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

Well I think the reflection in the media in the Western world of what is called ‘Islam' is perhaps a reflection of a misnomer. Because Islam is the name of a faith, it's not the name of a country or a geographic area or a number of countries, and therefore what goes under the word Islam really should be considered a faith.

And while the notion is one I fully support, democracies don't run themselves - people run them. And my sense is that in many, many countries the sorts of human capabilities that are necessary to make democracies function, in their multiple forms, are not there. There is a tendency to use democracy as a generic term, but it isn't. There are so many different forms of democracy.

We are living in a time of vacuum, we are living in a time of search, and I do not believe that it is wealth, or military power, that will bring the Muslim world back to what you and other Muslims and I aspire for it to be. What will bring it back? Only one thing, the quality and the capability of the people of the Muslim world

My second or third professor of Islamic history who was appointed to teach me by my late grandfather had the burdensome duty of instructing me in Urdu. After some time, I was in the fortunate position of being able to appreciate, if not fully understand, the beautiful language

The crisis of hunger is played out in a world that has more food than it knows what to do with...……..The vast sums paid to farmers here and in Europe to encourage them not to grow certain types of food provide a perverse contrast to the relatively small sums we are told would be needed to provide food for millions of hungry people; we can switch from a fitness workout on one channel, telling us how to fight "urban flab," to another where we are confronted with ghastly images of emaciated children

Whatever may or may not be the soul’s future, there is one impregnable central fact in existence: that here and now, in this world, we have a soul which has a life of its own in its appreciation of truth, beauty, harmony and good against evil.

Many of our greatest architectural achievements were designed to reflect the promises of life hereafter, to represent in this world what we are told of the next. Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environment we build and the quality of the social interactions that take place within those environments, reverberate on our spiritual life

The chahar-bagh was more than a pleasure garden. In the discipline and order of its landscaped geometry, its octagonal or rectangular pools, its selection of favourite plants and trees, it was an attempt to create transcendent perfection - a glimpse of paradise on earth.

In all interpretations of Islam, Imams, whether they are Shia or Sunni, are required not only to lead in the interpretation of the faith, but equally to contribute to improving the quality of life of the people who refer to them. This dual obligation is often difficult to appreciate from the viewpoint of Christian interpretations of the role which Church leaders are expected to perform.

One other point we learned to appreciate and to share is the remarkable diversity which exists within the world of Muslim music! It comes in many styles, forms and classical repertoires. It includes simple folk melodies, contemplative mystical music and driving dance rhythms; and it reflects the immense diversity of different Muslim cultures themselves, including musical traditions that have been carefully cultivated over the centuries within the Ismaili community.

Listening to music, practicing music, sharing music, performing music - have long been an intimate part of life for Muslim communities across the world, as has been the chanting of devotional and historical or epic texts.

It is my conviction that one of the key conditions for peace in our world today is a greater respect for pluralism,” explained Mawlana Hazar Imam. “In a world challenged by globalisation, social fragmentation and conflict between peoples, pluralism and a well-anchored civil society are essential for human peace and progress. This is why the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is delighted to be a partner of the Paris Peace Forum 2018-11-12

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.

No, we do not proselytise. We could, but we don't feel the need. There are certain religions where proselytising is recommended. We however, take the attitude that everyone should do whatever they want. If they want to become a Shia, they can become a Shia, if they want to become a Shia Ismaili, they can become a Shia Ismaili

When you look at the Third World, where the Ismaili community is particularly present, we have to ask ourselves about governments. And I have always taken the view that civil society must play a fundamental role in the future of all populations. So, we have to consolidate and strengthen it. And that means taking the most important institutions of civil society and giving them support and encouragement

The gem cutter, the person who prepares the jewel, cuts it and cuts it and polishes it and cuts it and polishes it until he has fashioned the gem stone in to a stone of absolute purity with no clouding, absolute purity. And the gem cutter has to do his work very carefully with a lot of time, because if he makes a mistake, he cannot bring back the part of the stone that he cut away by mistake

The Serena concept - if I may use that word - implies the highest respect for local cultural, social and artistic tradition and, in particular, the local architectural vocabulary, our intentions that clients in Serena Hotels should live a genuinely local experience, through details of architecture, through interior decor and landscaping, through forms and colours, through artifacts and handicrafts, through the food they eat and the sounds they hear, so that their stay with us, enabling them to live in the most immediate manner a local life-style, becomes something of a cultural experience too.

In the Shia Ismaili Muslim tradition, voluntary service to others is viewed as an integral and positive part of daily life, and never as a burdensome obligation or an elective activity. Service is a means for each individual to actualise Islam’s ethics of inclusiveness, of compassion, of sharing, of the respect for life, and of personal responsibility for sustaining a healthy physical, social, and cultural environment

All beings are affected positively or negatively by their surroundings but for Muslims it is a particularly critical matter. Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing Unity. Spirit and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is answerable to God for what man has created.

It is a well known fact that when Pakistan was first created, the basic industrial infrastructure of the sub-continent was almost entirely left in India. It was also evident that in those regions which became Pakistan, there would be a major influx of population, and therefore a considerable unemployment problem