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08/08/18
2707 Wed 8 Aug 2018 LESSON (48) Wed 8 Aug 2007
Short Quotes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hNJmi4jzD0
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/quotes/short-quotes/
Short Quotes
Refresh your minds with marvels of wisdom because minds too get tired as your bodies do. β Hazrat Ali
* All Quotes (Chronologically).
- 2014.10.30
In acknowledging the immensity of The Divine, we will also come to
acknowledge our human limitations, the incomplete nature of human
understanding. (Aga Khan IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2014.10.07
God has favoured me with the blessing of Islam. I think that many
religions find it difficult to adapt to or to live in an evolving world.
Not so with a Muslim who believes in the omnipresence of God. In Islam,
there is no dichotomy between the spiritual and the temporal. I have
endeavoured all my life to live and work in accordance with this
integrated philosophy. I think that many of us, Muslims who were
educated in the West or have been imbued with Western ideas, forget that
there are certain Christian traditions which go back to the teachings
of Saint Augustine and which sharply separate the religious from the
secular. These are not the traditions of Islam. Quite the contrary,
Islam forbids the separation between the way you deal with people in
society and that in which you discharge your religious duties. The
meanings of life, its aims and ethics are part and parcel of the
integrated unity of the Muslim environment in which I believe and
through which I work. (Aga Khan IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2074/ - 2014.08.14
Too often, as the world grows more complex, the temptation for some is
to shield themselves from complexity, we seek the comfort of our own
simplicities, our own specialities. As has often been said, we risk
learning more and more, about less and less. (Aga Khan IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10725/ - 2014.08.03
Communicating more often and more easily can bring people closer
together, but it can also tempt us to live more of our lives inside
smaller information bubbles, in more intense but often more isolated
groupings. We see more people everywhere these days, standing or sitting
or walking alone, absorbed in their hand-held screens. But, I wonder
whether, in some larger sense, they are really more ‘in touch?’ Greater
‘connectivity’ does not necessarily mean greater ‘connection.’ (Aga Khan
IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10725/ - 2014.07.31
Ever since I was old enough to understand a little bit of one’s own
surroundings, I have always felt much closer to the East and till the
day I die will always have these same feelings…. I’m very far away at
heart from the West … (more here: http://on.fb.me/1nPHQy5) (Aga Khan
IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10214/ - 2014.07.20
Allah did not command the ignorant people to learn, until He commanded the people of wisdom to teach. (Hazrat Ali)
Quote #1, Wisdom and wise men, 2500 Adages of Imam Ali, Ahmad Ali Dakheel, Al-Mortadha Press, Beruit - 2014.07.18
Do not force your children to behave like you, for surely they have been
created for a time which is different to your time. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2014.07.14
If you need counsel about some matter that has suddenly happened to you,
then begin by exposing it to the spontaneity of the young, for surely
their minds are sharper, and their intuition is quicker; then after
that, refer it to the judgement of those who are mature and old, so that
they can analyse it, and decide what is best for it, for surely they
are the most experienced. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2014.07.12
The world … increasingly resembles a vast web in which everything
connects to everything else — where even the smallest groups and
loneliest voices can exercise new influence, and where no single source
of power can claim substantial control. (Aga Khan IV)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2014.07.06
When individuals and families and communities, or even nations, come
together around new found hope — and this hope translates into
perceptible, tactile improvements in the quality of life — that new
momentum can be unstoppable. The smile replaces the frown. Conversation
replaces silence. Fear of the future is replaced by confidence to
respond to its challenges. This reversal from fear to hope is rooted in
individuals, in the leadership that they provide to the overall impact
of civil society. Governments and institutions must create an Enabling
Environment in which hope can flourish. But the actual process of
replacing fear with hope rests with every individual in his or her
society. And once individuals begin to express their own sense of hope
and to act on a common outlook then they begin to discover a common
cause that they can support. They speak and sense the same issues and
opportunities. And they can be come an enormous source of growing
strength and reassurance for one another.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10824/ - 2014.07.02
I am afraid that the torch of intellectual discovery, the attraction of
the unknown, the desire for intellectual self-perfection have left us
[Muslims]. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1364/ - 2014.06.29
Let me turn to another aspect of Islamic society: our intellectual
elite. In the past, much of the dynamism of Muslim society was born from
the leaders of the faith: the Imams, the Pirs and Mullahs. This
identity between the leaders of the faith and the empire’s intellectual
elite was a continuous source of strength both to the faith and those
whose duty it was to govern the empire. How many aspiring Mullahs or
Imams today enter secular universities and obtain degrees in secular
subjects? And vice-versa, how many university graduates, after
completing their degrees, turn their lives to directing the flock of the
faithful? Let me not be misunderstood — I criticise neither Pirs nor
Mullahs nor Imams nor degree-holders. I simply state that in future I
believe it will be in our society’s interest to have a much wider
platform in common between our religious and our secular leaders. Our
religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including
those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our
academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the
scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the
past in all fields. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2014.06.23
My words are the words of my father, and the words of my father are the
words of my grandfather, and the words of my grandfather are the words
of my great grandfathers, Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn, and their
words are the words of Imam Ali, and the words of Imam Ali are the words
of Prophet Muhammad (pbut) and (finally) the words of Prophet Muhammad
are the words of God the Almighty, the Great. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 17, Tradition 14 - 2014.06.22
[S]pirituality should not become a way of escaping from the world but
rather a way of more actively engaging in it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7706/ - 2014.06.15
Spirited debate, intelligent inquiry, informed criticism, principled
disagreement — these qualities must continue to characterise a healthy
media sector. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9372/ - 2014.06.10
Get together and advise each other and hold discussions. Such
discussions refine your hearts. Hearts become rusted like swords and
their refinement lies in academic religious discussions. (The Prophet)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 9, Tradition 8 - 2014.06.04
I do not believe that human relations are of sufficient interest, nor of
sufficient permanence to keep a man happy all through his life. He must
have something else to turn to. This need may express itself in this
[sic, the?] form of art, of [sic, or?] scientific studies or mysticism,
but more often it takes the form of a search for higher life. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/908/ - 2014.05.17
Creativity knows no frontiers: it is not of the East nor the West, of
the North nor the South, but it sometimes needs awakening, to be set
alight, to be shown a purpose. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2014.05.13
Diversification without disintegration, this is the greatest challenge of our time. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10725/ - 2014.05.07
Civil society organisations need to reach for the highest level of
competence to justify their support. The sector combines energy,
creativity, with a social conscience. Together these constitute a
powerful impulse and should be nurtured…. How can we improve the
process of self-analysis, evaluation and the exchange of experiences
without diminishing the autonomy and creative initiative of civil
society institutions? How can they learn from their own experiences in
order to improve the management of their programmes? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6646/ - 2014.05.03
Here [in the Karakorum Mountains and the Pamir plateau, on the western
side of the better-known Himalayan range and the Tibetan plateau],
everything that characterises high mountains and the people residing in
them exists in its most extreme form. The physical bulk of these
mountains is enormous, and they are amongst the world’s highest;
climactic variation is extreme, and natural hazards — earthquakes,
avalanches, rock-slides, and mudslides — are frequent, endangering
human lives, herds of livestock, and roads and infrastructure, as well
as houses, schools, hospitals, and all of the built environment. The
lives of the impoverished are, by definition, precarious, a
precariousness that is even worse in high mountain regions. The
populations experience extremes of poverty, and isolation, and
constraints on opportunities and choice. At the same time, they sustain
great linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and religious pluralism, and show
remarkable resilience in the face of extraordinarily harsh
circumstances. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5770/ - 2014.04.23
[P]rogress is possible when complex issues are subjected to competent,
intelligent, nuanced and sophisticated analysis, free from dogmatism,
and based upon what I would describe as ‘empathetic knowledge.’ This
happens best in open, meritocratic societies, where people’s
responsibilities are based on their competence. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10725/ - 2014.04.18
Plans and visions are poor things if they engender no action. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10692/ - 2014.03.16
A central element in a truly religious outlook, it seems to me, is the
quality of personal humility — a recognition that strive as we might,
we will still fall short of our ideals, that climb as we might, there
will still be unexplored and mysterious peaks above us. It means
recognising our own creaturehood, and thus our human limitations. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2014.03.14
My final word would be to civilised society at large. I have already
suggested that society should give a man space and the means to make
himself healthy. Now pursue the implication and tell society that it
should give the individual peace. That is what a government is for, it
is the final test; if a government cannot give us that it is not worth
having. I am a pacifist…. I should say to the rulers of the earth:
Prove yourselves; prove that you are worth having; give the world peace!
(Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10494/ - 2014.02.24
No Prophet was raised at all except that Allah taught him that, once he
has perfected his faith, that alcohol is forbidden. Alcohol has never,
ever ceased to be forbidden. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Al-Hurr Al-Amili. Wasa’il ash-Shi’a 25:296 - 2014.02.23
Successful experience with democracy, civil society and pluralism are
the national genius of Canada of which much of the developing world is
in dire need. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7314 - 2014.02.14
Being directly involved … you learn about poverty by going to see the
way people live and by talking to the ultra-poor. You do not learn it
from books. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8040/ - 2014.02.12
Society is … likely to become more meritocratic, demanding performance
at the highest levels of competence, and concomitant accountability.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4571/ - 2014.02.09
In my experience, a country’s standing in our contemporary world is no
longer recognised by what it can achieve for itself, but by what it can
do for others. In this context, Canada has truly become a great, world
power. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9989/ - 2014.02.07
[Y]ou can build new buildings, but if you cannot find quality men and
women to implement the programmes and to give them the confidence that
their programmes will be able to continue and grow in the future, you
[have?] achieved nothing. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5824/ - 2014.02.04
In this seminar, the [Aga Khan Award for Architecture] strives to look
to the fountainhead of inspiration on which Muslims and non-Muslims draw
to create the spaces and buildings we admire. What aspects of the
social or religious backgrounds transpire into their creation? Is it
their interpretation of their faith? Is it the ethic of their faith? Is
it the rules of social conduct of their faith? And, indeed, the hard
question has to be asked, is it their faith at all? … Is the
secularisation of the modern Western world affecting their professional
approach, or, on the contrary, is the search for an Islamic identity
encouraging them to learn much more about their history and tradition
than what their forefathers knew or learnt? If there is a return to the
essence of their background, is it in the form of a search for identity,
or is it in the form of a new commitment to their faith? These are the
questions of a ‘living faith’ … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9848/ - 2014.01.31
If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is
born out of hope. One of the central lessons I have learned after a half
century of working in the developing world is that the replacement of
fear by hope is probably the single most powerful trampoline of
progress. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7706/ - 2014.01.28
Although, it is no longer made up of public ceremonies, the Ismaili-Imam
relationship is intact. What is surprising is that in the West the
community has maintained its traditions and preserved the respect for
its religious leader. It is not clear how such a complex function is to
be maintained in a world which is constantly changing. [Translation]
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/850/ - 2014.01.19
It is my profound conviction that Islamic Society in the years ahead
will find that our traditional concept of time, a limitless mirror in
which to reflect on the eternal, will become shrinking cage, an
invisible trap from which fewer and fewer will escape. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1804/ - 2014.01.17
[The Sura of Light from the Qur’an] tells us that the oil of the blessed
olive tree lights the lamp of understanding, a light that belongs
neither to East nor West. We are to give this light to all. In that
spirit, all that we learn will belong to the world — and that too is
part of the vision I share with you. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2014.01.16
We talk a lot about the rights of the press as an independent social
critic, and that is very important. But it is also important to talk
about the obligations of the press as a constructive social leader. In
my view, this sense of social obligation means avoiding that obsessive
individualism which is so rampant in our world. It means rejecting the
celebration of success for its own sake, regardless of its social
impact. It means resisting the siren song of sensationalism and
sectarianism — as ways to build short term leadership and short term
profits. It means writing and editing newspapers with a concern for
social cohesion — and with a sense of moral standards. It is always
tempting to focus on the divisive, the dramatic, the diverting — that’s
a quick and easy way to popular success. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5246/ - 2014.01.11
[F]or religious education effectively to complement what children learn
in secular schools, it has to be intellectually stimulating and
pedagogically sound. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4833/ - 2014.01.06
If you hide what you know, you will be supposed to know nothing. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2014.01.03
Personally, if I had two children, and one was a boy and the other a
girl, and if I could afford to educate only one, I would have no
hesitation in giving the higher education to the girl. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10699/ - 2013.12.26
Development is ultimately about people, about enabling them to
participate fully in the process and to make informed choices and
decisions on their futures. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4503/ - 2013.12.25
Democracy should be society’s way of protecting the rights and
entitlements of all its members. Entitlement, for the weakest or
neediest, to their basic rights. But also, entitlement for the most
capable, to their highest hopes: entitlement to a world in which they
can struggle to achieve their utmost, and come close to doing so. A
world in which the individual merit of men and women can exist,
flourish, and grow. For merit is not an anti-democratic concept. On the
contrary, I believe that creating opportunities for individual
excellence is the very essence of democracy: its reason to be. It is my
fervent hope that democracy will serve this purpose throughout the
developing world, stimulating a quest for excellence and ever-higher
benchmarks of achievement in all areas of social, economic and cultural
life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4407/ - 2013.12.09
As we gather [at AKU] today, it is impossible not to be impressed with
what the power of giving and volunteering can accomplish. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5820/ - 2013.12.04
[I]t appears increasingly evident that for institutions such as [the Aga
Khan University] to succeed, the notion of volatility and change must
no longer be viewed with surprise, but with the realism that it is going
to be a characteristic of our future environments. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5197/ - 2013.12.03
In everything we do we must look to the future, seeking always to think creatively, to innovate and to improve. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2817/ - 2013.12.01
A Muslim boy is of age when he’s 16 and so [my 21st birthday] doesn’t have any particular meaning for myself. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10449/ - 2013.11.29
I have been amazed and thrilled frankly, at the capacities of even the
completely illiterate populations, to express themselves about the
correct priority that should be addressed. And if you follow their
agenda, nine times out of ten, you’ll get it right! (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6224/ - 2013.11.27
World and faith are inseparable in Islam. Faith and learning are also
profoundly interconnected. The Holy Qur’an sees the discovery of
knowledge as a spiritual responsibility, enabling us to better
understand and more ably serve God’s creation. Our traditional teachings
remind us of our individual obligation to seek knowledge unto the ends
of the Earth … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8787/ - 2013.11.22
[F]or me the most important word is accountability. We must be
accountable at all times to the organisations we serve and to the people
we serve. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3268/ - 2013.11.19
[W]ith a Muslim majority in some 44 countries and nearly a quarter of
the globe’s population, it should be evident that our world cannot be
made up of identical people, sharing identical goals, motivations or
interpretations of the faith. It is a world in itself, vast and varied
in its aspirations and in its concerns. Is there not something
intellectually uncouth about those who choose to perceive one billion
people of any faith as a standardised mass? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5089/ - 2013.11.17
INTERVIEWER: Am I right in thinking you have also made adjustments in
the method of prayer to the Qur’an? AGA KHAN: No, I am afraid not.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1095/ - 2013.11.15
INTERVIEWER: During your time as Imam, would you push for more people to
join your faith? AGA KHAN: No. I set no targets for that. Those who
believe, believe, those who don’t, don’t.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4315/ - 2013.11.12
Change means opportunity for those who are well prepared to manage it.
But change can also be disorienting, particularly when it erodes the
structures, values and symbols that have provided shape and meaning in a
given society and culture. It can be particularly destructive among the
less well-off in any society, the very people often found in urban
centres, the growing squatter settlements on the edge of cities, and in
much of the countryside. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5264/ - 2013.11.07
Many of the most intimate friends of the Prophet and the most pious and
distinguished of the ‘companions’ doubted which side they should take in
the civil wars, and how they should act so as not to be responsible for
any harm that might come, and so were led to adopt the most dangerous
principle of all. They retired each into his private home and did not
use their influence one way or the other, but passed the rest of their
lives in prayer and pilgrimage. This example has ever since been
unconsciously followed by some of the best and purest in every Muslim
society. The most genuine and the most moral of Muslims often tell you,
as they have a thousand times told me almost in identical terms at
Constantinople or Cairo, at Bombay or Zanzibar, that as long as they
spent their energies in prayer and pilgrimage they are certain that
though they do not do the best, yet they do no harm, and thus they give
up to prayer and pilgrimage the lives which should have been devoted to
the well-being of their people. It is to this class in India that I
appeal and desire most earnestly to impress upon them my conviction
that, if they continue in their present attitude of aloofness, it means
the certain extinction of Islam, at least, as a world-wide religion.
(Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1311/ - 2013.11.06
People come together around competence, around ability, around knowledge. They don’t like mediocrity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10301/ - 2013.11.05
By the way you conduct your daily lives, by the compassion you show to
your fellow men and women, and above all by your faith in God, you will
ultimately be judged. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1068/ - 2013.11.01
The Ismailis have always prided themselves on their highly developed
social conscience. Our faith teaches us that we have obligations far
beyond our own or even our family’s interests. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1068/ - 2013.10.30
The Muslim world offers deep roots in a system of values emphasising
service, charity and a sense of common responsibility, and denying what
it sees to be the false dichotomy between religious and secular lives.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1/ - 2013.10.25
[I]f there are organisational systems in the human society that work
well today, or at least better than others, we would lack intelligence,
not to say more, not to see what we can learn, what we can integrate,
what we can remodel. Because we do not have to take everything. We
should take what helps us. And that’s where that relation with the West
looks important to me. One does not lose his identity; one does not lose
his religion … And personally, I have no shame, none whatsoever, if I
have to follow today in the same footsteps that the Christians followed
in their history: to learn from the Muslim World, well, so what? Why
should it matter? [Translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6073/ - 2013.10.24
The working family in the West can earn all the money it needs in four
or five days a week — and then with only six hours work a day. Its
capacity for leisure is growing every year. But what does the family do
with it? Look at television? Perhaps. But what will be seen on
television? Are they any nearer the complete and contented man of all
our dreams? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2013.10.21
Well I would sum up my message [for Pakistanis] in two words or three.
It would be ‘Islam and Work’. Islam, because this is the basis of our
lives and must always be so. Work, because I think that it is terribly
important that every Pakistani should take upon himself to contribute to
the nation’s health and prosperity and it is only by the population’s
getting down to good, solid constructive work that results can be
obtained. In the last three years, I have visited many countries and I
have not yet seen one which has achieved prosperity, and, should I say,
secular happiness without very hard work. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10091/ - 2013.10.18
INTERVIEWER: Do you see yourself as a reforming or conservative Imam?
AGA KHAN: I think that is terminology which just does not apply in the
sense that the essentials are the essentials and have remained the
essentials for centuries. So I think reform as such doesn’t exist.
