Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

The Present Imam announced the first Ismaili Centre to be built in the Middle East. The Ismaili Centre, Dubai, when completed, will be comparable in scope and standing to existing major centres in London, Vancouver and Lisbon, one underway in Dushanbe and other in advanced planning stages in Toronto. The foundation laying ceremony was performed on Saturday, December 13, 2003 in presence of the Imam, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of Dubai Executive Council and President of Department of Civil Aviation representing Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. The Centre, designed by Egyptian architect Rami El Dahana and likely to cost US$18 million, is to be built on 13,200 square metres of land gifted by Crown Prince.

In his speech, the Imam described the Centre as "a symbol of confluence between the spiritual and the secular in Islam." Situating one of the functions of the Ismaili Centre in the tradition of Muslim piety, the Imam noted that, "a prominent feature of the Muslim religious landscape has been the variety of spaces of gathering co-existing harmoniously with the masjid." He continued, "Historically serving communities of different interpretations and spiritual affiliations, these spaces have retained their cultural nomenclatures and characteristics, from rabat and zawiya to khanaqah and jamatkhana."