What happens when three of the Aga Khan Master Musicians perform for the first time at the new Aga Khan Centre London... A good time was had by all! The Aga Khan Centre and Art Night London provided a perfect forum for the Master Musicians to perform "Inspired by Maqam: New Music from Syria and Tajikistan." Their music embodies the values of openness, ...
Dr. Karim Budhwani and Dr. Craig Wilson are putting their considerable talents to work designing something that might make returning to school this fall safer. Learn more about the simple desk ...
In this episode of the Desi~licious Den: Dietitian on Demand, Shahzadi tackles a really relevant topic, one that's very important especially in our current circumstances of social isolation and quarantine - ...
Farah Alibay is a female aerospace engineer in a male-dominated field, but that hasn't stopped the 32-year-old from forging ahead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Los Angeles to help ...
Pirs and Sayyids, endowed with spiritual knowledge and experience, composed poetry known as ginans in local Indic languages to be sung according to specific melodies (ragas). Ginans served as literary vehicles for conveying Ismaili doctrines that focus on penetrating to the inner (batin) significance of the Qur'an, into the framework of the societies of the Indian subcontinent. From the Sanskrit gyan, ...
USA -- Youth pilot program for skill-building, fitness, and intergenerational empathy. When 15-year-old Ariana Karim first registered for Camp emPower, a virtual pilot program launched during the coronavirus pandemic by the Ismaili Council for Southeast USA, she thought to herself, "What will we actually do? How can we learn and have fun at an online camp?" Like many other participants her ...
THEFEDERALIST.COM -- Our educational institutions have stolen critical knowledge from young people and replaced it with identity politics and political correctness. In 2016, Notre Dame professor of Constitutional Studies Patrick Deneen wrote "our students' ignorance is not a failing of our educational system -- it is its crowning achievement." He described his students as "know nothings," good test-takers and nice people. "Their brains are largely empty. If you ask them basic questions, be prepared for averted eyes and somewhat panicked looks. Who fought in the Peloponnesian War? ... Who was Saul of Tarsus? ... Why does the Magna Carta matter? ... At best, they possess accidental knowledge but are, otherwise, masters of systematic ignorance. Our educational system's goals are built on content-free processes and unexamined buzz-words like 'critical thinking,' 'ways of knowing' and 'social justice.'" On the surface ...
AREOMAGAZINE.COM -- Social Justice ideology is a low-resolution, cynical look at human nature. It requires no journey of self-discovery and actively seeks vengeance. It offers no window into human existence and has no philosophical depth: its written works are a self-obsessed feel-good manual at best. It leaves non-adherents with no chance of redemption: original "sins" are a sentence. It does not preach kindness and teach forgiveness, but fosters resentment.... Our religious instincts must be channelled somehow. Ultimately, religion is about the human need for meaning which even reasonable liberals agree is fundamental to the human condition. Modern ideologies provide selfish and lazy ways to channel one's spiritual needs. In the absence of traditional solutions to this need, people will seek to replace it with ...
The Master Musicians of the Aga Khan Music Initiative is a collective of musicians who create new music inspired by cultural heritage of the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin, South Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, and China. These master musicians link countries and continents, present and past and bring to life a new body of music that is seamless and exuberantly original. ...
As We Reopen By Parin Verjee Approaching the doors of the Jamatkhana Heads bowed in all humility Lower your gaze Pause a moment Softly say a heartfelt prayer Shukhrana, Al Hamdu'lillah The blessed day has arrived Quieten your thoughts Touch your heart Hand on your heart Smile with your eyes Greet gently Gracious to one and all Carry your mehmani in ...
The Big Heech Sculpture at the Aga Khan Museum, as an indigo coloured light is projected on the museum wall. The sculpture is the work of acclaimed Iranian-Canadian artist, Parviz Tanavoli. On the panel explaining the sculpture Parviz notes, "Heech has multiple layers of meaning -- in Persian Sufism it has a great meaning: God created the universe out of nothing, so ...
All over the Museum, you'll find examples of the mashrabiya, a kind of geometric-patterned window screen popular across the Islamic world. Using this video as your guide, make your own personalized mashrabiya design and decorate your creation with a message inspired by the Sanctuary exhibition! Bringing online Museum experiences to you is part of our mission to connect cultures and promote understanding between ...
