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

Forty ninth Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, Karim Aga Khan, at 59 years of age, is the spiritual leader of 20 million faithful. His religious mission ties-in with [H]is humanitarian concerns. Considered one of the richest men in the world, [H]e allocates 700 million Francs each year to the Muslim Third World by means of [H]is development network. He also travels regularly to the twenty-five countries in which the Ismailis are spread out, often accompanied by [H]is daughter, Princess Zahra, whose presence symbolizes the new role of the modern woman in the Islamic world. He chose Indonesia, whose population is 89% Muslim, for the presentation of [H]is triennial award for architecture. The spiritual leader of the Ismailis exclusively answered the questions of our special envoy Caroline Pigozzi on the role of the Islam of today.

The leader of the Ismailis says to us: 'The Muslim world is not what you believe it to be. Nor is it where you believe it to be.'

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The Aga Khan: 'Thirty years after decolonization, the present rulers have a new vision of the world but remain close to France.

Paris Match: Your Highness, what today is the mission of the spiritual leader of the Ismailis?
His Highness the Aga Khan: My role, first of all, is to interpret and integrate the faith with worldly life. A faith which, for us Muslims, is not separate from our daily existence. Our duty dictates that we must try to help our fellow man. My function also leads [M]e to attempt to ameliorate the quality of life of all classes of society and to manage, based on economic and social plans, the institutional sectors of the Imamat including the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, of which one activity is the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, presented every three years.

P.M.: According to you, what influence does your prestigious award for architecture have?
A.K.: I created this prize for architecture in 1977, because after having debated the question with many architects, of which a good number were Muslim, we came to conclude that if the great civilizations practically always marked their era with exceptional structures, particularly in the Muslim world - like in the time of the Abbassids, Persians, Fatimids, Moguls or Ottomans, this art, through which the Muslim universe expressed itself with so much diversity and talent, no longer testified the same spirit. Therefore, we had to make an impact on the teaching of architecture, on public opinion and by trying to ensure an architectural renaissance in our world, by directly addressing actual problems every three years through this distinction which emphasizes cultural and social aspects.

P.M.: As forty-ninth Imam of 20 million Shia Ismaili Muslims, and as a moderate Muslim, you have located your secretariat a few kilometers from Chantilly. What thoughts inspire you, therefore, regarding Islamism today as seen from France?
A.K.: The Muslim world is a very contrasted universe. It is made up of Islam; therefore, it is advisable not to generalize, as the West has sometimes got too much of a tendency of doing. Why would one systematically group together a large part of the political and religious theatrics under the generic title of the Muslims? If we were to apply these same methods, we would systematically attribute each attack in the Western world to the Christians. Imagine the resentment that would ensue from such an association! Certain nations which make up the Muslim community suffer from serious political, economic or social imbalances which are again, for the most part, due to the aftermath of colonization. In fact some of these countries in Asia, in the Middle East and in Africa, whether they are monarchies or republics, are continuously searching for a multiparty constitutional democracy, a principle of government with which they are historically scarcely familiar. It suffices to consider the states of Central Asia as evidence. That is why each case is a particular case and demands individual national or even regional treatment.

P.M.: But then how must we interpret the recent attacks in which France was the target?
A.K.: Alas! We live in an age where there is a strong tendency practically everywhere, not just in the Islamic world, to incite change by way of force. It is a fundamental problem that essentially rests upon the difficulty of impeding political, economic, ethnic or religious situations from degenerating by way of an explosive climate of frustration. Your country has the most important Maghreb Muslim population in Europe, the historical heritage of the 'Great Colonial France.' In the past the citizens of the ancient colonies not only had French nationality, but also the possibility of moving to France and of being elected to the Parliament. This is how today, a Western democracy like France, must sustain the repercussions of faraway colonial politics, suffer the hazards of an interior situation which disrupts the country of origin, then exacerbates and reflects in the Hexagon.

P.M.: As a knowledgeable observer of African politics with more than thirty years of experience, do you see a French solution to the problems of the Third World?
A.K.: It is a fact that the French Republic maintained tight relations with the first governments of independence, because these young states found themselves ruled by intimate friends of France. The majority were not only from the political generation of your government officials of the time; but, in addition, they had generally completed their studies in your universities. L