Aga Khan Quotes

Every day has been so short, every hour so fleeting, every minute so filled with the life I love that time for me has fled on too swift a wing.

Struggle is the meaning of life; defeat or victory is in the hands of God. But struggle itself is man’s duty and should be his joy.

Everybody makes mistakes. Never regret them, correct them. There’s no such thing as a perfect world or perfect life.

I think it would be foolish to believe that there are no problems - life is made of problems. They occur every day to just about everyone around the world and I think that it is important that we should simply accept that that is life and we must live it fully and courageously

For too long some of our schools have taught too many subjects as subsets of dogmatic commitments...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 lifelong openness to new questions and new responses. An important goal of quality education is to equip each generation to participate effectively in what has been called 'the great conversation' of our times. This means, on one hand, being unafraid of controversy. But, on the other hand, it also means being sensitive to the values and outlooks of others.

Ik ben niet treurig. Ik heb alleen groot medelijden met de andere mensen die zo ver bij mij vandaan zijn en al had ik een radiozender tot mijn beschikking, het zou geen nut hebben hun te zeggen wat ik denk. Ik kan hen niet begrijpen en zij mij evenmin. De gekste sprookjes zijn niet uit hun hersens weg te branden, varianten op domme grootheidswanen, uitgebroed toen hun voorouders nog in holen woonden en niet beter wisten of de hele kosmos was niet groter dan hun hol. En als ze er niet aan geloven, dan hopen ze toch wel spirituele openbaringen te kunnen putten uit materiële nonsens. Want, zeggen ze, wij kunnen zo alleen niet verder leven, wij hebben behoefte aan troost. (Leef ik soms niet verder? Wie troost mij?) Daarvoor laten ze de pausen in paleizen wonen en de Aga Khan diamanten eten. Aan de miljoenen die uit naam van hun troostende leugens mishandeld worden, aan de absurde wetten die er zelfs in de beschaafdste landen op zijn gebaseerd, denken zij nooit, want zij willen in slaap gesust worden met sprookjes en hoe meer bloed ervoor vergoten wordt, hoe beter zij erin kunnen geloven. Want bloed is het enige waarover ze beschikken en het enige onomstotelijke existentiële feit is hun onverzadelijke bloeddorst.

For the developing world, the past half-century has been a time of recurring hope and frequent disappointment. Great waves of change have washed over the landscape, from the crumbling of colonial hegemonies in mid-century to the recent collapse of Communist empires. But too often, what rushed in to replace the old order were empty hopes-not only in the false allure of state socialism, non-alignment and single-party rule, but also the false glories of romantic nationalism and narrow tribalism, and the false dawn of runaway individualism.

As you build your lives, for yourselves and others, you will come to rest upon certain principles. Central to my life has been a verse in the Holy Quran which addresses itself to the whole of humanity. It says: 'Oh Mankind, fear your Lord, who created you of a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them scattered abroad many men and women'. I know of no more beautiful expression about the unity of our human race — born indeed from a single soul.

[W]hereas a few hundred years ago man suspected and imagined that the universe was, for all intents and purposes, limitless, today he knows this to be true. His improved understanding of the material world around him has given him the means to make sure that his original conception of the universe was correct, in that every day its limits are being pushed aside and new horizons appear." His Highness the Aga Khan's 1964 First World Socio-Economic Conference address (Karachi, Pakistan)

When people speak these days, about an inevitable “Clash of Civilizations” in our world, what they often mean, I fear, is an inevitable “Clash of Religions.” But I would use different terminology altogether. The essential problem, as I see it, in relations between the Muslim world and the West is “A Clash of Ignorance.” And what I would prescribe -- as an essential first step -- is a concentrated educational effort. Address by His Highness the Aga Khan to the Tutzing Evangelical Academy Upon Receiving the "Tolerance" Award - 20 May 2006 (Tutzing, Germany)

From the very beginnings of Islam, the search for knowledge has been central to our cultures. I think of the words of Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first hereditary Imam of the Shia Muslims, and the last of the four rightly-guided Caliphs after the passing away of the Prophet (may peace be upon him). In his teachings, Hazrat Ali emphasized that ‘No honour is like knowledge.’ And then he added that ‘No belief is like modesty and patience, no attainment is like humility, no power is like forbearance, and no support is more reliable than consultation.’ “Notice that the virtues endorsed by Hazrat Ali are qualities which subordinate the self and emphasize others - modesty, patience, humility, forbearance and consultation. What he thus is telling us is that we find knowledge best by admitting first what it is we do not know, and by opening our minds to what others can teach us.” — The Aga Khan IV at the Commencement Ceremony of the American University in Cairo, 25 June 2006

Louis was altogether convinced that if the ignorant politicians would keep their dirty hands off banking and the stock exchange and hours of labor for salesmen in department stores, then everyone in the country would profit, as beneficiaries of increased business, and all of them (including the retail clerks) be rich as Aga Khan.

