Jinja, Uganda, 8 October 2012 -- His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni today inaugurated the 250MW Bujagali Hydropower Plant in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan. Constructed at a cost of US$900 million, Bujagali has been jointly developed by Industrial Promotion Services (IPS), the infrastructure and industrial development arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, Sithe Global ...
Jinja, Uganda, 8 October 2012 - The Bujagali Hydropower Project is driving economic growth and providing clean, reliable power for Uganda. It is improving quality of life for Ugandans in many different ways. ...
Jinja, Uganda, 8 October 2012 - President Museveni of Uganda and His Highness the Aga Khan inaugurate the Bujagali Hydropower Project, which provides 250 MW of clean and reliable electricity powering the country's future. ...
The second point I would make is that this project has not stopped at the delivery of energy. It is investing in education, it is investing in healthcare, it is investing in social development, it is investing in all those aspects which improve the quality of life of people who live within the ambit of the project. And I think this ...
Antonio Marujo / Faranaz Keshavjee: In Islam, as in Christianity, the role of the female has been debated. There are people who say that they would like to see your daughter, Princess Zahra, as the next Imam. However, tradition claims it has to be the eldest son ... Aga Khan: As far as I know, there is no Muslim community in ...
By Malik Merchant Isabelle Prondzynski’s flick photostream (prondis_in_kenya) has some marvellous photos of the Nairobi Aga Khan hospital grounds and the surrounding neighbourhood. When asked to comment about the hospital, Prondzynsk replied: The highest profile Ismaili buildings in Nairobi are probably those of the Aga Khan Hospital. This is an excellent hospital, very beautiful too. There is a [Kitengela] sculpture ...
I. The Stories of Guljon Bibi and Roshan Noma Map of Shimshal Valley, with inset showing its location in Pakistan. Please click to enlarge. Copyright. Pam Henson. Editor's note: Shimshal is a remote Ismaili village which lies at an altitude of 3,100 metres above sea level, and is the highest settlement in the Hunza Valley of Pakistan. It is surrounded by ...
News story -- Dr Karen Bauer, Research Associate in the Qur'anic Studies Unit at the IIS, presented at the Seventh Biennial Conference on The Qur'an: Text, Society & Culture held at SOAS. Dr Bauer's paper, entitled Women's Testimony and the Re-Interpretability of the Qur'an, investigated a specific verse of the Qur'an, 2:282. According to Dr Bauer, this verse seems, at first glance, ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of Sufi Master and Qur'an Scholar: Abu'l-Qasim al-Qushayri and the Lata'if al-isharatby Martin Nguyen. This volume, the eighth in the Qur'anic Studies Series, examinesthe Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) entitled, Lata'if al-isharat (Subtleties of the Subtleties), written by Abu'l-Qasim al-Qushayri, a scholar from Nishapur (Khorasan) who lived in the 11thCentury CE. Sufi Master ...
News story -- The Institute of Ismaili Studies is pleased to announce that it has awarded the 2012 Doctoral Scholarship to Zulfiqar Khimani from Pakistan. Zulfiqar is currently pursuing his PhD in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Following an interdisciplinary approach, he plans to investigate the phenomenon of transnationalism (the networks and affiliations connecting communities across borders) within ...
This week's selection is His Highness the Aga Khan's 1996 Brown University Commencement Address. In this broad, candid and important speech, made a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the Aga Khan discusses extensively the West's ignorance about Islam and highlights "powerful reasons" why "the West and the Muslim world must ...
Group 1 winner Siyouma was sold by Aga Khan Studs. SIYOUMA's success in the Gr 1 Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket on Saturday is the latest in a long line of top-level triumphs for Aga Khan breds sold at auction or privately. The filly added her name to that of three-time 2012 Group 1 scorer MANIGHAR (Linamix), with other recent examples ...
Originally aired on PBS to a word-wide audience exceeding 150 million people “CANDID, THOUGHTFUL AND VISUALLY STUNNING” – Los Angeles Times Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s) changed world history in 23 years and continues to shape and inspire the lives of more than 1.4 billion Muslims around the world. Simerg and its companion photoblog are pleased to make available for their readers ...
by Jonah Winters Say: "It is Allah Who guides to the truth. Is then He, Who gives guidance to the truth, more worthy to be followed,..?" Qur'an: 10:35 History is interpretation. It is not merely that, as the maxim says, the victors are the ones who write the history books. Nor is it merely that the victors actively choose to preserve ...
Aga Khan: It's a fascinating situation in Africa because there are in the continent three different tendencies. There are States that are building free democratic societies, there are States that are building some kind of socialist society without actually being socialist, and there are completely socialist States. Nicholas Tomalin: Do you find left-wing political attitudes are a danger to your Faith? ...
This a very rare collection of photos of the 48th and 49th Ismaili Imams, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan and Prince Karim Aga Khan respectively, taken during their visits to Kenya. The photos are from the personal collection of Nashir Kassam and his wife Shayda of Ottawa, Canada. Nashir’s late father, Mr. Nurmohamed Kassam of Kendu Bay, Kenya, was ...
By Reza Shah Kazemi from the book The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam (London: IB Tauris/IIS, 2012, pp.111-125) Prophet Muhammad receiving the first revelation of the Holy Quran from Angel Gabriel at Mount Hira in Mecca To speak about the intellectual search for knowledge, therefore, is also, and inescapably, to speak about the pursuit of virtue, and it is here ...
by Dr. Qadeer Shah Baig The word Sufi is derived from the Arabic word 'suf' which means ' wool ' and which refers to the coarse woolen robes that were worn by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and by his close companions, Sahaba. The goal of a Sufi is to annihilate into God Himself. There are signs of God everywhere in the ...
The Castle of Alamut, nested on the top of the colossal mass of granite rock, became the centre of Nizari Ismaili activity after the fall of the Fatimid Empire. Photo: Muslim Harji, Montreal, PQ, Canada. © Copyright. Introduction: With the death of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph Mustansir Billah, the Ismaili world was plunged into a serious controversy over the succession to the ...
By Malik Merchant INTRODUCTION Crazy Horse Memorial is a tribute to the culture, tradition and living heritage of American Indians and the spirit of the legendary Lakota leader, Crazy Horse. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began carving the world’s largest ongoing carving in 1948. Today his family and the Crazy Horse Foundation continue the dream and work on the sculpture that will ...
"What is it we can now do to nurture healthy and competent democracies, in old settings where democracy has grown weary and in new settings where it is freshly planted? I would make three suggestions -- each of which is reflected in the experience of this university. 1. Strengthened civil institutions "First, we must strengthen our civil institutions. This means realising ...
A digital portrait by Akbar Kanji This digital mosaic rendering is based on an existing photo portrait of His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th Ismaili Imam. For graphic artist Akbar Kanji of Toronto, the concept is to “portray our Imam’s entire life and his dedications at a glance which we cannot imagine until we come closer to him.” Says ...
BY SHARIFFA KESHAVJEE A stunning view of the Indian Ocean from the roof-top of the Bagamoyo Jamatkhana. Please click on photo for enlargement. Photo: Shariffa Keshavjee, Nairobi, Kenya. Copyright. When I was a little girl, one of my favourite pastimes was to be in the presence of adult company. As the youngest in the family I was too often labelled ...
By Jocelyne Sambira Djinguereber mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, where members of of the Ansar Dine have destroyed some of the mosque's mausoleums, along with other holy shrines in the ancient northern city. They used hoes, pick-axes and chisels, hammering away at the earthen tombs until they were completely destroyed. Photo: Wikipedia. History dating as far back as the 5th century is ...
By Gulshan Chunara MEVLANA'S MAUSOLEUM IN KONYA The shrine in Konya, Turkey, of the great Muslim mystic and saint Jalaledin Rumi. His tomb is situated directly under the green domed building. Photo: Gulshan Chunara. Whoever you may be, Come even though you may be an infidel, a pagan, or a fire-worshipper, Come our brotherhood is not one to despair even though ...
"I should also mention here the headlines of this past week -- which chart the widening gulf between Islamic and Western societies. Here the culprit has not been military action or diplomatic failure but the power of media images -- deeply offensive caricatures -- which have profoundly offended one billion four hundred million Muslims around the world, including myself. "The question ...
Tashkorgan in the Xinjiang Province of China is 295km (183 miles) South West of Kashgar. The town marked the end of the Silk Routes for Chinese traders arriving from Kashgar. Their goods would be transferred to caravans, which continued on to Gilgit and thence either south to the Indian Ocean along the Indus River, or west through Kabul, Herat, and ...
