Aga Khan December 03, 2008
I learnt much from my meeting with the Aga Khan yesterday. The present Aga Khan is the 49th Imam of the 15 million Nizari Ismaili Shias living in different parts of the world. Through his foundation, the Aga Khan Development Network, he funds all kinds of philanthropic activities in many countries serving Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Once discriminated against in Iran where the Aga Khan's family was from, the Ismaili community there now lives in harmony with the other Shias.
While in Singapore, he met President Nathan and SM Goh Chok Tong. I discussed with the Aga Khan how Singapore and his foundation could work together in Asia and Africa. I also explained what we try to achieve through the Singapore Cooperation Programme which celebrated the enrolment of the 50,000th trainee last year.
The Aga Khan has a deep sense of humanity. He talked about the importance of 'cosmopolitan ethics', based not on religious beliefs but on the common brotherhood of man which all religions subscribe to. If we concentrate on the well-being of the child, all of us can find common cause. If our starting point is a religious abstraction, the differences can never be bridged.
We also reflected on the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. In India, his foundation supports many activities in many states to help Muslims so that they do not become a marginalised community.
George Yeo
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore.
With Aga Khan
Photo click here]
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SINGAPORE / AUSTRALIA dates, events and testimonies
AS RECEIVED
Gist of Singapore Deedar - 03.12.2008
Also thanks to all MY volunteers worldwide for all work during all golden jubillee works and duas to all....
Forwarding as received :
Point format of HI's Firman:
Very very happy
64 countries represented of which 10 or 12 were from the Far East
This shows how global the Jamat has become
Globalisation goes 2 ways : bad as the Jamat can become disunited because of distances; lack of faith. good as it can be strong
Prays that Jamats will work together
Seek opportunities in countries that have them
Education is core to and for the Jamat : educate small and big children ; key to the Jamat ; future Jamati leaders will be educated children
Thanked the Jamat for Nazrana generosity but we have a long way yet to go
Recession is global and for a few years : live prudently; don't live a glorious life, no glorious is the wrong word, live spendthrift lives; no unnecessary investments or assets
Tackling 3 key GJ points of poverty, old age and Jamat building. By the end of the year, He will have programmes in place for the elderly and the poor.
Smile is a blessing from Allah (sent this message again with Mukhi Kamadia when He left)
His joke : when the GJ commenced, the leadership asked for a change in the Juba dress rather like a fashion show and when one was finally selected the Jubas were all of the same size so some wear them till up here and some till down there , but the leadership now has new Jubas
Lots of Dua'shish for gobal Jamat
Very happy with Nazrana generosity
Institutions to have access to all Jamati members
Gist of Singapore Deedar - 03.12.2008
Also thanks to all MY volunteers worldwide for all work during all golden jubillee works and duas to all....
Forwarding as received :
Point format of HI's Firman:
Very very happy
64 countries represented of which 10 or 12 were from the Far East
This shows how global the Jamat has become
Globalisation goes 2 ways : bad as the Jamat can become disunited because of distances; lack of faith. good as it can be strong
Prays that Jamats will work together
Seek opportunities in countries that have them
Education is core to and for the Jamat : educate small and big children ; key to the Jamat ; future Jamati leaders will be educated children
Thanked the Jamat for Nazrana generosity but we have a long way yet to go
Recession is global and for a few years : live prudently; don't live a glorious life, no glorious is the wrong word, live spendthrift lives; no unnecessary investments or assets
Tackling 3 key GJ points of poverty, old age and Jamat building. By the end of the year, He will have programmes in place for the elderly and the poor.
Smile is a blessing from Allah (sent this message again with Mukhi Kamadia when He left)
His joke : when the GJ commenced, the leadership asked for a change in the Juba dress rather like a fashion show and when one was finally selected the Jubas were all of the same size so some wear them till up here and some till down there , but the leadership now has new Jubas
Lots of Dua'shish for gobal Jamat
Very happy with Nazrana generosity
Institutions to have access to all Jamati members
New Jubas...
I think the designer's during Mawlana Sultan Muhammad's time were highly creative - the Juba's were vibrant and made a statement. I find the Golden Jubilee Juba somewhat on the dull side....where are our designer's...I thought we had one or two who were world class.
As is so often the case, may be magazine and print designers did the design....and did not put the models on the runners for a proper critique...
As is so often the case, may be magazine and print designers did the design....and did not put the models on the runners for a proper critique...
Golden Jubilee Jubos (Robes)
The design on the Golden Jubilee Jubo dates back to the Fatimid Period. All the Jubos from Hazar Imam's GJ, the Noorani Family (the ones they were wearing on July 11, 2007), and the Jubos for the Mukhis and Kamidias - They all had something to do with the Fatimid Period. Every little detail resembles something. For example, if you look closely, Hazar Imam's Jubo has 7 buttons in the front. Each button has 7 stones (don't know which kind). So all together, there are 49 stones for the 49th Imam!! So before we start judging the jubos, please keep in mind that they are somehow linked with the Fatimid Era, and that Hazar Imam has approved those.
Beautiful, magnificent darbars in Canada and Singapore. Both jamats deserve a pat on their backs.