Nothing is gained by imposing one interpretation upon people disposed to another. Indeed the effect of such coercion is a denial of the principles of the faith…Shia and Sunni can co-exist and co-operate, true to their own interpretations of Islam but confederates in faith…Human genius is found in its variety, which is a work of Allah." — His Highness the Aga Khan, Khorog, Badakhshan, May 24, 1995.

Di bulan April 1978, di Aiglemont, Gouviuex, Prancis sebuah seminar diadakan oleh Aga Khan untuk membahas arsitektur Islam. Banyak pembicaraan menyesali hilangnya "ciri Islam" dalam kota dan bangunan baru di Timur Tengah kini. Hanya seorang ahli sejarah dari Turki, Dogan Kuban, yang memenangkan debat itu dengan mengingatkan, bahwa "arsitektur adalah sebuah profesi yang berorientasi kepada klien". Jika klien yang di Riyadh itu suka gedung model New York, mau apa?

Then, before leaving, she handed the president a note from one of her young sons. The boy asked the president if he would be so kind, while he was staying there, as to please remember to feed his goldfish. When the president read that, he assured the Aga Khan and his wife, “Absolutely.” He said he would be honored to do it and promised that he would do it himself. So one of the first things he did the next morning was feed the goldfish. And he did it every morning that they were there.

We have all seen examples of God's most wonderful creature, the person, who is inspired to go beyond the mechanical requirements of a task. Such men and women, paid or unpaid, express the spirit of the volunteer — literally the will to make a product better, a school the very best, a clinic more compassionate and effective. Their spirit, generating new ideas, resisting discouragement, and demanding results, animates the heart of every effective society." — His Highness the Aga Khan, Enabling Environment Conference, Nairobi, October 20, 1986.

We are often told these days that tension and violence in much of the world grows out of some fundamental clash of civilizations – especially a clash between the Islamic world and the West. I disagree with that assessment. In my view, it is a clash of ignorance's which is to blame - His Highness the Aga Khan at the Foundation Stone-Laying Ceremony of The Aga Khan Academy (Hyderabad, India) 22 September 2006

.....the discourse of the Qur’an-e-Sharif, rich in parable and allegory, metaphor and symbol, has been an inexhaustible well-spring of inspiration, lending itself to a wide spectrum of interpretations. This freedom of interpretation is a generosity which the Qur'an confers upon all believers, uniting them in the conviction that All-Merciful Allah will forgive them if they err in their sincere attempts to understand His word. Happily, as a result, the Holy Book continues to guide and illuminate the thought and conduct of Muslims belonging to different communities of interpretation and spiritual affiliation, from century to century, in diverse cultural environments. The Noble Qur’an extends its principle of pluralism also to adherents of other faiths. It affirms that each has a direction and path to which they turn so that all should strive for good works, in the belief that, wheresoever they may be, Allah will bring them together. - His Highness the Aga Khan, The Ismaili Center London, October 19, 2003 ‘Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions’ An International Colloquium organised by Institute of Ismaili Studies

We need in the “Ummah” to move away from the normative attitudes towards the acceptance of pluralism of the “Ummah”, and that pluralism starts from the time of the Prophet himself and “Hadith” (Sayings of the Prophet Mohammad) as well as the Prophet’s historical footprints show that in the life time of the Prophet himself he knew that there would be pluralism in the interpretation of the faith" His Highness The Aga Khan Geneva, Switzerland 2006

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. The male could bend his energies to manual effort for reward, but the girl’s function was the maintenance of home life and the bringing up of the children. Her influence in the family circle was enormous and the future of the generation depended upon her ability to lead the young along the right paths and instruct them in the rudiments of culture and civilisation. - Sultan Muhammad Shah, The Aga Khan III

The ethics of Islam enjoin all believers, individually or through institutions such as the Ismaili Imamat, to assist the poor, the isolated, and the marginalised to improve their current circumstances and future prospects. Through the Imamat, I have tried to respond to this responsibility by creating a group of private, non-denominational agencies the Aga Khan Development Network – to respond to the needs and potential of people living in some of the poorest parts of the world, irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, or religion.” His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan, World Mountain Forum UNESCO, Paris, France – June 5, 2000