Conservatism could exist in secular terms, not in religious terms.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10329/ - 2013.10.17
We have taken up the annoying habit of linking each sporadic act of
terrorism to the Muslim world. It is a painful confusion. The Muslim
world is made up of 1 billion believers, living in 30 to 40 countries,
speaking 500 languages and dialects, people who come from countries
which became Muslim — some at the time of the Prophet, others three
hundred years later — some speaking Arabic, others that do not. There
is no Islamic entity where 1 billion believers interpret and practice
their faith in the same manner. [Translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/850/ - 2013.10.16
Often, I believe, people think of [education] as a mindful of knowledge
picked from a hundred various books rather like a mouthful of
chewing-gum, chocolates and beetle-nuts washed down with a swill of
Coca-cola. I do not wish this for any of my brothers, nor indeed for
myself. When I say education, I mean more than acquisition of knowledge,
more than mere facts, figures and book work. Education is a life-long
experience in which qualities such as integrity, mental discipline,
humility and honesty should be formed, particularly during the early
years. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/895/ - 2013.10.10
You cannot give a child secular education and then expect him not to ask
questions about his religion. This is one more reason why [Muslim]
schools should have well-qualified teachers giving courses on the
background of Islam, its history, theology, philosophy and all the other
subjects which pertain to its glorious past. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/895/ - 2013.10.09
There is the potential in the Islamic heritage to help modern societies
cope with the confusions, disillusionments and moral vagaries that
afflict them. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4793/ - 2013.10.07
One of the greatest reasons for which I have paid so much attention to
education is that I have the impression that, in many cases, the so
called backward areas tend to look at the advanced areas and to say we
want to be like you. I do not think that any of us could argue against
the fact that the leading areas of the world are outside the Asian and
African zones of this earth. Though we may try to emulate the advanced
areas, I have often been worried that emulation would tend to mean full
scale copying or even the closest identification possible. I cannot say
that I would ever approve of our losing our true identity and I think
that one of the greatest ways to avoid this danger is to see that our
children are equipped with the most advanced intellectual weapons
possible but that they should receive this equipment in their own homes
against the background of their own society, their own traditions and
their own beliefs. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3749/ - 2013.10.06
[Unlike Pakistan, in Africa] government support for education in the
Muslim schools for example, is by no means automatic. Higher standards
have to be reached before they can qualify for official recognition and
financial support. This can only be achieved if there is an overriding
will to modernise the whole approach of Islamic teaching and attitude to
our way of life…. [For Pakistan] to hold its own in modern world,
to come to terms with the highest and the latest developments in science
and technology, a radically new approach will be needed. If Islam
aspires, as I believe she must, to recapture the glories of the past,
she must be ready to adapt — I do not say abandon her own traditions –
to the entirely different circumstances of today. If we fail to do
this, not only shall we fail to progress ourselves, but the younger
generation will become disillusioned and fall prey to alien and
materialistic creeds, which have nothing whatever in common with Islam.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1164/ - 2013.10.04
From long and close study of world affairs I am driven to the conclusion
that few things are more inimical to peace and good-will between
neighbours than the tearing asunder of ethnic and linguistic groups at
the dictate whether of a Napoleon or a President Wilson, to serve the
ends of larger and more powerful competing interests. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1236/ - 2013.10.01
Surely the heart of a child is like fallow ground: whatever is planted in it is accepted by it. (Hazrat Ali)
Dastur Ma’alim Al-Hikma - 2013.09.26
O son of Adam, if you have collected anything in excess of your actual
need, you will act only as its trustee for someone else to use it.
(Hazrat Ali)
Nahj ul-Balagah, Saying 190 - 2013.09.24
Faith is not, is not something which you can quantify. People practice,
they don’t practice. Sometimes they do, more in certain generations,
less in others. It’s an extremely fluid situation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1988/ - 2013.09.17
[In the developing world we] must be concerned with new challenges:
limiting the impact of the demographic explosion, reinforcing national
or regional identities to shelter them from the standardisation of
worldwide communication systems, attaining a spiritual balance in the
face of excessive materialism are also questions which the developing
world is grappling with in search of answers. It seems to me that one
solution resides in the recognition by the West of this reality and the
urgency of helping them find answers to these problems before they take
on explosive proportions. (Aga Khan; MHI) [Translation]
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5064/ - 2013.09.14
INTERVIEWER: You make no claim to be divine. But do you believe you are
divinely guided? AGA KHAN: Divinity is a very difficult thing to
define in verbal terminology. Therefore I would object to anything which
uses the term divine in my context. I have inherited an office and I
seek to fulfil that office to the best of my judgement. To tell you what
inspires that judgement … I don’t think any individual can answer
that question. You seek within yourself that which tells you what is the
right thing to do.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10329/ - 2013.09.12
INTERVIEWER: It’s sometimes said that Africans and Europeans are
beginning to mingle in schools, but Africans and Asians are still
segregated. AGA KHAN: It makes me very sad people should think this. I
wish I could show you our schools in Africa. We were the first Asians
there completely to drop segregation in our schools, hospitals, health
centres and sports clubs. In some places we did this as long ago as
1954. We were in fact often subsidising African children to come to our
schools. Everyone said it would mean lowering our standards and so on.
We found absolutely the opposite was true. The African is so conscious
of his lack of education and training, and has such native intelligence,
that he often pushes the Asian or European children, who might be
tempted to think, ‘Well, my father’s got a good business, if I flunk my
exams I can always just knock on his door for a job.’ Nowadays things
are very competitive. it knocks the nonsense out of them.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10176/ - 2013.09.09
[T]he nature of the true regime change we need, [is] where the civil
society of the industrialised world gives wide and encompassing support
to that of the developing world. True regime change occurs when liberty
is guaranteed by a people free to create or support institutions of
their own choosing. True regime change occurs when that strength and
that freedom are defined by the depth, breadth and quality of education
shared across the society in question. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6990/ - 2013.08.28
Throughout history, when the great empires broke up, whether it be the
fall of the Roman or Byzantine empires, or of the Caliphate, you will
find that the youth had lost its dynamism, its personality and its
imagination. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1202/ - 2013.08.22
[In Pakistan, both the public sector and the private sector] have to be
productive and they have to be effective and therefore, the measuring
criteria in both have to be very clear, overt, and targets set. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6224/ - 2013.08.19
I don’t think of myself as a person with a nationality. I was brought up
since my youngest age as a Muslim. My university studies were in
Islamic studies. So that is — if I have any sense of identification —
that would be it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5301/ - 2013.08.16
The ‘clash of ignorance’ I apply really to the relations between the Muslim world and the rest. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7320/ - 2013.08.13
[H]ousing is the most difficult area of social development to appraise
in terms of human, as opposed to architectural, results. It is far
easier to quantify the effects of providing better education or health
care facilities against their costs. How do you measure the benefits of a
family having a decent home, of the father’s dignity, of the mother’s
pride, or the children’s sense of security, of better family and better
work potential? Nonetheless the beneficial impact can be tremendous.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2765/ - 2013.08.11
There are societies, for example, where the educated woman will not find
a husband because she’s educated. So you need to be very, very careful
in handling these things, because they can be a real boomerang if you
get them wrong. I think it is a process of change. I think it’s also a
social issue. In many countries that I know, women do certain tasks and
men do other tasks. That’s a traditional outcome of the economics of
society. In rural communities the role of the woman is very, very
different from urban communities, obviously. So there are a lot of
criteria there and it’s a difficult problem. But it’s one that needs to
be handled with immense care. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2013.08.09
[D]emocratic institutions have not lived up to their potential. In both
the developed and the developing world, the promise of democracy has too
often been disappointed. For many centuries, enlightened people have
argued that democracy was the key to social progress. But today, that
contention is in dispute. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2013.08.08
[S]topping a productive initiative simply because it might go on another
six months or it might require additional financing, is extremely short
sighted. What is important, is to complete it, to complete it well, and
to make sure that the benefits are measurable for the communities that
you wish to serve. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10330/ - 2013.08.03
The Holy Qur’an calls upon Muslims to compete in good works … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9331/ - 2013.07.27
In the Third World, where the need is the greatest, many organisations
and governments throw in money. I throw in people — dedicated people to
train, to educate and to encourage. I believe that there is no such
thing as an underdeveloped country — only under-managed countries and
for me the most important word is accountability. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3268/ - 2013.07.23
But the problem [of corruption and ethical lapses] extends into every
area of human enterprise. When a construction company cheats on the
quality of materials for a school or a bridge, when a teacher skimps on
class work in order to sell his time privately, when a doctor recommends
a drug because of incentives from a pharmaceutical company, when a bank
loan is skewed by kickbacks, or a student paper is plagiarised from the
Internet, when the norms of fairness and decency are violated in any
way, then the foundations of society are undermined. And the damage is
felt most immediately in the most vulnerable societies, where fraud is
often neither reported nor corrected, but simply accepted as an
inevitable condition of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9281/ - 2013.07.22
INTERVIEWER: Well, in what matters then do you specifically intervene?
What is your influence and authority? AGA KHAN: Long term, long term
social programming, long term economic programming, educational
development, health, housing, the direction for institutions to go in
… The role of the Imam is to listen — not to talk. There is a big
difference in the sense that members of the community must inform me,
must tell me what is of concern to them. I do not run a government.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1988/ - 2013.07.21
That the holder of a political office is accountable for his actions, is
part of our faith. As it says in the Qur’an. (Aga Khan; MHI)
[Translation]
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6515/ - 2013.07.17
I am aware that my position as hereditary Imam provokes constant queries
from commentators in Europe. They remind me of the aristocrat talking
about his long family history who was finally challenged at a dinner
party with the words ‘I suppose your ancestors were in the Ark with
Noah, too.’ ‘No’ he replied calmly, ‘actually they had their own boat.’
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4503/ - 2013.07.16
Many hospitals seem to have a limited appreciation of what can be done
in [the field of prevention]. Why is this? … Whenever a bed is
utilised by a patient whose disease could have been prevented, our
efforts in the area of public health and community health have been
confounded. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2374/ - 2013.07.14
Concepts such as meritocracy, free-world economics, or multi-party
democracy, honed and tested in the West may generally have proven their
worth. But valid though they may be, responsible leadership in the
Islamic world must ask if they can be adapted to their cultures which
may not have the traditions or infra-structure to assimilate them….
There is a real risk that market place economics could lead to ruthless
competition, and increased concentration of wealth, further
marginalising the existing poor. There is a real risk that meritocracy
could exacerbate, for example, the existing problem of equitable access
to quality education and sophisticated health care. Although the modern
page of human history was written in the West, you should not expect or
desire for that page to be photocopied by the Muslim world. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5089/ - 2013.07.12
People coming together around a common purpose are much stronger, for example, in eliminating corruption. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10256/ - 2013.07.04
Doing good is easy to start with, and difficult to finish. It is as if
it begins as a desire without any idea, and ends up as an idea without
any desire. It is because of this that it has been said: ‘Keeping up a
good deed going is more difficult than getting it started.’ … The
action is what is kept going, the one who keeps it going is the one who
makes it progress. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.07.02
The one who utters false words and the one who continues to perpetuate them are equally at fault. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.06.29
Fear the one who is weak when he is under the banner of justice more
than you fear the one who is strong when he is under the banner of
injustice, for surely help will come to the former from where he does
not expect, and the wound inflicted by him will never heal. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.06.26
My understanding of Islam is that it is a total faith, it does not only
govern the way a man or a woman of the Muslim faith practises faith but
it governs his relations with his family and with society. It has an all
enveloping sense of direction. It does not tell him you cannot have
wealth but it does tell him you cannot be greedy. It does not tell him
you cannot be active in business but it tells him to be ethical in
business and, therefore, it has an extremely strong moral involvement in
every aspect of man’s life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2013.06.23
[D]o not vie for glory and pride in this world, and do not admire its
adornments and pleasures, and do not be impatient because of its
adversities and hardships, for surely its glory and pride comes to an
end, and surely its adornments decay, and its difficulties and hardships
vanish. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.06.22
INTERVIEWER: If the Pope were to invite you to take part with other
religious leaders in a debate about faith, reason and violence, would
you accept? AGA KHAN: Yes, definitely. I would, however, make the point
that an ecumenical discussion at a certain stage will meet certain
limits. Therefore I would prefer to talk more about a cosmopolitan ethic
stemming from all of Earth’s great faiths.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7900/ - 2013.06.19
Social progress, in the long run, will not be found by delegating an
all-dominant role to any one player — but rather through multi-sector
partnerships…. A vast decentralisation of decision-making is already
occurring in many countries; it has the advantage of placing new
responsibilities in the hands of local communities…. [T]he key to
future progress will lie less in traditional top-down systems of command
and control — and more in a broad, bottom-up spirit of coordination
and cooperation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2013.06.17
What do I care whether I am thrown into ease or into hardship? For
surely it is my duty to Allah the Exalted to be pleased with my lot in
times of hardship, and to be grateful in times of ease. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.06.15
[I] cannot judge an individual’s belief at any given time, in his life
or mine. My experience is that belief is not necessarily constant; it
varies according to age, to one’s circumstances and the family in which
one was educated. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2013.06.13
Write down and spread your knowledge among your brethren. When you die,
your progeny will inherit your writings. Certainly people will face a
period of tension and unrest and they will not be convinced without
their books. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 17, Tradition 11 - 2013.06.12
I have the greatest respect for time and I think that we should
anticipate it if we can, and build before time, because otherwise we are
short-changed. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6073/ - 2013.06.09
There is an often quoted ayat [of the Qur’an] which says that you should
leave the world in a better environment than you found it. You have a
responsibility of legacy of God’s creation of the world, to improve that
legacy from generation to generation. So there’s an ethical premise to
it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10364/ - 2013.06.06
The most joyous of mankind is the intellectual. (Hazrat Ali)
Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali, Reza Shah-Kazemi, pp 46 - 2013.06.03
[M]an is an extraordinary creature, a creation, and that assisting him
to become creative, productive within his national context, is the most
productive thing an institution can do. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2174/ - 2013.06.02
[O]ur leaders of government and business must arouse in their
professionals, the will and conviction of the volunteer. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3331/ - 2013.05.31
I wish that there were a real, living ethical base, not only a discussed
one, but a living one in the modern society, because otherwise, be it a
Muslim society or a Christian society whatever, I see a society without
direction. [Translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6073/ - 2013.05.30
At the beginning of the 1960s, I completely overhauled our development
support processes. I decided that our priority was to provide these
rural populations in the developing world — isolated, ignored, with no
local leadership or contact with the decision-makers in the big cities
– with an effective form of aid. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9473/ - 2013.05.28
For my part, I believe that marks of individual and group cultural
identity generate an inner strength which is conducive to peaceful
relations. I also believe in the power of plurality, without which there
is no possibility of exchange. In my view, this idea is integral to the
very definition of genuine quality of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9065/ - 2013.05.27
Whoever sets himself up as a leader of other people should start
educating himself before educating others, and let him teach by his
conduct before teaching by his tongue. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 11 - 2013.05.23
If people worship God out of desire, that is the worship of merchants.
If people worship God out of fear, that is the worship of slaves. If
people worship God out of gratitude, that is the worship of the free.
(Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 87 - 2013.05.22
Whilst the sheer size and complex functions of many modern buildings may
require the assistance of Western expertise, this is no reason for
continuing to import the Western styles of architecture which are so
often unsuitable and indeed unsightly in this environment. I fear the
day when Islam will be our faith, yet its outward manifestation in the
buildings we work and live in, the paintings and works of art we behold
and the music we listen to, will be dominated by foreign cultures which
have their roots neither in our spiritual beliefs nor in our great
artistic heritage. In saying this, I am not advocating a narrow or
chauvinistic approach to the nation’s artistic development, nor is this a
question of simply copying the forms of the past. Islamic art has
always thrived on a liberal adaptation of contemporary influences and at
its greatest, was neither restrictive nor insular. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1760/ - 2013.05.20
It is equally essential that [the Aga Khan University’s] faculty be
challenged, as a matter of university policy, to expand the boundaries
of human knowledge. Any vestige of dependence is cast off, any suspicion
of a young scientist or scholar that he or she may sacrifice
intellectual excitement by leaving the West is allayed, when a
university becomes known for generating new ideas, making new
discoveries and influencing events. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6830/ - 2013.05.12
In a Knowledge Society, the most productive investments we can make are investments in education. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8786/ - 2013.05.11
Academic freedom is in the truest spirit of Islam. Without it, excellence cannot be achieved. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2817/ - 2013.05.09
Particularly deplorable is the growing journalistic tendency to exploit
‘quirks’ in the human or societal psyche. This is a major problem in the
developing and the developed world alike. By ‘quirks’ I mean
curiosities, idiosyncrasies, anomalies, and dormant resentments or
frustrations which can be developed among various segments of society.
An irresponsible communicator can create an appetite for such materials
by catering to one public’s voyeuristic curiosity, through the invasion
of privacy for instance, or by pandering to the sectarian prejudice of
one group about another. A market space for such offerings can be teased
into existence and then prodded and nourished so that it becomes not
only economically viable but commercially irresistible as well. The
public, at least in many Third World societies, is not as voyeuristic as
some may assume. It is, however, immediately sensitive to sectarian
views or news and the converse seems to hold true overall for Western
societies. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5137/ - 2013.05.08
INTERVIEWER: One of the myths surrounding you is that some people in the
West think of you as a living God. Not only is that not true, it is
also blasphemous. AGA KHAN: Absolutely. I mean as you know the faith of
Islam was revealed at a time when the Arabian continent was idolatrous
and idolatry, all forms of idolatry, are totally prohibited by Islam. It
is certainly true to say that the Western World doesn’t necessarily
understand the theology of Shi’ism nor indeed the theology of many
mystical sects whether they are Shia or Sunni or Christian. Mysticism,
in its, in its essence is difficult.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3134/ - 2013.05.06
Ismailism has survived because it has always been fluid. Rigidity is
contrary to our whole way of life and outlook. There have really been no
cut-and-dried rules; even the set of regulations known as the Holy Laws
are directions as to method and procedure and not detailed orders about
results to be obtained. (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1225/ - 2013.05.03
Well before the invasion of Iraq, the principal watchword of al-Qaeda
was to normatise Islam according to one fundamentalist Sunni
interpretation. The exclusivist attitude is a form of theological
colonialism, and it has spread throughout the whole of the Islamic
world. (Translation) (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2013.05.02
[A]n infinite part of the sheer interpretation of Islam is the rational
process. And I attach enormous importance to that because it’s a
significant part of the way we live and work. So I encourage that. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2013.05.01
No one establishes the order of God the Glorified except one who does
not flatter, is not a conformist, and is not subordinate to objects of
desire. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 77 - 2013.04.29
The diversity in interpretation is something that is inherent to human
society. The attempt to normatise has a very little chance to succeed
and it would be unethical to the essence of Islam. There is a very
famous ayat in the Qur’an that says: ‘To yourself, your faith. To
myself, my faith.’ There is a great debate about whether this ayat
refers to the intra-Muslim relationship or to the relationship between
Muslims and non-Muslims. But the ayat is there! (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2013.04.28
[T]he commonality among the Shia is the role of Hazrat Ali. He was the
great intellectual force of his time. Because of him, Shi’ism is an
intellectual interpretation of Islam. The direct impact is the reduction
of conflict between the spiritual and the temporal. The other
fundamental element resides in the personal spiritual search. The
individual is perhaps more important for us than among the different
Sunni traditions. Finally, the notion of authority plays an essential
role. In the Shia faith, it was given to Hazrat Ali by the Prophet who
specified before his death that he wished it to remain in his family.
(Translation) (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2013.04.26
Knowledge in its purest form is often abrasive. When this knowledge
comes into [developing countries’] societies it creates difficulties,
creates reactions because the societies are not prepared for pure
knowledge. What Canada has done is it has humanised that knowledge. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9179/ - 2013.04.22
Let me close these remarks by asking what may seem to be an impertinent
question. How do we know whether these programs are actually working or
not? How do we know whether they are improving? It would be very easy to
mislead ourselves on this score and to assume that because we are
trying hard, or spending significant sums of money, or are inspired by
noble intentions, or are holding a lot of meetings — we must therefore
be making an effective impact. But this is not always the case. And that
is why it is so important that all of us should be held accountable for
the results we produce — that our work should be measured by its
observable, positive impact on the quality of people’s lives. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8072/ - 2013.04.20
You can always achieve results over a long period of time, but every
time you do that you damage a generation and every time you move more
quickly you bring hope to an earlier generation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10307/ - 2013.04.18
The Imams have always had the overall responsibility of living within
their time and therefore, before anything else, adapting. [Translation]
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/850/ - 2013.04.17
[I]n the Qu’ran it very clearly says no Muslim may judge the strength of another Muslim’s beliefs. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10176/ - 2013.04.10
[In Islam, marriage] is a contract between a man and a woman. (Translation) (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6073/ - 2013.04.09
PARAGRAPH 22, SETTLEMENT OF DIFFERENCES, WILL OF AGA KHAN III: IT is my
most earnest prayer to all my heirs and other persons interested in my
estate after my death that if any difference of opinion should at any
time arise between them as regards any of my property whatsoever or as
to the ownership character value of otherwise of the same or as to the
meaning or true interpretation of anything contained in my Will or any
Codicil thereto such persons shall on no account have resort to any
Court of Law whatever. If they cannot by discussion and mutual
concession if necessary settle any such point of dispute then I
earnestly beg them to submit the case to arbitration. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10233/ - 2013.04.06
[Canada has given Ismaili immigrants from the 1970s] the wherewithal to
return to their countries in due course and bring back to Africa, bring
back to Asia … the pluralism, the values of Canada, the knowledge
society that you have created here in Canada. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9179/ - 2013.04.04
Be courteous with your enemy and sincere with your friend. You will so
uphold brotherliness and preserve generosity. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.31
Now, if I were on a golf-course, let us say, and it was the due
occasion, I should pray to God. I should not make a show of it, but I
should go apart to pray, and I should turn myself towards the
South-East, towards Mecca…. There is value in formal observances. I
think it is well that a man should make a habit of formal prayer night
and morning, for protection and in thanks. But, I place emphasis on the
continual direct relation between God and man. And of recent years the
best of Islam has done the same. (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10121/ - 2013.03.30
Beware of suspicion. For suspicion is a great falsehood. Do not search
for faults in each other, nor desire that which others possess, nor
envy, nor entertain malice or indifference and be servants of Allah.