GOOGLE.COM -- One of the finest of a liberal man's gestures is not to take advantage of what he knows of others. ~~ The worst of men is one who is all agog to see the defects of another, but is blind to his own vices. ~~ The man the most worthy of pity is the scholar at the orders of an ignoramus, the man of a generous nature directed by an avaricious man, and one of piety dictated to by a debauchee. ~~ A good man revolts against violence, but shows himself mild and reasonable, if well treated. The rascal is hard and gross in the presence of kindness, humbling himself only to harshness. ~~ The wicked man thinks no good of any one; for how ...
The Master Musicians of the Aga Khan Music Initiative is a collective of musicians who create new music inspired by cultural heritage of the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin, South Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, and China. These master musicians link countries and continents, present and past and bring to life a new body of music that is seamless and exuberantly original. ...
By S. GIGA PATNEYSpecial to Simerg A hundred years ago Katchhi and Kathiawadi Ismaili Khoja Muslims sailed to Africa and Zanzibar to make a living. Today, they have prospered in America, Canada and Europe. They wear western clothes, live in palatial homes and drive expensive cars but in the homes they still speak their rustic dialect and they remember the 'pacchedi' ...
In 2016, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) launched the School Improvement Programme (SIP) in partnership with local government. Based on AKF's global "whole-school improvement" model and AKDN's long-term experience in Pakistan, SIP seeks to improve public sector, community, and low-cost private schools in some of the most marginalised parts of northern Pakistan. ...
A discussion on how parents can engage in difficult conversations with teens and young adults to strengthen their relationships. ...
YOUTUBE.COM -- The Serengeti, East Africa's eternal paradise, with its endless expanses and wild animals, makes one feel as though evokes a sense of having arrived in an apparently peaceful corner of the world. Nature filmmaker Reinhard Radke spent more than two years in the land of the Massai and captured breathtaking images. The documentary accompanies the animal filmmaker at work on his new cinema film "Serengeti" in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and illustrates the conditions and the difficulties that can arise when making animal films of this scope and the possibilities provided by state-of-the-art film technology. ...
The Master Musicians of the Aga Khan Music Initiative is a collective of musicians who create new music inspired by cultural heritage of the Middle East and Mediterranean Basin, South Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, and China. These master musicians link countries and continents, present and past and bring to life a new body of music that is seamless and exuberantly original. ...
In 2016, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) launched the School Improvement Programme (SIP) in partnership with local government. Based on AKF's global "whole-school improvement" model and AKDN's long-term experience in Pakistan, SIP seeks to improve public sector, community, and low-cost private schools in some of the most marginalised parts of northern Pakistan. ...
We're pleased to share our exclusive interview with Dr. Daniel Beben. The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) recently published his fascinating book, co-authored with Dr. Daryoush Mohammad Poor, a translation of "The First Aga Khan, The Memoirs of Imam Hasan Ali Shah." Dr. Beben was born and raised in the USA as a Roman Catholic, but in 2009 Dr. Beben chose to become an Ismaili. In our interview, he shares his thoughts on ...
Quench your thirst for elegant design as you learn about one of the most impressive artifacts in the Aga Khan Museum's Collection: a five-century-old fountain from Egypt. In this short video for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, Curator Dr. Filiz Çakır Phillip delves into what the tricoloured, sandstone-inlayed marble masterpiece has to say about domestic life in old Cairo, water as a source of life, ...
Part one of three videos that capture an immersive overview of the Aga Khan Museum's Spring 2020 exhibition, Sanctuary, featuring carpets designed by thirty-six of the world's leading contemporary artists who have reflected on the crucial role of sanctuary in an era of displacement and disaffection. Supported by: Partners in Art, Mohammad and Najla Al Zaibak and the Baytree Foundation and Global ...
EVIEMAGAZINE.COM -- A new study reveals that those enjoy using social media the most are more likely to enjoy embarrassing or humiliating others. The researchers asserted that social media platforms "unwittingly cater to people who seek rewards from being cruel, such as through cyberbullying or various aggressive online behaviors." This may be due our desire to seek bad news from the internet, called "doomscrolling." If we're constantly viewing and sharing bad news, perhaps we're less inclined to treat others with the care we normally would. Understandably, social media use has increased due to COVID-19 and it's hypothesized that social media habits formed during lockdown will far outlast COVID-19. This means it's crucial now, rather than ...
Kronos Quartet is known for eclectic musical interests that lead them to create rich and unexpected concert experiences -- and that often lead them to collaborations with artists from around the globe. This season, in partnership with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and the Aga Khan Music Initiative, Kronos will join in concert with famed Malian vocalist Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté and ...
The mere idea of how to meal plan on a budget can be overwhelming. You'll be chuffed to hear that Desi~licious RD, Shahzadi Devje has compiled some easy-to-follow prep, cook and ...
