Lassi Jamat Khana Second Oldest Jamat Khana in Karachi

Contribution: Mumtaz Aly

Dodoma Jamat Khana

courtesy: nasir a (toronto)

Mozambique Maputo Jamat Khana

KARACHI Jamat Khanas – Golden Jubilee

Aga Khan attends Zahir Shah’s funeral at Kabul – Afghanistan

MHI at Kabul – Afghanistan

KABUL, July 24 (APP): Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, accompanied by a delegation including three ministers, attended the funeral of King Zahir Shah who was laid to rest at the ancestral graveyard here Tuesday. The Prime Minister was received at the Kabul Airport by Minister for Higher Education Muhammad Azam Dadfur and Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Sardar Tariq Azizuddin.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani and Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao. An Afghan army contingent presented salute to Prime Minister Aziz on arrival.

Soon after his arrival, the Prime Minister went to the Presidential Palace to pay homage to the late king.

Pakistan was the only country that was represented at the funeral ceremony at the level of the head of government, signifying the traditional brotherly relations between the two countries.

The body of King Zahir Shah, known as father of the nation, lay in state at presidential palace enabling the delegations to pay last respects.

Later the coffin, which was placed at a gun carrier, was taken to the Eidgah and Prime Minister Aziz joined thousands of mourners and walked around a kilometer from the Presidential Palace to offer the funeral prayers.

The funeral was attended by thousands of people including notable Afghan leaders Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdurrab Rasool Sayyaf, Marshal Abdul Wali and others.

The body was later taken to the ancestral graveyard Tapa-e-Maranjan for burial beside the grave of his father late King Nadir Shah.

Delegations from 20 countries arrived here to pay homage to the late king, including Prince Karim Aga Khan, British Foreign Secretary and Indian Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz.

Sad Afghanistan readies for last king’s funeral

Previous Post: His Highness The Aga Khan with ex King Zahir Shah in Kabul

KABUL (AFP) – Afghanistan prepared Tuesday for the funeral of its last king Mohammed Zahir Shah, as the war-torn country bids farewell to the man known as the “Father of the Nation”.

Afghans were to hold prayer ceremonies across the conflict-torn country he led for 40 years, a period of stability and calm before decades of upheaval and virtually non-stop war.

Flags were at half mast across the country as President Hamid Karzai declared three days of mourning for the late king — the last monarch to rule Afghanistan and two days of holidays for his funeral and prayer ceremonies.

—snip—

Afther the funeral Zahir Shah’s body will be taken to a hilltop mausoleum overlooking Kabul where he will be buried beside his father, king Nadir Shah who was shot dead in 1933, and his wife Homaira, who died in 2002.

The mourning country expects ministerial level guests from Pakistan, India, Tajikistan, Canada and Italy, along with the Aga Khan, the billionaire spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Shia Muslims, officials said.

Afghan television channels have replaced their usual shows with Koranic recitations plus shows featuring analysis of the king’s life and personality.

Tributes have also come in from around the world, with UN chief Ban Ki-moon saying that the international community was grateful to him for giving up claims to the monarchy in favour of a republican government.

Oldest Jamat Khanas in Pakistan

Celeberation in Mombasa – Africa

Aga Khan a Man of Vision, Inspiration How do you explain your faith to people who do not share your truth claims and who find your sacred practices foreign?

As a minority within a minority within a minority in the West – a Muslim, a Shia, an Ismaili – I have long struggled with that question.

When I was a child and I had to explain why I was fasting from food and drink on a certain day, or why I wore an Arabic symbol for God on a chain around my neck, I would put my head down and mutter: “My mom makes me do it.”

In a world where people from different faith backgrounds are in constant contact with one another, and there are forces who actively seek to sow division between diverse people, we need better ways to build understanding. We need what I call a ‘public language’ of faith, a language which highlights the history of our traditions, and the good works they are doing for the broader world.

Every tradition has a history, and while yours might be different from mine, I expect that you will have more understanding for who I am and how I practice faith if I tell you a little about where I come from. And every tradition has a core which seeks to serve others. And if I tell you about how the people, institutions and leader of my faith are helping people live more peaceful and prosperous lives, I think that you will have deeper respect – perhaps even admiration – for my tradition.

