adopting some particular faith-perspective or commitment (it does not), distinguishing it from Theology; Also discusses the inherently multi-disciplinary nature of Religious Studies as a discipline and several different attitudes commonly staked out towards religious diversity. Finishes by touching on the conception of "religious literacy", and thinking about why it is important. ...
VIDEO: Reality Check: Yes, Islam is compatible with democracy | Al-Jazeera
"Islam isn't compatible with democracy" - that's what is often spewed by some of Islam's biggest critics. But a look at the big picture - a world where much of the Muslim population lives within democratic countries and most Muslims support democracy - proves otherwise. Mehdi Hasan debunks the commonly held myth that Islam and democracy are not compatible. ...
@WHO launches COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund
"We are at a critical point in the global response to COVID-19 - we need everyone to get involved in this massive effort to keep the world safe," said Dr. Tedros ...
VIDEO: Late Night In Lisboa - Day six
Highlights of the all the events on day six of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration - Lisboa 2018. ...
Bangladesh: 'Education a key area of interest for AKDN'- Munir M Merali
Education remains a key area of interest for the Network. With around forty million young students in the primary and secondary education system, the quality of education and teaching is most ...
Two Mechanisms Proofread DNA Translation. Make That Three.
EVOLUTIONNEWS.ORG -- The very idea that cells proofread their genetic information makes intelligent design intuitively obvious. One doesn't proofread gibberish. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 went to three scientists who discovered DNA repair mechanisms. Cells inspect and correct their informational macromolecules at every stage: at transcription, at translation, and during post-translational modification. Roving molecular machines inspect other machines at work in the cell. When a cell divides, molecular machines check every letter as DNA strands are duplicated. Cells are in the "quality control" business. Does the cell check for typos? Researchers from Uppsala University in Sweden found not just one, but two independent proofreading steps in the ribosome beyond the one that was already known. They occur ...
Checkpoints and Repair Systems as Evidence for Design
EVOLUTIONNEWS.ORG -- Repair systems and error-correction strategies exhibit backward monitoring: the ability to detect that a failure has occurred and take appropriate action. This assumes the ability to see what *should* have happened. There are numerous repair mechanisms in the cell. One was recently described in news from Lomonosov Moscow State University which explained that "during the transcription of information (its rewriting into RNA) the RNA polymerase enzyme 'rides' on the DNA chain, and stops when it finds the break. Like a proof-reader of a text, RNA polymerase after it is stalled, triggers a cascade of reactions, resulting in the repair enzymes fixing the damaged area." Damage response is a backward strategy for robustness, as we know by analogy from error-correcting algorithms in software. Entities don't have to ...
Daniel Beben: Religious identity in the Pamirs
Religious identity in the Pamirs - The institutionalisation of the Isma'Ili Da'wa in Shughnan Introduction: Earliest available evidence directly attesting to the presence of Ismaili dawah in Pamir: A significant source ...
VIDEO: COVID-19: Recommendations for Older Adults (Urdu)
COVID-19: Recommendations for Older Adults (Urdu) ...
Mawlana Hazar Imam: "My prayer is that the university ... will enable ... students to acquire both knowledge and the essential spiritual wisdom needed to balance that knowledge..."
Mawlana Hazar Imam announced the construction of a hospital, medical college, and school of nursing in December 1964, laying the foundation in 1971. The Aga Khan Medical College commenced operation in 1983 as an academic unit of the Faculty of Health Sciences, alongside the School of Nursing and Midwifery.Mawlana Hazar Imam, the Chancellor of Aga Khan University, announces plans to construct ...
How to cope in a crisis
Global -- In recent days, the global Covid-19 pandemic has taken up the majority of news coverage, social media activity, and general communication. The threat of coronavirus is serious, though it's important to retain some perspective and remain hopeful. In time to come, few of us will forget the strange weeks of March 2020. Vacant trains, quiet streets, empty supermarket shelves. ...
Teenage Girl Starts a Non-profit to Help the Developing World
USA -- This last article in the International Women's Day series illustrates how a young girl with a vision and determination can create an organization that serves communities a continent away. "Helping one person might not change the whole world, but it can change the world for one person." Sarah Ali. Hygiene starts with soap. Everyone knows this but not all ...
