Imām 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib once proclaimed this soul-quaking utterance in his "Sermon of the Great Explanation": "I am the Sign of the All-Powerful. I am the Gnosis of the Mysteries. I am the Threshold of Thresholds. I am the companion of the radiance of the divine Majesty. I am the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. I ...
'In the 1990s, the term "failed state" gained currency to describe the situation in places like Afghanistan and Bosnia or Liberia and Somalia. Today, such descriptions simply divert attention from the real issues. For, apart from Weapons of Mass Destruction, HIV/AIDS or climate change, the greatest global threat today is not failed states -- states themselves do not fail -- but ...
By Ahamed Ismail Ahamed Ismail, left, recited Qur'anic suras in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, centre, at the opening of the Aga Khan Primary School in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (then Tanganyika). At right is Alnoor Kassum, the education administrator. Photo: Ahamed Ismail Family Collection. I have noted with interest the numerous tributes in response to Simerg's informative and enlightening ...
"FIRE" By Mohezin Tejani Fire Travel Spiraling yellow plumes sizzle into the Salween night. Crickets, cicadas and mynah birds add to the jungle chorus and the thwacking sounds of the fire gutting itself. The wind, like an invisible ghost, swooshes and shimmers between the logs. A swerving headlight of a motorcycle suddenly appears, the only reminder of urban life. Six figures ...
"This general apathy which pervades every walk of life is the sign of a moral disease, and what I will ask you to consider with me today are the causes of this terrible disease, and I will especially invite your attention to this point. Are the causes of this disease, to use a medical phrase, congenital and necessary, i.e. are they ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of A Companion to Muslim Cultures, edited by Dr Amyn B. Sajoo. The third in the Muslim Heritage Series, this volume embarks on a journey that celebrates the many ways in which Muslims live and understand their faith. At the heart of A Companion to Muslim Cultures is the idea that ...
This week's selection is Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III's Daily Sketch interview answer,'Is Religion Something Special?' In his extensive answer, the Aga Khan contrasts the Christian view of religion with the Muslim view, illustrating how Islam's all-encompassing outlook permeates a Muslim's every thought and action with a practical example and concludes by explaining that "when I say that religion ...
"It is more than ever necessary that the foundation of Imami-Ismailism should be understood by the new generation of Ismailis throughout the world. If those who believe that Hazrat Ali was the rightful successor of the Prophet to be the 'Ulu'l-amr Menkom must accept the principle of that succession for the same reasons they accept in the case of Hazrat Ali ...
This profound Hadith, (saying of the Prophet) recorded by Muslims of every theological school, shows the unique place given by Prophet Muhammad to Hazrat Imam Ali, who, married to the Prophet's daughter, Bibi Fatima, was also cousin to the Holy Prophet; Abdul Mutalib was their common grandfather. Imam Ali did not fail the Prophet in this position of gate of the ...
Aga Khan dams feature prominently in the August catalogue. Aga Khan bloodstock is widely recognised as among the best in the world, with families nurtured over generations resulting in homebred champions such as Zarkava, Dalakhani and this season, Valyra. These illustrious bloodlines also regularly shine for colours other than the green and red Aga Khan silks, both through the sale of ...
"But, as I have explained in my Memoirs for the whole world to understand there are two worlds -- the world of material intelligence and the world of spiritual enlightenment. The world of spiritual enlightenment is fundamentally different from the world of material intellectualism and it is the pride of the Ismailis that we firmly believe that the world of spiritual ...
In addition to Sea The Stars; Dalakhani, Azamour and Sinndar have well-bred progeny for Deauville. While the major attraction of Arqana's forthcoming Premier sale at Deauville will be the seven-strong contingent of Sea The Stars' first yearlings to be sold in Europe, the Aga Khan Studs homebred sires, DALAKHANI, AZAMOUR and SINNDAR will be strongly represented in the August catalogue. DALAKHANI's ...
News story -- The IIS' Central Asian Studies Unit (CASU) organised a lecture, entitled The State of Science and Scholarship in Central Asia: Challenges and Possibilities,delivered by Dr. Duishon Shamatov, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Central Asia (UCA). In his introductory remarks, Mr. Hakim Elnazarov, Coordinator of CASU, highlighted the importance of understanding various dimensions of educational reforms and the ...
