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Burnaby Now
A big day for Burnaby's Ismaili Muslim community is just around the corner.

The Aga Khan comes to B.C. Place Stadium Nov. 25, part of his Golden Jubilee visit.

Farid Damji, a volunteer with the Ismaili Council of B.C., said the Burnaby-based council plans to shuttle local residents to B.C. Place.

It's estimated that close to half of B.C.'s 20,000 Ismailis live in Burnaby.

'It's a very special event for the community,' Damji said in an interview.

'(The Aga Khan) is a direct descendent of the prophet Mohammed. It's a tradition that goes back 1,400 years.'

TORONTO - Canadian Ismaili Muslims are marking a half-century of leadership of the Aga Khan, as the spiritual leader to millions around the globe embarks on an eight-day visit across the country to mark the milestone.
The Aga Khan, imam to 15 million Ismaili Muslims, including between 80,000 to 100,000 in Canada, will meet with government leaders and dignitaries as he commemorates the occasion of his Golden Jubilee.

The Aga Khan met Wednesday with Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean at Rideau Hall. He was slated to next visit Toronto to meet Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Officials with McMaster University and Pakistan's Aga Khan University are signing an agreement today to continue their decades-long partnership.
The collaboration between the two schools started shortly after the AKU was founded in the early 1980s. In addition to exchanges of faculty and students, McMaster president Peter George said the two institutions collaborated on the construction of Aga Khan's nursing school in Pakistan in the 1980s.

The partnership also led to the creation of a woman and health leadership program in the 1990s.

With tears in his eyes and his voice quivering, Nash Jetha speaks quietly when asked why he came to see the Aga Khan's arrival Sunday night in Calgary.
'I am here for the greatest moment of my life,' he answers.

Having never had the opportunity to see the Ismaili spiritual leader in person, he said just being in the presence of his holiness was incredible.

'Emotionally, it was overwhelming. Since I was a young boy, he has always been our pillar,' said Jetha, who came from Edmonton to be at the arrival.

Muslim leader says education is the key to better relations
The spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims says he sees real prospects for new bridges and better relations between Muslim states and the West.

The Aga Khan, touring Canada as part of his celebration of 50 years as Ismaili Muslim leader, said despite the West's 'failure' in Iraq and conflict in Afghanistan, there are reasons for hope.

Unlike his father, a notorious playboy who had an eye for racehorses and Hollywood starlets, his highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV--the highness part was bestowed on him by Queen Elizabeth--has dedicated his life to humanitarian causes, including the empowerment of women in Muslim society.

She is another statistic in the Kenyan medical horror story that estimates up to 50 per cent of the country's hospital deaths are due to misdiagnosis.
In the village of Kiboje, on Unguja Island, Zanzibar, five-year-old Riziki Emmanuel cannot use her legs. Her impoverished parents have always carried her around because they have been unable to afford the crutches needed to help Riziki move on her own and go to school.

The Aga Khan is the founder and head of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of nine agencies working to improve communities and living conditions in Central and South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.

Thousands of the city's Ismaili Muslim community turned out at the Roundup Centre yesterday to hear words of wisdom and inspiration from their spiritual leader, His Royal Highness the Aga Khan.
A direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the Aga Khan came to Canada on invitation from the federal government and stopped in Ottawa and Toronto before coming to Calgary, his first visit to the city in 16 years.

VANCOUVER - She was only nine, but Almira Bardai remembers the day the Aga Khan came to dinner at her mother's family home. She didn't get to join the 200 or so guests, but she knew the importance of seeing the spiritual Ismaili Muslim leader.'It was really, really special,' Bardai said Tuesday. 'I was really young but you understood that you were there in the presence of the Aga Khan. It was pretty amazing.'

On Tuesday afternoon, Bardai, now 31, joined tens of thousands of men in dark suits and women in colourful saris and cocktail dresses at BC Place to celebrate a visit by the Aga Khan.