(The Prophet)
UK Ismaili National Council and Arbitration Board booklet, 2012 - 2013.03.28
So long as luck is favouring you, your defects will be hidden from the eyes of the world. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.24
Be generous to your kinsman: honour him if he is wise, suffer him if he
is a fool, help him if he is poor for he may prove the greatest support
to you both in your weal and in your woe. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.23
Assuredly, misfortune is not unlimited; it will end. Have patience, then, until the end comes. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.18
What has been my own policy with my followers? Our religion is our
religion, you either believe in it or you do not. You can leave a faith
but you cannot, if you do not accept its tenets, remain within it and
claim to ‘reform’ it…. There has never been any question of changing
the Ismaili faith; that faith has remained the same and must remain the
same. Those who have not believed in it have rightly left it; we bear
them no ill-will and respect them for their sincerity. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1225/ - 2013.03.16
If you help a deserving person without his request then it is
generosity, and if you help after his request then mostly it is due to
shyness to refuse or fear of reproach. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.12
Take counsel with your enemies in order to learn from their thoughts the
extent of their enmity and the ends they are seeking. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.11
Three classes of men are cut off from the benediction of heaven: the
oppressors, those who aid and abet oppressors and those who tolerate
oppression. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.08
To devote oneself to the religious life without being taught is to
resemble the mill-donkey going round and round without moving from the
place. (Hazrat Ali)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977 - 2013.03.07
Avoid a liar. If you are obliged to have dealings with him, do not
justify him; but do not let him see that you know that he lies, for he
will sooner give up your friendship than renounce lying. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2013.03.04
For [Muslims] the relationship between a person’s life and his or her
physical surroundings is a particularly critical matter. For us there is
no fundamental division between the spiritual and the material: the
whole world is an expression of God’s creation and the aesthetics of the
environment we build are correspondingly important. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3101/ - 2013.03.01
We [Ismailis] are a discreet community; it is one of our traditions. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2013.02.20
When I say that religion should permeate life, I am thinking not only of
private life but of national and international life. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10121/ - 2013.02.19
Healthy institutions will tap the widest possible range of energies and
insights. They will optimise each society’s meritocratic potential, so
that opportunity will reward competence, from whomever and wherever it
may come … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2013.02.14
It’s part of the ethic of Islam. It’s not philanthropy. It’s that you
have a duty to share what you do not need yourself. If Allah has given
you the wherewithal to share, you share. And you don’t share on the
basis of handouts. The best of giving is what enables people to become
independent. That is, you don’t give philanthropy on an ongoing basis,
if you can give philanthropy, it is to make people capable of managing
their own destiny. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9734/ - 2013.02.13
For centuries, the press has cast itself as the champion of
understanding and enlightenment. And yet, even as the press has become
more international, it has often left a trail of misunderstanding in its
wake…. If a careless or superficial press can exacerbate the clash
of cultures, then a more sensitive and studious press can accomplish the
opposite. The same media which serves to distort or discredit old
cultures, can also be used to re-validate them, and to help explain them
to others…. In my view, we are sometimes too preoccupied with the
rights of the press as an independent social critic — and we pay too
little attention to the obligations of the press as an influential
social leader. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5137/ - 2013.02.10
Science is a wonderful, powerful tool and research budgets are
essential. But science is only the beginning in the new age we are
entering. My hope is that, in Islamic Pakistan, the Aga Khan University
and Hospital can make progress in developing new models. Islam does not
perceive the world as two separate domains of mind and spirit, science
and belief. Science and the search for knowledge are an expression of
man’s designated role in the universe, but they do not define that role
totally. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3409/ - 2013.02.09
The Imamat as an institution has to be equitable to all the communities
around the world but the Imamat as institution cannot be responsible for
internal situations which it doesn’t control, and therefore what we
have to do, in terms of institutional response, is adapt to whatever
situation we find. And certain situations are more enabling than others,
and they change in time. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8856/ - 2013.02.07
In a world that claims to be globalised, there are some who might regard
cultural standardisation as natural, even desirable. For my part, I
believe that marks of individual and group cultural identity generate an
inner strength which is conducive to peaceful relations. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9065/ - 2013.02.05
I have … met many persons nominally Christian who seem to think that
in the beginning God created the world and then left it to its own
devices. They seem to regard Him as a Being infinitely removed from them
and their affairs. Whereas my Faith is, as you say yours
[(Christianity)] is, that God is ever present, ever creative, and that
His Providence sustains us in the smallest detail of our daily life. And
He watches while we sleep. (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10121/ - 2013.02.02
The Qur’an prohibits judging the way in which another Muslim practises
faith, but it also prohibits the enforcement of a religious practice or
of a faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6010/ - 2013.01.29
Every individual is expected to use his intellect, his knowledge, to
help him understand his faith — at least that is the way we interpret
the faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8856/ - 2013.01.26
Excessive knowledge is better than excessive praying … It is better to
teach knowledge one hour in the night than to pray the whole night.
(The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad - Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #163 - 2013.01.23
The passage of a millennium has not diminished Nasir Khusraw’s relevance
nor dulled the lustre of his poetry. It continues to uplift and
inspire, reminding us that we are the authors of our own destiny. As he
has said, we can be like a poplar tree which chooses to remain barren,
or we can let our path be lit by the candle of wisdom, for only ‘with
intellect, we can seek out all the hows and whys. Without it, we are but
trees without fruit.’ (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6717/ - 2013.01.21
In the developing world, at least, we have an enormous amount of
mediocrity. Standards are terribly, terribly low and unless those
standards are enhanced … you are not making a permanent contribution
to the processes of change. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8845/ - 2013.01.19
O you who carry knowledge around with you; are you only carrying it
around with you? For surely knowledge belongs to who ever knows and then
acts accordingly, so that his action corresponds to his knowledge.
There will be a people who will carry knowledge around with them, but it
will not pass beyond their shoulders. Their inner most thoughts will
contradict what they display in public, and their actions will
contradict what they know. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.01.17
It is my sincere hope that this colloquium will bring additional
insights to an understanding of the Holy Qur’an as a message that
encompasses the entirety of human existence and effort. It is concerned
with the salvation of the soul, but commensurately also with the ethical
imperatives which sustain an equitable social order. The Qur’an’s is an
inclusive vision of society that gives primacy to nobility of conduct.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6815/ - 2013.01.15
The superiority of man-made structures over natural environment is a concept alien to Islamic belief. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2013.01.14
I told our architect, who is American and who has specialised in
hospital design, that his idiom should reflect the spirit of Islam. How
was this to be done? I did not want him to succumb, through nostalgia,
to mimicry of the past, adding minarets and domes to his renderings —
the sort of bogus orientalism that has produced Alhambra hotels and Taj
Mahal bars around the world. Surely, we, as Muslims, must do better than
that. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2013.01.12
It is my profound conviction that steps to strengthen institutions and
the linkages between them are critical to the freedom of the individual
to be creative and productive in a socially responsible manner. This is
the essence of the Enabling Environment. In the textbooks, most
discussion of freedom centres on the prevention of absolute power. It is
about checks and balances. The time has come to evolve concepts and
practices of ‘positive freedom,’ the links between individuals and
institutions and the rules of the game that encourage mutual trust,
promote co-operation, unleash human potentials and make possible a whole
that is greater than the sum of the parts. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3381/ - 2013.01.05
By Allah, I had no desire to be the ruler (khalifa) and no wish to
govern. However, you called me to it and entrusted me with it, so when
it came to me I looked to the Book of Allah and what it prescribes for
us, and how it commands us to govern, and I followed it. Whatever the
Prophet (SA) did, I have emulated him. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2013.01.02
Take away the causes of extremism and extremists can come back to a more
reasonable political agenda. That change to me is one of the wonderful
things about the human race. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7900/ - 2012.12.27
[A] recent UN Development Programme study in Latin America reports that a
majority of people surveyed would support authoritarian rule if it
delivered economic progress. This confirms a universal tendency.
Whatever their faiths or value systems, the primary, daily concern of
peoples everywhere is their quality of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7684/ - 2012.12.25
O slave of Allah, do not be quick to find fault with the wrong action of
anyone — for perhaps he may have been forgiven; and do not feel at
ease with yourself even if [you are] only slightly disobedient — for
perhaps you may be punished for it. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.12.23
I do not believe in a union of all religions. That would destroy them
all. I am an anti-mixer. Let each Church give its witness and its
message. I gather that theosophy is a mixture tolerating all creeds; I
know nothing about it, except that it is neither a religion nor a
science … (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10121/ - 2012.12.22
When things become clear, you realise that lying goes with cowardice,
and truthfulness with courage, and ease with despair, and weariness with
covetousness, and deprivation with greed, and humiliation with debt.
(Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.12.20
5. Settlement of Differences: Any differences between the Government of
the Province of Alberta and the Ismaili Imamat arising out of the
interpretation or application of the present Agreement shall be settled
amicably by agreement. (Agreement of Co-operation, Clause 5)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10258/ - 2012.12.18
One of the reasons that governments often fail is that we depend too
much on them. We invest too many hopes in political promises and we
entrust too many tasks to political regimes. Governments alone do not
make democracy work. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2012.12.16
There are two matters which are inseparable from lying: making many promises and making even more excuses. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.12.13
Within the Ummah it is a recognised and established historic fact that
communities have the right to their own interpretation of the Faith.
Whether it is the interpretation of one branch of Islam or of the other,
of Sunni or Shia, whether of one tradition within either of those
branches, or of another, the right of interpretation belongs to each
individual. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5988/ - 2012.12.09
If the intellect is given free rein, and if it is not imprisoned by the
desires of the self or by religious customs or by partisanship, then it
will lead the one who possesses it to salvation. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.12.08
Where conflict exists, one must procure a mediated solution. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2012.12.07
There are those who enter the world in such poverty that they are
deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot.
Unless these unfortunates can be touched with the spark which ignites
the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only
sink back into renewed apathy, depredation and despair. It is for us who
are more fortunate to provide that spark. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2765/ - 2012.12.05
The one who seeks the truth but misses it is not the same as the one who seeks falsehood and arrives at it. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.12.04
Whatever its vernacular forms, the language of art, more so when it is
spiritually inspired, can be a positive barrier-transcending medium of
discourse, manifesting the depths of the human spirit. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6815/ - 2012.12.02
Be generous to your relations for surely they are your wings with which
you fly, and they are your roots to which you return, and they are your
hands with which you can overcome. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.11.30
[O]ne cannot change religion overnight. This evolution is a slow thing,
and it is, therefore, an everlasting job with its own rhythm, usually a
lot slower than the political and economic upheavals of the present
time. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1732/ - 2012.11.28
Life is too short for you to learn all the knowledge that you find
attractive, so learn what inspires you, only what inspires you. (Hazrat
Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.11.25
Use your intellect to understand something when you hear about it — the
intellect that examines, that is, and not just the intellect that
repeats what it hears, for surely there are many who repeat the
knowledge that they hear, and there are few who examine it. (Hazrat Ali)
The Sayings and Wisdom of Imam Ali, ed. S. F. Haeri, Muhammadi Trust of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, 1992 - 2012.11.07
Verily God doth not take away knowledge from the hands of his servants,
but taketh it by taking away the learned so that when no learned men
remain, the ignorant will be placed at the head of affairs. Causes will
be submitted to their decision, they will pass sentence without
knowledge, will err themselves and lead others into error. (The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad, Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #88 - 2012.11.05
No man hath believed perfectly until he wish for his brother that which he wisheth for himself. (The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad, Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #267 - 2012.11.03
In my view the creation and extension to all areas of the nation’s life
of this Enabling Environment is the single most important factor in
Third World development. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2543/ - 2012.11.01
Without honest work a man’s life lacks purpose and dignity. Our faith
acknowledges this and establishes the moral framework within which
material endeavour is to be encouraged. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2543/ - 2012.10.30
The broader philosophy of the Aga Khan Development Network is founded on
the premise that developing societies deserve the best and that
settling for less, though often tempting, is an increasingly dangerous
option. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9371/ - 2012.10.29
Ours is a time when knowledge and information are expanding at an
accelerating and, perhaps, unsettling pace. There exists, therefore, an
unprecedented capacity for improving the human condition. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6815/ - 2012.10.19
Do not be one of those who hope for the Hereafter without work … (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 25 - 2012.10.17
[T]he notion of Islam as being not just a faith but an environment in
which the individual is created, is thoughtful, is hard-working — it is
a context — [is a notion] in which I am a very, very strong believer.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2012.10.13
I would rather like my companions to be flogged on their heads, so that they may acquire religious knowledge. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 1, Tradition 8 - 2012.10.12
If one’s faith is to be part of one’s life then it has to come under
questioning. The essential is that it should be understood, that’s what
would justify questioning. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1400/ - 2012.10.11
I have become convinced that the only real course for change is people.
You can throw money or technology at given situations, but they don’t
cause the form of permanent change that development represents in my
mind. The development process is enabling people to make permanent
changes … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2012.10.08
I confess that I have worked all my life on the principle that a
compromise is better than rigid and unyielding disagreement. (Aga Khan
III; MSMS)
Chapter 5: Monarchs, Diplomats And Politicians (The Memoirs of Aga Khan III)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9921/ - 2012.10.06
[W]hilst true success must be determined largely by merit, meritocracy
and competition must not be permitted to erode [our] traditions of
compassion and care for the less fortunate — for it is those
traditions, rooted in our faith and history, that should temper the
harshest consequences of free market economics. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4833/ - 2012.10.03
For a Muslim university it is appropriate to see learning and knowledge
as a continuing acknowledgement of Allah’s magnificence. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4793/ - 2012.09.28
Asked about destiny, Hazrat Ali said. ‘It is a dark path; do not enter
upon it. It is a deep sea; not plunge into it. It is a secret of God; do
not burden yourself with it.’ (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 93 - 2012.09.25
Diversity, if it stimulates discussions and encounters is a positive
value. For the West, to understand the Muslim world and Islam, is to
understand first of all the pluralism of peoples and their
interpretations … What could be the Western world’s reaction if a
Muslim affirmed that the Inquisition and the IRA represent the Catholic
world? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6010/ - 2012.09.21
Too often, education made our students less flexible — confident to the
point of arrogance that they now had all the answers — rather than
more flexible, humble in their life-long openness to new questions and
new responses. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2012.09.19
It is not a sixth or a tenth of a man’s devotion which is acceptable to
God, but only such portions thereof as he offereth with understanding
and true devotional spirit. (The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad - Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #119 - 2012.09.05
Islam is very, very rigorous, very demanding on the elimination of
inequities in society. And my experience at least, is that very often
inequities in society are due to absence of educational opportunity. You
can practically always relate enormous poverty with absence of access
to education, to healthcare, etc. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9266/ - 2012.09.01
[Today, 1999,] there are new notions which to me are really
important…. The notion of regionalism where there is an attempt to
optimise the use of resources for people in a way which goes past
frontiers, and gives them the capacity to function more effectively in a
wider context. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2012.08.24
A man’s first charity should be to his own family, if poor. (The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad, Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #394 - 2012.08.20
The best of men is he from whom good accrueth to humanity. (The Prophet)
The Sayings of Muhammad, Abdullah Al-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy #34 - 2012.08.18
Rajiv Mehrotra: So how significant are the ritualistic practices that
are involved? Aga Khan: I think you have to be clear in both. It is as I
said, you live the faith. It’s not that if you are in a meeting on a
given issue, that you forget that behind these decisions you are taking
are the ethical principles of your faith. And they have to be there all
the time. Whatever you do.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7089/ - 2012.08.17
The man most worthy of pity is the scholar at the orders of an
ignoramus, the man of a generous nature directed by an avarice man, and
one of piety dictated to by a debauchee. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.08.15
We have a number of agencies [in AKDN]. The vast majority are
not-for-profit agencies. And where they are for profit it is because
they have a development purpose and it is very difficult, frankly, to
carry out a development programme if you don’t renew your resources. So,
you have to renew your resources. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7089/ - 2012.08.13
The true essence of Islam is its noble teachings, its purity of thought
and deed, its ennobling influence and its spirituality which has been
misunderstood and ill-used in the last few generations. (Aga Khan III,
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1297/ - 2012.08.12
He who leaveth his home in search of knowledge walketh in the path of Allah. (The Prophet)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture - 2012.08.11
[A university] is an institution that is meant to teach far more than
the knowledge imparted in the lecture-room; if not, it fails in a great
essential. The character and prosperity of a people do not depend upon
mere book-learning [but] require deeper foundations. (Aga Khan III;
MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1297/ - 2012.08.09
We have established the first supranational university: the University
of Central Asia, with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan which will
be utilised by a population of 30 million … This is an opportunity to
develop an executive staff trained in managing a mountainous territory
which includes Western China, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey.
[translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6010/ - 2012.08.02
Often, the more democratic governments were the more effective and
responsible. But this was not consistently true — and I have recently
found it to be decreasingly true. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2012.07.31
And continue to remind, for surely the reminder profits the believers. (Qur’an 51:55)
Qur’an 51:55 - Shakir - 2012.07.30
I can tell you that idea [that I want a State] has never crossed my
mind. More than that it is an idea that if were put on the table would
last in my view one millionth of a second — not more. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5829/ - 2012.07.28
The free Western World must establish a distinction between political
ambitions and the religion of Islam. [Though] ideological frustrations
… have created extremist movements, but this should not smear the
credibility of the entire Muslim world. [Translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/850/ - 2012.07.26
As you [graduands] know far better than I, science alone will not give
us much guidance on when to prolong human life and whether to intervene
in its creation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3409/ - 2012.07.25
The veil for women is a tradition which precedes Islam, and was
introduced as a sign of respect of women and not of submission, i.e.
against the concept that woman is an object of the society of men.
[translation] (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6010/ - 2012.07.24
In the West, there is a tendency to associate the idea of poverty with
that of religious practice. This does not happen in Islam, because we
are not supposed to separate material and spiritual existence.
