VIDEO: Vol. 6: Alim and Fargana Qasimov: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan
Alim Qasimov and his daughter Fargana exemplify the explosive artistic energy that results when a powerful musical model ignites the spark of young talent. ...
VIDEO: Vol. 5: The Badakhshan Ensemble: Song and Dance from the Pamir Mountains
The Badakhshan Ensemble takes its name from the mountainous region - poetically known in Persian as Bam-i Dunya, the "Roof of the World" - that comprises the sparsely populated eastern half of Tajikistan and northeast Afghanistan. There, nestled in a series of riverine valleys that descend from the Pamir Mountains to the Panj River, the boundary line between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, are ...
Redoute's Choice top sire at Inglis Easter sale for 9th year
Record-breaking Helsinge yearling sells for Aus$5 million. Multiple champion Australian sire Redoute's Choice, who resides currently at the Haras de Bonneval, is also a champion in the sales ring. His 2013 yearlings have enjoyed spectacular results at the recent Inglis Easter Sale, topped by a record-breaking son of Helsinge who reached the heady sum of Aus$5 million. This half-brother to world ...
VIDEO: Vol. 4: Bardic Divas: Women's Voices in Central Asia
Bardic Divas comprises an eclectic compilation of soloists and small ensembles whose repertoire represents the rich and diverse traditions of Central Asian bards. Some of these traditions are specific to female performers and have typically been performed within a social milieu restricted to women. ...
VIDEO: Vol. 3: Homayun Sakhi: The Art of the Afghan Rubâb
Homayun Sakhi is the outstanding Afghan rubâb player of his generation, a brilliant virtuoso endowed with a charismatic musical presence and personality. During Afghanistan's long years of armed conflict, when music was heavily controlled, censored, repressed, and, finally, totally banned, the classical rubâb style to which Homayun has devoted his career not only survived but reached new creative heights. ...
VIDEO: Vol. 2: Invisible Face of the Beloved: Classical Music of the Tajiks and Uzbeks
The Academy of Maqâm takes its name from the venerable tradition of classical or court music that spans the core Muslim world from Casablanca, Morocco, to Kashgar in western China. The founding vision of the Academy belongs to Abduvali Abdurashidov, a Tajik musician and scholar who has brought new vitality to the performance of maqâm through a critical and historical study of ...
VIDEO: Vol.1: Tengir-Too: Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan
Tengir-Too is a new ensemble that plays old music. The group takes its name from the mountain range that towers over the high alpine passes linking Kyrgyzstan and China and that is better known by its Chinese name, Tien Shan: "Celestial Mountains." Founded and directed by Nurlanbek Nyshanov, a gifted composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist, Tengir-Too (Too is pronounced like "toe") provides a ...
Are you feeding your children empty calories?
Nutrition Centre -- Childhood obesity rates in the United States have more than tripled in the past thirty years, with many other western countries showing similar trends. What foods are children eating that may be contributing to this epidemic, and what can be done? Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute used the national nutrition survey database to find answers. This ...
Baroness Margaret Thatcher (13 October 1925 - 8 April 2013) Performed the Opening of the First High Profile Ismaili Centre in the Western World
BARONESS MARGARET THATCHER AND HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN JULY 2008 His Highness the Aga Khan, 49th Ismaili Imam and direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, warmly greeting Baroness Margaret Thatcher at the banquet hosted by His Highness in London on July 3, 2008 during his Golden Jubilee Celebrations. Photo: Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan, Golden Jubilee ...
His Highness the Aga Khan on his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, as 'the true family leader in the Muslim sense'
Roger Priouret : He [your grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III] was important to you? Aga Khan: Enormously. He was the head of the family and took all important decisions as far as I was concerned more so than my father. He was the true family leader in the Muslim sense. His Highness the Aga Khan's 1975 L'Expansion Interview ...
