Ali Asani PROFESSOR OF INDO-MUSLIM AND ISLAMIC RELIGION AND CULTURES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY Ali Asani is Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He came to Harvard as an undergraduate in 1973 from his native Nairobi and has been there ever since. A concentrator in comparative religion, he later pursued his doctorate work ...
First of all you educate the individual to understand better the creation of God. Therefore education is part of the manifestation of faith because you seek to understand what you would not normally understand. Secondly, Islam is very, very rigorous, very demanding on the elimination of inequities in society. And my experience at least, is that very often inequities in society ...
Singapore, 20 July 2012 -- A two-day Aga Khan Award for Architecture seminar on planning practices was held 19-20 July 2012 at the Urban Redevelopment Centre in Singapore. City planners, academics and architects from around the world participated in discussions relating to the integration of mobility, energy, water and waste disposal into planning practice, the role of educational institutions in the ...
Text and photos by Malik Merchant Editor-Publisher, www.simerg.com Badlands National Park, South Dakota. Photo: Malik Merchant using Canon Powershot A2200. If readers were wondering, I am making a 4500km road-trip across the continent, and will resume blog updates with highly interesting readings once I reach my destination - Vancouver. Starting my journey in Ottawa, Canada, I have covered about half the ...
London, United Kingdom, 19 July 2012 - As part of the contingent of over 1,500 musicians from around the world performing on the weekend before the London Olympics, Homayoun Sakhi, the Kronos Quartet and the Bardic Divas will appear on the Asia Stage in Battersea Park on 21 July 2012. The Homayoun Sakhi Trio's performance with Kronos Quartet will feature Sakhi's ...
"Let us then study the duties of man, as the great majority interpret them, according to the verses of the Koran and the Traditions of the Prophet.... The healthy human body is the temple in which the flame of the Holy Spirit burns, and thus it deserves the respect of scrupulous cleanliness and personal hygiene. Prayer is a daily necessity, a ...
Singapore, 18 July 2012 - Prince Amyn and Singapore's Minster for Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, opened a new exhibition titled Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum today. The exhibition runs from 19 July - 28 October 2012 at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The exhibition of items from the Aga Khan Museum Collection runs from 19 July - ...
Global -- Arusha, 18 July 2012 - Mawlana Hazar Imam signed an agreement with the East African Community (EAC) today, that will strengthen and broaden cooperation between the Aga Khan Development Network and the EAC in the areas of economic, social and cultural development throughout East Africa. The agreement highlights the need for improvements in education and healthcare, including efforts to ...
News story -- The IIS is pleased to announce the publication of A Code of Conduct: A Treatise on the Etiquette of the Fatimid Ismaili Mission. Fifteenth in the Institute's Ismaili Texts and Translations Series, it is a critical edition and translation of the Fatimid author Ahmad b. Ibrahim al-Naysaburi's Risala al-mujaza al-kafiya fi adab al-duʿat (A Brief and Concise Treatise on ...
Singapore, 18 July 2012 - "Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in the Islamic World" was opened today by Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore's Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Prince Amyn Aga Khan, at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. The exhibition will run from 19 July to 28 October 2012. The exhibition, which follows the theme of ...
Arusha, Tanzania, 18 July 2012 - The East African Community (EAC) and the Aga Khan Development Network sign an agreement to strengthen and broaden cooperation in the areas of economic, social and cultural development throughout East Africa. A separate agreement was also signed between the EAC and the Government of Germany contributing 10 million euros towards the support of the Aga ...
Singapore, 18 July 2012 - A new exhibition from the Aga Khan Museum collection titled "Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum: Architecture in the Islamic World" was opened on 18 July 2012. The exhibition will run from 19 July to 28 October. ...
United Kingdom -- Over 900 senior members of the Jamat from around the United Kingdom participated in a Seniors Fair organised by the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board last month. The event, which took place at Watford Colosseum attracted interest from the BBC Asian Network, who reported on how the Ismaili community is helping its elderly members stay up-to-date with technological ...
This week's selection is His Highness the Aga Khan's 1983 Connoisseur Magazine interview with Paul Chutkow,The Aga Khan's Vision, London, United Kingdom. In this important interview, a week before the second Aga Khan Award for Architecture award ceremony, the Aga Khan discusses at length the rational, need and objectives for the Award and his view that architecture can be "an instrument ...