Furthermore, we must live the two lives together. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7190/ - 2012.07.22
Freedom, in any area of human activity, does not mean the moral license to abuse that freedom. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9372/ - 2012.07.20
[Pluralism] is an attitude, a way of thinking, which regards our
differences not as threats but as gifts — as occasions for learning,
stretching, growing — and at the same time, as occasions for
appreciating anew the beauties of one’s own identity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9151/ - 2012.07.16
In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2012.07.15
The last words of the Prophet were ‘Companionship on High.’ This is a
third way of looking at survival after death (apart from the Biblical
raising of the body, and from the indefinite and varied doctrines of the
several Hindu schools of thought and the two great Buddhist Northern
and Southern sects). (Aga Khan III, MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1520/ - 2012.07.13
The challenge of diversity is now a global challenge and how we address it will have global consequences. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2012.07.10
The best way to redeem the concept of democracy around the world is to
improve the results it delivers…. We must not force publics to choose
between democratic government and competent government. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2012.07.09
Among history’s great truths is that a society is only able to advance
to newer horizons of greater promise when it overcomes insularity, and
recognises strength in difference. Despite, therefore, the tensions and
conflicts, which riddle our planet, the effective world of the future is
one of pluralism, a world that comprehends, accepts and builds on
diversity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7023/ - 2012.07.06
The interesting thing is that in the Qu’ran, for example, a lot of the
things which I would refer to as punishment, are punishment as
deterrent. The punishment itself is not the issue at stake. The question
is you have got to stop certain things from happening for the good of
society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1988/ - 2012.07.05
Islam, therefore, guides man not only in his spiritual relationship with
God, it also guides man in his relationship with his fellow men and his
relationship with the material world around him. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2391/ - 2012.07.02
A man may have performed prayers, fasting, almsgiving, pilgrimage and
all other religious duties, but he will be rewarded only in proportion
to the common sense, which he employed. (The Prophet)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture - 2012.07.01
The preferment of the learned man above the devotee, is as my preferment above the lowest of you. (The Prophet)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture - 2012.06.29
O ye who believe! Guard your duty to Allah, and speak words straight to the point; (Qur’an 33:70)
Qur’an 33:70 - Pickthall - 2012.06.25
[Building businesses] is part of the ethics of the faith [of Islam]. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8116/ - 2012.06.24
If I have placed great emphasis on education, it is because I have faith
in the human soul and judgement. I believe that the battle for peace
would be in a large measure solved if every one is sufficiently educated
to make a sound judgement on … issues. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4763/ - 2012.06.22
The message I will always give is that humanity cannot deal with present
day problems without a basis of religion. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10077/ - 2012.06.21
[W]hen we attack corruption, we are inclined to think primarily about
government and politics. I am one, however, who believes that corruption
is just as acute, and perhaps even more damaging, when the ethics of
the civil and private sectors deteriorate. We know from recent headlines
about scoundrels from the American financial scene to the halls of
European parliaments … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9281/ - 2012.06.20
One of the principles of Islam is that on his deathbed every person must try to leave behind a better world. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9009/ - 2012.06.19
Today, any reasonably well-informed observer would be struck by how
deeply this brotherhood of Muslims is divided…. What should have been
brotherhood has become rivalry, generosity has been replaced by greed
and ambition, the right to think is held to be the enemy of real faith
… (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6826/ - 2012.06.18
Do not ask about what does not exist, for there is work for you in what does exist. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 57 - 2012.06.17
The quest for identity can then become an exclusionary process — so
that we define ourselves less by what we are for and more by whom we are
against. When this happens, diversity turns quickly from a source of
beauty to a cause of discord. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.06.15
[A] core principle of my own faith — Islam — [is] that learning is
ennobling, regardless of the geographic or cultural origin of the
knowledge we acquire. Such teachings spurred a spiritually liberated
people to new waves of adventure in the realms of the spirit and the
intellect … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7408/ - 2012.06.14
There was no endeavour to revive the architectural languages of other
cultures…. I asked myself whether this direction … was in fact the
right one…. That was, of course, the essence of the [Aga Khan] Award
for Architecture. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8040/ - 2012.06.13
The ink of scholar is more holy than the blood of martyr. (Hazrat Ali)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture - 2012.05.25
I believe that people share the same basic worries, joys, and sadness.
If we can reach a consensus in terms of cosmopolitan ethics, we will
have attained something, which is very important. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2012.05.24
[A] healthy, civil society … is an essential bulwark that provides
citizens with multiple channels through which to exercise effectively
both their rights and duties of citizenship. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2012.05.23
I deeply believe that our collective conscience must accept that
pluralism is no less important than human rights for ensuring peace,
successful democracy and a better quality of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2012.05.22
[Another important notion is] regionalism where there is an attempt to
optimise the use of resources for people in a way which goes past
frontiers, and gives them the capacity to function more effectively in a
wider context. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2012.05.21
I’m a little bit worried that the stereotype solution is becoming very
prominent. I am not convinced yet that the total free market approach is
healthy for all of human society today as it is. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2012.05.20
Nigeria, comprises some 250 ethnic groups, often in conflict. In this
case, vast oil reserves — once a reason for hope — have become a
source of division. One wonders what might happen in other such places,
in Afghanistan, for example, if its immense subsoil wealth should become
an economic driver. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2012.05.19
Life is a great and noble calling; not a mean and grovelling thing to be
shuffled through as best as we can, but a lofty and exalted destiny.
(Aga Khan III, MSMS)
Memoirs? - 2012.05.11
Poverty is indeed a trial. but sickness is worse than poverty. And worse
than sickness of the body is sickness of the heart. Wealth is indeed a
blessing, but physical health is better than wealth. And even better
than physical health is soundness of heart. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 60 - 2012.05.10
The day, we no longer know how, nor have the time nor the faith to bow
in prayer to Allah because the human soul that He has told us is eternal
is no longer of sufficient importance to us to be worthy of an hour of
our daily working, profit-seeking time, will be a sunless day of
despair. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2012.05.09
The private university has freedom, but freedom has its price. That
price is courageous leadership, integrity in selecting students and
faculty; and creative, disciplined thought in tackling the most pressing
problems of mankind. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4351/ - 2012.05.08
I whole-heartedly support, for example, the goal of free and universal
access to primary education. But I would just as whole-heartedly
challenge this objective if it comes at the expense of secondary and
higher education. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9217/ - 2012.05.07
In Islam, men must respect women and women must respect men.
Nevertheless, we are also concerned with avoiding any abuse of freedom
that might cause women to be regarded as objects as they are perceived
by certain schools of thought in the West. Islam firmly rejects the
notion of woman as [an] object. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9473/ - 2012.05.05
An hour’s contemplation and study of God’s creation is better than a year of adoration. (The Prophet)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture - 2012.05.01
Two avid devotees are never surfeited: a seeker of knowledge, and a seeker of the world. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 65 - 2012.04.30
I believe that the coexistence of these two surging impulses — what one
might call a new globalism on one hand and a new tribalism on the other
— will be a central challenge for educational leaders in the years
ahead. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.04.27
The real question that Islam asks an individual is not whether he is
rich but ‘If you have the resources, what are you doing with them?’ And
the answer lies not in what one owns but, according to the ethics of
Islam, how one uses it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7190/ - 2012.04.23
What a petty thing it is to be jealous of the happiness of one’s friend. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.04.21
Yes [I am still as firmly committed to the idea of free enterprise as I
was a decade ago] — within certain ethical principles, of course, but
yes; I think that when you look at the development process, its strength
is based on the people’s will to work for themselves. That’s clear. And
we’ve seen that. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2012.04.20
Tolerance which grows out of hope is more than a negative virtue — more
than a convenient way to ease sectarian tensions — more than a sense
of forbearance. Instead, seen not as a pallid religious compromise but
as a sacred religious imperative, tolerance can become a powerful,
positive force, one which allows all of us to expand our horizons — and
enrich our lives. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7706/ - 2012.04.19
If the frontiers of physics are changing, it is due to scientists
discovering more and more about the universe, even though they will
never be able to probe its totality, since Allah’s creation is limitless
and continues. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3202/ - 2012.04.18
One cannot talk about integrity without also talking about faith. From
that perspective, I would put high among our priorities, both within and
outside the Islamic world, the need to renew our spiritual traditions.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2012.04.17
When someone has a clear characteristic, look closely for others like it. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 65 - 2012.04.16
The great problem of humankind in a global age will be to balance and
reconcile the two impulses of which I have spoken: the quest for
distinctive identity and the search for global coherence … (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.04.15
[In the West the] younger generation has almost completely forsaken its
churches. The pressure of an acquisitive society has made quite
frightening demands on family life. Mothers with younger children go out
to work in the millions. The juvenile crime rate soars upwards, homes
are broken, and the family unit itself is undermined at its source. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2012.04.13
With respect to relations between the Western and Islamic worlds, are we
not seeing a conflict of stereotypes and prejudices, exacerbated by a
good measure of ignorance about Islam? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6043/ - 2012.04.12
Western Europe and North America possess much that can be envied. They
also face social and moral conflicts which are far more daunting than
known in Asia or Africa. Increasingly, I believe, thinking people both
in Europe and America are asking: Where is this all prosperity leading
us? Are we any happier? Do we get as much satisfaction out of living as
did our fathers and forefathers? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2012.04.11
One who bases his mind on conjectures will always remain in ambiguity
and one who bases the religion of God on his guesswork will always
remain in doubt. (Hazrat Ali)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 19, Tradition 17 - 2012.04.10
Do not trust anyone except God; otherwise you will no longer remain a
believer. All bonds due to any reason, merits of inheritance, kinship,
confidences, innovations and ambiguities will fade out save those
established by the Noble Qur’an. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 19, Tradition 22 - 2012.04.09
The narrator [of our traditions] who makes an impact on the people is better than a thousand devotees. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 2, Tradition 9 - 2012.04.07
Understand information you hear with the reasoning of responsibility not
the reasoning of the reporter, for there are many reports of knowledge,
but few are responsible. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 14 - 2012.04.06
[Y]ou can have nothing in your pocket, and only the clothes and the
shoes you wear, but if you have a well educated mind, you will be able
to seize the opportunities life offers you, and start all over again.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.04.05
[T]he best path to knowledge is to admit first what it is we do not
know, and to open our minds to what others can teach us. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8373/ - 2012.04.04
A man is concealed under his tongue. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 25 - 2012.04.03
Throughout the Islamic world there is a thirst for the images of
modernity, of material progress, the symbols of power…. Now the need
is for new symbols and they are being imported complete and intact
without adaptation, without filtering out the inappropriate, without
perhaps even asking the question whether they could, or should, be
different. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2012.04.02
Having a small family is one of two kinds of ease. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 24 - 2012.04.01
And whoso doeth good works, whether of male or female, and is a
believer, such will enter paradise and they will not be wronged the dint
in a date-stone. (Qur’an 4:124)
Qur’an 4:124 - Pickthall - 2012.03.31
For those who put in order what is between them and God, God will put in
order what is between them and other people. and for those who put in
order their task for the Hereafter, God puts in order their business in
this world. And those who have caution from themselves have protection
from God. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 71 - 2012.03.30
The spirit of Islam is to share knowledge and I always tell the
community not to think in material terms. Think in terms of knowledge
and think what you can offer our institutions in various parts of the
world. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8454/ - 2012.03.29
And they (women) have rights similar to those (of men) over them, in a just manner. (Qur’an 2:228)
Qur’an 2:228 - Pickthall - 2012.03.28
Jealousy is the soul’s prison. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.03.27
Democracies need to distinguish responsibly between the prerogatives of
the people and the obligations of their leaders [who] must meet their
obligations. When democracies fail, it is usually because publics have
grown impatient with ineffectual leaders and governments. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2012.03.26
There is never going to be consensus on leadership. There is always
going to be differences of opinion and the concept of leadership by
referendum is not necessarily the right decision. I think the role of
leadership is to have the courage to live by certain objectives, certain
standards. If they are challenged, let them be challenged. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2012.03.25
It has been said that the Internet is the most important development for
education since the invention of the printing press. But for now it is
grossly underused for educational purposes.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5920/ - 2012.03.24
Mildness is a protective covering, and intelligence is a cutting sword.
So cover the flaws in your character with mildness and battle your whims
with intelligence. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali | Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 63 - 2012.03.23
Love your friend with some reserve. for he might become inimical to you
someday. Despise your enemy with some reserve, for he might become your
friend someday. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 47 - 2012.03.22
An Ayat in the Qur’an says: ‘Verily, God does not change man’s condition
unless they change that which is in themselves.’ We must show greater
faith in the ability of the individual to be creative. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3381/ - 2012.03.21
Traditions evolve in a context, and the context always changes, thus
demanding a new understanding of essential principles. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6826/ - 2012.03.20
Human nature does not alter very much, and nor do human needs, however
strongly the winds of change may blow. The same is true of nations. The
search is always for a workable ideology and rising standards of living.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1322/ - 2012.03.15
If there should be a reconciliation come between your enemy and
yourself, and you pledge your world thereto, honour your obligation,
obedient to the vice of your conscience. (Hazrat Ali)
Maixims of Ali - 2012.03.14
Human genius is found in its variety which is the work of Allah.
Harnessing that genius to the fullest should be one of the goals of all
modern societies and nations in addition to mobilising creative capacity
from all segments of society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5445/ - 2012.03.12
Death is less hard than asking for alms. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.03.11
[A] democratic society requires much more than democratic politics.
Governments alone do not make democracy work. Private initiative is also
essential, including a vital role for those institutions which are
collectively described as ‘civil society.’ (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2012.03.10
When asked how he overcame his opponents. Hazrat Ali explained. ‘I never
met any man who did not help me against himself.’ (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 51 - 2012.03.09
Why would homogenisation be such a danger? Because diversity and variety
constitute one of the most beautiful gifts of the Creator, and because a
deep commitment to our own particularity is part of what it means to be
human. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.03.08
When you see a blameable trait in another, guard against its showing in yourself. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.03.07
The essential goal of global development has been to create and sustain
effective nation states — coherent societies that are well governed,
economically self-sustaining, equitable in treating their peoples,
peaceful amongst themselves, and sensitive to their impact on planetary
sustainability. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9217/ - 2012.03.06
I never denied God since I knew Him. I never doubted God since I saw
Him. | I never doubted truth after I was shown it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali | Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2012.03.05
[Ismailis] are not prepared to say that there is a basic conflict
between the modern world and our practice of Islam. I am not sure that
this conflict is seen by all Ithnashri Muslims in Iran. I don’t think it
is. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1872/ - 2012.03.04
Civilisations manifest and express themselves through their art. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10023/ - 2012.03.03
I ask you today to think about this: is it really impossible to adapt
for our modern needs those magnificent finishes and building materials
so widely used in our past? If our historic buildings used red stone,
tile and marble, must we really now only use concrete and glass? … Is
it really beyond our powers to revive traditional concepts of
landscaping? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2012.03.02
Treat another as you would yourself. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.03.01
I do not think that states can fail, but democracies certainly can. The
failure of democracy is not specific to the Islamic world. [According to
a UN survey] about 55% of the population in South American states said
that they would prefer to live under a paternalistic dictatorship
instead of an incompetent or corrupt democracy that is not improving
their living condition. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7900/ - 2012.02.29
It is a wise man’s part to obey his superiors, to respect his equal, and to be just to his inferior. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.28
Many today across the Muslim world know their history and deeply value
their heritage, but are also keenly sensitive to the radically altered
conditions of the modern world. They also realise how erroneous and
unreasonable it is to believe that there is an unbridgeable divide
between their heritage and the modern world. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8373/ - 2012.02.27
Seventy sins of an ignorant person will be forgiven before one single sin of a learned person (is forgiven). (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 15, Tradition 1 - 2012.02.26
[Saying that scientific and technological progress is incompatible with
the practice of Islam is] one of the most offensive thing that can be
said about Islam and I take issue with it in every way. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2012.02.25
Nonchalance breeds laziness. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.23
To place reliance on anyone before getting to know him well is to lack wisdom. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.22
And, you know, that an infinite part of the sheer interpretation of
Islam is the rational process. And I attach enormous importance to that
because it’s a significant part of the way we live and work. So I
encourage that. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2012.02.20
Men bear a closer resemblance to their contemporaries than to their fathers. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.19
As world affairs have been steadily transformed by the process of
globalisation, the ability to command and control has become less
important than the ability to anticipate, connect and respond. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8188/ - 2012.02.17
The man of learning lives even after his death: the ignorant man is dead while still alive. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.16
Books are the gardens of the learned. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.15
… I believe in the eternity of the faith and I believe it is the faith
for man. And in that sense, Muslims will find within their faith all
the dimensions they need to live satisfactorily in the future. The
question is not one of the faith; it is a question of what man does. The
faith gives him the environment in which to function today and
tomorrow. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2012.02.13
One who seeks advices learns to recognise mistakes. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.12
Best deeds of a great man is to forgive and forget. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.10
Few Christians would regard the Inquisition in the past or the IRA today
as being representative of Christian principles. Similarly contemporary
pressure groups within the Islamic world are not necessarily
characteristic of the central message of the faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3183/ - 2012.02.09
One who guards his secrets has complete control over his affairs. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.07
One of my objectives [has been] to help the Community adjust to
increasingly rapid forces of modernisation and what I would call threats
of extreme secularisation, the imbalances which one notes in certain
parts of the world caused by the unequivocal search for material wealth,
which passes the limits of reason. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2012.02.06
Do not flatter: it is no sign of faith. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.02.05
When they can be creative, people are far and away the Third World’s largest resource. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3127/ - 2012.02.04
[O]ne strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is
not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours,
God has opened and continues to open new windows for us to see the
marvels of His creation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2817/ - 2012.02.02
My role, first of all, is to interpret and integrate the faith with worldly life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5064/ - 2012.02.01
There shall be no sin (imputed) unto those who believe and do good works
for what they may have eaten (in the past). So be mindful of your duty
(to Allah), and believe, and do good works; and again: be mindful of
your duty, and believe; and once again: be mindful of your duty, and do
right. Allah loveth the good. (Qur’an 5:93)
Qur’an 5:93 - Pickthall - 2012.01.31
Whoever has pity on himself, oppresses not another. (Hazrat Ali)
Maixims of Ali - 2012.01.30
Be of so agreeable behaviour, that you will be mourned when you die and sighed for when absent. (Hazrat Ali)
Maixims of Ali - 2012.01.29
The fundamental economic issues of the Third World will not be resolved
unless we make sure that the rural population see their future in the
rural areas of the countryside and that they do not all seek to become
urbanised. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2012.01.28
To raise the quality of life in rural areas is something that is worth
highlighting because to me it is fundamentally important. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2012.01.27
Anger is a species of madness, since repentance succeeds to it, or if it
does not, it means that the madness is too firmly established. (Hazrat
Ali)
Maixims of Ali - 2012.01.26
I am not prepared to say that a Jew and a Muslim cannot live side by
side in different circumstances at peace with each other. In fact, the
Qur’an and Islam as a faith, accept Judaism as a monotheistic faith.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1872/ - 2012.01.23
Adding a dome and towers to a downtown office block does not make it either Islamic or appropriate. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3006/ - 2012.01.22
Too often, democracy is understood to be only about elections —
momentary majorities. But effective governance is much more than
that…. We must go beyond the simple word ‘democracy’ if we are to
build a framework for effective pluralism. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2012.01.21
[T]he path to meritocracy in leadership is meritocracy in education. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8092/ - 2012.01.20
[A]ristocracies of class must give way to aristocracies of talent … that is, to meritocracies. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8092/ - 2012.01.19
[In terms of] the philosophical environment in which an individual
lives, there is no doubt that the faith of Islam places the individual
in society in the world in which he lives, in a position where he is not
in conflict with his time and he is not in conflict with science and
technology of his time. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2012.01.18
Whoever sees his own error, is tender of another’s fault. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.01.17
Encourage beneficence and prevent bad deeds. (Hazrat Ali)
Maixims of Ali - 2012.01.16
I just don’t believe that people are entirely motivated by greed or
power or that sort of thing. I think they give of the best of themselves
if they contribute from all aspects of their being, their own
aspirations. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3268/ - 2012.01.14
Lo! therein verily is a reminder for him who hath a heart, or giveth ear with full intelligence. (Qur’an 50:37)
Qur’an 50:37 - Pickthall - 2012.01.13
I believe that the challenge of pluralism is never completely met.