In order to convey Ismaili doctrines, pirs composed ginans in local Indic languages, using religious ideas, symbols, and poetic forms from various folk traditions in a re-formulated form. Asani has designated this context as Indic rather than Hindu as the term 'Hinduism' is a post-colonial one, originating in an attempt by Westerners in the subcontinent, "especially missionaries, to lump together everything ...
The Aga Khan Museum has played a small but influential role in the rise of JUNO and Polaris award-winning musician Jeremy Dutcher. Celebrating Indigenous elders and stories, his first-ever music video, for the song "Mehcinut," was shot at the Museum. Months later, in early 2020, Dutcher and his band embarked on a short residency here, experimenting with sonic structures and performing a ...
In 2016, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) launched the School Improvement Programme (SIP) in partnership with local government. Based on AKF's global "whole-school improvement" model and AKDN's long-term experience in Pakistan, SIP seeks to improve public sector, community, and low-cost private schools in some of the most marginalised parts of northern Pakistan. ...
By MALIK MERCHANTPublisher/editor Barakah, Simerg and Simergphotos The Ismaili Canada's iicanada.org portal proudly announces, "Jamatkhana Reopening Welcome Back," and goes on to state, "As Jamatkhana capacity is limited due to COVID-19 regulations, and to enable contact tracing in the event of a potential infection event, all individuals will need to register online to gain access to Jamatkhana. Pre-registration allows Jamati members ...
India -- The Aga Khan Economic Planning Board for India - Readers Club is pleased to invite you for the next inspirational session of its Book Review Series. The Book The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran is an all-time spiritual classic that narrates the story of the Prophet Al Mustafa who has lived in the city of Orphalese for 12 years and ...
QUILLETTE.COM -- Let's look at two schools. Lincoln Elementary, a crown jewel of Chicago Public Schools and, just 12 blocks, Manierre Elementary, a failing school. In 2019, not a single Manierre eighth grader was proficient in reading, compared to 81% of Lincoln's. These two schools, a mere 1.3 miles apart, serve the same neighborhood but the children south of North Avenue, which lies between the two, schools aren't allowed to attend Lincoln. This happens across America. Scholars and journalists choose to ignore the fact that almost 80% of public school children attend their assigned public school. We already have a name for this practice of using your address to determine whether or not you are eligible for valuable government services. We call it redlining. The name comes from 1930s government maps created ...
QUILLETTE.COM -- If teacher education schools had a track record of helping low-income and minority students close the learning gap between themselves and their more advantaged peers, ideological bias and even low academic standards might be a price worth paying. But they have no such record -- just the opposite in fact. As an NPR headline said "America's high-school graduates look like other countries' high school dropouts." No wonder colleges and universities spend 7 billion dollars a year on remedial courses to get 40% of their first-year students ready for college-level work. And now a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Illinois College of Education has called for "defunding math and STEM."It is just the latest of a century-old set of bad ideas which ...
Share memories of members of your family who you have lost during the Coronavirus pandemic, either due to Covid-19 or any other cause. Please write to Malik Merchant at Simerg@aol.com; you must include your full name and contact information.Please read earlier tributes in Issue # 1. ___________ Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un "Surely we belong to God and to Him ...
AZQUOTES.COM -- "When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." -- C. S. Lewis ...
Kronos Quartet is known for eclectic musical interests that lead them to create rich and unexpected concert experiences -- and that often lead them to collaborations with artists from around the globe. This season, in partnership with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and the Aga Khan Music Initiative, Kronos will join in concert with famed Malian vocalist Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté and ...
On August 10, 2020, Dr. Naheed Dosani was awarded the Canadian Medical Association leadership award for his leadership and initiative in developing innovative programs that improve palliative care for people who ...
Dr. Khalil Andani held a respectful and illuminating interfaith dialogue with the famous Biblical Unitarian Christian theologian Sir Anthony F. Buzzard hosted by Restoration Fellowship. The dialogue covered a number of ...
A fascinating history, rich cultural traditions, and a meteoric rise as a global centre for commerce and thought all make the United Arab Emirates an intriguing environment to create, consume, and curate art. And in a ranging discussion for the #MuseumWithoutWalls, two UAE-based arts leaders share their experiences encouraging artistic engagement and new ideas in such a dynamic, diverse cultural milieu. Our guests ...
Nairobi, Kenya, 12 August 2020 - Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Limited (DTB) has signed an agreement for a US$ 50 million loan with International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to support its borrowers who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The funds are being provided under IFC's global US$ ...