6-Step Quick-Start Guide to Substituting for Your Kid's School While It's Closed
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- So far, six states and several city school districts have closed K-12 public schools for at least next week, affecting approximately 5 million children. So, what do the parents of these kids need to know to make the best out of a bad situation? 1. The most important factor is motivation. You can lead a child to learning, but you can't make him learn. A resistant, lazy, or distracted child in the best classroom will not learn anything. Teaching your child is ultimately about shepherding their soul. A true education equals moral formation. If your child is not generally obedient, or doesn't have a good work ethic or disposition, the best use of your time will be character training. 2. The second factor is content. If your child is ...
COVID-19 Official Updates
LIVE WEBINAR -- THE ISMAILI -- USA -- The information provided in this Coronavirus or COVID-19 advisory is intended to ensure that we are taking all measures recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, to protect ourselves, our families and our wider communities. All information related to COVID-19 is listed below: Jamatkhana Closure Listing; Protecting Yourself, Your Families, and Communities; Recommendations for Older Adults; Stay Informed with Credible Sources; Informational Webinar on COVID-19 on March 14 and 15 (registration is required; space is limited). In compliance with particular governmental restrictions on mass gatherings, we have made the decision to temporarily close certain Jamatkhanas and ...
33rd Imam - Abd al-Salaam - by Mumtaz Ali Tajddin
GOOGLE.COM -- The tradition of pir, for the Indian community, was suspended by Imam Mustansir billah after Pir Tajuddin's dath in 1467. Tradition says Nizamuddin Kapur visited Iran humbly urging Imam Abdus Salam to send a pir to India. The Imam reportedly said: "I cannot revoke the decision of my father." Kapur stayed in Shahr-i Babak craving devotionally to win the Imam's heart. One day the Imam summoned him and said: "My father has suspended the tradition of pir for India, which will not be revoked in my period. I, however, appoint a samit (silent) pir instead" and gave him the book Pandiyat-i Jawanmardi with instructions to obey it as a natiq (speaking) pir. Tradition further relates the Imam ...
COVID-19 Resources
[H/T SIMERG] -- GOV.SG -- GOVERNMENT OF SINGAPORE -- A collection of useful posters and videos on COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) ...
VIDEO: Excerpt from "Rapo" Dance
Performed by Ghulomsho Safarov and members of his family with Jonboz Dushanbiev, ghijak and vocal. ...
Amid Jamatkhana closures, let us all pray at home individually or as a family for strength and courage, and seek to give hope, happiness and inspiration to vulnerable members of the Jamat
A Muslim offering prayers under the "Rock" where Abraham brought his son Ishmael for sacrifice. Photo: Muslim Harji, Montreal, PQ. Copyright. By MALIK MERCHANT (Publisher-Editor Simerg, Barakah, and Simergphotos) When you have not missed a day in Jamatkhana attendance over the past several years, how do you cope with sudden and unforeseen closures of your favourite Jamatkhana? We live in difficult circumstances. ...
Urgent Announcement from the Jamati Institutions for Canada - Jamatkhanas in each jurisdiction have been closed
IICANADA.ORG -- Provincial health authorities in Canada have announced additional steps to limit large gatherings and reduce the risk of infection from the spread of COVID-19. As a result, the Jamati Institutions, in consultation with public health officials, and with the aim of protecting the most vulnerable in our Jamat, have closed Jamatkhanas in each jurisdiction. This includes morning, evening and weekend ceremonies. All Jamatkhana-based programming is also cancelled. The decision to close our Jamatkhanas has not been taken lightly, and we seek the Jamat's understanding and forgiveness for any inconvenience caused. We will continue to ...
VIDEO: Late Night In Lisboa - Day three
Highlights of the all the events on day three of the Diamond Jubilee Celebration - Lisboa 2018. ...
An American on coronavirus lock-down in Italy
FACEBOOK.COM -- CRISTINA HIGGINS -- [ISMAILI DIGEST ED: This post has been confirmed by NBC news as legitimate and by Cristina Higgins in Bergamo.] ARTICLE: I am writing to you from Bergamo, Italy, at the heart of the coronavirus crisis. The news media in the US has not captured the severity of what is happening here. Each of you, today -- not the government, not the school district, not the mayor -- each individual citizen, has the chance, today to take actions that will deter Italy from becoming your own country's reality. *The only way to stop this virus is to limit contagion. And the only way to limit contagion is for millions of people to change their behavior today.* Push for the entire office to work at home today, cancel birthday parties, and other gatherings, stay home as much as you can. Push for school closures, now. Anything you can do to stop the spread, because it is spreading in your communities. For those who say that this is just something that happens to old people, starting yesterday the hospitals here are reporting that younger and younger patients - 40, 45, 18, are coming in for treatment. There are 2 reasons why Coronavirus has brought Italy to it's knees. First ...