Pluralism is a process and not a product. It is a mentality, a way of
looking at a diverse and changing world. A pluralistic environment is a
kaleidoscope that history shakes every day. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2012.01.12
Universities have a special obligation to produce new knowledge — though always within ethical bounds. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2012.01.11
New knowledge is a constantly unfolding gift of God — but it is rarely something that is achieved in isolation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2012.01.10
[A]s Imam, I am concerned with the encouragement of all forms of
endeavour and, further, with the quality of its performance, because
that affects the quality of human life. What is done must be done
honestly, sincerely and well. We cannot afford to be incompetent,
because if we are, we damage the people we seek to serve. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2521/ - 2012.01.09
The intelligent man is whoever knows how to be happier today than yesterday. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.01.08
To give a man advice publicly is to cast blame upon him. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.01.07
True cultural sensitivity is something far more rigorous, and even more
intellectual than [mere tolerance or sympathy or sensitivity]. It
implies a readiness to study and to learn across cultural barriers, an
ability to see others as they see themselves. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2012.01.06
Not everything within traditions is old and outmoded and not everything
within modernity is a vehicle for progress or highly effective. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3347/ - 2012.01.05
Hate men, and you will repent it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.01.04
I believe that quality control is every bit as important to social
institutions as it is in business. We can only achieve it by discarding
the concepts of the past and introducing modern management methods; by
monitoring results and through proper reporting systems and establishing
performance benchmarks. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2707/ - 2012.01.02
With all haste flee the debauched and vicious men. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2012.01.01
Catering to public voyeuristic curiosities, with little concern for the
value of personal privacy, has become a way of life for some journalists
around the world. The question as I see it is simply this — will our
journalists write about what is truly significant for our societies? Or
will they downgrade or trivialise news into entertainment … (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5246/ - 2011.12.31
Shun the society of those whose talk of another is of one vicious; for every companion of theirs, there is a share. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.30
Whoever has compassion upon orphans, will see his own children treated kindly. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.29
One hundred years from now, I believe that our successors will look back
at the founding of the Aga Khan Academies as an important milestone in
the development of Tanzania and East Africa. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7224/ - 2011.12.28
One of the greatest of crimes is to destroy a work of art. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.27
Whoever asks for more than he deserves, is to meet for despair. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.25
Cursed is he who throws his burdens on the shoulders of others. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili December 1977 or 1979 - 2011.12.24
One bold against the king lays himself open to misprision. | Whoever betrays his king, loses all security of life. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.23
I do pay attention to detail because I think ultimately one should
address an issue once and try and get it right and not have to come back
because you have been slip-shod or because you haven’t taken into
account something which you could have foreseen. There’s so much that
has to be done, it is better I think to try and do it once properly.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3268/ - 2011.12.22
Whenever people omit any of their religious obligations to cultivate
their worldly affairs, God inflicts something worse on them. Hazrat Ali
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 76 - 2011.12.21
The bitterness of this world is the sweetness of the Hereafter, and the
sweetness of this world is the bitterness of the Hereafter. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 88 - 2011.12.20
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, most of the Muslim world was
in one form or the other subjugated by the will of the West…. One of
the many consequences was that the concept of Muslim statehood was
broken in time and in action to be replaced by the concepts which were
Western in inspiration as well as in practice. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2011.12.18
In a world where quality of life is increasingly measured in material
terms there is risk that the essential value system of Islam will be
eroded, or even threatened with disappearance. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8171/ - 2011.12.17
The foremost of people is the one by whom the high-minded are recognized. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 64 - 2011.12.16
Do not obey creatures in defiance of the Creator. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 83 - 2011.12.15
In countries of hundreds or millions of people that have never
experienced democracy, I’m not sure how quickly that process can take
place. I think it’s desirable, but I’m frankly cautious about the speed
with which it can be achieved. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2011.12.14
One of the indications of vileness is to give offence of good men. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.13
Whoever plants the tree of goodness, gathers the sweetest fruit. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.12.12
Professional standards and assumptions can provide a form of
intolerance, pride and myopia as intractable as the rigidities of
traditional societies. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3409/ - 2011.12.11
Whoever seeks something gets it, or part of it. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 59 - 2011.12.10
Friendship of fathers means kinship among their sons and kinship is more
in need of friendship than is friendship in need of kinship. (Hazrat
Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 51 - 2011.12.09
God has prescribed precepts for you that you should not thwart, and has
delineated boundaries for you that you should not cross, and has
forbidden things to you that you should not violate, and has been silent
to you, though not out of forgetfulness, about things that you should
not take up. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 76 - 2011.12.08
People sleep in bereavement but not in rage. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 51 - 2011.12.07
Do not associate with a fool, because he presents his behavior in a
favorable light and wishes you would be like him. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 49 - 2011.12.06
[T]he revelation of Islam — my faith — looks upon freedom from hunger,
provision of appropriate shelter and clothing, security against fear
for one’s safety, good health, learning and wisdom, and generation of
wealth as a blessing to strive for, and to share in the creation of an
equitable order of peace and harmony. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7684/ - 2011.12.05
Everyone who is being overtaken by death asks for more time, while
everyone who still has time makes excuses for procrastination. (Hazrat
Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 49 - 2011.12.04
Reflection is not like seeing with the eyes, for eyes may lie … while
the intellect does not deceive one who asks for advice. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 48 - 2011.12.02
If institutions are born from society, then I affirm that it is to our
society that we must turn, and ask ourselves: If Islam is to be the
source of inspiration, how do we transform this inspiration into
practical terms of everyday life? … I am convinced that our faith and
our heritage contain all the indicators that we shall need. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2011.12.01
All containers are reduced in capacity by what is placed in them, except a container of knowledge, which expands. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 38 - 2011.11.30
Among ways of atonement for major sins are helping the troubled and comforting the distressed. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 73 - 2011.11.29
One who goes too far in argument errs, while one who does not go far
enough is oppressed and it is impossible for a quarreler to be
conscientious toward Truth. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 50 - 2011.11.28
An evil that repels you is fairer in the sight of God than a good deed that charms you. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 70 - 2011.11.27
Do not say what you do not know, but neither say [all] of what you do know. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 59 - 2011.11.26
[In Muslim states] the whole approach to education, without becoming
archaic, should begin now to re-introduce, as widely as possible, the
work and thought of our great Muslim writers and philosophers. Thus,
from the nursery school to the university, the thoughts of the young
will be inspired by our own heritage … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2011.11.25
Beware of the flight of blessings, for nothing that runs away is returned. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 44 - 2011.11.24
Form partnerships with those who have abundant income, for they are
fitter for wealth and better suited to its reduction. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 43 - 2011.11.23
A major goal of the Academies is therefore to restore the public
standing of the teaching profession so that future generations of
educated men and women come to see in teaching a great, valid and
rewarding opportunity in life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7023/ - 2011.11.22
Contentment is kingdom enough; goodness of character is prosperity enough. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 42 - 2011.11.20
[The developing world] has oscillated between hope and disappointment.
The disappointments often resulted from the false hope that one theory
or one dogma, one person or one party had all the answers to the riddles
of development. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8187/ - 2011.11.19
The afflicted one whose trial is severe is not more in need of prayer
than the one who is spared but not immune to affliction. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 96 - 2011.11.17
Do not approach extra observances when they interfere with obligatory observances. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 68 - 2011.11.16
I believe the industrialised world has often expected developing
societies to behave as if they were similar to the established nation
states of the West, forgetting the centuries, and the processes which
moulded the Western democracies. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9217/ - 2011.11.15
The superiority of the learned person over the worshipper is like the
brilliance of a full moon among the stars in a moonlit night. (The
Prophet)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 4, Tradition 1 - 2011.11.13
Any differences must be resolved through tolerance, through
understanding, through compassion, through dialogue, through
forgiveness, through generosity, all of which represent the ethics of
Islam. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6062/ - 2011.11.12
The foremost of people in forgiveness is the most powerful of them in punishment. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2011.11.11
The man most secure in his knowledge is he whose convictions are not weakened by doubt. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.11.10
[The Ummah] must become full and even leading participants in the
Knowledge Society of the 21st Century. That will mean embracing the
values of collaboration and co-ordination, openness and partnership,
choice and diversity — which will under-gird the Knowledge Society.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2011.11.09
First of all, you [the West] refer to the Muslim world — have you ever
heard a Muslim refer to the Christian world? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2011.11.08
We should encourage the Western education system to bring in knowledge
of the civilisation of Islam into the secondary [schools]. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8454/ - 2011.11.07
An important thing is looking forward across time … The reactive mode
is a tremendous liability. Being in an anticipatory mode changes the
whole nature of things, and the longer you have to change things, the
better chance you have of making it work. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2011.11.06
Jealousy is the soul’s prison. | Jealousy corrodes the body. | Jealousy brings sadness. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.11.05
He is my dearest friend who points out my drawbacks to me and gives me a gift by doing so. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili December 1977 or 1979 - 2011.11.04
A learned scholar is like a palm tree and people sit under it and wait
patiently for the fruits to fall. The rewards of a learned scholar are
much more than the rewards of one who observes fast almost every day and
fights in the way of God. (Hazrat Ali)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 6, Tradition 1 - 2011.11.03
Truth is the road most beaten, and knowledge the best guide. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.11.02
Shun oppressing one with no defence against you but God. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.11.01
I relate the lineage of Islam as no one has related it before me. Islam
is surrender, and surrender is certitude; certitude is authentication,
authentication is assurance; assurance is realization, and realization
is work. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 77 - 2011.10.31
A man unable to distinguish good and evil is an enemy. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.10.30
One without pity for others will never be pitied. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.10.29
The conviction that home-grown intellectual leadership of exceptional
calibre is the best driver of a society’s destiny, underpins the Ismaili
Imamat’s endeavour to create catalytic centres of educational
excellence. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7023/ - 2011.10.28
Return not evil for good; for that is to obstruct benevolence. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.10.27
Truth is weighty but wholesome; falsehood is light but poisonous. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 58 - 2011.10.26
The old saying that man’s material progress can be achieved by a
judicious application of both the carrot and the stick has a great deal
of truth in it. It could be argued today that efficient management in
many of the world’s mixed economies has reached a point where the public
sector could benefit from a little more stick and where private
initiative would readily respond to a few more carrots. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1791/ - 2011.10.25
One who bears in mind the distance of the journey prospers. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 48 - 2011.10.24
For one who initiates wrongdoing there is remorse on the morrow. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 34 - 2011.10.23
I would like to be able to convince people that they can work towards
common objectives, no matter what backgrounds they come from in
language, in faith, in society, that one doesn’t have to give up one’s
heritage or one’s individuality or one’s faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2011.10.22
Rage is a kind of madness, because the sufferer is regretful, so if he
is not regretful, that means his madness is ingrained. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 46 - 2011.10.21
From a journalistic point of view, it is often assumed that the best
news is bad news because bad news sells well. This is the yardstick of
many of the media in Western countries. I do not believe it should nor
need be the yardstick in the developing world. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1825/ - 2011.10.18
Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing unity. Spirit
and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is
answerable to God for what man has created. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2010/ - 2011.10.16
Do not hate what you do not know; for the greater part of knowledge consists of what you do not know. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.10.15
It is high time Africans conveyed to the world what they think of
themselves, even if it is in several voices and cannot always be
flattering, instead of being told unidirectionally what others think of
them. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5246/ - 2011.10.14
When you are reduced to poverty, use charity to trade with God. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 89 - 2011.10.13
The suppositions of a wise man is nearer being right than an ignoramus’ knowledge. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.10.12
[I]t is my hope that [the Aga Khan Acadamies] will stimulate creativity,
intellectual curiosity and honest inquiry so that their students can
adapt and thrive in a world of rapid change; can make informed
judgements on life’s daily challenges, and place those judgements in an
ethical framework. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7023/ - 2011.10.11
Help descends according to necessity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 79 - 2011.10.10
Forbearance and patience are consonant one with the other; loftiness of aspiration produces them both. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 65 - 2011.10.09
Change is woven inescapably into the texture of men’s lives and if
universities are to fulfil their roles they must both respond to change
and initiate it through research, in the sciences especially. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3202/ - 2011.10.08
How sleep demolishes the resolutions of the day! (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 64 - 2011.10.07
Truth will throw down anyone who fights with it. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 61 - 2011.10.05
No one community or country has a monopoly of intelligence, wisdom or creativity … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2909/ - 2011.10.04
Many a spoken word is more piercing than an attack. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 60 - 2011.10.03
We should not forget the great periods of Muslim history have always
been marked by intelligence, by competence and by knowledge — of
science, of astronomy — and of everything that was important, at the
time, for the quality of life of men and women of the Ummah. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6769/ - 2011.10.02
Speak, and be known, for a man is hidden under his tongue. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 60 - 2011.10.01
Essentially in my belief in the message of Islam which is that you must
not impede or damage or do anything to hurt the people amongst which you
live. On the contrary, you seek to build relations with them and uphold
their quality of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2011.09.30
And one who knows that his speech is part of his action will speak little except of that which concerns him. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 56 - 2011.09.28
Islam is different. If we are happy, as Muslims, we should thank God for
our happiness. God reflects his presence, not only through suffering in
human life, but also through happiness, through friendship. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2011.09.27
Understanding is what makes relationships. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 62 - 2011.09.26
Everything with which one is content is sufficient. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 60 - 2011.09.25
Islam is not passive. It does not admit that man’s spiritual needs
should be isolated from his material daily activities. A Muslim must
play an active role in helping his family and the brotherhood of
believers. The object is not to achieve status, wealth, and power, but
to contribute to society’s overall development. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3401/ - 2011.09.24
My concept of Islam is [that it is] a faith for all time, not backward looking. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2011.09.23
The effective world of the future is one of pluralism — that is to say,
a world that comprehends and accepts differences. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6848/ - 2011.09.22
They question thee about strong drink and games of chance. Say: In both
is great sin, and (some) utility for men; but the sin of them is greater
than their usefulness. (Qur’an 2:219)
Qur’an 2:219 - Pickthall - 2011.09.21
A jealous man makes the worst companion. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.20
To give yourself up to nonchalance is to lay up regrets. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.19
I think that democracy is founded on … two concepts. [T]he concept of
consultation and … the concept of consultation for the purpose of
merit — of finding the people best qualified to lead. So I see no
conflict at all [between Islam and democracy] if I go back to the
original construct of the Muslim community and how they dealt with the
issues of leadership. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7106/ - 2011.09.18
One who practices moderation and temperance will never be troubled with poverty. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.17
Shut no door that you will not be able to open. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.16
Pluralist societies are not accidents of history. They are a product of
enlightened education and continuous investment by governments and all
of civil society in recognising and celebrating the diversity of the
world’s peoples. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7255/ - 2011.09.15
Whoever attains the highest step of his ambition, ought to prepare for the maximum of disgust. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.14
Jealousy is a disease incurable that ceases not until the death of the jealous one, or the person he is jealous of. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.13
Greed and covetousness dulls the faculties of judgement and wisdom. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.12
In our globalised world, the best standards in any one place will
quickly become the globe’s standards, and societies which cannot meet
these standards will be left behind to face decades of marginalisation.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8171/ - 2011.09.11
Bravery is a resplendent honour, and cowardice a visible degradation. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.10
One who enters by the wrong door, arouses suspicion. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.09
It is my hope that through our micro-finance programmes we will
eventually create a virtuous circle of income generation in which the
poor — half of the world’s population — will break out of their
economic and social exclusion and achieve a level of self-reliance that
allows them, in turn, to help those less fortunate. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7211/ - 2011.09.08
One who will give nothing, loses praise. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.09.07
Assess the status of people on the basis of the frequency of their quoting our traditions. (Imam Jafar as-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 16, Tradition 12 - 2011.09.06
Genuine hope … has usually been rooted in a tough sense of realism — a
recognition that no one has all the answers, that today’s answers may
not work forever, that good people do not all think alike, and that we
must constantly learn from one another … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8187/ - 2011.09.05
One who has authority is like someone riding on a lion; he is envied for
his position, but he knows his situation better. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 46 - 2011.09.04
Physical health comes from having little envy. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 46 - 2011.09.03
[T]he visual, physical and emotional impact of a decent home can light
the spirit of human endeavour. A proper home can provide the bridge
across that terrible gulf between utter poverty and the possibility of a
better future. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2765/ - 2011.09.02
For me a session with one whose integrity I rely most is better than having done good deeds for a whole year. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 8, Tradition 5 - 2011.09.01
Be generous but not extravagant, be frugal but not miserly. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.31
I think improving the quality of life, of people, is a fundamental
Islamic concept. Making them self-sufficient and helping weaker sections
of a country or a community. That is fundamental, right from the
revelation of Islam — the way Prophet Muhammad lived himself — it is a
fundamental Islamic concept. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3134/ - 2011.08.30
The greatest wealth is unconcern with people’s possessions. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 53 - 2011.08.29
Whoever turns away from truth perishes. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 34 - 2011.08.28
One of the things I admire about Canada, in [its] society, is that [it
has] made meritocracy work across all the communities in Canada. I’ve
observed that, I’ve watched it, I’ve admired it, and I say to myself,
how has Canada succeeded in doing it? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9392/ - 2011.08.27
Shun the society of those whose talk of another is of one vicious; for every companion of theirs there is a share. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.26
Whoever is betrayed by his agent, will see all his projects spoilt. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.25
Reasonable fasting for a month in every year, provided a man’s health is
not impaired thereby, is an essential part of the body’s discipline
through which the body learns to renounce all impure desires…. [These
are] tenets of Islam which are professed and held in common by all
Muslims of any and every sect or subsect. (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1225/ - 2011.08.24
Asked about faith, Hazrat Ali said, ‘Faith is experience by the heart. avowal by the tongue. and action by the limbs.’
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 85 - 2011.08.23
Do not hope for anything but God, and do not fear anything but your sin. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 70 - 2011.08.22
A: Even among Muslim States they do not agree whether or not to work
full time during Ramadhan. Q: How would you advise your communities? A: I
think if it was, say, a steel factory in a time of national emergency,
of war or something like that, then I would advise them to work during
Ramadhan. If it were peace, and production were not so vital, I would
advise them to observe Ramadhan. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1400/ - 2011.08.21
The most pleasant and blessed marriage is that in which there is least expenditure. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977 - 2011.08.20
Free enterprise [in developing countries] will only survive if
individual corporate self-discipline replaces the rule of long
established law and accepted business practice. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1750/ - 2011.08.18
The educated man sees with both heart and mind; the ignoramus sees only with his eyes. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.17
Hope is like a mirage: it deceives the looker, and gives the lie to whosoever counts on it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.16
Technologies, after all, are merely instruments — they can be used for
good or ill. How we use them will depend — in every age and in every
culture — not on what sits on our desktops, but on what is in our heads
and in our hearts. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.08.15
O ye who believe! If an evil-liver brings you news, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance … (Qur’an 49:6)
Qur’an 49:6 - Pickthall - 2011.08.13
Among history’s great truths is that a society is only able to advance
to newer horizons of greater promise when it overcomes insularity, and
recognises strength in difference. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7023/ - 2011.08.11
He triumphs who has learnt to wait. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.10
At the very heart of [the Aga Khan Academies program] is one, central
conviction: the key to future progress in the developing world will be
its ability to identify, to develop, and to retain expert and effective
home-grown leadership. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7877/ - 2011.08.09
In the Qur’an is report of the past, information on the future, and wisdom for the meanwhile. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 97 - 2011.08.08
[I]nsofar as people’s knowledge today is significantly different from
what it was thirteen hundred years ago, we have to live in our time. And
indeed I would vigorously oppose anybody who would claim that the faith
of Islam cannot be of the twentieth or the twenty-first or the
twenty-third, twenty-fifth century.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7089/ - 2011.08.06
Modesty is the symbol of faith and makes you entitled to Heaven. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977 - 2011.08.05
Be your own administrator in respect to your wealth, and do with it what
you wish would be done with it after your passing. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 45 - 2011.08.04
I have sought to underwrite our endeavours in social development with
initiatives designed to promote economic progress. The two are
inextricably linked and must remain so if people are not to be faced
with the unacceptable choice between the poverty of the economics of
welfare, on the one hand, and raw material greed untempered by any
social conscience, on the other. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3401/ - 2011.08.02
Your weakness is hidden as long as the luck is yours. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.08.01
Words are under your control until you have spoken them, but you come
under their control once you have spoken them. So guard your tongue as
you guard your gold, for many a word snatches away blessings and brings
adversity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 58 - 2011.07.31
There is no adornment like politeness. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.30
The generous man performs what he promises, and when he is powerful, he spares his enemy. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.29
The eternal values of Islam are such that whether the man lived a
hundred years ago or lives a hundred years from now, he is always in his
correct position. The is no conflict. So in terms of the humanistic,
permanent values of a faith, I would say that obviously Islam puts an
individual in a very privileged position. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2011.07.28
A single stone in a house that has been taken unjustly is a guarantee of its ruin. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 45 - 2011.07.27
One who is in search of honest earning is like a warrior in the way of Allah. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977 or 1979 - 2011.07.26
Historically, the arts, including architecture, have taken their
principal inspiration from religious faith. But when art is separated
from faith-based roots, other influences can dominate — including
soulless technology and empty secularisation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9616/ - 2011.07.25
Speech is as a medicine, a small dose of which is beneficial, but a large one mortal. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.24
We have adopted a wise attitude in our development projects by keeping away from speculations. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2074/ - 2011.07.23
It may be true that there is traditionally in the West a hostile
religious attitude towards Islam, and a corresponding political attitude
going back to the Crusades. But this is the past and the Western world
must abandon this mentality wherever it persists. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2074/ - 2011.07.22
The worst of provisions for the Hereafter is aggression toward people. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 41 - 2011.07.21
A learned person who avails himself of his knowledge is far better than seventy thousand worshippers of God. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 2, Tradition 8 - 2011.07.20
Just as press freedom is a means for holding governments accountable, so
must the press itself be held accountable for the way it does its work.