Aftab Ahmad Khan: How would you comment on the notion popularised by Western critics that scientific and technological progress is incompatible with the practice of Islam? Aga Khan: I think that's one of the most offensive things that can be said about Islam and I take issue with it in every way. In the first place, to say that science in ...
"Meanwhile, the way we communicate with one another has been revolutionised. But more communication has not meant more cooperation. More information has also meant more mis-information: more superficial snapshots, more shards of stray information taken out of context. And it has also meant more wilful dis-information, not only differences of opinion, but distortions of fact. A wide-open Internet allows divisive information ...
The NanoWisdoms Archive is a unique website dedicated solely to the Ismaili Imamat's speeches, interviews and writings and has been granted special permission to reproduce His Highness the Aga Khan's speeches. The Archive brings together material from akdn.org, iis.ac.uk, theismaili.org, aku.edu, archnet.org, pluralism.ca, institutional publications, printed materials, media Web sites and other sources. With over 500 readings it is the most ...
"I shall talk today about encounters. Encounters. When two people meet. Or two particles. Or two cultures. In that crucial moment of interaction the results of an encounter are determined. In the simplest of encounters -- say, with two billiard balls -- the outcome is a predictable result of position, velocity and mass. But the encounters that interest me most are ...
The Gilltown sire's first yearlings on sale at Arqana SEA THE STARS' first yearlings offered for public sale in Europe are expected to be highly sought-after at Deauville's premier sale in August. The exceptional racehorse and eagerly-awaited sire has already seen one yearling go under the hammer, as his son reached the sum of 40 million Yen at the JRHA July ...
News story -- IIS Research Associate Dr Toby Mayer presented a paper at a workshop at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, USA entitled Greco-Arabic Rationalism in Islamic Traditionalism. The workshop comprises an on-going series of seminars which are expected to run for a few years. The series is dedicated to tracing the reception of philosophy into Islamic culture. Dr Toby Mayer ...
"God created my spirit and the spirit of 'Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib two thousand years before He created humankind. He sent 'Alī secretly with every prophet and openly with me." - Prophet Muhammad The Imāmat is the office of spiritual and religious leadership recognized in Shī'ī Islam according to which the Imām is the spiritual and religious successor (waṣī) of the ...
Nicholas Tomalin: Could you explain the Muslim attitude to drink? Isn't that, perhaps, puritanical? Aga Khan: Our belief is that the thing which separates man from the animals is his power of thought. Anything that impedes this process is wrong. Therefore alcohol is forbidden. I have never touched alcohol. But this, to me, is not a puritan prohibition. I don't want ...
Healthy Hints Traditional samosas are deep fried and filled with a rich meat mixture. This serving of 2 samosas gives you 22g of fat which is the same amount you'd get from 2 tbsp of oil. Make them healthier by choosing lean minced beef or lamb and by cooking at a high temperature (180C), which reduces oil absorption. Or try baked ...
The doctrine of Imamat has been central in Shia Islam since the designation by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.) of Hazrat Ali (a.s.) as his successor at Ghadir-Khumm. Among the various interpretations in Shia Islam, the Ismaili Muslims believe in the continuity of the Imamat through a living hereditary Imam descended from Hazrat Ali, through the prophet's daughter Bibi Fatima (a.s). The ...
Ridasiyna and Hartani take Gr 3 honours, Sharestan successful in Curragh Listed. The Aga Khan Studs team continues its rich vein of form with three Stakes victories during the weekend in France and Ireland. The highly-promising RIDASIYNA stretched her unbeaten run to three when the daughter of Motivator picked up the Group 3 Prix Chloé at Chantilly on Sunday. Stepped back ...
Rajiv Mehrotra: Your interests are diverse, I think many of us are familiar with your initiatives in development support, but you also breed thoroughbreds, you have interests in tourism -- a whole range of interests. Isn't that a sort of an unlikely profile for an Imam? Aga Khan: I think that may come from a non-Muslim perception rather than a Muslim ...
"I would like to speak initially about the logic behind the Aga Khan Academies programme -- to look at its philosophical underpinnings. For unless those foundations are sound, whatever we build will be inherently vulnerable. We are taking our time in laying those foundations. We are designing for the long-range future and we have thought long and hard about our goals ...
