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Speech by His Highness The Aga Khan at the Karachi Rotary Club 1964-12-05

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Event - 1964-12-05
Date: 
Saturday, 1964, December 5
Location: 
Source: 
The Guiding Lines, National Development Publications, Karachi, Pakistan, pp. 25-29
His Highness The Aga Khan IV
Author: 
Aga Khan IV (H.H. Prince Karim)

You have said, Mr. President, some very kind words about my late Grandfather, my late Father and myself. My Grandfather was a most gifted person, and amongst his many qualities, one of them had always particularly impressed me. While the past was a book which he had read and re-read many times, the future was just one more literary work of art into which he used to pour himself with deep thought and concentration. Innumerable people since his death have told me how he used to read in the future, and this certainly was one of his very great strengths. As a child I used to listen to him for many hours on end and I think, in fact I am convinced, that it was his inspiration which has created in me such a strong interest in the future while at the same time guiding me to learn from the teaching books of the past.

As it is, I have spent many hours in trying to conceive of the world in which we will live in 25 years’ time and which will undoubtedly have very great effects on all of us. I have tried to imagine what the world will be like when we have at our disposal practically unlimited sources of power and when we can travel from any point on earth to any other point within of minutes. These two developments are part of the phenomenon which we can expect in our immediate future, and I do not think it can be denied that each and every one of us will meet ten times as many people as our fathers did fifty years ago. I believe that this mixing of people will make it evident to all of us, if it is not already so, that, regardless of our origins, our languages and our incomes, there is a common denominator in every human being living. The desire for a better life exists somewhere in the hearts of every one of us. We are all capable of suffering and joy, and one day all of us will return from where we have come. It will be for us to use this realisation so as to strengthen world peace and prosperity, and at the same time equip ourselves materially and morally for our exploration of the future.

All this may sound unreal or futuristic, but I believe that it is important that we should all know that sooner or later the existence of the brotherhood of mankind will be clearly understood by the majority of living beings. If this brotherhood and the understanding and awareness of it are to be put to good use, then we must know on what basis we are to live within the fraternity.

For the Muslims of this world we are very fortunate indeed: there is nothing new or foreign to our beliefs in the concept of the brotherhood of man and much to the contrary, we are instructed to believe in this brotherhood and to use our worldly possessions, whatever they may be, to strengthen it. It is for this reason that I have worked hard within my own community, and wherever it has been possible outside, to ensure that Islamic principles and a Muslim way of life are preserved.

In speaking about Islam and its various organisations to my community, I have not been doing so in the improbable hope that the glories of our past will be recaptured, nor that, to ensure the salvation of our souls we must preserve as rapidly as possible the social customs of our past. It is, however, my deep conviction that if Pakistan creates within her boundaries a modern truly Muslim Society, she will not be creating, as some misguided people seem to believe, archaic institutions and maintaining archaic ideas and ideals, but on the contrary she will be preparing her children, if such a preparation is at all necessary amongst Muslims for the existence of a realisation which it may still take many years for other peoples to understand; namely that there is such a thing as the brotherhood of man whether one wishes to recognise it or not. It is only, I think, when our human fraternity has accepted and strengthened the internal bonds of brotherhood that we will be strong enough to make sense of the new realms of the universe which are being discovered for us by our advanced technologists.

Should we fail to understand the concept of human fraternity which comes to us through Islam, I fail to see how if every human being in every nation is out to get the maximum for himself, we will succeed in putting to good use the minute part of the universe which we are now discovering, without finding ourselves so insignificant in the world of the future …

I hope, therefore, that Pakistan and all her institutions will guard vigilantly her Islamic traditions and that she will ensure for the good of her own generations to come that the Muslim principles of this country will be upheld at all times and in all circumstances. Should we fail to understand the concept of human fraternity which comes to us through Islam, I fail to see how if every human being in every nation is out to get the maximum for himself, we will succeed in putting to good use the minute part of the universe which we are now discovering, without finding ourselves so insignificant in the world of the future, that we will be unable to have our children profit in any way through the discoveries which our minds and our labour have bequeathing to our children.

If the fact that our world is getting progressively smaller through increased communication between human being is to enforce upon all of us, whether we like it or not, the realisation that we are but one great family, then indeed I hope that the Rotary Club will in every way possible help Pakistan to create a strong, proud and vigorous Muslim Society. In that case you will have created here, not only a nation which understands the relationship between all human beings, but which can give to these relations the most solid foundation and upon which we can create and build for the future without fearing that one day, through our own disputes, we will bring upon ourselves unlimited unhappiness.

His Highness the Aga Khan IV

SOURCES

The Guiding Lines, National Development Publications, Karachi, Pakistan, pp. 25-29


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