Accountable to whom? To the political leaders …? Never. To the larger
community …? Always … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5137/ - 2011.07.19
[P]luralism is the climate best suited for creativity, curiosity and inquiry to thrive. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6525/ - 2011.07.18
Stupidity includes hurrying before the right time and waiting until the opportunity has passed. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 57 - 2011.07.17
[T]he one who has no knowledge of religious jurisprudence will have to
depend on others and the one who depends on others will be led by them
through the gates of ignorance and the members of our community will
remain unaware of this misguidance. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 2, Tradition 6 - 2011.07.16
One who encourages anyone to attain righteousness will be rewarded as if he himself had acted on it. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 4, Tradition 3 - 2011.07.15
Perfection in learning the real values of religion lies in seeking knowledge and acting according to it. (Hazrat Ali)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 1, Tradition 4 - 2011.07.14
Those who possess knowledge means those whose actions verify their
words; and those whose deeds do not corroborate their words are not
among the learned ones. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 5, Tradition 2 - 2011.07.13
Silence increases dignity. | Silence is an ignorant man’s veil. | Silence is the garden of meditation. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.12
To keep silent when you can say something wise and useful is as bad as
to keep on propagating foolish and unwise thoughts. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.11
[T]he question is less one of whether a man is successful in business or
in his profession than of the way in which he is achieving success and
the purposes for which his achievements are utilised. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2707/ - 2011.07.10
Anyone who wishes to keep his dignity should give up disputation. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 57 - 2011.07.09
Do not think of anyone’s statement as evil if you can find it capable of bearing good. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 57 - 2011.07.08
Surely, one of the great questions of our time is whether we can learn
to live creatively with both the global and the tribal impulse,
embracing the adventure of a broader internationalism even as we drink
more deeply from the wellsprings of a particular heritage. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5137/ - 2011.07.07
Conscience is the head of character. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 62 - 2011.07.06
If you find a man deeply engrossed in prayers and fasting, do not extol
his piety unless you find out his level of intelligence. (The Prophet)
Usul al Kafi, Book 1, Chapter 1, Tradition 28 - 2011.07.05
Experience tells us that people are not born with the innate ability nor
the wish to see the other as an equal individual in society….
Pluralism is a value that must be taught. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2011.07.04
[The Ismaili] interpretation of Islam … is intellectually strong and humanistic in outlook. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3134/ - 2011.07.03
A single enemy is one too many. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.07.02
Muslim universities … have a unique responsibility: to engender in
their societies a new confidence. It must be a confidence based on
intellectual excellence, but also on a refreshed and enlightened
appreciation of the scientific, linguistic, artistic and religious
traditions that underpin and give such global value to our own Muslim
civilisations … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6830/ - 2011.07.01
A man without faith lacks generosity. | Greed is permanent slavery. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.06.30
The best speaking is that which fits the deed. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.06.29
He who gives his verdict (on religious matters) before people without
due knowledge and proper guidance is cursed by the angels of mercy as
well as by the angels of chastisement and he is also responsible for the
sin of those who act according to that verdict. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 11, Tradition 3 - 2011.06.28
The ignorant man does not see his mistakes, and disdains advice. | Who
never corrects himself, will never correct another. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.06.27
A great risk to the modernisation of the Islamic world is identity loss
– the blind assumption that we should give up all our essential values
and cultural expressions to those of other civilisations. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7587/ - 2011.06.26
He who lieth faileth miserably. (Qur’an 20:61)
Qur’an 20:61 - Pickthall - 2011.06.25
[T]he beginnings we undertake [with the Aga Khan Acadamies] may well be
among the most important things we will ever do. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7877/ - 2011.06.24
How can credible leadership be nurtured in rural environments when rural
children have nowhere to go after primary school? The experience of the
AKDN is that secondary education for rural youth is a condition sine
qua non for sustainable progress. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9217/ - 2011.06.23
You are getting enough from your intelligence if it makes plain to you
the ways that lead you astray from your integrity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 62 - 2011.06.22
O seeker of knowledge, there are three signs of a learned scholar: knowledge, forbearance and silence. (Hazrat Ali)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 5, Tradition 7 - 2011.06.21
[W]ith a Muslim majority in some 44 countries and nearly a quarter of
the globe’s population, it should be evident that our world cannot be
made up of identical people, sharing identical goals, motivations or
interpretations of the faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5089/ - 2011.06.20
[Islam says that the best form of charity] is to give in such a way that
the person becomes master of one’s own destiny. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2011.06.19
Respect your own children and make their manners good. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili December 1977 & 11th July, 1990 - 2011.06.18
If the dominating assumption of media is that the rest of society is up
to no good, that the best journalism is what many call ‘gotcha’
journalism, then the media will forfeit a more constructive and nobler
role. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2011.06.17
Stinginess combines similar defects, for it is a bridle that leads to all evils. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 58 - 2011.06.16
Correctness of opinion goes along with changes of the times; it comes with them and goes with them. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 53 - 2011.06.15
[T]oo seldom do we take a pluralistic approach to democracy. Too often,
we insist that democracies must all follow a similar script — evolving
at a similar pace — without recognising that different circumstances
may call for different constructs. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2011.06.14
The most serious misdeed is that which the perpetrator thinks insignificant. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 55 - 2011.06.13
Not to be in need of an excuse is more powerful than to be candid with an excuse. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 52 - 2011.06.12
Question in such a way that a clear picture is obtained, not in a
nitpicking, bothersome way. For the ignorant one who seeks knowledge is
like the knower, while the haphazard intellectual is like the ignoramus
with his bothersome nitpicking. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 52 - 2011.06.11
[K]nowledge is constantly changing, must ever be challenged and extended. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4351/ - 2011.06.10
Islam gives time a completely different meaning than what the industrialised world conceives. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2799/ - 2011.06.09
For a number of years I have voiced my concern that the faith of a
billion people is not part of the general education process in the West
– ignored by school and college curricula in history, the sciences,
philosophy and geography. An important goal of responsible education
should be to [treat] Muslims as it treats Christians and Jews … (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6256/ - 2011.06.08
A man who does not know his measure is ruined. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 25 - 2011.06.07
Generally speaking, there is a very deep communication gap between
decision makers and populations, rural or urban. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2963/ - 2011.06.06
Whoever complains of a need to a believer is as if complaining to God,
and whoever complains of it to a disbeliever is as if complaining about
God. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 105 - 2011.06.05
An hour spent in acquisition of knowledge is better than sixty years of worship. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977, 11th July, 1990 - 2011.06.04
I profoundly believed that architecture is not just about building; it
is a means of improving people’s quality of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7179/ - 2011.06.03
[I]f an individual wishes to associate publicly with a faith, that’s the
right of that individual … To go from there to an imposed process by
forces in society, to me is unacceptable…. I have great respect for
any individual who wants in the right way to be associated with his own
faith. I accept that totally and I would never challenge it. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8845/ - 2011.06.02
Better be dumb than lie. | Whoever gets a reputation for lying, sees
men’s confidence in him dwindle. | Avoid a liar. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.06.01
I would wish to emphasize that Islam is probably the most multi-racial faith existing. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1700/ - 2011.05.31
As Imam of the Ismaili sect, I am in a position to adapt the teachings
of the Qur’an to the modern condition. On the question of modernity the
issue is essentially whether one is affecting the fundamental moral
fabric of society or whether one is affecting the fundamentals of
religious practice. As long as these two aspects are safeguarded the
rest can be subject to adjustment. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4315/ - 2011.05.30
What we’re saying through the Aga Khan Development Network is that the
era of give-a-ways is gone. This is a time to enhance self-reliance, for
grassroots groups to generate profits and use money for promoting
social good.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2011.05.29
One who follows the hesitant loses rights and one who follows the slanderer loses true friends. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 45 - 2011.05.28
As trustees of God’s creation, we are instructed to seek to leave the
world a better place than it was when we came into it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6367/ - 2011.05.27
Much [Aga Khan University] research, however, will focus on pressing
issues of public policy. This naturally follows the precepts of Islam,
that the scientific application of reason, the building of society and
the refining of human aspirations and ethics should always reinforce one
another. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6830/ - 2011.05.26
A man’s vanity is one of the things that inhibits his intelligence. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 40 - 2011.05.25
Professional nursing, educating women, is an absolutely fundamental pillar to the building of society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9168/ - 2011.05.24
[A]nother precept found in the Qur’an … is the emphasis on the
responsibilities placed upon those charged with the management of
philanthropic gifts and the institutions supported by them…. The
obligation to maintain the highest level of integrity in the management
of donated resources, and of the institutions benefiting from them, is
grounded in our faith. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5811/ - 2011.05.23
When governments are fragile, it is civil society which comes in and sustains the development process. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9168/ - 2011.05.22
The voluntary worker is the lifeblood of [Aga Khan Development Network]
institutions, both in education and in health. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2471/ - 2011.05.21
One of the reasons governments have failed in highly diverse settings
around the world is that dogma has too often been enshrined at the price
of more flexible, pluralistic approaches to political and economic
challenges. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9151/ - 2011.05.20
Polite manners are the best patrimony that fathers can bequeath to their children. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.05.19
When wisdom reaches the climax, words become fewer. (Hazrat Ali)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977, 11th July, 1990 - 2011.05.18
[T]he correct interpretation of our [faith] is that man must not shy
away from the material endeavour in the name of his faith. On the
contrary, he must be enterprising, contributing of his best … so long
as the content of his endeavour is within the terms of our social and
moral conscience and so long as the objectives of the enterprise are
equally acceptable. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2707/ - 2011.05.17
Striking a balance between freedom and unbridled license demands
constant pragmatic adjustments in all areas of life. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2558/ - 2011.05.16
The preservation of democratic institutions requires a strong sense of integrity and discipline. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2558/ - 2011.05.15
But through all this development [of the technological age], hand in
hand and side by side with it, the spirit of Islam must survive. A
society without a strong sense of its own identity has time and again in
human history proved to be well on the way to decay. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1602/ - 2011.05.14
Silence is better than eloquence when it is not time to speak. | Silence without thought is mere dumbness. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.05.13
When two biddings differ, one of them is misleading. | When answers compete, correctness is concealed. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2011.05.12
What was the power, what were the centres of force which provided the
Caliphates with the material to govern? From whence came the unifying
force which allowed these immense empires to weld together peoples of
different languages, ethnic origins and cultures? The Caliphates drew
administrative machinery from some of the greatest centres of learning
which have ever existed. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1364/ - 2011.05.11
Performance … is to me a key word where both social institutions and commercial enterprise are concerned. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2521/ - 2011.05.10
Beckon fortune by means of charity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 24 - 2011.05.09
During the two Caliphates, the Muslim Universities were producing the
best scholars, doctors, astronomers and philosophers. Today where are
we? Have we institutions of learning which can compare with the
Sorbonne, Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, Oxford, MIT? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1364/ - 2011.05.08
It is my hope that one day pluralism will become accepted as the norm
within communities and among the nations of the earth. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9411/ - 2011.05.07
One who takes into consideration all points of view knows where the pitfalls are. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 32 - 2011.05.06
It is my deepest conviction that if Islamic society is to avoid
following blindly the course of Western society without taking the
trouble to raise guards against the latter’s weaknesses and
deficiencies, a thorough rediscovery, revitalisation and reintegration
of our traditional values must be achieved. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2011.05.05
No country to my knowledge can achieve stable continuous growth if its
civil society is constrained by inherent institutional instability. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6646/ - 2011.05.04
Reprove your brother by being good to him, and ward off his evil by kindness to him. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 30 - 2011.05.03
In every society I have seen, it is the intellectual elite which is
capturing the outstanding offices, the most interesting work, the best
situations. This trend is, in fact, bound to be the case, so long as the
world population continues to increase and we are forced to deeper and
deeper specialisation. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1364/ - 2011.05.02
What a sound Enabling Environment must do is to create a favourable
framework in which human creativity can flourish. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8072/ - 2011.05.01
A pluralistic environment is a kaleidoscope that history shakes every day. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9894/ - 2011.04.30
[W]hy have our development] efforts over five decades not borne greater
fruit? … Given the progress we have made in so many fields, why have
we been so relatively ineffective in sharing that progress more
equitably, and in making it more permanent? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9217/ - 2011.04.29
Culture has a very important impact in people’s perception about the legitimacy of pluralism. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2011.04.27
[D]evelopment is only possible when the community is engaged at the
grassroots level and is given the ways and the means to take
responsibility for its own future. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7646/ - 2011.04.26
The world we seek is not a world where difference is erased, but where
difference can be a powerful force for good … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9894/ - 2011.04.25
The history of the twentieth century is replete with examples of the
danger of the systematic propagation and uncritical acceptance of
dogmas, ideologies, and even theologies. More than ever, I believe that
universities must shoulder the responsibility for contributing to the
process of building the capacity for moral judgement in complex
settings. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5920/ - 2011.04.24
Do not make your knowledge into ignorance and your certainty into doubt.
When you know, act; and when you are certain, proceed. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 47 - 2011.04.23
The evidence shows that culture is clearly not an add-on or a luxury,
but an integral part of over-all development [world-wide]. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9411/ - 2011.04.22
When the World Heritage Convention listed 136 sites as being of major
importance to the heritage of mankind, no less than one third were
monuments of Islamic culture. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3101/ - 2011.04.21
I am not opposed to secularism as such [but] to unilateral secularism
where the notions of faith and ethics just disappear from society. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7900/ - 2011.04.20
The religious diversity of Islam is important, and misunderstood by most non-Muslims. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1/ - 2011.04.19
[I]n the rapidly globalising world of the 21st century, the progress of
every country and continent will depend on its ability to meet universal
standards. To settle for less is an increasingly dangerous decision.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8256/ - 2011.04.18
Islam is a faith of generosity; it is not always seen as a faith of generosity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8447/ - 2011.04.17
The true sign of maturity and excellence in a university is its ability
to contribute to the knowledge of mankind … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6830/ - 2011.04.15
Attain knowledge, therefore, from those who are the custodians of
knowledge and impart this knowledge to your brothers like the learned
scholars have imparted it to you. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 4, Tradition 2 - 2011.04.14
It is up to us Muslims to illustrate [Islamic] civilisations, those cultures of the past and the present. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8947/ - 2011.04.13
The Aga Khan University will address itself to Third World problems in a
way that many existing universities have not done, especially taking
into account the fact that Third World populations are predominantly
rural, not urban. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2511/ - 2011.04.12
One of the prime lessons of history, ancient and recent, is that one size does not fit all. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.04.11
The best teaching is that which corrects you. | If one loves you he will criticise you. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.04.09
The ignorant among you are promoted, while the knowledgeable are put off. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 48 - 2011.04.08
Treat the progeny of others well, and you will be secure in respect to your own progeny. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 46 - 2011.04.07
As we work [with the International Baccalaureate movement] to bridge the
gulf between East and West, between North and South, between developing
and developed economies, between urban and rural settings, we will be
redefining what it means to be well educated. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2011.04.06
Do not choose as your friend the enemy of your friend. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.04.05
Verily this knowledge (of religion) is under a lock; the keys to which are questions. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 9, Tradition 3 - 2011.04.04
Three concepts seem to me to be essential in creating, stabilising and
strengthening democracy around the world, including among the people of
Africa and Asia with whom I have worked in the past. These concepts are
meritocracy, pluralism and civil society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2011.04.03
I believe one can live creatively and purposefully as both a devoted Muslim and a committed European. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.04.02
One of the central truths about pluralism is that what works in one setting may work differently in others. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.04.01
We have also learned that simplistic systems [of governance] don’t work;
whether built around the arrogance of colonialism, the rigidities of
communism, the romantic dreams of nationalism, or the naive promises of
untrammelled capitalism. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9281/ - 2011.03.31
Economic advantage can sometimes ease social tensions, but social and
cultural cleavage can undermine economic promise. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.03.30
Some might say that our academic systems [in Aga Khan schools] are a
little old-fashioned. Yes, we believe in examinations … (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1881/ - 2011.03.29
In Central Asia there are problems and unrealised potentials that can
only be addressed by involving two or more countries, or working on a
truly regional basis. This … must be due at least in part, to the
irrationality of national boundaries. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6382/ - 2011.03.28
Knowledge cuts through the excuse of malingerers. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 48 - 2011.03.27
Is it not a fundamental concept of democracy itself, that leadership should be chosen on the basis of merit? (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2011.03.26
A passion for justice, the quest for equality, a respect for tolerance, a
dedication to human dignity — these are universal human values which
are broadly shared across divisions of class, race, language, faith and
geography. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2011.03.25
Certainly the Qur’an is wonderful in its outward form, and its inner meanings are profound. (Hazrat Ali)
Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 18 - 2011.03.24
Exchanges of knowledge between institutions and nations and the widening
of man’s intellectual horizons are essentially Islamic concepts. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3202/ - 2011.03.23
God has favoured me with the blessing of Islam. I think that many
religions find it difficult to adapt to … an evolving world. Not so
with a Muslim who believes in the omnipresence of God. In Islam, there
is no dichotomy between the spiritual and the temporal. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2074/ - 2011.03.21
To listen to the words of the learned and to instil into others the
lessons of science is better than religious exercises. (The Prophet)
Marmaduke Pickthall, 1927 Madras lecture on Islamic Culture, Africa Ismaili. 9th May, 1969, pp 9 - 2011.03.20
We must be prepared to bank good character, good ideas and the
willingness to work hard. [M]icro-finance can be a formidable tool for
poverty alleviation in large parts of the developing world…. I am
convinced we have only begun to tap into its potential. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7169/ - 2011.03.19
A little bit at which you persevere is better than a lot at which you are bored. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 48 - 2011.03.18
The Islamic world is in fact a rich and changing tapestry, which the West would do well to understand. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1/ - 2011.03.17
The AKDN Foundation is an umbrella organisation which coordinates the
activities of over 200 agencies and institutions that make up the
network, employing a total of 70,000 paid staff and 100,000 volunteers.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9344/ - 2011.03.16
The ultimate recourse in any democracy must be to the concept of popular sovereignty. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2011.03.15
Religion and generosity — the gifts of time, of funds, and of material
– have been closely linked throughout human history. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5811/ - 2011.03.14
Of one fact, my years in public life have convinced me: that the value
of a compromise is that it can supply a bridge across a difficult
period, and later having employed it, it is often possible to bring into
effect the full-scale measures of reform which, originally, would have
been rejected out of hand. (Aga Khan III; MSMS)
Chapter 9: The End of the Ottoman Empire (The Memoirs of Aga Khan III)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9927/ - 2011.03.13
When things are unclear, the later are seen in light of the earlier. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2011.03.12
The most gracious deed is the one you have to force yourself to do. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 44 - 2011.03.11
If a man is enabled to buy or rent a reasonable roof over his head he
will have been provided with the first vital ingredient of his self
respect…. By building new homes we lay the social foundation of man’s
betterment. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2765/ - 2011.03.10
I believe that the challenge of pluralism is never completely met.