Today, on one of the holiest days of my life, I want to use this public language of faith, in the hopes that it will provide a window of understanding into my tradition and community.

Today, I celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Imamat of my spiritual leader, the Aga Khan.

I am an Ismaili Muslim, one of 15 million members of a Shia Muslim community spread across 25 countries. Ismailis, like all Muslims, affirm the Shahada – that there is no god but God and Muhammad is God’s messenger. Like all Shia, we believe that the Prophet Muhammad appointed his cousin and son-in-law Ali to lead the Muslim community after his death. Ali was known as the first Imam (this is not to be confused with the small ‘i’ imam, as in the person who leads Muslim congregational prayers), a designation that carried with it the unique ability to interpret the meaning and application of the Holy Qur’an in changing times. The Imam, according to Shia tradition, chooses his successor from within the Ahl al-Bayt, or the family of the Prophet. Over the course of history, disputes arose over the appointment of certain Imams, and the Shia split into multiple communities.

Today, the Ismailis are the only Shia community with a living and present Imam. The current Aga Khan is the 49th in the line of Imams recognized by Ismailis. Previous Imams have played a significant role within the Muslim Ummah and the wider world. Ali was not only the first Shia Imam, he was also the fourth Caliph of the entire Muslim community. Ismaili Imams laid the foundation for the modern city of Cairo in the 10th century, and built there one of the world’s most ancient universities, Al Azhar. This Imam’s immediate predecessor, Sultan Muhammad Shah, served as the President of the League of Nations and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

As an Ismaili, I look to the Aga Khan for religious guidance. But one does not need to have a spiritual allegiance to the Aga Khan to admire the work of his institutions. As the Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) – an innovative and highly effective association of health, education, cultural and economic development institutions – he has helped literally millions of people in forgotten parts of the developing world live more peaceful, prosperous and dignified lives.

Consider these concrete examples:

-There are 300 Aga Khan schools in the world, educating 62,000 students and employing nearly 5000 staff.

- There are over 200 Aga Khan health centers in the world, caring for nearly two million and employing nearly 10,000 staff.

- The AKDN is currently building the University of Central Asia, whose purpose is to foster the human and social capital for democracy, pluralism and prosperity in a region that gets far too little attention.

- When a tragic earthquake struck Kashmir in 2005, AKDN helicopters were amongst the first to arrive on the scene.

Two particularly distinctive aspects of the AKDN is its understanding that culture – architecture, poetry, music, calligraphy – is a crucial part of human existence, and its commitment to nurturing effective private enterprise in developing countries. On the culture front, the AKDN built Al Azhar park in Cairo and restored Humayan’s Tomb in India. It has supported everything from indigenous music in Tajikistan to Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project. Regarding effective private enterprise, Roshan, a mobile phone company that the AKDN owns a 51% share in, is the single largest private employer in Afghanistan.

A substantial amount of this work is funded by the private resources of the Aga Khan and the Ismaili community. (I serve on the National Committee of the Aga Khan Foundation in the USA, which raises money and awareness for AKDN programs around the world, especially through the Partnership Walk). But all of it – the hospitals and schools, the private companies and university courses – is non-sectarian. In fact, these programs are specifically designed to nurture pluralism. As the Aga Khan once said, “Tolerance, openness and understanding toward other peoples’ cultures, social structures, values and faiths are now essential to the very survival of an interdependent world. Pluralism is no longer simply an asset or a prerequisite for progress and development, it is vital to our existence.”

There is a guiding philosophy, an animating ethos, behind the AKDN – Islam. Over and over again, the Aga Khan has emphasized that his work for mercy, compassion and dignity emerge directly from his commitment to Islam.

So while many people call the Aga Khan a leading philanthropist, I believe that term captures neither his inspiration nor his vision.

He is the Imam of the Ismaili community. He is a Muslim.

“On Faith” panelist Eboo Patel is the Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core and the author of “Acts of Faith.”

Posted by Eboo Patel on July 11, 2007 9:23 AM

Golden Jubliee Celebration – Jogeshwari Mumbai

Contribution by Shahzad Vasaya.

Announcement

Dear Visitors,

Ya Ali Madad,

Thank you for visiting this blog, which will be all the information regarding on going activities in Aga Khan Institution. For time been I m new to this blog need to maintain some plugins and categories, as soon as i get use to it will be posting in the details.

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