News story -- Dr. Yahia Baiza of IIS' Central Asian Studies Unit presented a paper entitled, Madrasa Education in Afghanistan: A Choice between Reform and Obliteration at a conference on Reform in Islamic Education at Cambridge University. Dr. Baiza's paper included an analysis of the rise and decline of Muslim scholarship and education, exploring the plight and reform of madrasa education in ...
October 25, 1996. Prince Amyn Mohammed Aga Khan (left) pictured wiith his brother His Highness the Aga Khan at the Hadrian Award Ceremony. Introduction: Though discreet and always working behind the scenes, Prince Amyn's contribution to the Imamat institutions have been influential and impactful. In Simerg's continuing series on thanking Ismaili historical figures, Azeem Maherali of Atlanta, USA, gives a rare ...
Pakistan Television: You have known the best of the Occident and the orient -- such has been your background, your education and upbringing. What have you discovered to be the best in the field of education? Aga Khan: I think in terms of, let us say, the philosophical environment in which an individual lives, there is no doubt that the faith ...
Gnosis - Arabic: ma'rifah, Persian: shinākht, Sanskrit: jnāna, Hebrew: hokmah Gnosis is that 'supreme knowledge' 'which unifies and sanctifies' the human being. (Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, 41) Gnosis is not acquired by discursive learning, but it is innate to the human soul and intellect. Gnosis is 'the basis of the intellect ('aql)' and is 'unwavering in man'. Gnosis ...
News story -- Thirty IISalumni from across Asia, Europe and North America came together in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2011 to discuss the theme Contested Landscape: Shari'a Today. The Academic Seminar provided an opportunity for the alumni to engage with scholars specialising in the field and discuss shari'a and its relevance to ethical, intellectual and social questions in contemporary contexts. Mr Shiraz ...
"Let me turn to another aspect of Islamic society: our intellectual elite. In the past, much of the dynamism of Muslim society was born from the leaders of the faith: the Imams, the Pirs and Mullahs. This identity between the leaders of the faith and the empire's intellectual elite was a continuous source of strength both to the faith and those ...
On Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 1 p.m., Their Excellencies the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston, along with Ms. Suzanne Pinel, C.M., launched "Storytime at Rideau Hall". In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Governor General's Literary Awards, families and visitors settled in under a tree, at a picnic table or under the ...
Canada -- Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty generously praised the Ismaili community at a gathering of Jamati and civic leaders held at Toronto's Headquarters Jamatkhana in April. Recognising the long-standing relationship and common values shared between the Jamat and the province, he presented certificates to the Presidents of the Ismaili Councils for Canada and Ontario. "We're all better off because the Ismaili-Canadian ...
29 June 2012 What Is IATI? IATI aims to increase the accountability and transparency of those who receive money for aid and international development by showing how and where it is spent. This will be done by publishing information on the IATI website and announcing this on organisational websites. What does this mean for Aga Khan Foundation (United Kingdom) (AKF(UK))? The ...
SPECIAL TO SIMERG AN EXCERPT FROM RSVP RICE AND STEW VERY PLENTY By Nazlin Rahemtulla Map of Uganda. Credit: Wikipedia (The Free Encyclopedia). As a youngster, I especially adored shopping on the Main Street of Jinja. Simply strolling along the sidewalks was magic. We mingled with Indian women in their beautifully draped sarees of vibrant fuchsias, blues, and magentas; African ladies ...
Listed wins for Kerasona and Bayrir, Group seconds for Azamour and Sinndar. The Aga Khan Studs have had a busy and successful weekend in France, with Listed successes for three-year-olds KERASONA (Oasis Dream) and Bayrir (Medicean), while SHARETA (Sinndar) and MANDISTANA (Azamour) were both runners up in Group contests. Arc second SHARETA picked up another second place at the highest level ...
Do not give credence to gossip and slander without verifying it and do not repeat that of which you have no knowledge. O ye who believe! If an evil liver bring you tidings, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did. (49:6) Why did they [the believers] not produce four witnesses? Since they ...
The Aga Khan explains that in Islam, the objective of poverty-alleviation programmes, and, more generally, all forms of generosity, is to help individuals enjoy the dignity of self-sufficiency and independence. "[Charity] is a word that we do not like. Islam has a very clear message about the different forms of generosity. There is that with regard to the poor, which takes ...