Pluralism is a process and not a product. It is a mentality … (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.03.09
I would never accept that the concept [and practice] of Islam … cannot
be fulfilled in the modern world or in the world of tomorrow. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2011.03.08
History has shown in every part of the world and at every time, that the
rejection of pluralism and the attempt to normatise the human race has
always resulted in factionalism, oppressiveness and economic and social
regression. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6848/ - 2011.03.07
New forms of knowledge are resisted because they change society … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2011.03.06
I would prefer that [inter-religious dialogue] be based upon a
cosmopolitan ethic [and would] have to include non-believers. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2011.03.05
Amid such a worthy and learned gathering I am reminded of the verses of
the Holy Qur’an in which Allah reminds us that He gives the blessing of
wisdom to whoever He wills, but only those with intelligence remember
that He has done so. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8469/ - 2011.03.04
Generosity awakens affection more than kinship does. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 44 - 2011.03.03
Social harmony coupled with the freedom and respect of religious
expression is a prerequisite for all human progress. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5359/ - 2011.03.01
The hour of vengeance by the oppressed is more terrible than the hour of the tyrant’s oppression. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.02.28
If you fear something and it happens to you, the intensity of the fear of it is worse than what you feared. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 32 - 2011.02.27
The Aga Khan Development Network agencies have been involved in
micro-credit for more than 60 years. During that time, a variety of
institutions offering a range of products tailored to specific needs
have been established in many countries. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7211/ - 2011.02.26
How many lessons there are, and how little they are taken! (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 50 - 2011.02.24
By nature I am suspicious of fashion, of isms, of dogmas, because I
think human society changes all the time. And the moment you get frozen
into a mental prison, then, you know, things actually start becoming
very damaging. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2011.02.23
The intelligent is one who puts things in their proper places. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 44 - 2011.02.21
[I]f the events of the twentieth century thus far have taught us
anything at all, they have taught us that technologies unguided by
intelligence and compassionate understanding invariably create more
problems — and more insoluble problems — than they remedy. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2254/ - 2011.02.20
Inter-cultural conflicts inevitably grow out of inter-cultural ignorance … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2011.02.18
Trust in people. Trust in people. It’s an extraordinary phenomenon of
development that the most powerful force is people changing their own
environment. What they need in many cases is the wherewithal to change.
But the will to change, very often the capacity to change well —
because they live in that context — that’s an extraordinarily powerful
force. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7211/ - 2011.02.17
We need to develop a broad consensus which focuses on creating a global
economic environment which is universally fair. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2011.02.16
Canada has an experience of governance of which much of the world stands in dire need. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2011.02.15
[Islam] encourages enterprise but warns … without a social conscience
[it] is not acceptable. It is in this respect, where Islam’s message
applies to all aspects of man’s life, that he will be judged not just on
what he does but the manner in which he does it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2391/ - 2011.02.14
The speech of pundits is therapeutic if what they say is correct, but it is unhealthy if what they say is mistaken. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 46 - 2011.02.13
A conscientious act is not insignificant, for how can what has been accepted be insignificant? (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 73 - 2011.02.12
I think one of the specifics of Islam is that you live your faith. And
you are not one day in your faith and the next day out of your faith. It
is a permanent presence…. It is a permanency of thought, of attitude,
of ethics. So that’s really what it is. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7089/ - 2011.02.11
Responding to pluralism is an exercise in constant re-adaptation. Identities are not fixed in stone. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.02.10
One who practices moderation and temperance will never be troubled with poverty. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.02.09
[C]ivil society obviously cannot exist without apolitical and secular
civil institutions, in particular social, cultural and economic ones.
The essence of [AKDN’s] strategy is thus to create these where they are
lacking or need to be reinforced. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9344/ - 2011.02.08
Freedom of the press does not mean the right of any journalist to write
and to publish anything he or she wants to say. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5137/ - 2011.02.07
Democracy is a wonderful concept, but it’s not failsafe. It doesn’t work
in every country in every time, it doesn’t work. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2011.02.06
In Islam right from the time of Prophet Muhammad, there has been a
compatibility between the faith and the world in which the faith is
practised at any given time. And I am not willing to make any compromise
on that compatibility. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2011.02.05
When someone is clothed in the raiment of modesty, the people do not see his faults. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 42 - 2011.02.04
One who is headstrong and opinionated perishes, while one who seeks the
advice of others becomes a partner in their understanding. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 30 - 2011.02.03
[I]n Africa and elsewhere, Europe’s colonial policies often worked to
accentuate division — both through the use of divide-and-rule
strategies, and through the imposition of arbitrary national boundaries,
often ignoring tribal realities. (Aga Khan;MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.02.02
Education is an intensely moral enterprise, which depends upon clear ethical rules. (Aga Khan;MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6848/ - 2011.02.01
And when the Qur’an is recited, give ear to it and pay heed, that ye may obtain mercy. (Qur’an 7:204)
Qur’an 7:204 - Pickthall - 2011.01.31
[The Aga Khan Award] has sometimes discussed the question of scale. The
whole debate about the tallest building in the world concerns ambition,
vanity, pride, or whatever you want to call it. These are not
particularly strong forces in our value system. (Aga Khan;MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8040/ - 2011.01.30
Among the noblest deeds of the generous man is his ignoring of what he knows. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 41 - 2011.01.29
I know of no better road to lasting peace than tolerance for the differences of faith, culture and origin. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9411/ - 2011.01.28
The aim [of AKDN] is to create or strengthen civil society in developing
countries. This single goal, when it is achieved, is in fact necessary
and sufficient to ensure peaceful and stable development over the long
term, even when governance is problematic. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9344/ - 2011.01.27
One who gives a little is given a lot. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 43 - 2011.01.26
Two people are ruined on my account: one who loves excessively and one who hates intensely. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2011.01.25
For much of human history, leaders were born into their roles, or fought
their way in — or bought their way in…. The well-led society of the
future, in my view, will be a meritocracy — where leadership roles are
based on personal and intellectual excellence. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8188/ - 2011.01.24
Surely one of the most important tests of moral leadership is whether
our leaders are working to widen divisions — or to bridge them. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9601/ - 2011.01.23
Guide yourself by the lamp of the counsels of those who practice what they counsel. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2011.01.22
It’s clear that uncontrolled freedom becomes license. It’s an issue that
keeps coming up all the time. And it’s one which needs very, very deep
reflection. Very deep reflection. It’s probably the most challenging
issue that I have to address today. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5676/ - 2011.01.21
One who keeps his innermost thoughts secret has the choice in his own hand. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 30 - 2011.01.20
You have been shown, if you see; you have been guided, if you have found
the way; you have been made to hear, if you listen. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 29 - 2011.01.19
To my knowledge, democracy can fail anywhere, at any time, in any
society … For it is self-evident, in Europe and across the globe, that
the existence of political parties and elections do not alone produce
stable governments or competent leadership. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2011.01.18
Keep commitments in all their integrity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 29 - 2011.01.17
Son of Adam, whatever you earn beyond your upkeep you are storing for somebody else. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 35 - 2011.01.16
Specialised expertise, pragmatic temperament, mental resourcefulness —
these are increasingly the keys to effective leadership — along with a
capacity for intellectual humility which keeps one’s mind constantly
open to a variety of viewpoints … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7877/ - 2011.01.15
A judgment on a trust made on the basis of supposition is not just. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 41 - 2011.01.14
Most things antagonistic to reason are under the lightning flashes of ambition. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 41 - 2011.01.13
The fundamental reason for the pre-eminence of Islamic civilisations lay
neither in accidents of history nor in acts of war, but rather in their
ability to discover new knowledge to make it their own, and to build
constructively upon it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2011.01.12
A weakness or pain in one corner has the tendency … to transmit itself
across the globe. Instability is infectious! But so is hope! (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2011.01.10
The damage that can be done by … distorted journalism is especially
heavy in Africa, offending African value systems, distracting African
energies … Manipulative journalism is not merely a nuisance here — it
can have destructive power. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2011.01.09
The fruit of negligence is remorse; the fruit of judiciousness is serenity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2011.01.08
Greed is endless slavery. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2011.01.07
Excellence in journalism, it seems to me, stems not from arrogant
judgmentalism but from intellectual humility. As a wise judge once put
it: ‘The spirit of liberty is the spirit that is not too sure that it is
right.’ (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2011.01.06
One who is mild rather than forceful has greater capacity for outreach. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 40 - 2011.01.05
Disregard annoyance and pain, and you will always be happy. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 40 - 2011.01.04
AGA KHAN: We think freedom is important, of course. But we think that
freedom really is not something that one has to take in the absolute.
There is abuse of freedom. And when freedom is abused, what does it
become? INTERVIEWER: License, I guess. AGA KHAN: Exactly.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2011.01.03
Faith is experience by the heart, avowal by the tongue and action by the limbs. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 85 - 2011.01.02
Democracy cannot function reasonably without two preconditions. The
first is a healthy civil society … The second is pluralism. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2011.01.01
The key to building partnerships … is a profound spirit of reciprocal
obligation — a readiness to share the work, to share the costs, to
share the risks, and to share the credit. In the end, what it will
require most … is a spirit of mutual trust. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8292/ - 2010.12.31
Avoid a liar. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.12.30
One who gains success becomes presumptuous. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 40 - 2010.12.29
Public buildings, more than any other building type, are a major force
in creating taste in a given locality or country…. Architectural
excellence in this area will thus demand much more than formal
brilliance of conception or limited functional success. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2100/ - 2010.12.28
There is no virtue in not voicing good judgement, just as there is no virtue in speaking ignorantly. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2010.12.27
Generosity is what comes from one’s own initiative; what is given in
response to a request is either out of shame or rebuke. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.12.26
The general goal of the Aga Khan Development Network … is to assist in
the construction of civil society. [W]e have come to the conclusion
that the strength and quality of civil society is the greatest guarantor
of processes of positive change. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9638/ - 2010.12.25
Through changes in circumstances the essence of individuals is known. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 41 - 2010.12.24
The best way to manage change, whether positive or negative, is to anticipate it and prepare for it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6386/ - 2010.12.23
The [Aga Khan] Academies curriculum seeks to instil a habit of
intellectual humility which constantly opens young minds to what it is
that they do not know, and which sends them on a wide and rigorous
search for new knowledge. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8188/ - 2010.12.22
Unification means you do not entertain any imagination about God and
justice that you do not entertain any suspicions about God. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 107 - 2010.12.21
These hearts weary as the bodies weary, so seek bits of wisdom for them. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.12.20
By much silence, there comes to be awe. By justice, communications
increase. By generosity, worth grows. By humility, blessings come about.
By taking burdens upon oneself, one attains leadership. By just
behaviour, enemies are overcome. By forbearance in face of a fool,
helpers against him increase. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 42 - 2010.12.19
Friendliness is half of intelligence. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 25 - 2010.12.18
One who prays but does no work is as one who shoots without a bowstring. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 100 - 2010.12.17
One of the reasons that I am more optimistic than some about the future
of the developing world is my faith that a host of new institutions can
play a larger role in that future. I am especially enthusiastic about
the potential of … civil society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8092/ - 2010.12.16
Obstinacy takes away judgement. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 33 - 2010.12.15
Academic discussions are discourses, and discourses are the best forms of prayers. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 9, Tradition 9 - 2010.12.14
[The Aga Khan Award for Architecture] has looked at how society causes
change, not how architects cause change, and it has tried to help
societies to improve the processes of change…. The nature of society
is to change. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6147/ - 2010.12.13
God does not entrust anyone with intelligence without saving him thereby someday. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 103 - 2010.12.12
The worth of an individual is what one does well. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 12 - 2010.12.11
Humanities curricula in many educational institutions in the West rarely
feature great Muslim philosophers, scientists, astronomers and writers
of the classical age of Islam, such as Avicenna, Farabi and al-Kindi,
Nasir Khusraw and Tusi. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2010.12.10
One who is moderate does not go wrong. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 24 - 2010.12.09
A friend cannot be considered a friend unless tested on three occasions:
in time of need, behind your back and after your death. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.12.08
One of the great stumbling blocks to the advance of pluralism, in my
view, is simple human arrogance. [T]he world’s great religions warn
against righteousness — yet too many are still tempted to play God …
rather than recognising their humility before the Divine. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8092/ - 2010.12.06
The best of companions is contentment, and knowledge is a noble, generous bequest. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.12.05
And I think one of the lessons we’ve learned in [our work] is to listen
– quite simply to listen and listen and listen and listen. The moment
you become deaf in development activity, you’re out of the park. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2010.12.04
Refresh your minds with marvels of wisdom because minds too get tired as your bodies do. (Hazrat Ali)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 16, Tradition 1 - 2010.12.03
Chastity is a strong fortress. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.12.02
I am among you like a lamp in the darkness. Whoever enters by it will be
lit from it. So listen O’ men, preserve it and remain attentive with
the ears of your hearts so that you may understand. (Hazrat Ali)
Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 186 - 2010.12.01
The concept of the modern state is not really an Islamic concept. Islam was a brotherhood, is a brotherhood. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2010.11.30
Whoever falls short in action is afflicted by uneasiness. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.11.29
[The peoples of the world] don’t know our history, they don’t know our
literature, they don’t know our philosophy, they don’t know the physical
environment in which our countries have lived. They view the Ummah in
terminology which is completely wrong. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8960/ - 2010.11.28
One of the signs of a stupid man is a frequent change of opinion. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.27
The word light on the lips and easy to understand is eloquent. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.26
Now those who have been more favoured do not give their sustenance to
those whom their right hands possess so that they may be equal therein.
Is it then the bounty of Allah which they deny? (Qur’an 16:71)
Qur’an 16:71 - Ahmed Ali - 2010.11.25
Anyone who makes much of small misfortunes God will try with greater ones. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 106 - 2010.11.24
Many an intellectual has been killed by his ignorance, the knowledge he had with him failing to profit him. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 15 - 2010.11.23
The development process is enabling people to make permanent changes, to
make choices of their own and that means building civil society and it
means placing the pillars of civil society under the control of good
leadership and enabling environments. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2010.11.22
Know that this Imamate is a reality [which] will never cease, change or be altered. (Imam ala Dhikrihi al-Salaam)
The Paradise of Submission, IIS, pp 122 - 2010.11.21
Governments alone cannot meet the educational challenges of the 21st
century. Nor can private institutions which are constrained by the
necessity to earn a profit. The answer lies in the expanding role of
civil society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7877/ - 2010.11.20
He will always excel in merit who takes the initiative. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.19
Joy begins voluptuousness, but ruin ends it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.18
[Islam does] not separate the faith and the world…. For Muslims the
separation is not possible. [We are] expected to live our faith every
day, all the time … it is a wonderful way to live! It is an
extraordinary blessing to live one’s faith every day! (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2010.11.17
Beware the opinions of the faithful, for God has put truth on their tongues. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 96 - 2010.11.15
When asked about what you do not know, do not be ashamed to say you do
not know; and when you do not know something, do not be embarrassed to
learn it. | Whoever gives up saying ‘I don’t know’ has been mortally
stricken. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.11.14
Remember that enjoyments pass while consequences remain. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 64 - 2010.11.12
The progress of civilisation depends on our ability to understand,
embrace and energise the power of human diversity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9425/ - 2010.11.11
Beware of disobeying God when alone, for the witness is the Judge. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 98 - 2010.11.10
God does not oblige the ignorant to learn until having obliged the learned to teach. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 108 - 2010.11.09
Ethical lapses in medicine and education, malfeasance in business and
banking, dishonesty among journalists, scientists, engineers or scholars
— all of these weaknesses can undermine the most promising
democracies. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2010.11.08
Pluralism is no longer simply an asset or a prerequisite for progress
and development, it is vital to our existence. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6613/ - 2010.11.07
Right is a sword that never blunts. | Truth is an unfailing remedy. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.06
Speak only about what you know. Regarding what you do not know say ‘God
knows best’. Verily, a person may single out any verse from the Noble
Qur’an (and interpret it wrongly) and may fall down deeper than the
distance between the Heaven and the Earth. (Imam al-Baqir)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 11, Tradition 4 - 2010.11.05
Impatience is only justified when it helps in removing an ill to a distance or in obviating it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.04
God has given His creatures nothing to place higher than reason. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.11.03
Six principles form the foundation of the Imamat’s work in development:
breadth of responsibility, an apolitical stance, pluralism, a long view,
work across disciplinary boundaries, and work across political
boundaries. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5016/ - 2010.11.02
As the pace of change accelerates, it is clear the human mind and heart
will be the central factors in determining social wealth. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2010.11.01
[H]uman progress can only be sustained when people are able to participate in their own governance. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7314/ - 2010.10.31
Verily God, the Mighty, the Majestic, has especially warned His Servants
in two verses of His Book. They should not say anything without
definite knowledge and they should never insist on what they do not know
[he then quoted Qur’an 7:169 and 10:39]. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 11, Tradition 8 - 2010.10.30
The revelation granted to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) opened new
horizons and released new energies of mind and spirit. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6826/ - 2010.10.29
[L]iving in a society where freedom eventually becomes equated with license, is not what I would want. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2010.10.28
No country to my knowledge can achieve stable continuous growth if its
civil society is constrained by inherent institutional instability….
One clear lesson of the last half of the twentieth century is that
governments cannot do everything. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6646/ - 2010.10.27
Do not be embarrassed to give but a little, for it is even less generous to withhold altogether. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.10.26
Your shortcoming is concealed as long as your luck helps you. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.10.25
[The Qur’an says] one must seek education to know Allah better, and
share knowledge for the betterment of society … the links between
faith and knowledge are very strong and we are constantly encouraged to
learn. This is an extraordinary message for humanity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2010.10.24
A man’s reflection is the mirror that shows him his good and bad deeds. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.23
Whoever deserts his own side, helps his enemies. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.21
Education … has too often been a matter of indoctrination –advancing
the demands of dogma instead of the disciplines of reason. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8258/ - 2010.10.20
Most of them follow not but conjecture. Assuredly conjecture can by no means take the place of Truth. (Qur’an 10:36)
Qur’an 10:36 - Pickthall - 2010.10.19
Too often the measure of media success is simply financial profit. I
think this attitude is wrong — it often makes for manipulative media,
distorting and misleading … journalism is subordinated to
entertainment and the need to inform yields to the need to please. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2010.10.18
Neglect of needs is easier than seeking them from strangers. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.10.17
One has to work to give people confidence and hope; that changes society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7284/ - 2010.10.16
Too often, we insist that democracies must all follow a similar script
– evolving at a similar pace — without recognizing that different
circumstances may call for different constructs…. Trying to make one
size fit all can be a recipe for failure. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2010.10.15
I don’t believe these societies are born into the acceptance of
pluralism. I think societies get educated about pluralism. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7320/ - 2010.10.14
The education and refinement of one’s self is more worthy of respect
than the education and culture of other people. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.10.13
Listen and you will teach yourself: remain silent, and you risk nothing. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.12
We’re worried about another form of poverty, which is lack of access.
We’re beginning to sense the lack of access in society for the
ultra-poor is one of the things that defines poverty from one generation
to the next. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2010.10.11
Democracy and progress do not always go hand in hand … ‘Failed States’
can often be described as ‘the Failure of Democracy.’ (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.10.10
Do no act of which the embarrassed author must make denial. | World-wide
glory can be undone by an hour’s degradation. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.09
Actions to enhance pluralism have to be matched in the developing world
by programmes to alleviate poverty because, left alone, poverty will
provide a context for special interests to pursue their goals in
aggressive terms. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6351/ - 2010.10.08
Respect for press freedom, it seems to me, grows out of a respect for
pluralism as a cornerstone of peace and progress. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2010.10.07
How can we inspire people to reach beyond rampant materialism,
self-indulgent individualism, and unprincipled relativism? (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2010.10.05
To how much is silence an answer! | The most eloquent answer to a fool is silence. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.04
Hasten not punish a man for a fault committed but leave room for pardon between the two acts. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.03
There are many aspects of the industrialised world, as it is called
today, which I do not wish for the future of the Islamic world, nor for
my own children. I think there are imbalances there … which I don’t
think are healthy, which I would wish changed (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2010.10.02
The better part of generosity is speedy giving. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.10.01
INTERVIEWER: What is our most precious asset as human beings? AGA KHAN:
A value system that is both time-resistant and time-adaptable.