[A]bove all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe, as an expression of Allah's will and creation, that has inspired in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah.'" His Highness the Aga Khan's 2003 Address to the International Colloquium 'Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur'an and its Creative Expressions' organised by The Institute of Ismaili Studies (London, United Kingdom)

Imran Khan, known as a selected Prime Minister of Pakistan, has not discussed and gained the vote of confidence in the Parliament and Senate of Pakistan before taking the consequence and risky step to open the border of Kartarpur between Pakistan and India for the Sikhs community. As a fact, it was and is a dream and agenda of the followers of the false prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani, who always wish to happen that. A prominent literary figure and editor of the weekly magazine Chatan, Aga Shurash Kashmiri wrote and warned about such suicidal conspiracy in his article of 1960, published in his magazine. Not only that, but the Qadiyani movement also preferred to gain the power to establish the Qadiyani rule as the Qadiyani State of Pakistan. Pakistan is in the phase of collapse.

When he sipped the champagne she teased him, surely gods should not partake of alcohol, and he answered with a line he had once read in an interview with the Aga Khan, O, you know, this champagne is only for outward show, the moment it touches my lips it turns to water. After that it didn’t take long for her to touch his lips and deliquesce into his arms.

The truth about a man as much as about a country or an institution is better than legend, myth and falsehood.

It is not possible for me to assess the success or failure of what I have tried to do; final judgment lies elsewhere.

Primitive religious experience and primitive scientific reasoning were linked together in magic, in wizardry. Thus, at one and the same time mankind's experiences in the realm of sensation and his strivings to explain and co-ordinate those experiences in terms of his mind led to the birth of both science and religion.

It was difficult to separate what I may call proto-religion from proto-science; they made their journey like two streams, sometimes mingling, sometimes separating, but running side by side.

Thus man's soul has never been left without a specially inspired messenger from the soul that sustains, embraces and is the universe.

In Islam the Faithful believe in Divine justice and are convinced that the solution of the great problem of predestination and free will is to be found in the compromise that God knows what man is going to do, but that man is free to do it or not.

The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine will.

In Islam there are no extreme renunciations, no asceticism, no maceration, above all no flagellations to subjugate the body. The healthy human body is the temple in which the flame of the Holy Spirit burns, and thus it deserves the respect of scrupulous cleanliness and personal hygiene.

Après la destruction d'Alamout (1256), la secte des Assassins s'est perpétuée sous une forme on ne peut plus pacifique : les ismaéliens, adeptes de l'Aga Khan, dont on oublie parfois qu'il est le successeur en droite ligne de Hassan as-Sabbah.

Imran Khan, known as a selected Prime Minister of Pakistan, has not discussed and gained a vote of confidence in the Parliament and Senate of Pakistan before taking the consequence and risky step of opening the border of Kartarpur between Pakistan and India for the Sikh community. As a fact, it was and is a dream and agenda of the followers of the false prophet Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiyani, who always wished for that to happen. A prominent literary figure and editor of the weekly magazine Chatan, Aga Shurash Kashmiri, wrote and warned about such a suicidal conspiracy in a 1960 article published in his magazine. Not only that, but the Qadiyani movement also preferred to gain the power to establish the Qadiyani rule as the Qadiyani State of Pakistan. Pakistan is in a phase of collapse.

HDFC Bank was the first of the private lenders to go public— even before it completed a full year. 'It was a mistake,' Deepak told me. The RBI required the new banks to go public within a year but all other lenders went back to the regulator and got extensions. 'We didn't ask for it. We were too naive,' Deepak said. 'Everybody took time as they wanted to get a premium. We sold at par, ₹10. But I have no regrets.' Deepak pushed for a par issue as the bank had nothing to show. And the disaster of parent HDFC's listing was still haunting him, though that had happened a decade and a half ago. In 1978, India's capital market was in a different shape and mortgage was a new product, not understood by many. HDFC put the photograph of its first borrower on the cover of its balance sheet, a D. B. Remedios from Thane, who took a loan of ₹35,000 to build his house. The public issue of HDFC bombed. In an initial public offering (IPO) of ₹10 crore, the face value of one share was ₹100. ICICI, IFC (Washington) and the Aga Khan Fund took 5% stakes each in the mortgage lender and the balance 85% equity was offered to the public, but there were few takers. The stock quoted at a steep discount on listing. For the bank, Deepak did not want to take any chance. So portions of the issue were reserved for the shareholders and employees of HDFC as well as the bank's employees. HDFC decided to own close to a 26% stake in the bank and NatWest 20%. Satpal was offered about 5% and the public 25%. The size of the public issue was ₹50 crore. 'We didn't know whether it would succeed. Our experience with HDFC had been a disaster,' Deepak said. But Deepak had grossly underestimated investors' appetite for the new bank. The issue, which opened on 14 March 1995, was subscribed a record fifty-five times. The stock was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (now known as BSE Ltd) on 26 May that year at ₹39.95, almost at a 300% premium.

