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

President Sachedina, Leaders of the Jamat

Before I say things which are important I would like to remind you of the speech before dinner and ask you to make sure that there are no stray lions under your table. I was as unaware that I would speak after dinner as that ill-fated lion.

My dear Chairman and Members,

I would like you to convey my most grateful thanks to all the members of your Council, the Mukhis and Kamadias, Mukhianis and Kamadianis of our Kisumu Jamat and all the members of the Kisumu and district Jamats who presented such lovely gifts to Princess Zahra, Princess Yasmin, Prince Rahim, Prince Hussain and to myself.

We were most touched by your kind thought and lovely gifts which we appreciate immensely.

My dear President and Members,
On the occasion of the celebration of My birthday, December 10, 1977, I give My most affectionate paternal maternal loving blessings to all My beloved spiritual children of Western Canada Jamat.

My Lord Mayor, Mr. Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen:

My words to you this morning signal the conclusion of the first seminar organised by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture to be held in an Islamic country. The Aga Khan Awards, the first of which will be granted in 1980, will be substantial: $100,000 in each of five different categories for a potential total of $500,000 every three years. Their purpose is to make a strong and continuing impact on the architectural profession, on decision makers and on public opinion everywhere.

Nizar, Institutional Leaders, I would like to begin by saying how deeply happy I have been during these days with My Jamat in Canada. When I came to Canada, when I was preparing this visit, I tried to prioritise the issues that needed to be addressed during this visit and for the years ahead for the Jamat. And a number of those issues affected the status of the Jamat in Canada, it affected the ability of the Jamat in Canada, to achieve goals for Murids who are not in Canada, affected the status of institutions in Canada, Jamati institutions in Canada.

Now I have spent the last ten days at the estate of the Agakhan -- this is the first interview he has given to North American television. He is the leader if some 15 million Ismaili Muslims who revere him as their 49th Imam. ....The Agakhan shuns pubicity, but he is one the greatest and most effective philanthropist in the world.

On the 18th of June, 1993, Mawlana Hazar Imam presented a keynote address to the World Congress of Architects in which he challenged the world's largest-ever gathering of architects to design and build sustainable environments. The Congress, held at McCormick Place in Chicago, was jointly sponsored by the International Union of Architects and The American Institute of Architects.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

I have been most moved by the wonderful welcome I have received in Karachi. Everyone has been so kind, and for me this day will always remain a brilliant memory.

Mr Chairman, Distinguished guests and friends

Mr. President:
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Medal was established in 1966, and is awarded annually by the University under a grant from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation. It is given in recognition of excellence in architecture in the world, and is selected by a Steering Committee representing the Foundation, the University, and (as of this year) previous Medalists. Past prize winners have included a distinguished roster of internationally famous architects, educators, historians, and critics.

Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen

I thank you for your kindness in inviting me to this function tonight and giving me an opportunity to meet the representatives of an important section of the business and industrial community of Karachi.

You have referred to the advice I gave on another occasion to the members of my own community to assist in the building of this country.

Mr. Provincial Commissioner, your Worship the Mayor, Councillor Dahya and Honourable Guests, I would like to begin by expressing to Mr. Provincial Commissioner, your Worship the Mayor and all the authorities and citizens of Kisumu my very warm and most grateful thanks for this particularly generous and particularly kind reception which they have offered to me on this visit to Kisumu.

Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to begin by expressing my very real appreciation of the honour you have shown me by inviting me to address you here this afternoon.

Mr Chairman, Members of the Trust, Ladies, Gentlemen and Dear Students, FIRST, I want to begin by congratulating the staff and the students for what appeared to be the extremely cordial relations. When I was a student, it would have taken a lot of coaxing and consider able bribery to get me to the school on Sunday.

Mr Chief Justice, Honourable Minister, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

Mr President, and Members of the Committee, Distinguished guests

It is an honour to be invited to address such an influential business audience here today. Your Federation, Mr President, and your host of members, play a most significant role in the industrial and economic development of India, both at sate and at national level. It is a tribute to your energy and perspicacity that you have done this so successfully for so long. It is also, I suggest, a mark of the quality of democracy in this great country that the government listens to your advice -- even if it does not always accept it.

Mr President, Gentlemen

The topic I have chosen to talk to you about is wide and much too complicated to deal with fully in twenty minutes. I hope, however, to give you a sketch of what has been happening in East Africa during the last year or two, and in particular to give an idea of the role which the Asian communities have played, and the one which they have to play, whether they desire to or not, in the future.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen

The seminar on the changing rural habitat organised by the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is coming to an end, and I would like before anything else to thank the President and the members of the Architectural Society of China for their courtesy, their hospitality, their generosity and the warmth of their welcome. It has been for all of us a unique experience and I know that in the days ahead this experience will be continued and be enlarged, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to the Architectural Society of China.

Mr President, Mr M'Bow, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

Within life's span there are days of special happiness, days of pride and days of humility. This is such a day for me. It represents the culmination of a vigorous effort, hope, and deep conviction that a significant change can be achieved in the environment in which Muslims live.