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7094/ - 2010.09.30
Too often, those who set the media agenda see it primarily as a business
agenda…. I think this attitude is wrong — it often makes for
manipulative media, distorting and misleading in a narrow pursuit of
readers and ratings. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7292/ - 2010.09.28
If you aren’t a brilliant and learned talker, be an attentive listener. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.27
Of the global threats that face us today, apart from nuclear war or
HIV/AIDS, the most preoccupying is … the failure of democracy…. It
is essential, in the West’s own interest, to admit to itself that
democracy is as fragile as any other form of governance. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6977/ - 2010.09.26
Democracy is fragile. It is susceptible to failure at any time, in any society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7073/ - 2010.09.25
The faith of Islam recognises and sustains the right of people to be
their own masters of the judgements that they make. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6147/ - 2010.09.24
Pluralist societies do not happen by themselves … They are a product
of enlightened education and continuous investment by government and all
forces of civil society in developing value and recognition for one of
humanity’s greatest assets: [its] diversity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7073/ - 2010.09.23
Looking backwards in despair is probably one of the most divisive forces
that you will ever find in Third World countries. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2010.09.22
How many men blamed have done no wrong? (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.20
One of the finest of a liberal man’s gestures is not to take advantage of what he knows of others. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.19
If interpretation is well founded and based on good observation, it can then be used as logic. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5911/ - 2010.09.18
I would question what you interpret as, or the elements you put in the
word, ‘progress’ … [I] don’t think one can equate ‘progress’
exclusively with what is happening in the industrialised world now, very
far from it. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/3209/ - 2010.09.17
When you look at the development process, its strength is based on the
people’s will to work for themselves. That’s clear. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6120/ - 2010.09.16
One clear lesson of the last half of the twentieth century is that governments cannot do everything. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6646/ - 2010.09.15
Strengthening of institutions supporting pluralism is as critical for
the welfare and progress of human society as are poverty alleviation and
conflict prevention. In fact all three are intimately related. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6351/ - 2010.09.14
One who is young shall not attain paradise if he neglects his parents when they are old. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili December 1977 or 1979 - 2010.09.13
Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? (Qur’an 52:35)
Qur’an 52:35 - Yusuf Ali - 2010.09.12
Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is! Again, what
will convey unto thee what the Day of Judgment is! A day on which no
soul hath power at all for any (other) soul. The (absolute) command on
that day is Allah’s. (Qur’an 82:17-19)
Qur’an 82:17-19 - Pickthall - 2010.09.11
The right to hope is the most powerful human motivation I know. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/5089/ - 2010.09.09
[Education] must also stimulate students to consider a variety of
perspectives on some of the fundamental questions posed by the human
condition: ‘What is truth?’ ‘What is reality?’ and ‘What are my duties
to my fellow man, to my country and to God?’ (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6525/ - 2010.09.08
Avoid the utterance that is laughed at even if it is only a repetition of the words of another. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.07
The knowledge the most useful is what one puts into practice. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.06
Our duty is to try to free people from poverty. And to me, poverty means
being … without hope of ever controlling one’s own destiny. This
means condemning one’s children and grandchildren to unacceptable living
conditions. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8339/ - 2010.09.05
Those unto whom We have given the Scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it. (Qur’an 2:121)
Qur’an 2:121 - Pickthall - 2010.09.04
The vision of an elder is dearer to me than the endurance of a youth. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.09.03
The four virtues of harmony, friendship, valour and state wisdom [are]
an enduring foundation of societal welfare; these values are at the
heart of the ethics of Islam that guide the institutions of the Ismaili
Imamat. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7539/ - 2010.09.02
Do not strive with one against whom you could not defend yourself. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.09.01
The enemy who shows his hatred is the one of least account. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.31
Everyone’s life is a passage, and perhaps the most one can do is to have
left something behind during that passage which contributes and assists
people to look to their future with more confidence and more stability,
more hope. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4296/ - 2010.08.30
Uncompromising excellence is also an ethical principle. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/4351/ - 2010.08.29
Shun even the baseness that would bring you to your heart’s desire. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.28
Children need to be cared for from the time they are conceived until they reach maturity … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2933/ - 2010.08.27
Freedom must not be allowed to degenerate into licence, whether in
universities or in society as a whole. When it has so degenerated, it
has invariably destroyed the very civilisations which gave it birth.
(Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2817/ - 2010.08.26
The search for solutions is a voyage of discovery on which we must
neither fail to gain from experience nor fear to explore further. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/2987/ - 2010.08.25
People oppose what they are ignorant about. | One learns by asking questions. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 32 | Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.24
What has been called the permissive society where anything goes, nothing
matters, nothing is sacred or private any more, is not a promising
foundation for a brave and upright new world. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1494/ - 2010.08.22
As the pace of history accelerates, developments that occurred over
fifty years in my lifetime will happen in fifteen or even five years for
your generation….There is nothing we can do to slow the pace of
change, but we can hope to help steer its direction. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8092/ - 2010.08.21
Fear is linked to failure, and timidity to deprivation, and opportunity
passes by like a cloud, so take a good opportunity. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 4 - 2010.08.20
The term ‘Enabling Environment’ reminds us that the full context of
interacting forces must be brought together if sustainable development
is to be achieved … in which people’s energy and creativity can be
motivated, mobilised and rewarded. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8292/ - 2010.08.19
I believe leadership everywhere must continuously work to ensure that
pluralism, and all its benefits, become top global priorities. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7255/ - 2010.08.18
When what you seek has not come about, do not be concerned about what you used to be. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.08.17
[A]bove all else, is our uncompromising commitment to quality, in every
aspect of the Academy experience. Our hallmark will be quality students,
quality instructors, quality facilities — an unwavering devotion to
world-class standards. Let the day be long past when some could excuse
mediocrity by saying that it was ‘good enough for Africa.’ (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8258/ - 2010.08.16
If you are not a patient man, then appear as if you were. It is seldom
that one imitates men without growing to resemble them. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.15
Guard your self-respect from all baseness, though to do so exposes you
to danger; you will never find an equivalence for wounded honour.
(Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.14
A deepening sense of spiritual commitment — and the ethical framework
that goes with it — will be a central requirement if we are to find our
way through the minefields and the quick sands of modern life. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.08.13
The last generosity is to forget the claim that you have against
another, and to remember that right that someone has over you. (Hazrat
Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.12
We have placed culture at the heart of the development puzzle. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2010.08.11
What is required goes beyond mere tolerance or sympathy or sensitivity
…True cultural sensitivity is far more rigorous … It implies a
readiness to study and to learn across cultural barriers, an ability to
see others as they see themselves. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2010.08.10
Belief and wisdom are twin brothers: God accepts not the one without the other. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.09
[A]gility and adaptability have become more important qualities than
mere size or strength, and the race of life has gone increasingly to the
nimble and the knowledgeable. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7877/ - 2010.08.08
Whoever listens to slander is himself a slanderer. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.06
A wise man relies upon his labour; the ignorant trust in illusions. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.08.05
When you are greeted, return an even nicer greeting, and when you are
done a service, repay it with something even more, though the blessing
is with the one who acted first. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.08.03
And of His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. (Qur’an 30:22)
Qur’an 30:22 - Pickthall - 2010.08.02
In a world of rapid change, an agile and adaptable mind, a pragmatic and
co-operative temperament, a strong ethical orientation — these are
increasingly the keys to effective leadership. And I would add to this
list a capacity for intellectual humility … (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8435/ - 2010.08.01
There are three kinds of people. The scholars, the seekers of knowledge,
and all the others are wastage of humanity. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 3, Tradition 2 - 2010.07.31
Learn to wish for the thing that happens and not try to mould the event
to your desire…. I say that you should endeavour to suit your desire
to the event, and not the event to your desire. (Aga Khan III, MSMS)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10494/ - 2010.07.30
Journalists transmit superficial rhetoric and slight underlying
realities…. Meanwhile, the media tell audiences what they want to know
rather than what they ought to know. And what too many people want
today is not to be informed — but to be entertained. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.07.29
Gentleness wins men over to one’s side. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.28
Nay, here are Signs self-evident in the hearts of those endowed with
knowledge: and none but the unjust reject Our Signs. (Qur’an 29:49)
Qur’an 29:49 - Yusuf Ali - 2010.07.27
Societies are not pluralist by accident. They’re pluralist by the will
of the government, of the people, of civil society. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9392/ - 2010.07.26
It is written in the Bible: ‘Do not seek knowledge of what you do not
know until you have acted on what you have already learnt, because
knowledge which is not put into practice only enhances the disbelief of
the knower and his remoteness from God.’ (Imam Zayn al-Abidin)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 13, Tradition 4 - 2010.07.25
Accept his excuse who seeks your forgiveness. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.24
You will find the ignorant either remiss or excessive. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.07.23
The measure of a man depends on the scope of his resolution, and his
sincerity depends on the degree of his chivalric virtues. His courage
depends on the degree of honour he has, and his integrity is based on
the degree of his sense of shame. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp ?? - 2010.07.22
Development is sustainable only if the beneficiaries become, in a gradual manner, the masters of the process. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6351/ - 2010.07.21
The robe of knowledge will immortalise you, and never look old. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.20
Decades, if not centuries, of angry conflict can be turned around by
giving people reasons to work together toward a better future. And when
hope takes root, then a new level of tolerance is possible, though it
may have been unknown for years, and years, and years. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7706/ - 2010.07.19
The more intelligence, the less talk. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 11 - 2010.07.17
Do not be ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to return
the needy empty-handed is an act of greater shame. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.16
O ye who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a
crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. (Qur’an 49:12)
Qur’an 49:12 - Pickthall - 2010.07.15
When you meet a man oppressed, help him against the oppressor. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.14
[P]ublic integrity cannot grow out of authoritarian pronouncements. It
must be rooted in the human heart and conscience…. But a healthy sense
of public integrity, in my view, will be difficult to nurture over time
without a strong religious underpinning. (Aga Khan, MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2010.07.13
If you can, seize opportunity in its flight for you will never overtake it. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.12
It is a great virtue never to make in secret a plan that you would blush to disclose. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.11
How, in an increasingly cynical time, can we inspire people to a new set
of aspirations — reaching beyond rampant materialism, the new
relativism, self-serving individualism, and resurgent tribalism. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.07.10
The sage seeks perfection; the ignoramus, wealth. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.09
Say: Is there any of your associates who guides to the truth? Say: Allah
guides to the truth. Is He then Who guides to the truth more worthy to
be followed, or he who himself does not go aright unless he is guided?
What then is the matter with you; how do you judge? (Qur’an 10:35)
Qur’an 10:35 - Shakir - 2010.07.08
Put off not until tomorrow giving to a man of that which he has need,
for you know not what is in store for him and for you. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.07
Do not enter the fold of harsh tempered scholars; otherwise your good
deeds will be washed away by your evil acts. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 5, Tradition 1 - 2010.07.06
The search for justice and security, the struggle for equality of
opportunity, the quest for tolerance and harmony, the pursuit of human
dignity — these are moral imperatives which we must work towards and
think about on a daily basis. (Aga Khan: MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.07.05
And if the enemy incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in
Allah. Lo! He, even He, is the Hearer, the Knower. (Qur’an 8:61)
Qur’an 8:61 - Pickthall - 2010.07.04
Eyes see Him not through sight’s observation, but hearts see Him through the verities [truths] of faith. (Hazrat Ali)
Justice and Rememberance, IIS, pp 119 - 2010.07.03
Ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love. And
whatsoever ye spend, Allah is Aware thereof. (Qur’an 3:92)
Qur’an 3:92 - Pickthall - 2010.07.02
Most noble actions are bearing the debts of others, and entertaining one’s guests. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.07.01
The replacement of fear by hope is probably the single most powerful trampoline of progress. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7706/ - 2010.06.30
The ethics of Islam guide all my activity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7529/ - 2010.06.29
A little truth repels much falsehood, just as a little fire burns a lot of wood. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.28
The blessing of heaven falls upon whosoever restores truth, kills
falsehood, brings tyranny low, and elevates justice. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.27
Let not poverty and misfortune distress you; for as gold is tried in the fire, the believer is exposed to trials. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.26.B
[We must] constantly review and revise and renew what we think we know. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7997/ - 2010.06.26.A
A wise observer once said, it’s not so much what we don’t know that
hurts us, but also all those things that we are sure we know — but
which are just not so. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8188/ - 2010.06.25
The true test [of education] is the ability of students and graduates to
engage with what they do not know and to work out a solution. (Aga
Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6525/ - 2010.06.23
Thy Lord hath decreed, that ye worship none save Him, and (that ye show)
kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age with
thee, say not ‘Fie’ unto them nor repulse them, but speak unto them a
gracious word. (Qur’an 17:23)
Qur’an 17:23 - Pickthall - 2010.06.22
One who adopts patience will never be deprived of success though the success may take a long time to reach him. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.21
Hide the good you do, and make known the good done to you. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.20
Throughout history, the application of knowledge has often been
determined by a few powerful rulers — or by highly dominant
governments. But I believe the hour is passing for these outmoded,
top-heavy ways of deciding how knowledge should be utilized. (Aga Khan;
MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7719/ - 2010.06.19
Everything must be according to reason and reason itself must be polite. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.17
We believe the [Aga Khan] Museum will help address what is not so much a
clash of civilisations, as it is a clash of ignorances. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9392/ - 2010.06.15
A wise man needs each day an hour set apart in which to examine his
conscience, and measure what he has gained or lost. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.14
[B]e mindful of your duty (to Allah), and believe, and do good works;
and again: be mindful of your duty, and believe; and once again: be
mindful of your duty, and do right. Allah loveth the good. (Qur’an 5:93)
Qur’an 5:93 - Pickthall - 2010.06.13
Reason is that by which Allah is worshipped and a place in Paradise earned. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 1, Chapter 1, Tradition 3 - 2010.06.12
Beware of commenting on a fact that you do not know to the bottom, and
with exactitude. Your speaking reflects your intelligence and your words
the extent of your knowledge. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.11
We cannot make the world safe for democracy unless we also make the world safe for diversity. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7699/ - 2010.06.10
The ethic of Islam rests on this generosity [of sharing time and knowledge]. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8106/ - 2010.06.09
Reject all malicious speaking, be there justification for it, or be there none. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.08
And if the debtor is in straitened circumstances, then (let there be)
postponement to (the time of) ease; and that ye remit the debt as
almsgiving would be better for you if ye did but know. (Qur’an 2:280)
Qur’an 2:280 - Pickthall - 2010.06.07
Be on your guard against committing an act, the knowledge of which would
throw discredit on the doer, and degrade him. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.06
Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth. (Qur’an 2:42)
Qur’an 2:42 - Pickthall - 2010.06.05
Freedom doesn’t mean that if you want to abuse that freedom, whatever it
is, you legitimise or impose that on others. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/9087/ - 2010.06.04
And let those who cannot find a match keep chaste till Allah give them independence by His grace. (Qur’an 24:33)
Qur’an 24:33 - Pickthall - 2010.06.03
If you get an opportunity and power over your enemy then, in thankfulness to God for this, forgive him. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.06.02
[The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance. (Einstein)] |
Ignorance, arrogance, insensitivity — these attitudes rank high among
the great public enemies of our time. And the educational enterprise, at
its best, can be an effective antidote to all of them. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.06.01
Be either a learned man or a student or be in affinity with the learned
people and never join any fourth category otherwise you will perish.
(Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 3, Tradition 3 - 2010.05.31
Do not let your heart know regret for the past; for so you will not have time to occupy yourself in the future. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.30
People who believe in speculation, search for knowledge on the basis of
speculations and surmises. These speculations and surmises only take
them further away from the truth. The Religion of God has nothing to do
with surmises. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi , Book 2, Chapter 19, Tradition 7 - 2010.05.29
It wiser to abstain than to repent. | Not to commit faults counts for more than to do good. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.28
Associate with people in such a manner that they weep for you when you die and long for you if you were alive. (Hazrat Ali)
Living and Dying with Grace, Counsels of Hadrat Ali, Thomas Cleary, pp 2 - 2010.05.27
But if freedom of religion deteriorates into freedom from religion —
then societies will find themselves lost in a bleak and unpromising
landscape — with no compass, no roadmap and no sense of ultimate
direction. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7653/ - 2010.05.26
Beware of treating anything as permissible without due knowledge. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 11, Tradition 2 - 2010.05.25
God does not approve the action of anyone without his insight and mere
insight means nothing without action. Insight leads a person to proper
action…. Lo, the conviction of one interacts with the conviction of
the other. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 12, Tradition 2 - 2010.05.24
Whoever practices benevolence will see rigours sweetened. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.23
The ability to make judgements that are grounded in solid information,
and employ careful analysis, should be one of the most important goals
for any educational endeavour [and then, most importantly,] to learn to
place such judgements in an ethical framework. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/6525/ - 2010.05.22
Iman (faith) has two parts: one is patience (sabr) and the other gratitude (shukr). (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977, July 1990 - 2010.05.21
Do not rejoice at another’s fall for you know not what life has in store for you. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.20
The best speaking is that which does not offend the ear, and the
understanding of which does not fatigue the intelligence. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.19
The wickedest man is he who finds no excuse for anyone, nor ever pardons. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.18
What was once wrong is now simply unconventional, and for the sake of
individual freedom must be tolerated. What is tolerated soon becomes
accepted. Contrarily, what was once right is now viewed as outdated, old
fashioned and is often the target of ridicule. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1804/ - 2010.05.17
People indeed perish because they do not ask questions. (Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 9, Tradition 2 - 2010.05.16
Do not say what you fear will be disproved. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.15.B
For pluralism, in essence, is a deliberate set of choices. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7929/ - 2010.05.15.A
Pluralist societies are not accidents of history. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/7073/ - 2010.05.14
Knowledge goes with action. One who knows acts on it, and one who acts
possess knowledge. Knowledge invites one towards action. If the call is
accepted, knowledge stays, and if it is rejected knowledge departs.
(Imam al-Sadiq)
Usul al Kafi, Book 2, Chapter 13, Tradition 2 - 2010.05.13
If you are able to tell, it will be a certainty that bravery and truth
are always found together, and falsehood with cowardice. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali (edited) - 2010.05.12
A man of faith who strives after truth, without forsaking his worldly
obligations, is potentially capable of rising to the level of the
company of the Prophet’s family. (IIS website)
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=110993 - 2010.05.11
When you feed the poor, feed them well. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.10
The decline of a kingdom shows itself in loss of principle; in
attachment to trifles; in bad men getting the upper hand; in the
meritorious being kept down. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.09
But Islam first and Ismailism much more so, insists on action. Without
action, faith is useless. Without action prayer becomes pride. (Aga Khan
III; MSMS)
Private message from Aga Khan III - 2010.05.08
In Islam [daily life and spiritual life] are the same thing. (Aga Khan; MHI)
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/8861/ - 2010.05.07
The believer who is most perfect in iman is the one who has the best character. (Imam al-Baqir)
Early Shia Thought, IIS, pp 87 - 2010.05.06
Sleeping with certainty is better than praying with doubt. (Hazrat Ali)
Justice and Remembrance, IIS, pp 50 - 2010.05.05
‘Manly bravery’ is a general term embracing all other qualities. (Hazrat Ali)
Maxims of Ali - 2010.05.04
People are in comfort due to difference (in status); if all become equal the result will be chaos. (Hazrat Ali)
Africa Ismaili, 11th July, 1990 - 2010.05.03
Allah dislikes a person who is idle. (The Prophet)
Africa Ismaili, December 1977