Africa:
Aga Khan Marks Golden Jubilee As Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims
11 July 2007
The Aga Khan will complete his 50th year as the Imam of the Ismaili
community today. Fifty years ago, at the age of 20, the Aga Khan
succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, as the
49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.
The Aga Khan leads a community of 15
million Ismaili Muslims living in some 25 countries, mainly in Asia,
Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America.
He is a direct descendant of the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) through his cousin and
son-in-law Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet's
daughter.
In keeping with the Shia tradition of
Islam, the mandate of the Imam extends to both spiritual and worldly
matters. Since assuming the office of Imamat in 1957, Prince Karim Aga
Khan has taken upon himself his grandfather's concern for the
well-being of the Ismaili community, the wider Muslim community, and
those amongst whom they live. He has emphasised Islam as a thinking,
spiritual faith that teaches compassion and tolerance and upholds the
dignity of mankind.
In the Ismaili tradition, the Imam's
jubilee celebrations offer occasions to launch new social, cultural and
economic development projects. In keeping with the ethics of the faith,
these projects aspire to improve the quality of life for the most
vulnerable in society. Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan's jubilees led
to the creation of schools, hospitals, housing projects, insurance
companies and cooperative banking programmes.
In accordance with traditions of that era,
symbolic weighing ceremonies were held for him on three distinct
occasions, the last in 1956. The contributions from these ceremonies
were used to strengthen existing institutions and establish new
institutions to serve the Ismaili community and the societies amongst
which they lived. The ceremonies were not specifically related to Shia
Ismaili Muslim faith or tradition. They were fundraising events used by
various religious and ethnic communities in India of that time to
collect funds for specific projects.
Tradition
of generosity
Such ceremonies have never been held for
the present Aga Khan, yet the tradition of generosity associated with
jubilees has continued. At his Silver Jubilee 25 years ago, the current
Aga Khan launched new social and economic development institutions and
projects that have improved the lives of millions in the developing
world.
These initiatives are now part of the Aga
Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of agencies with mandates
ranging from health and education to architecture, microfinance,
disaster reduction, rural development, and the promotion of
private-sector enterprise and the revitalisation of historic cities -
all of which are catalysts for development. Guided by the Islamic ethic
of compassion for the less fortunate, the AKDN works for the common
good of all citizens, regardless of their gender, origin or religion.
The Aga Khan Development Network spends
more than $320 million a year on social and cultural development
activities. It runs more than 200 health care institutions, including
nine hospitals and over 300 schools in the developing world.
Following in the tradition of his
forefathers - going back a thousand years to the establishment of the
earliest universities and institutions of learning in the Muslim world
- the Aga Khan has continued to place emphasis on the importance of
education. His recognition of the need to engage the global "Knowledge
Society" led to the establishment of the Aga Khan University (AKU) in
Pakistan 25 years ago - the first private self-governing university in
that country.
AKU has since grown into an international
university, and today operates on nine campuses around the world.
Separately, the University of Central Asia was founded in 2000 to
respond to the higher education needs of remote mountain communities.
The Aga Khan's conviction of the need for home-grown intellectual
leadership of exceptional calibre is also driving the development of a
new network of centres of educational excellence at the school level
around the world, known as the Aga Khan Academies.
The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) -
another key AKDN agency - has been involved in a number of cultural
projects that range from organising exhibitions of Islamic art to
rehabilitation of historic sites, buildings and neighbourhoods from
Hunza in the north of Pakistan to Kabul in Afghanistan to Cairo, Egypt
and Mali in northern Africa. The AKTC is currently negotiating private
public partnership agreements with the authorities in India, Pakistan,
Egypt and Syria for the rehabilitation of historic sites in those
countries.
The agreements represent a largely
pioneering effort to expand the use of Public Private Partnerships from
the economic domain to the cultural sector.
The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central
Asia - part of the AKTC - has worked to preserve, safeguard and promote
Central Asia's rich but relatively little known musical tradition.
Another AKDN agency, the Aga Khan Fund for
Economic Development (AKFED), makes bold but calculated investments in
post-conflict and fragile economies. It operates on a for-profit basis,
but all profits are reinvested in other development projects. AKFED is
one of the largest employers in countries such as Afghanistan and
Burkina Faso, and generates annual revenues of $1.5 billion.
In the course of the next 12 months, and in
keeping with the tradition of launching new development initiatives
during a Jubilee year, the Aga Khan will announce the creation of new
development institutions and projects and the significant expansion of
existing ones
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