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

Recent events oblige us to reflect on how environmental pollution and the resulting climate change are heavily affecting the ecosystem of our lives.

Early childhood experiences have a direct impact on brain development and exposure to a safe environment, appropriate activities and a balanced diet are essential for the normal development of a healthy adult

I, as Imam of the Ismailis, have responsibility for and supreme authority over the community. This means taking the lead in the practice of the religion but also engaging in ongoing activities to improve the Ismailis’ quality of life and to help “every Ismaili in the world who is in difficulties”.

And so, civil society needs to be anchored in a set of ethical premises. I think these ethical premises are often anchored in faith, in religion. So I think this is the relationship I would establish and which I consider to be very, very important.

he basic premise, the basic problem is the enormous lack of knowledge of the Islamic world in the general world-culture. It's a rather remarkable thing and a very sad thing to me, that over a billion people, their 1400 year history, of civilizations, are simply not part of general education in the general Western world.

In my life, the two moments which contributed most dramatically to this condition were the fall of the British and French colonial empires after World War II - and then the disintegration of the Soviet Union and its Eastern European empire two decades ago.

The so-called Arab Spring has brought special attention to this challenge - illustrating that it is easier to rally people in opposition to a particular government than to forge agreement about new governing processes. But, while this pattern has recently been more dramatically evident, it has been a reality for a very, very long time

Rapidly-expanding urban centres throughout the world lack public parks and open urban spaces. Problems of transport, congestion and pollution have too few solutions emerging. The growth of slums, the consequence of the relentless forces of urbanisation, has not been stopped or even slowed down.

In Islam, the Holy Koran says that man is God's noblest creation to whom He has entrusted the stewardship of all that is on earth. Each generation must leave for its successors a wholesome and sustainable social and physical environment.

The media and some opinion-leaders tend, if not to actively perpetrate old clichés and stereotypes, to show a lack of anything like a nuanced knowledge or appreciation of the traditions of the Muslim world. School curricula in the humanities and social sciences are often formulated as if Islam did not exist or was not the religion and culture of a substantial portion of humanity

What should have been brotherhood has become rivalry, generosity has been replaced by greed and ambition, the right to think is held to be the enemy of real faith, and anything we might hope to do to expand the frontiers of human knowledge through research is doomed to failure for in most of the Muslim world, there are neither the structures nor the resources to develop meaningful intellectual leadership.

For us Muslims, this is one of the pressing challenges we face. In what voice or voices can the Islamic heritage speak to us afresh - a voice true to the historical experience of the Muslim world yet, at the same time, relevant in the technically advanced but morally turbulent and uncertain world of today?

I believe that the best journalists are NOT those who think they know everything, but those who are wise enough to know what they do not know. Excellence in journalism , it seems to me, stems not from arrogant judgmentalism but from intellectual humility. As a wise judge once put it: “The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not too sure that it is right.”

“Kenya could get all the social services it required much more quickly if all communities adopted the Ismaili practice of contributing money, as a religious duty, towards charity and welfare. The colony could be built up into a “wonderful country”, if everyone followed this “fine example.” The Ismaili community in East Africa showed how things could be done

The ethics of compassion and care, tolerance and equality,
selflessness and service center His Highness' deeply held belief in and
practice of the Muslim faith

I would note that while the Aga Khan Development Network's activities are rooted in the worldwide Shia Ismaili Muslim Community, its programmes and activities in each setting are open to all without regard to ethnicity, race, gender or religion. As a matter of policy, none of the Network's educational institutions offer instruction in religion unless required by the national curriculum.

Entrepreneurial activity provides income, income provides security, and when necessary, independence. Income is therefore a primary determinant, which enables a woman to protect herself and her family from poverty and even violence. These issues facing women are often echoed in the developed world and I am sure that most of us here today, know at least one woman who suffers from aggression and worse

Throughout history, when the great empires broke up, whether it be the fall of the Roman or Byzantine empires or of the Caliphate, you will find that the youth had lost its dynamism, its personality and its imagination.

If I were asked today where lay Pakistan’s greatest potential for the future, my answer without hesitation would be – the students. It is upon them, upon their integrity, their intelligence and their moral fabric, that depends the future of their country.

At its best, architecture is an inherently pluralistic enterprise - one that honours diversity - including diversity within and among Islamic communities. At its best, architecture will help people to come together across old divides rather than re-enforcing those divides and isolating one group from another.