In Darbars, the heart is in-charge. At that time of spiritual awareness and emphasis, the mind with its endless issues has to be controlled and be made to take a back seat to the heart. Mowla's physical presence makes the heart overflow with joy and when Mowla becomes jovial and declares openly that He wants to have fun with the jamat because that is what a darbar is, then the heart which is already overflowing with joy, brims over into physical and vocal expression. Our faces blossom into smiles and our hands automatically come together to ... CLAP!!!!!! And since the heart is in-charge, and the owner of that heart is jovial and in a fun-loving mood, there is absolutely nothing wrong with smiling, laughing and clapping.
And yet, a particular Al-waez has been nominated since the darbars of Canada to very emphatically and effectively make the jamat refrain from clapping. He was also given a special mission to do the same in Singapore. WHY???
This is now a situation whereby the mind is being made to over-rule the heart which is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! So I say this is yet another diabolical move employed to show that jamat knows nothing and there are some know-it-alls who HAVE to be listened to and followed.
Many of my fellow murids will attest to this when I say that when clapping occured in the darbars of Nairobi, London, and Portugal, our beloved Mowla became even more jovial. He did not display the slightest bit of discomfiture, nor did He look at all miffed or show that this was a breach of etiquette. In fact, the reverse was highly apparent to all, especially in London. This is because deedar and darbars are heart-to-heart connections with the Divine. The heart is basically a hill-billy whose actions cannot be controlled or converted overnight into hoity-toity, stiff lipped elitist behaviour. Al-waezes like this one and all those who are responsible for giving him such mandates are trying to convert a down-to-earth, sincere, heart-felt environment that reeks of honesty and love into a pretentious, upper class, corseted environment of upright posture in which every move and every action is precalculated and predetermined. In such cases, I have clearly noted that Mowla becomes less spontaneous and refrains from having fun. After all, in Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver, the little bit of humour was actually a veiled message to the volunteers who brought him into the darbar site in an undesirable manner. The fun was conspicuously missing from the farman mubarak.
I know many will be upset by my writings today but I am speaking from the heart and every word I say is true whether liked or not.
In conclusion, we wish our Mowla to be sincerely happy and that can only happen when murids follow their hearts' desires. So if the heart wants to clap, it should receive that satisfaction. And surely, jamat should be given some credibility as far as intelligence is concerned. Surely, people will not just start clapping inappropriately. They will clap when Mowla indicates so. Therefore, I say firmly DOWN with such Al-waezes and their la-di-dah instructions and a plea to my fellow murids: Keep the darbars honest by following your hearts. Let us keep away from hypocrisy and if the Al-waezes and leaders all collectively wish to lay an egg just because of clapping at Mowla's jokes, then let them do so.
With Ya Ali Madad.
In Darbars, the heart is in-charge. At that time of spiritual awareness and emphasis, the mind with its endless issues has to be controlled and be made to take a back seat to the heart. Mowla's physical presence makes the heart overflow with joy and when Mowla becomes jovial and declares openly that He wants to have fun with the jamat because that is what a darbar is, then the heart which is already overflowing with joy, brims over into physical and vocal expression. Our faces blossom into smiles and our hands automatically come together to ... CLAP!!!!!! And since the heart is in-charge, and the owner of that heart is jovial and in a fun-loving mood, there is absolutely nothing wrong with smiling, laughing and clapping.
And yet, a particular Al-waez has been nominated since the darbars of Canada to very emphatically and effectively make the jamat refrain from clapping. He was also given a special mission to do the same in Singapore. WHY???
This is now a situation whereby the mind is being made to over-rule the heart which is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! So I say this is yet another diabolical move employed to show that jamat knows nothing and there are some know-it-alls who HAVE to be listened to and followed.
Many of my fellow murids will attest to this when I say that when clapping occured in the darbars of Nairobi, London, and Portugal, our beloved Mowla became even more jovial. He did not display the slightest bit of discomfiture, nor did He look at all miffed or show that this was a breach of etiquette. In fact, the reverse was highly apparent to all, especially in London. This is because deedar and darbars are heart-to-heart connections with the Divine. The heart is basically a hill-billy whose actions cannot be controlled or converted overnight into hoity-toity, stiff lipped elitist behaviour. Al-waezes like this one and all those who are responsible for giving him such mandates are trying to convert a down-to-earth, sincere, heart-felt environment that reeks of honesty and love into a pretentious, upper class, corseted environment of upright posture in which every move and every action is precalculated and predetermined. In such cases, I have clearly noted that Mowla becomes less spontaneous and refrains from having fun. After all, in Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver, the little bit of humour was actually a veiled message to the volunteers who brought him into the darbar site in an undesirable manner. The fun was conspicuously missing from the farman mubarak.
I know many will be upset by my writings today but I am speaking from the heart and every word I say is true whether liked or not.
In conclusion, we wish our Mowla to be sincerely happy and that can only happen when murids follow their hearts' desires. So if the heart wants to clap, it should receive that satisfaction. And surely, jamat should be given some credibility as far as intelligence is concerned. Surely, people will not just start clapping inappropriately. They will clap when Mowla indicates so. Therefore, I say firmly DOWN with such Al-waezes and their la-di-dah instructions and a plea to my fellow murids: Keep the darbars honest by following your hearts. Let us keep away from hypocrisy and if the Al-waezes and leaders all collectively wish to lay an egg just because of clapping at Mowla's jokes, then let them do so.
With Ya Ali Madad.