HH Karim Aga Khan is the 49th
hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He is a direct descendent of
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through Prophet’s daughter Hazrat Fatima (ra) and her
husband Hazrat Ali (ra), who was the first cousin of Prophet Muhammad, and the
first Imam in Shia tradition.
Indeed, Hazrat Ali was the first male to become a Muslim when the prophet
shared his message of oneness of God, accountability of one’s actions and
creating cohesive societies through justice.
Karim Aga Khan was born on
December 13, 1936. At the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan
Muhammad Shah Aga Khan and became the 49th hereditary Imam of the
community. He is the final interpreter
of Qur’an and provides authoritative guidance on matters of faith to the
Ismaili Muslims.
Khushali is a week long birthday celebration
of HH Aga Khan. The entire Ismaili Muslim community meets in the Jamaat Khana (community
center) for the whole week, extolling his work and his service to their
community and humanity.
He is one of the rare gems of
Islamic scholarship and a Harvard Graduate. He has understood the essence of
Islam and articulates it very well. Islam to him is serving and caring for
people around you, regardless of their affiliation. A vision put forth by the
Prophet, when he said a good deed is like planting a seed, knowing full well,
that you may not be the beneficiary of the fruit and shade of the eventual tree
in years to come, the prophet said, that is a good deed, it is leaving a good
legacy for the next generation, as we have bequeathed from the previous one.
One of the unique qualities of Aga Khan is his ability to seamlessly blend the
spiritual and the material worlds. Prophet Muhammad and Hazrat Ali, both
preached moderation, and creating a balance between ascetic living and living
for material comforts.
I drop things to read and listen
to his speeches, it’s all about pluralism. I urge fellow humans to consider listening to
him. His talks encompass the idea embedded in God being the God of the
universes, not for the 47% but for the full 100% of his creation. Prophet Muhammad is the mercy to mankind, not
just Muslims but the entire 100% of humanity, what he preached was to create
cohesive societies, where no human had to live in fear of the other. The only
fear he advocated was fear of God for doing wrong to fellow beings.
Aga Khan lives by example to his
15 Million plus followers around the world. The best way to learn about him is his
work, the development work to uplift the ones in the ditches, his institution teaches
them how to catch the fish and be self supporting. Visit www.akdn.org/
May he live a long life and serve his
community, the Muslim community and every one of the 7 billion of humans.
I am pleased to include Dr. Peerwani's comment:
Thank
you Mike for posting this on His Highness the Aga Khan, a truly
remarkable man. The Ismailies, as you are aware, follow the “batini”
path and differ in some of the practices. It is truly sad that they are
maligned and rejected by the orthodoxy. As the Arab Spring now moves
into its second phase, acceptance of diversity will be the litmus test.
Without this, there is no democracy. Let me quote something from the
speech of PM Harper of Canada:
“Your Highness, there are no
superlatives to adequately describe the admiration Canadians have for
the work that you and your organizations do in the service of pluralism,
peace and development around the world. You truly inspire our own hopes
for a better world. We Canadians are rightly proud of the fact that we
have built one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse and
harmonious societies on earth. This achievement is rooted in our
founding values: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.
But
it’s also rooted in our unique history and the heroic agreements our
founding peoples made to acknowledge and accommodate their diversity. As
you yourself have said, you’re Highness, and I quote, “We cannot make
the world safe for democracy unless we also make the world safe for
diversity.” If I may say so, sir, you sound like a Canadian. And in
fact, you are. On June 19, 2009, our House of Commons voted unanimously
to bestow Honorary Canadian Citizenship on His Highness the Aga Khan.
This is, if I may say, a richly deserved honor.”
(Abstract from
the Speech by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Foundation
Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, May 10, 2010)
A few of the
many articles published at www.WorldMuslimCongress.com, a site committed to nurturing pluralist
values of Islam.
-
The book, where hope takes root by
Aga Khan http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/06/aga-khan-democracy-pluralism.html
- Aga Khan - Indeed building bridges is part of the Muslim
heritage, as Muslims, our role is to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill.
The Aga Khan is doing just that http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/aga-khan-building-bridges.htm
- Aga Khan, fifty years of Imamat http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/aga-khan-50-years-of-imamat.html
- Aga Khan Speech about balance http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2009/04/speech-by-his-highness-aga-khan-at.html
- Global Religious leaders http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2008/04/global-religious-leaders.html
-
-
-
Respecting Muslim Caliphs (Khalifa), Imams
and decidersThe most persecuted communities among Muslims
today are the Ahmadiyya Muslims followed by Shia Muslims by Sunni
Muslims. We know it is not Islamic to be unjust, oppressive and harassive
towards others, Muslims or otherwise, but yet it is going on in Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and even in India. As a
Muslim, it is my duty to speak up, and if all of us do our share of speaking
up, at least we have fulfilled the responsibility to enjoin what is good and
forbid what is evil. http://worldmuslimcongress.blogspot.com/2012/12/respecting-muslim-caliphs-khalifa-imams.html
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Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a
writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work
place and standing up for
others as an activist. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers
pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. Mike has a
presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest
on Sean Hannity
show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes
weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News, fortnightly
at Huffington post, and
several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes everything you
want to know about him.