OTTAWA – Ismaili Muslims’ spiritual leader Aga Khan, the Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) arrived in Vancouver this week as part of an 8-day visit to Canada on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee. The Aga Khan, who is in Canada as a guest of the Government, is commemorating his fifty years of leadership as Imam of the Ismaili Muslims.

The Aga Khan will visit Vancouver on Nov. 25 for a Golden Jubilee anniversary meeting with members of B.C.'s Shia Ismaili Muslim community.
'The community is very excited about having His Highness visit,' said Farid Damji, a volunteer with the Ismaili Council of B.C.

The Aga Khan has been spiritual leader, or Imam, to the ethnically-diverse community of Ismailis for the past 50 years.

Many of his 20,000 followers in the province are expected to gather at B.C. Place Stadium for a ceremonial afternoon.

'He will deliver a message and meet community leaders,' said Damji.

VANCOUVER -- The leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims says Canada's pluralism is a model to the world.
The Aga Khan thanked Canada for welcoming Ismailis, a moderate group within the Shia wing of Islam, who were forced to flee persecution and conflict in their own countries over the years.

The Aga Khan, who assumed the title from his grandfather in 1957 at age 20, was in Vancouver yesterday to cap a four-city tour of Canada celebrating the 50th anniversary of his position as the community's 49th Imam.

Ismailis from across globe pour into Canadian cities
The Aga Khan leaves a ceremony at Rideau Hall after being presented with the Order of Canada, in Ottawa, June 6, 2005.

Thousands of Ismaili Muslims have begun a week of celebration to mark the arrival of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan on an eight-day visit to Canada, during which he is to meet Canadian officials and his followers in major cities across Canada.

The Aga Khan teaches us that truly successful societies embrace pluralism.
In many local schools, especially on Vancouver's east side, diversity and pluralism is the norm.

I grew up as an Eastsider, and today my daughter attends her local elementary school near Fraser Street. Each year the school conducts a multicultural potluck dinner, where families sit shoulder-to-shoulder with cultures from around the globe. Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Filipinos, Chinese and Europeans of many stripes get together to share a meal and celebrate their community.

The Aga Khan, Prince Karim, arrived in Ottawa yesterday for an eight-day visit to Canada.
The spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims will meet with Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.

He will travel to Vancouver next Tuesday to join in celebrations of the 50th anniversary of his appointment as Imam of the Ismailis.

The Aga Khan's eight-day visit to Canada started on Tuesday.
The Aga Khan is both a major spiritual leader and the head of a $500-million-US-a-year development agency, and his eight-day visit to Canada, which began Tuesday, reflects both roles.

As Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, he will meet and address members of Canada's 75,000-strong Ismaili community in special events to mark his Golden Jubilee.

These events are being held in Ottawa, where his visit began on Tuesday, as well as Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, where the visit ends next Wednesday.

Huge events set for Roman Catholics, Ismaili Muslims
VANCOUVER - Two large events will be held by religious organizations downtown in the next few days, despite B.C.'s reputation as one of the most secular regions of the continent.

More than 12,000 Roman Catholics are expected to gather at 1 p.m. Sunday at GM Place to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the archdiocese of Vancouver.

And an expected crowd of 25,000 Ismaili Muslims will meet at BC Place on Tuesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the reign of their spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, who is on a cross-country tour.

TORONTO - What may often sound to Canadians like a discordant cacophony of voices from our diverse cultures and interest groups is apparently music to the ears of the Aga Khan.
In an exclusive interview on Sunday with Canwest News Service, the hereditary leader of the world's 15 million Shia Ismaili Muslims held up Canada - a country he has visited often and has maintained a close relationship with throughout his 50-year reign - as a model with much to teach the world.

14,000 Ismaili Muslims expected for prayer session
Calgary's close-knit Ismaili Muslim community is on pins and needles in anticipation of today's visit by the Aga Khan, spiritual leader for the world's 15 million Ismailis.

The Aga Khan, who began his weeklong Canadian tour in Ottawa on Nov. 18, will fly into Calgary this evening.

The 24-hour Calgary stop, his first visit here in 16 years, will include a meeting with Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong.