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On 26 January, 1989, Prince Amyn Mohammed, A Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, opened the most important exhibition of Islamic calligraphy to be seen in London for many years.

The exhibition at the Zamana Gallery was entitled : Islamic Calligraphy : Sacred and Secular Writings, and contained many rare and beautiful examples dating back over the past one thousand years, drawn from Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India and Africa and consisting of works sent by galleries and from private collections.

Prince Amyn Mohammed displays the silver trowel after placing the last brick at the "topping out" ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in London on 13th May 1982. As guest of honour at the ceremony held on the roof of the nearly completed Ismaili Centre in central London, Prince Amyn Mohammed said that the Centre has the "the difficult vocation of bridging East and West, of bringing together strong and brilliant cultures." Mr.

Your Excellencies, Mr. Mayor, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to have been asked to open this exhibition on Islamic Calligraphy. Indeed, of all the Muslim art forms, calligraphy holds, perhaps, pride of place as the foremost and perhaps most characteristic of the modes of visual expression in Islam. From China to Canada and from Russia to South Africa, the widespread use of calligraphy still unites Muslims and visibly differentiates them from the adepts of other religions.

Mawlana Hazar Imam's memorable visit to London in August this year brought together jamats from around the world in a celebration of the ties that bind the community across frontiers and of our Imam-e-Zaman's affection and concern for the jamat worldwide. It was a happy, instructive inspiring visit that highlighted the resilience, institutional strength and commitment to the developing world of a jam well-established in the West.

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.

Leading religious leaders from around the globe reached a landmark accord with the World Bank this week, one that aims to put spiritual, moral and social values back into the financial giant's balance sheets.

''This is an historic moment'', Wendy Tyndale, a spokesperson for the international development agency Christian Aid, told IPS Friday. ''For the first time in the 53 years of its history, the World Bank has opened its doors to dialogue with the faiths.''

Leaders of nine world faiths are to meet the president of the World Bank in London next week for two days of unprecedented talks on poverty and development policies.

Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and World Bank President James Wolfensohn said in a statement on Monday they hoped the meeting would foster a better understanding between financiers and religious groups about tackling global poverty.

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who died on Monday at the age of 70, was the uncle of Karim Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslims.
Born in Paris in 1933, he was the second son of the late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, the 48th hereditary Imam and the late Princess Andree Aga Khan. The family traces its bloodline to the Prophet.

Educated in Lausanne and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University, Prince Sadruddin chose a career in politics and rose almost to the top of the United Nations. He devoted much of his life to global environmental causes.

Aga Khan takes Islamic museum plan to Canada after losing fight for London siteOne of the world's richest men, the Aga Khan, has failed in his attempt to build an Islamic museum and cultural centre on one of London's most prized sites.

Aga Khan Foundation work is praised in UK The Aga Khan Development Network has been praised in London for its 'outstanding work' in Kenya.
In a debate in the House of Lords on Monday night, which discussed a whole range of development issues across East Africa, Baroness Rawlings said the Network was one of the 'finest organisations' in the field of development assistance.

'The AKDN comprises private development agencies to improve living conditions and opportunities in East Africa and other specific regions of the developing world,' Baroness Rawlings said.

From the finest racehorses to the devotion of 15 million followers, he is used to every privilege and defers to nobody. But it's not necessarily a recipe for contentment and, when his plans are thwarted, there is always a price to pay
Nobody likes to be rejected, but when you are a billionaire spiritual leader unused to having people stand in your way, the consequences tend to be dramatic. Such is the case with the Aga Khan, who for the second time in 13 years has reacted to a perceived slight by turning his back on Britain and looking elsewhere for a welcome.

Cartier Awards: Dalakhani is European Horse of the YearThe Aga Khan's Dalakhani, winner of the Grand Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) and French Derby (Fr-I), was named Europe's Horse of the Year when the Cartier Awards were presented in London on Wednesday. The ceremony was held at London's Four Seasons Hotel. A 3-year-old Darshaan colt trained by Alain de Royer Dupre, Dalakhani won eight of nine career starts, including four group I races, before being retired at the conclusion of his 2003 campaign.

The Aga Khan outlined plans on Friday to build the English-speaking world's biggest Islamic academic centre in the historic heart of London.
'It's a gift to London, it would bring a real enrichment of the city's cultural life,' his private affairs director Iain Cheyne told Reuters, confirming a 24 million pound ($35 million) offer to develop the prime site on London's river Thames.

Prince Karim Aga Khan, 66, heads a largely Third World-orientated network of charitable institutes and businesses. Now he wants to make his mark on London.

The hopes of one of the world's richest men to build a museum on one of London's most prized sites suffered a blow yesterday when the site owner said it would prefer to sell to the NHS.
The Aga Khan had selected Block Nine, a disused Victorian hospital building on the Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament, to house the largest collection of Islamic art in the English-speaking world.

Boasting some of the finest examples of Middle Eastern painting over the centuries, the museum would be the latest multimillion-pound addition to the string of cultural complexes lining the South Bank.

10th September 2007
Commencement Address by Prince Rahim Aga Khan at lIS Graduation, London

Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim

Distinguished guests; governors, faculty, staff and students of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, families and very young children of the graduates; ladies and gentlemen,