Khushali Mubarak – A celebration of 57 years of Imamat (religious leadership) of His Highness, the Aga Khan.

As a Muslim Pluralist myself, I have come to admire HH Aga Khan for reviving  a few of the core values of Islam; Pluralism,  and the 2nd most important value
called – Huqooqul Ibad –  the obligatory duties to fellow beings.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Hazrat Ali (ra) had continuously advocated
living in moderation; it’s a mid path between the worldly and spiritual needs.
The Aga Khan has fine tuned that balance between material
and spiritual life.

He performs his religious duties by interpreting Qur’an to his 15 million
plus followers spread out across the world, fulfilling his role as the
spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim community.

In his speech
to the Parliament of Canada on February 27, 2014, he explains the Shia-Sunni and
Ismaili tradition, “The Ismaili Imamat is a supra-national entity,
representing the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet. But let me
clarify something more about the history of that role, in both the Sunni and
Shia interpretations of the Muslim faith. The Sunni position is that the
Prophet nominated no successor, and that spiritual-moral authority belongs to
those who are learned in matters of religious law. As a result, there are many
Sunni imams in a given time and place. But others believed that the Prophet had
designated his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as his successor. From that early
division, a host of further distinctions grew up — but the question of rightful
leadership remains central. In time, the Shia were also sub-divided over this
question, so that 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. “
 
On the other hand he is guiding the community to prosperity and living a responsible
life in the societies they live.

He founded the Aga Khan Development Network that is committed to serving the
humanity without regard to faith, origin or gender. I believe AKDN is one of the largest Non Governmental
bodies serving humanity to learn to stand on their own feet.

Every
child, teen and an adult has someone he or she looks up to, and
wants to-be-like that person and eventually becomes one.  Good
role models are a key to the success of a civil society, and indeed, HH Aga Khan is a great role model for Muslims
to look up to.

In gratitude for his continued guidance, the Ismaili Muslims celebrate this
week honoring him and reaffirming his leadership with a renewed commitment to
serving the humanity.

Pluralism

Islam is about restoring and sustaining the harmony within an individual and
with what surrounds him; life and environment. From the very first sentence of
the first chapter, and the last chapter and throughout Qur’an, God is “Sustainer
of all the worlds” (1:2) and “Cherisher of Mankind” (114:1) – The message is universal and inclusive of humanity and not a
particular group of people.

At present, he is one of the few Muslims in the world who has truly understood
the pluralistic message of Quran.  He
firmly believes in pluralism and has opened an institution to propagate those
ideals. Please visit the Global Center for Pluralism in Canada.  At
the Foundation for Pluralism, we have crystallized the definition of pluralism
as “Respecting the otherness of others” based on many verses from Qur’an, but
particularly verse 109:6 translation by Yusuf Ali, “To you be your Way,
and to me mine.”

Aga Khan delivered the following statement at the Inauguration Ceremony of Aga Khan University in
Karachi on November 11, 1985, “The divine intellect Aql-i Kull,
both transcends and informs the human intellect. It is this intellect which
enables man to strive towards two aims dedicated by the Faith: that he should
reflect upon the environment Allah has given and that he should know himself.
It is the light of intellect which distinguishes the complete human being from
the human animal and developing that intellect requires free enquiry. The man
of Faith who fails to pursue intellectual search is likely to have only a
limited comprehension of Allah’s creation. Indeed, it is man’s intellect that
enables him to expand his vision of that creation.”

Caring for Neighbors

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had said the best among you is the one who sees to it
that his neighbor is fed and cared for. Imam Hazrat Ali (ra), the 4th rightly
guided Caliph after Prophet Muhammad in providing the leadership to the
Muslim community says, “The best man is he who is most serviceable to
fellow humans.” There are over 18 verses in Qur’an where God
consistently talks about taking care of fellow humans. Indeed the
Prophet
(pbuh) expressed it in so many different ways to high light the duty to
fellow beings. He he said, that an irreligious guy who takes care of his
neighbor earns
God’s grace over a guy who is relentlessly praying.  

Ismaili Muslims participate and contribute in building relationships

Indeed, the beneficence of Aga Khan’s Pluralism discourse can be
witnessed everywhere in the world including in Dallas, Texas. 

Arman Rupani and his father Mr. Amir Ali Rupani, a respected philanthropist of
Dallas, set in motion a historic event; 
Iftar Dinner with  Hon. Mayor
Mike Rawlings of City of Dallas. This is the first public Iftar event in
Dallas area hosted by the City for its Muslim residents. 

The Mayor delivered an amazing key note address; he was all for building
relations with each community in the City. He said, there are about 120,000
Muslims in the area and around 40,000 of them reside in the City of Dallas. He was
excited to initiate this tradition and expects it to continue every year.  By the way, his praise for Arman was
touching, and the words he had for Amir Rupani for raising a public service son
made every one pause and praise this father son duo.  

Thanks to Arman Rupani, Amir Ali Rupani and Akram Syed for co-hosting the
event, and building relationships between the Mayor’s office and the Muslims of
Dallas.

The honored guests included; Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, Deputy
Mayor Pro Tem Monica R. Alonzo of Dallas, former Mayor Dr. Arjumad Hashmi of Paris,
Texas, Council Member Dr. Shahid Shafi of South Lake and most of the Imams of
Shia and Sunni traditions,  and some of
the most active Muslims of Dallas Fort Worth.

Ramadan Related Articles:

American Muslim Agenda-I at Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ghouse/american-muslim-agenda-a-_b_5528706.html 

American Muslim Agenda-II at World Muslim Congress: http://nabsites.net/demo/july-4th-celebrations-muslims-and/

Ramadan’s Pluralism Message at Ramadan Exclusive: http://ramadanexclusive.blogspot.com/2014/06/ramadans-pluralism-message-intrafaith.html

Ramadan’s spiritual Discipline at faith Street: http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2009/08/21/ramadans-spiritual-discipline/8124