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

The relationships between Ismailis and the communities in which they live have always been grounded in understanding and common purpose. Today, we honor that tradition, extending the hand of friendship to all, regardless of background or faith. This building may be called an Ismaili Center, but it is not here for Ismailis only. It is for all Houstonians to use; a place open to all who seek knowledge, reflection, and dialogue.

The Ismaili community is highly diverse and lives across dozens of countries. As Muslims, our faith teaches us to care deeply about pluralism. For us, it is not an abstract idea but a practical ethic, something lived every day. To mean anything, pluralism must be actively practiced in the willingness to respect, appreciate and learn from others. Our faith is a calling to build bridges and to engage with the world beyond our community. Human diversity is itself a gift from God. I hope this Center will embody this spirit.

The Ismaili Center Houston is the seventh in a family of buildings spanning Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and North America. They serve many purposes. While daily congregational prayer is a primary focus, they also seek to enable a vibrant exchange of ideas, and to nurture understanding amongst peoples of diverse communities and faiths

The Aga Khan Music Awards reflect values that lie at the heart of the Aga Khan Development Network: pluralism, intercultural dialogue and the spiritual connection that communities around the world find in music. In many of the regions we serve, music is an integral part of daily life, woven into the rhythms of prayer, celebration, memory and identity.

But He has always told me and built the institutions with a 100 to 500 year perspective. So He doesn't respond to crises in the immediate unless it threatens the well-being or the livelihood or the life of the Jamat. He has lived through - I mean in his life, He started in the Second World War, lived through colonial times, postcolonial times, the winds of change, the Cold War. And all throughout those years, those many decades He worked with the governments that He had to work with, regardless of what their leanings were or the crises that were happening

The restoration is not only of great importance to the local community and those that worship here, but also symbolises the solidarity between the Ismaili Imamat and the Catholic Church, and our respective institutions. It is also a testament to the strength of the bond between the Ismaili Imamat and the Portuguese Republic – a bond anchored in the shared values of respect for human dignity, for pluralism, and for a commitment to bring hope and opportunity to all peoples, regardless of faith or origin.

The restoration is not only of great importance to the local community and those that worship here, but also symbolises the solidarity between the Ismaili Imamat and the Catholic Church, and our respective institutions. It is also a testament to the strength of the bond between the Ismaili Imamat and the Portuguese Republic – a bond anchored in the shared values of respect for human dignity, for pluralism, and for a commitment to bring hope and opportunity to all peoples, regardless of faith or origin.

One of the biggest threats that we face globally is of course climate change. We know that every human activity will now need to adapt to it. Here, architecture offers great hope. Humans have always designed their buildings as a response to the climate. Today, with the climate more volatile than ever, architects have a great responsibility, and an opportunity, to use their creativity to design the buildings that will buffer that volatility and protect us all

Today, more than ever, with the vast range of materials and techniques that humans have invented, great architecture has the power to answer directly to the most acute development challenges, and to create the inclusive, safe, dignified world that we want for everyone.

Poor health and limited education rob individuals of their potential.

Excellence must be grounded in relevance. A significant aspect of AKU’s impact is tied to its research agenda that strives to address real, local challenges through knowledge creation and innovation that improve the quality of life.

If Islam aspires, as I believe she must, to recapture the glories of the past, she must be ready to adapt -- I do not say abandon -- her own traditions to the entirely different circumstances of today. If we fail to do this, not only shall we fail to progress ourselves, but the younger generation will become disillusioned and fall prey to alien and materialistic creeds, which have nothing whatever in common with Islam.

Through the work of the Aga Khan Development Network, whether in health, education, culture, economic development, or the environment, our aim has always been to improve the quality of life for all, regardless of background or faith.

I felt very alone when caring for my mother with Alzheimer’s. I didn’t realize then that feeling isolated is common among caregivers and those living with the disease. By sharing her diagnosis, I hoped others might feel less alone.

I have spoken about our strength as a global and pluralistic Jamat, but arguably our superpower is our centuries old tradition of volunteerism. To volunteer may sound small, but at its core, it is one of the largest and loudest act. Our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) tells us that the best of people is the one who benefits others the most.

Of my late father’s many lasting legacies, Global Encounters represents a very significant one. Shah Karim created GE as a tool for the Jamat, as an opportunity. He wanted the diversity and the pluralism within our Jamat to be felt and to be practiced. He wanted to encourage excellence, to build understanding and cohesion and to strengthen the forces that bring us closer together. This is a legacy that our present Imam, Mowlana Shah Rahim and our Jamat all together will honour and build on.

I began by speaking of hope. The hope I refer to is not an idle wish. It is the hope one feels when there is strong evidence for optimism. It is the hope our Chancellor, His Highness the Aga Khan, has called “probably the single most powerful trampoline of progress”. That is the hope that I believe unites us today.

Islam says that the best form of charity, to use the term, is by helping
people to become self-sufficient. It is to give in such a way that the
person becomes master of one's own destiny.

If I as a Muslim came to you and were to say: What's happening in Northern Ireland reflects Catholic and Protestant beliefs, then you would say: you're uneducated.

In keeping with our historic tradition of ever abiding commitment to Muslim unity, we reaffirm our respect for the historical interpretation of Islam by our brother Muslims as an equally earnest endeavour to practise the faith in Allah and emulate the example of our Holy Prophet, may peace be upon him, which illuminates Muslim lives and which, Inshallah, will elevate all Muslim souls.