Suggested Reading: His Highness the Aga Khan on tradition and modernity -- Part 3/4: "Progress does not mean occidentalisation"
Reconciling Islamic values and traditions with modern times is a critical issue which faces the whole Muslim world. In this four part series, the NanoWisdoms Archive is pleased bring selected quotes from His Highness the Aga Khan outlining his views on the issue as well as his suggestions for addressing it. Building on the first two instalments, "Islam is for all ...
Aga Khan Studs connections set to light up Inglis
Redoute's Choice half brother to Black Caviar, and a colt out of Vadsalina among Easter entries. The global appeal of sire Redoute's Choice combines with the international fame of superstar mare Black Caviar at the forthcoming Inglis Easter yearling sale. The yearling half-brother, by current Haras de Bonneval resident Redoute's Choice, to the unbeaten 24-time winning sprinter will be offered as ...
"Die Before You Die" - Journey Towards the Nur
"Touched by the Essence" - a sculpture by Naznin Virji-Babul, Vancouver. Copyright. By Shiraz Pradhan Mention of the word 'death' whips up emotions of fear and sadness in most people. This is quite natural, because biological death marks the end of physical life on earth. To people, who are preoccupied with material things and sensual delights, death represents an end to ...
Dalakhani and Azamour to shuttle to Australia and New Zealand
The Aga Khan Studs announced today that Dalakhani and Azamour will shuttle to Australia and New Zealand respectively for the 2013-2014 Southern Hemisphere season. ...
The Prophet and Imamat (pbut) on marriage and children
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation: And is that why you have two weddings: The civil wedding and the religious wedding in your community? Aga Khan: No, no, no. That is a form, but in fact marriage is not sacred in Islam. In reality it is a contract between a man and a woman. Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation: But is it because you are in ...
Music and Voices of the Silk Route celebrate Nowruz at Portuguese Parliament
Lisbon, 2 April 2013 - As part of a week-long programmes celebrating Nowruz, musicians from the Silk Route performing with the Aga Khan Music Initiative (AKMI) presented a specially curated concert programme in the Senate Room of the Portuguese Parliament. Nowruz marks the beginning of Spring, which is a cherished holiday in the Silk Route region. A second concert was performed ...
Photo Essay: A Baby is Born - Customs in a Rural Muslim Community in Indonesia
Compiled by Malik Merchant, Editor Customs of welcoming a new baby vary around the world. This photo essay looks at the cultural traditions around birth in a rural community in Indonesia (pink shade, map below), the world’s largest Muslim country with a population of 204,847,000 or 12.7% of the world’s Muslim population of 1.6 billion. Map credit: United Nations. ~~~~. ...
Suggested Reading: His Highness the Aga Khan on tradition and modernity -- Part 2/4: Towards "new understandings of essential principles"
Reconciling Islamic values and traditions with modern times is a critical issue which faces the whole Muslim world. In this four part series, the NanoWisdoms Archive is pleased bring selected quotes from His Highness the Aga Khan outlining his views on the issue as well as his suggestions for addressing it. Building on the first instalment, "Islam is for all places ...
The Crucifixion in Shi'a Isma'ili Islam
"...the conditions of the dialogue between Christianity and Islam change completely as soon as the interlocutor represents not legalistic Islam but this spiritual Islam, whether it be that of Sufism or of Shi'ite gnosis." (Henry Corbin, Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, Prologue) Click Here to Readthe full article at The Matheson Trust: The Crucifixion in Shi'a Isma'ili Islam by Khalil Andani ...
Aga Khan sires well represented at breeze-ups
Sea The Stars youngsters will be an attraction at Arqana in May. Gilltown Stud stallions SEA THE STARS, AZAMOUR and DALAKHANI will all be represented by progeny at forthcoming breeze-up auctions in France and England. SEA THE STARS has his first juveniles this season and three of these feature in the Arqana catalogue for the sale on 10th and 11th May. ...
His Highness the Aga Khan on why he chose Japanese architects Fumihiko Maki and Arata Isozaki for signature projects
Philip Jodidio: Although not for a religious building, you are calling on the Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki to create two very contemporary structures in Canada, the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in Ottawa and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. Might Dubai not have been a place for an extremely modern design? Aga Khan: Absolutely. The fact is, however, that in ...
