“[Vartan] Gregorian is a national treasure, one of the most interesting intellects and
personalities in the United States” – Houston Chronicle

To download essay, please click: Islam – A Mosaic, Not a Monolith

May 26, 1996: His Highness the Aga Khan receives a standing ovation at the conclusion of the Baccalaureate Address at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. Next to him is Vartan Gregorian who was then President of the University. In 2010, the Ismaili Imam established the Aga Khan Visiting Professor of Islamic Humanities at Brown University in honour of Vartan Gregorian, who is currently the President of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Please click on image to download his essay “Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith.”

ESSAY EXCERPT

“Huntington [author of The Clash of Civilizations and The Remaking of the World Order] and others who write about a clash of civilizations do not recognize that class, tribal, family, personal, ethnic, cultural, economic, and national interests have always defied a unity of purpose that transcends all these divisions….instances when the Muslim world was a unified monolith have been extremely rare. Throughout Islamic history, the gravitational pull of regional, dynastic, and since the nineteenth century nationalist interests has consistently outweighed the spiritual affiliations of some idealized, transcendent, organic umma. If history is a guide, it shows that in Islam, as in most major religions, there is a broad gulf between the ideal of unity and the realities on the ground… Read More

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For a profile of the author, please click Aga Khan Gifts Brown University in Honour of Vartan Gregorian