Photoblog Three gold quarter dinars of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Hakim were among the Fatimid objects found in a shipwreck in Turkey. Please visit Simerg's new photo blog. Click on image. Photo credit: Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Click Photoblog or on the links shown belowJourney of Discovery: The Mausoleums of the Famous Ismaili Pir Sadardin and His Son Pir Hasan KabirdinSome Illustrated ...
By Malik Mirza The dome of Pir Hasan Kabirdin’s mausoleum. Photo: Malik Mirza. Copyright. THE JOURNEY BEGINS While I was on a training assignment related to micro-finance in Bahawalpur, a thought came across my mind: Why not visit the mausoleums of our ancient Pirs, and try to explore the current on ground situation of the mausoleums? After all, the devotional ...
News story -- The new Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH) and Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) students have arrived at the IIS and are beginning their studies. This September, students from across the globe have come to gain postgraduate degrees while learning from some of the leading scholars in Ismaili and Shi'i studies. Nine students from seven different countries ...
Caroline Pigozzi / Jean-Claude Deutsch: Your Highness, what pride do you get from your work? Aga Khan: I am proud of two things. The first is the creation, in a variety of countries, of institutions of the community which possess real autonomy, which do not depend on the intervention, nor the thinking, nor the support of the Imam. The second is ...
Aga Khan Studs omnipresent in European St Legers The Aga Khan Studs were successful across the board in the English, Irish and German St Legers at the weekend, with results for their dams, homebreds and sires. At Doncaster, Encke (Kingmambo) famously proved too strong for Triple Crown contender Camelot (Montjeu), offering victory in the world's oldest Classic to the Godolphin team ...
Arc Sale entry features Group 3 scorer Takar. The Aga Khan Studs entry for Arqana's forthcoming Arc Sale is particularly strong this year, with all four representatives already Stakes winners or placed. Graduates of the breeding operation are invariably sought-after at public sale, and new connections are regularly rewarded with important successes. Last year's sale saw the purchase of Sandagiyr (Dr ...
Sinndar's daughter wins Gr 1 Prix Vermeille Second in last year's Gr 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, SHARETA is firmly on course for a second tilt at Europe's richest race. The four-year-old daughter of SINNDAR (winner of the 2000 Arc) ran out a comfortable winner of the Gr 1 Prix Vermeille at Longchamp on Sunday to secure her place among ...
By Malik Merchant “…Your gift of this unique volume, which was prepared by your father, Alwaez Karim Pirani, and which contains articles and drawings by numerous Ismaili individuals as well as messages of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah and Mata Salamat is a veritable treasure…” (message to Mr. Sadru Pirani from the Institute of Ismaili Studies) The late Karim Master, in ...
By Muslim and Nevin Harji Summary: There are no words to describe the hospitality, kindness, love and gentleness of the Iranian people. We have ventured into over forty countries, but never have we experienced such generosity. Our bodies may be back in Montreal, but Iranian hospitality has stolen our hearts which are probably somewhere either in Esfahan or Shiraz. When ...
A Heart-Warming Story from Hazrat Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations By Sakerkhanu Gulamhusain Gulamali Special to Simerg At his residence in Bombay, Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah examines some of the diamonds before the day of the Diamond Jubilee Ceremony at Bombay's Brabourne Stadium. I was about 6 years old at the time of Hazrat Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah's Diamond ...
Paidha, Uganda, 14 September 2012 - His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni today inaugurated the 3.5MW Nyagak I hydropower station in Paidha, Zombo District. The occasion officially marked the onset of 24hour electricity supply for the people of the West Nile sub-region. Developed by the West Nile Rural Electrification Company Ltd. (WENRECo) with the financial support of the World Bank and ...
Simerg is pleased to announce the creation of a separate blog dedicated to photographs and photo essays. While many of the pieces may at first appear (or have appeared) on Simerg.com, an adapted version with a greater emphasis on the photo content will be created in the new sister blog . Click to visit the photoblog The new blog is being ...
Verema takes Gr 3 Prix de Lutèce, Harasiya third in Gr 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. Sunday was a productive day for Aga Khan fillies in France and Ireland, with VEREMA (Barathea) reversing previous form to lift the Prix de Lutèce and HARASIYA (Pivotal) taking third in the Gr 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. The Alain de Royer Dupré-trained VEREMA was winning her ...