The Rosary (Tasbih)
By Dr. V. A. Lalani 'The Nature of Prayer' is a 14" x 10" mixed media acrylic painting on canvas. Secured on the canvas with strong glue are a handmade tasbih (prayer beads), and 3 dried leaves bearing the Arabic inscriptions reading from bottom to top, Allah, Muhammad and Ali. The whole piece represents keeping the memory of Allah, and making ...
Suggested Reading: His Highness the Aga Khan on tradition and modernity -- Part 1/4: "Islam is for all places and all time"
Reconciling Islamic values and traditions with modern times is a critical issue which faces the whole Muslim world. In this four part series, the NanoWisdoms Archive is pleased bring selected quotes from His Highness the Aga Khan outlining his views on the issue as well as his suggestions for addressing it. In the first instalment, "Islam is for all places and ...
His Highness the Aga Khan on the war on Iraq: 'a big, big, big failure' and 'a serious mistake'
Richard Engel: The American global war on terrorism is often seen as a war against Islam on the popular level. Do you think the wars that have been launched by U.S. administrations over the last decade or so have done more harm than good? Aga Khan: I certainly think the invasion of Iraq was a serious mistake. We had crisis situations ...
2013 Navroz Readings: (IV) "Amen Khudavind" and "Hope" by Navyn Naran
"AMEN KHUDAVIND" a window opens. a green meadow, lush new tufts of grass under her feet, running across these verdant, undulating hills. weathering the storms past, she tills the moist, brown soil. emerald shoots peer fresh as a new-born baby's cheeks what news will spring bring? what did i sow? and how will i reap? "i'm late to catch the train! ...
IIS Launches 2013 Lecture Series
News story -- Mr Daniel Beben of Indiana University, USA, and Mr Matthew Melvin-Koushki of Oxford Universtiy, UK, were the first two speakers in the IIS' 2013 Lecture Series. Mr Daniel Beben of Indiana University, USA, delivered a lecture at the IIS on 15th January, entitled Jami' al-salasil and the Place of Nasir-i Khusraw in the Central Asian Sufi Tradition. Mr Beben ...
Navroz (New Year) Greetings to all of Humanity, with Views of the Earth from the Sun on March 21, 2013
In the alternation of night and day, and what God has created in the heavens and the earth — surely there are signs for a godfearing people — Holy Qur’an, 10:6 The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) on EUMETSAT’s Meteosat-9 captured this view of Earth from geosynchronous orbit. The image shows how sunlight fell on the Earth on ...
Recognition of Navroz by the United Nations and the US Congress
I. UNITED NATIONS RECOGNITION OF NOWRUZ To celebrate the International Day of Nowruz, the Persian New Year and the first day of spring, the Permanent Representatives of Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey , Turkmenistan and Macedonia hosted an official ceremony at the General Assembly Hall on March 22, 2011. The event also commemorated the one-year anniversary of ...
Navroz Mubarak, 2013
The NanoWisdoms Archive of Imamat Speeches, Interviews and Writings wishes all Navroz Mubarak. In keeping with the theme of our Navroz card, we would like to share with you some important quotes of His Highness the Aga Khan and from the Qur'an on conflicts and resolving them. Please click on the link below: POSSIBLY RELATED READINGS (GENERATED AUTOMATICALLY) ...
Their Highnesses the Aga Khans III and IV on Ayat al-Nur and the Sura of Light of the Qur'an
"For Muslims there has been a similar personal influence, and in many ways it resembles the position that St. Thomas Aquinas took in the Catholic Church. First of all as regards the idea of the divinity of God: a great deal of the Qur'an is taken up with God's creation, with God's intimate presence in the world, with the importance of ...
Nowruz Persian New Year - Eid Mubarak!