News story -- Dr Alessandro Cancian, Research Associate in the Institute's Qur'anic Studies Unit, presented a paper at the 5th Biennial Convention of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies held at the Maulana Azad University, Hyderabad, India. In his paper, entitled Mystical Exegesis in Modern Iran: The Case of the Gunabadi Order and RidaʿAli-Shah's Commentary on Three Qur'anic Stories, Dr ...
Sura 1 Al Fatiha-The Opening Audio 1. Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem 2. Al hamdu lillaahi rabbil aalameen 3. Ar rahmaanir raheem 4. Maaliki yaumid deen 5. Iyaaka na budu wa iyyaaka nasta een 6. Ihdinaas siraatal mustaqeem 7. Siraatal ladzeena an amta alayhim Ghayril maghduubi alayhim wa laad daalleen1. With the name of Allah most gracious, most merciful 2. All praise is due ...
By Khizar Hayat The Shamsi Ismailis in Punjab, who were converted by Hazrat Pir Shams Sabzwa'ri, mostly practiced the Ismaili faith in solitude in the garb of the Hindus, and became known as the Gupti (secretive). These Gupti Ismailis mostly resided in different cities, towns and villages in Punjab and Frontier. [1] In 1910 a young man in twenties went to ...
by Hamid Algar BESMELLĀH, Islamic formula meaning "in the name of God," more fully Besmellāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm "in the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful," that stands at the head of every sūra of the Koran (except sūra 9). The formula is also known as basmala or tasmīa. i. Origin of the formula ii. In exegesis, jurisprudence, and cultural life ...
Henry Corbin introduces and summarizes an Ismā'īlī Muslim response to a polemical work undertaken against the Ismā'īlīs by the famous theologian Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111). Al-Ghazālī's work against the Isma'ilis was titled Kitab faḍā'iḥ al-bāṭiniyya wa faḍā'il al-mustaẓhiriyya ("The Shames of the Bāṭinites and the Excellence of the Supporters of al-Mustaẓhir") and the Ismā'īlī response by Da'ī 'Alī ibn Muḥammad ...
"And if two parties of believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them." "And if one party of them doeth wrong to the other, fight ye that which doeth wrong till it return unto the ordinance of Allah; then, if it return, make peace between them justly, and act equitably." "The believers are naught else than brothers. Therefore make peace ...
News story -- Over sixty alumni from Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan and Tanzania convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the annual meeting of the Asian Chapter Group of the Alumni Association. The theme for the meeting was The Significance of Qur'anic Teachings in the 21st Century. The meeting commenced with an address by the Chapter President, Minaz Master ...
"Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is! "Again, what will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is! "A day on which no soul hath power at all for any (other) soul. "The (absolute) command on that day is Allah's." Qur'an 82:17-19 Pickthall "On that day man will cry: Whither to flee! Alas! No refuge! ...
By Azim Nanji In common with all major Shiʿite groups, the Ismaʿilis (q.v.) believe that the Imamate is a divinely sanctioned and guided institution, through whose agency Muslims are enabled to contextualize the practice of their faith and to understand fully the exoteric and esoteric dimensions of the Qurʾān. The Imamate exists to complement prophethood and to ensure that the divine ...
By Badrudin Alibhai Adatia The late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III pictured with Badrudin Adatia. Recalls Adatia: "I wanted to take picture of him with us and I asked his permission. The room was dim, however, and I didn't have a flash on my camera. Although he was very sick and could not even walk, he told me he ...
"I've seen that film [of Shergar's Epsom win] I don't know how many, tens or hundreds of times. I keep trying to analyse where this remarkable performance came from and every time I see the film, I feel that I have learned something.... I had watched quite enough races to be able to determine what the jockey probably was feeling, how ...
Editor's Note: Two articles are presented here for ease of comparison. By Farhad Daftary and Faquir M. Hunzai Free will versus predestination was an important theological debate, with political implications, in Muslim society dating back to Omayyad times. The Ismaʿilis adopted an intermediate position in this debate and eventually accommodated the relevant issues within their theological doctrines. At one extreme, a ...
Be just, honest and straightforward. Give full measure and full weight, in justice. We task not any soul beyond its scope. And if ye give your word, do justice thereunto, even though it be (against) a kinsman; and fulfil the covenant of Allah. This He commandeth you that haply ye may remember. (6:152) Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal ...
lbn-Rushd, the great Muslim philosopher, known to Europe as Averroes, established clearly the great distinction between two kinds of apprehensible human experience : on the one hand, our experience of nature as we recognize it through our senses, whence comes our capacity to measure and to count (and with that capacity all that it brought in the way of new ...