We cannot make the world safe for democracy unless we also make the world safe for diversity.

Les femmes ismaéliennes de sa suite [de l'Aga Khan], venues de Dar es-Salaam, invoquent en psalmodiant les dieux de l'ancienne Égypte, celui de la mort et de l'embaumement, Seth le dieu des ténèbres et Atoun, celui du chaos liquide : prières, superstitions, incantations se mêlent au-dehors tandis qu'à l'intérieur de la mosquée, le cercueil que l'on vient de poser à même la pierre paraît avoir été là de toute éternité. » (Yann Kerlau – Les Aga Khan)

Another bullet hit Hajji Murad in the left side. He lay down in the ditch and again pulled some cotton wool out of his beshmet and plugged the wound. This wound in the side was fatal and he felt that he was dying. Memories and pictures succeeded one another with extraordinary rapidity in his imagination. now he saw the powerful Abu Nutsal Khan, dagger in hand and holding up his severed cheek as he rushed at his foe; then he saw the weak, bloodless old Vorontsov with his cunning white face, and heard his soft voice; then he saw his son Yusuf, his wife Sofiat, and then the pale, red-bearded face of his enemy Shamil with its half-closed eyes. All these images passed through his mind without evoking any feeling within him -- neither pity nor anger nor any kind of desire: everything seemed so insignificant in comparison with what was beginning, or had already begun, within him. Yet his strong body continued the thing that he had commenced. Gathering together his last strength he rose from behind the bank, fired his pistol at a man who was just running towards him, and hit him. The man fell. Then Hajji Murad got quite out of the ditch, and limping heavily went dagger in hand straight at the foe. Some shots cracked and he reeled and fell. Several militiamen with triumphant shrieks rushed towards the fallen body. But the body that seemed to be dead suddenly moved. First the uncovered, bleeding, shaven head rose; then the body with hands holding to the trunk of a tree. He seemed so terrible, that those who were running towards him stopped short. But suddenly a shudder passed through him, he staggered away from the tree and fell on his face, stretched out at full length like a thistle that had been mown down, and he moved no more. He did not move, but still he felt. When Hajji Aga, who was the first to reach him, struck him on the head with a large dagger, it seemed to Hajji Murad that someone was striking him with a hammer and he could not understand who was doing it or why. That was his last consciousness of any connection with his body. He felt nothing more and his enemies kicked and hacked at what had no longer anything in common with him. Hajji Aga placed his foot on the back of the corpse and with two blows cut off the head, and carefully -- not to soil his shoes with blood -- rolled it away with his foot. Crimson blood spurted from the arteries of the neck, and black blood flowed from the head, soaking the grass. Karganov and Hajji Aga and Akhmet Khan and all the militiamen gathered together -- like sportsmen round a slaughtered animal -- near the bodies of Hajji Murad and his men (Khanefi, Khan Mahoma, and Gamzalo they bound), and amid the powder-smoke which hung over the bushes they triumphed in their victory. the nightingales, that had hushed their songs while the firing lasted, now started their trills once more: first one quite close, then others in the distance. It was of this death that I was reminded by the crushed thistle in the midst of the ploughed field.

How does it work when you have a living, breathing, and divine representative of God on Earth? Do you consult a 1300-year-old holy book when you can go right to the source? To be sure, no Nizari Ismaili will tell you that the Quran is not revered in his or her faith; they will insist that there is no contradiction between the teachings of the Aga Khan and the holy text. However, to the objective observer, it’s inevitable in this situation that the Quran becomes a secondary source, a historical reference book at most. Indeed, the Aga Khan’s modern, progressive views and rulings have resulted in the Nizari Ismaili community becoming arguably the most well-integrated, secular, apolitical, nonviolent, and generally pro-West Muslim community in the world.