PLEASE CLICK: Aga Khan arrives to open Global Centre for Pluralism; and photos of the setting for the opening ceremony
Global Centre for Pluralism building pictured on Monday May 15, 2017, one day before it is to be officially inaugurated by His Highness the Aga Khan. Please click on image for more photos.
Date posted: May 15, 2017.
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PLEASE CLICK: Special Coverage – Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to the UAE
Tabiat Pedestrian Bridge, Tehran, one of 6 projects to win the 2016 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Photo: Aga Khan Trust for Culture/Barzin Baharlouie. Please click on photo for special report.
Date posted: Monday, November 7, 2016.
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His Excellency Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan (right) with His Highness the Aga Khan, Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network and 49th Imam of Ismaili Muslims. Photo: European Union. Copyright.
Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, the 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, is attending the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan on Wednesday, 5 October, 2016. The conference is being co-hosted by the European Union and Afghanistan. Like previous conferences, this conference is the opportunity to signal sustained political and financial support to Afghan peace, state-building and development. Mawlana Hazar Imam has contributed significantly towards these purposes over the past several years, and has participated and spoken at previous such conferences held around the world.
We are pleased to provide links to videos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s presence at the conference in Brussels, including his bilateral meetings with conference attendees, a “family photo” of conference participants and the statement that he has made.
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If you encounter technical problems in watching any of the videos, please visit https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/videos.
Date posted: October 5, 2016.
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For more photos and videos of the conference please visit https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/videos
BY SHARIFFA KESHAVJEE
This Imamat Day
O Mawla
Is a promise for a thirsty heart
Innumerable will be the facets of the Diamond Jubilee
As we in anticipation await humble of heart
Make us worthy of this blessing
O Mawla a prayer rises from my heartAt the feet of Shah Sultan Mahomed Shah
An innocent babe in naive anticipation
Your guiding light has lit the path
Path eased with access to health education
Let knowledge lead us to sat bhudhi
O Mawla a prayer emanates from my heartYour protective shade sent light
Throughly the windows of our schools
Your wisdom in wise words led every step
Your vision sent us succour with words of hope
Your guiding hand gave hope after Uganda
A prayer of gratitude leaves my heartStill you guide us through the bridge of River Panj
Through Syria to the Hindu Kush
From East To the West in every direction
Your helping hand O Mawla opens our heart
This four day life journey is so ephemeral
It is enriched by the Light of
Your Ever-present Noor- e-AliOh Mawla we look towards thee
With empathetic hearts our face turns
To the Alfa and Omega of our life
Your ishara with vision and ‘aql
Enables door upon door to open up for us
To guide us into that which is the qalb
To beckon a prayer from our heartO Mawla make us worthy of the trust you place
In our actions which often trip
In our words which wisdom oft lack
Keep us balanced in din and dunya
We pray from our heartO Mawla our hands are raised
All ready to receive the pearls
Of wisdom, vision , love and ever caring hand
We are in intezaar of your
Diamond Faceted Jubilee
A prayer of gratitude leaves my heartAs we await let our zikr lead to fikr
Cleanse our hearts so it may sing
The praise of all human and sentient beings
Our life will be the lighter for
The aid you have given in years before
We beseech in prayer from
Our heartLet our intellect understand unity
That we are all from One Soul
Let us internalise this oneness
So that our heart is prepared
In joyful presence to celebrate the Jubillee
A prayer from each heartLead us to fana through forgiveness to transcend
So we stand worthy of the many faceted diamond
In word and in deed in intention and action
O Mawla all this so we can raise
Our hands with a prayer from the heartOur heads are held up high for you are our pride
As we are yours to fly your flag
Up high in all direction proud the world over
O Alfa O Omega the Ever-present
O Mawla we beseech that this
Diamond Faceted Jubillee
Be a diamond of Almas
Is our prayer rendered from the heart
Date posted: July 9, 2016.
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Diamond Photo: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Glossary of terms used in the poem:
PLEASE CLICK: Letters and Photographs of His Highness the Aga Khan from the Family Archives of the Late Mr. Frank Pattrick
Please click on image for letters, photo and story.
Date posted: Sunday, July 3, 2016.
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“A great school will educate its students not merely to be personally successful but also to use their gifts to build their communities and enhance the common good to levels beyond our dreams.” – His Highness the Aga Khan, Mombasa Aga Khan Academy Inauguration, December 20, 2003.
PLEASE CLICK: A Civil Society Endeavour: Ismaili Educators Helping Educate Marginalised Children in Nairobi
Please click on photo for story
Inspired by His Highness the Aga Khan’s messages on education, a team of dedicated Ismaili educators set out to establish a school in Nairobi for poor children to give them a head start. Their vision is in keeping with the ethic of generosity in Islam, which is explained by Mawlana Hazar Imam as follows:
“Islam has a very clear message about the different forms of generosity. There is that with regard to the poor, which takes the form of gifts. But the recipient remains poor. There exists a second form of generosity that contributes to growing the independence of the person. This concept, in which the goal is to make the person the master of their destiny, is the most beneficial in the eyes of Allah.” — His Highness the Aga Khan, L’Express interview, July 4, 2007.
PLEASE CLICK: A Civil Society Endeavour: Ismaili Educators Helping Educate Marginalised Children in Nairobi
Date posted: June 12, 2016.
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Please click on the following image to zoom on an excellent PDF version of the photo
Please click on image to view PDF file. Copyright Simerg/Abdul M. Ismaily Family Collection.
