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

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Our Chief Guest, Melinda French Gates
Chairman Haile Debas and the Members of the Board of Trustees
President Firoz Rasul
Provost, Deans, Faculty and Staff of the University
Generous donors and well wishers of the University from around the world
Distinguished guests
Parents, family members and Graduates​

It is a great privilege to join you today in recognising and celebrating the Class of 2020.

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Our Chief Guest, Melinda French Gates
Chairman Haile Debas and the Members of the Board of Trustees
President Firoz Rasul
Provost, Deans, Faculty and Staff of the University
Generous donors and well wishers of the University from around the world
Distinguished guests
Parents, family members and Graduates​

It is a great privilege to join you today in recognising and celebrating the Class of 2020.

Opening Remarks by Prince Zahra Aga Khan
8th Annual Pluralism Lecture (Virtual event)
May 19, 2021

Bismillah hir Rahmanir Rahim,

Ms Mengiste, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my very great pleasure to welcome you on behalf of His Highness the Aga Khan, and the entire Board of the Global Centre for Pluralism to our 8th Annual Pluralism Lecture

This year’s Annual Pluralism Lecture, presented by the Global Centre for Pluralism in partnership with the University of British Columbia, will be livestreamed on 19 May, and will feature opening remarks by Princess Zahra Aga.

The 8th Annual Pluralism Lecture, entitled “The Moment of Encounter: History, Disruptions, and Transformations” will be delivered by Ethiopian-American novelist Maaza Mengiste from New York’s Center for Fiction.

This week marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, traditionally observed by Muslims around the world as the time during which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) received the first revelation of the Holy Qur’an.

MESSAGE TO THE WORLD OF ISLAM
Aga Khan III IMAM SULTAN MUHAMMAD SHAH 48th Imam of Ismailis
Published by: Centenary Committee His Royal Highness The Aga Khan Ismailia Association for Pakistan 4th Edition 1977

Chapter One: GREETINGS TO PAKISTAN

Be no more hypnotized by the dead glories of the distant past or by the misfortunes of the near past.

I cannot emphasize too strongly that this network could neither have been created nor been managed and improved without the boards, the committees, and the other volunteers, young and old, who contribute their time and effort, unpaid, for the benefit of society. The voluntary worker is the lifeblood of our institutions, both in education and in health.

Nature-driven artist and environmentalist Clare Celeste Börsch among contributors to exhibition exploring concept of Eden

As in many paradise gardens, particularly those inspired by Islamic culture, a fountain lies at the heart of the quadrilateral garden created inside the Aga Khan Centre gallery in King’s Cross, London. This fountain doesn’t spout water, however, but beautiful, intricate strips of paper with laser-cut flowers made by Berlin-based American artist Clare Celeste Börsch.

FUTURE OF MUSLIM STATES

True Islam was and is dynamic and not static. Do not look to the third century of Islamic History but to the first.

If we, the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are to remain loyal and obedient to the commandments of our faith, we have no choice but to cast away all thoughts of East and West, of Asian, American or European and of all those barriers which alienate man from man, and people from people, so that we may join together to promote universal brotherhood under God.

In the early centuries of Islam, the great schools of Islamic jurisprudence were built upon the above principles. Basic to all their legal systems they developed the doctrine that liberty is the fundamental basis of law. The science of law was defined as: “The knowledge of rights and duties whereby man is enabled to observe right conduct in the world

Speech by H. R. H. Prince Aly Khan

Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the Council of Islamic Affairs,

New York, May 27th 1958.

The late Prince Aly Khan (d. 1960) was the father of the present Aga Khan (IV), and eldest son of the previous Aga Khan (III) — who was also the Chairman of the League of Nations (1933 – 1936).

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the honour you have done me by inviting me to be your guest at this luncheon and for the kind words you have said about me.

Portugal has been a country in which the Jamat and its institutions and the Imamat have been experimenting with new initiatives to see whether it would be possible, in the western world, in a strongly Catholic country, to establish new initiatives which would bring together people of Christian backgrounds and Muslim backgrounds to work together

Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, he was the only child of Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III and his French-born third wife, the former Andrée Joséphine Carron. He received his early education in Lausanne, Switzerland, before graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1954 from Harvard College.[1] At Harvard, he lived in Eliot House with Paul Matisse, grandson of French artist Henri Matisse, with future Paris Review founders George Plimpton and John Train, and with Stephen Joyce, grandson of Irish writer James Joyce.[2] Along with Plimpton, he was an editor for the Harvard Lampoon.

Reportedly, 2400 square miles of the Gwadar area came under the domain of the Sultan of Oman in 1947. It was administered by Great Britain, and fifty percent of the revenue from the area went to the Sultan. Eventually, an American company identified Gwadar’s potential as a deep port. Through this port, 25 varieties of fish could be exported in significant quantities every year.

The Shah of Iran tried to acquire this land through the US’ influence in Britain, but in 1956, Pakistani Foreign Minister Malik Feroze Khan Noon decided that this land had to be acquired at all costs.

I must say that, as a Muslim, I stand here in front of you in amazement that the Western world had to experience the revolution in Iran to learn about Shia Islam, or the civil war in Afghanistan to learn about Wahhabi Islam. Please remember that we are talking about a religion followed by one-fifth of the world's population! This is the equivalent of Muslims being unaware of the distinction between Catholics and Protestants within Christianity.

Perhaps the most common of these ingredients has been the failure of those involved to recognise the fact that human society is essentially pluralist, and that peace and development require that we seek, by every means possible, to invest in and enhance, that pluralism. Those groups that seek to standardise, homogenise, or if you will allow me, to normatise all that and those around them must be actively resisted through countervailing activities.

For almost a century, we have spoken of the educated, professional woman as a goal. Mowlana Sultan Mohammed Shah once wrote: "Women equipped with means of earning a livelihood need fear nothing." We must now turn this wise statement into a reality. This may be a tall order, but we must make a start. Where a start has been made, we must accelerate the pace.

Beginning prior to the turn of the century, Ismaili women throughout the world have been encouraged to acquire more education than their peers. Consequently, Ismaili women are, today, relatively well educated. The benefits of this academic policy have been extensive Firstly, the educated mother is better informed on health, education, hygiene and nutrition, and hence provides a better environment for her children.

On behalf of the International Social Development and Sports Foundation, let me welcome you to the International Ismaili Women's Forum. I hope that you have all had safe journeys, and that you are rested and ready for three days of hard work. Before we begin, I would like to thank the Canadian National Council, the International Steering Committee and the many volunteers who have invested countless hours and made tremendous personal sacrifices to prepare this event.