Shah Abbas I receiving Vali Muhammad Khan of Bukhara, Chehel Sotun, Isfahan (c.1657) Cele- bration Navroz - New Year, birthday of Imam Hazrat Ali, Newruz Sultan WhatA cross-cultural celebration of the New Year, the first day of the Spring astrological Equinox, solar birthday anniversary of our Imam Ali hence the name Nevruz Sultan, in Turkey Nauruz-i Sultani. "It was on Navroz that ...
Reincarnation or Companionship on High?
An article by Imam Hazrat Mowlana Sultan Mahomed Shah (s.a.s.) Aga Khan III The Christian burial ceremony and the prayers then said by the presiding ecclesiastics refer to resurrection in a way that implies some kind of similarity with the supposed historical resurrection of Christ three days after his death. There is the undoubted implication in the Burial Service that a ...
IIS publishes Chinese translation of A Short History of the Ismailis
News story -- The Institute of the Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce the publication of the Chinese translation of Dr Daftary's A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community. This Chinese edition is translated by Amier Saidula, and published by Weber Publishing International LTD in Taipei, Taiwan. Amier Saidula, a graduate of the Institute's Graduate Programme in ...
Explanation of Navroz Ginan
Please click: Ismaili Devotee Seeks Out His Spiritual Master on Spring Day Be joyfully bound in the love of AliAnd attain the unfading spiritual color (the state of bliss) from the Master;When my mind was bound to the Ever-Living Lord in contemplationReality adorned (the Soul) with priceless treasure of (Noorani) pearls... Please click for Navroz Ginan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Advertisements ...
Reduce risk of high blood pressure with less sodium and more potassium
Nutrition Centre -- Eating too much sodium and not enough potassium has been shown to increase blood pressure, which can be dangerous because it makes the heart work harder than normal and can lead to heart disease or stroke. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new recommendations on how much sodium, salt and potassium people should eat for good health. ...
The Remarkable and True Story of Mukhi Megji Mulji (1861 - 1933): An Example of Faith, Piety and Service to the Imam of the Time
THE REWARD OF THE TWO MANGOES A Story from Pyara Imam Ni Pyari Wato By Sairab Abuturabi and Jaferali Bhalwani (English translation by Sakar H. Datoo) Outside Walkeshwar in the Blazing Sun Walkeshvar is situated on the top of Malabar Hill in Bombay (now Mumbai) the shores of which are caressed by the waters of the Arabian Sea. Once, in that ...
His Highness the Aga Khan on the 'deconstruction of the cultural inheritance'
I certainly did not want to create anything other than a human-scale building [for the Ismaili Centre and Jamatkhana in Dubai]. The Award has sometimes discussed the question of scale. The whole debate about the tallest building in the world concerns ambition, vanity, pride, or whatever you want to call it. These are not particularly strong forces in our value system. I wanted a building there that was historically correct, and, secondly, I wanted it to be on a human scale. ...
Historical Images: A 1946 Genealogical Chart of Ismaili Imams and a Magnificent Portrait of the Young Prince Karim Aga Khan
Compiled by Malik Merchant Editor, Simergphotos.com and Simerg.com THE EVERLIVING DIVINE INSTITUTION OF IMAMAT INTRODUCTION: Clause G of the “Preamble of the Ismaili Constitution” ordained on December 13, 1986 by the 49th and current Ismaili Imam, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, states: Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Karim al Hussaini, His Highness Prince Aga Khan, in direct lineal descent from ...
Zarkava foals a Dubawi colt
The Champion's fourth foal is a a bay colt. ZARKAVA (Zamindar) gave birth to her fourth foal on Saturday morning, a bay colt by Dubawi. Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in France, said of the foal that "he is a nice individual, very strong with bone and good depth". ZARKAVA, who was the unbeaten winner of five Group ...
Aga Khan trio invited to Meydan
Sheema Classic-bound Shareta heads raiding party. H.H. the Aga Khan's colours will be carried by a high class delegation of three Group-winning fillies at the forthcoming Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan. The visitors are headed by dual Group 1 winner and Arc de Triomphe runner-up SHARETA who is being prepared by Alain de Royer Dupré for the Dubai Sheema Classic. ...