Simerg was thrilled and privileged to recently publish on its sister photoblog never-before-seen photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, which were captured by Abdul M. Ismaily (1926-1981) during Hazar Imam’s visits to Hunza, Uganda and Pakistan in the early 1960’s. The collection was provided for exclusive publication on Simerg by the family of the late “Papa Jaan,” through Muslim Harji of Montreal.
We pay a small tribute to the memory of “Papa Jaan” for his outstanding photos by presenting a PDF image (click image on top) which contains 35 images from more than fifty that appeared in the Hunza, Uganda and Pakistan pieces. First time visitors to this website as well as readers who may have overlooked one or more photo posts are invited to click on the following links:
Copyright. Simerg.
Date posted: February 23, 2016
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We welcome your feedback. Please click Leave a comment
PLEASE CLICK: Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to Pakistan by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
Please click on image for exclusive photos by Abdul M. Ismaily
Date posted: February 20, 2016.
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PLEASE CLICK: Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to Uganda by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
Please click on image for more photos by “Papa Jaan” of His Highness the Aga Khan’s visit to Uganda. Photo: Abdul M. Ismaily. Copyright.
Editor’s Note: Following our recent posting of the late Abdul Mohamed Ismaily’s photographs of His Highness the Aga Khan’s historical first visit to Hunza in 1960, we now present you a collection of his photographs taken in Uganda. Please share this website with your family and friends via email and the social media. We thank our readers for their excellent response to the Hunza photos, and welcome your feedback by completing the applicable comments box or by sending an email to simerg@aol.com.
PLEASE CLICK: Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Visit to Uganda by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
Date posted: February 14, 2016.
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For Hunza photos, please click Exclusive: Photos of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s 1960 Visit to Hunza by the Late Abdul M. Ismaily (“Papa Jaan”)
1. IMAM – A COSMIC NECESSITY
Imam is the Threshold through which God and the creatures communicate; Imam is a Cosmic Necessity and the earth cannot be devoid of an Imam – without an Imam the earth and the universe would crumble; The Imam is the Proof, the Manifestation and the Organ of God and he is the Means by which human beings can attain the knowledge of God — Excerpt from The Divine Guide in Early Shi’ism by Mohamad Ali Amir-Moezzi, pp 125-131, SUNY, 1994.
2. THE ROLE OF MAWLANA HAZAR IMAM
Historically and in accordance with Ismaili tradition, the Imam of the time is concerned with spiritual advancement as well as improvement of the quality of life of his murids. The imam’s ta‘lim lights the murid’s path to spiritual enlightenment and vision. In temporal matters, the Imam guides the murids, and motivates them to develop their potential…..Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Karim al Hussaini, His Highness Prince Aga Khan, in direct lineal descent from the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) through Hazrat Mawlana Ali (a.s.) and Hazrat Bibi Fatima (a.s), is the Forty-Ninth Imam of the Ismaili Muslims….Clauses (F) and (G) of the Preamble of the Ismaili Constitution ordained in 1986 [1].
3. HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN: THE LIVING IMAM
The religious leadership of the Ismaili Imam goes back to the origins of Shia Islam when the Prophet Muhammad appointed his son-in-law, Ali, to continue his teachings within the Muslim community. The leadership is hereditary, handed down by Ali’s descendants, and the Ismailis are the only Shia Muslims to have a living Imam, namely myself. [2] The Ismaili Imamat is a supra-national entity, representing the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet…today the Ismailis are the only Shia community who, throughout history, have been led by a living, hereditary Imam in direct descent from the Prophet. [3]
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1. THE NUR (LIGHT) OF IMAMAT
What is this special light that Allah refers to [in Holy Qur’an 4:174], which guides and makes things clear? For Shia Muslims, this light is the Light of Imamat. The Shias refer to it as the Nur of Imamat. Nur means light. The Nur of Imamat is a spiritual light….Click to read more
2. LOVE FOR THE IMAM
“Say (O Muhammad): No reward do I ask (for my favours) except your love for my kith and kin” – Holy Qur’an, 42:23
“He who loves us will be with us on the Day of Judgement” – Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq….Click to read more
3. THE FORMULATION OF THE DOCTRINE OF IMAMAT
Like his father and grandfather before him, Imam Ja’far remained politically quiescent and inactive…..it was in this period of political inactivity – to an extent – that the main religious ideas and doctrinal formation of Imamate concepts really crystallised….Click to read more
4. THE TERM IMAM IN THE HOLY QUR’AN
The term Imam is used seven times in the singular and five times in the plural form in the Holy Qur’an. It is not, however, used in the same sense every time. The different shades of meaning which it indicates therefore needs to be analysed….Click to read more
5. THE DOCTRINE OF IMAMAT DURING THE FATIMID PERIOD
The central doctrine of the Ismaili community has always been the doctrine of Imamat because around it are built all the goals of the community and the roles of the dais, but this doctrine is also not rigid, it has been evolving, particularly in the writings and preachings of the dais….Click to read more
6. IMAMAT IN ISMAILI GINANIC LITERATURE
According to the Ginans the Imam is the source of Guidance for mankind. He shows them the right path, saves the people from ignorance and acts as a Divine Light in the darkness….Click to read more
Date posted: Saturday, January 23, 2013 (this is a slightly updated version of a previous post).
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Reference:
[1] The Preamble of “The Constitution of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims”
[2] Voices: “The Power of Wisdom” – His Highness the Aga Khan’s Interview with Politique Internationale (English translation)
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