'Truly, 'Ali is from me and I am from him (inna 'Ali minni wa ana minhu), and he is the wali (patron/spiritual master) of every believer after me.' 'Ali is with the Qur'an and the Qur'an is with 'Ali. They will not separate from each other until they return to me at the [paradisal pool] (al-hawd).' 'Three things were revealed to ...
Video: Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi delivers the 2010 Yawm-e Ali lecture at the Ismaili Centre, London. The 2010 Yawm-e Ali Lecture at the Ismaili Centre, London was delivered on 14 July by Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi, Reasearch Fellow at The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. In his lecture titled Imam Ali and the Power of Compassion, Dr Shah-Kazemi explored the role played ...
Margot Dougherty/Richard B. Stolley: The subject of money inevitably comes up when your name and your foundation are mentioned. Could you put to rest some of the myths? Aga Khan: A lot of stories have been told. My grandfather's jubilees were events which the Western media thought were very spectacular. The impression was given that very substantial amounts of money went ...
Today's opening of the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games marks an historic moment for the city and for modern sport gatherings. Approximately 680 members of the Ismaili community registered to help in the Olympic effort, and will take part as drummers, dancers, torch bearers and Olympic Ambassadors. The numbers reflect the sheer scale of the event: Some 10 500 athletes from ...
News story -- The Institute's Qur'anic Studies Unit hosted an occasional lecture by Dr Nuria Martínez de Castilla of the Complutense University of Madrid. The lecture, entitled Surviving the Fall of Granada: The Qur'an among Muslims in 16th Century Spain, focused on the methods used by Muslims in the Iberian peninsula to keep their cultural traditions alive. Providing some background, Dr Martínez ...
[Google translation] This magnificent heritage deserved a public-private partnership and specific joint program. My experience of social issues, philanthropy and the fact that I live in the area have prompted various actors ask me to be the president of the Foundation for the Protection and Development of the Chantilly Domain, to manage and restoring the side of the Institut de France ...
Dam hama dam Ali Ali by Mowlana Rumi English Rendition of Qasida by Arif BabulSaki e ba wafa manam, dam hame dam Ali Ali... 1 Sufi e ba safa manam, dam hame dam Ali Ali... 2 Ashike Murtaza manam, dam hame dam Ali Ali... 3 Mutribe khushnava manam, dam hame dam Ali Ali... 4 Adam ba safa tueen, Yusufe mah laka ...
Bayrir, Harasiya and Takar all successful in Pattern contests. The Aga Khan Studs have enjoyed a most productive weekend with a total of three Group victories in Ireland and France. Promising juvenile HARASIYA set the ball rolling on Thursday with success in a Leopardstown Gr 3 and this was followed up by wins from three-year-old colts TAKAR (Gr 3 Minstrel Stakes) ...
"Today my worry is not [with polygamy]. My worry is the notion of unique family, which is in the process of destroying itself. Voila! We are further than the polygamy today. Today we face a situation where a part of our world accepts that children are born outside the family." His Highness the Aga Khan's 2001 Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International Interview ...
There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less. When the sound box is filled, no music comes forth. When the brain and the belly burn from fasting, every moment a new song rises out of the fire. The mists clear, and a new vitality makes you spring up the steps before you. Be empty and ...
Shahru ramaḍāna alladhī unzila fīhi'l-qur'ānu hudan lilnasi wabayyinātin mina'l-hudā wa'l-furqāni fa-man shahida minkumu'l-shahra falyaṣumhu "The Month of Ramaḍān in which was sent down the Qur'ān a guidance for mankind, and manifest proofs of the guidance and the criterion (between truth and falsehood). So whomever among you witnesses the Month, let him fast it." (Holy Qur'ān 2:185) Fasting (ṣawm) is among the ...
"What has been my own policy with my followers? Our religion is our religion, you either believe in it or you do not. You can leave a faith but you cannot, if you do not accept its tenets, remain within it and claim to 'reform' it. You can abandon those tenets, but you cannot try to change them and still protest ...
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: When Allah decreed the Creation He pledged Himself by writing in His book which is laid down with Him: My mercy prevails over my wrath. It was related by Muslim (also by al-Bukhari, an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah). On the authority ...
