Ismailis - Shah Hasan Ali Mausoleum

Hasanabad, Mazgaon, Mumbai - India

By Al-Waez Alijah Hasan Husayn Nazar Ali

Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali spent the last years of his life in the peaceful enjoyment of his large income and hereditary honours at Poona , Bombay and Bangalore . He devoted the last 30 years of his life to the up liftment of the Ismaili community in India . One of his great passions in life was horses. He had in his stables some of the best breeds of Arabian horses. His fondness for horses made him one of the prominent supporters of the turf. There are many cups won by him on the racecourses which are still preserved in the family. The Duke of Edinburgh and King Edward VII, who was Prince of Wales at that time, visited Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali at his residence during their visit to India . It was an honour which, with the exception of the leading ruling princes, was accorded to no other nobleman; this was an acknowledgement of Imam’s princely birth and of the great and loyal services he had rendered to the British government.

Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali died in April 1881 A.D., leaving three sons -Aga Ali Shah, who succeeded him to the Imamat, Aga Jangir Shah and Aga Akbar Shah. Before Mowlana Shah Hasan Ali’s death there was reconciliation between him and the ruling family in Persia . The last resting place of this great Persian nobleman, warrior, statesman, sportsman and Spiritual Leader, is at Mazagon in Bombay . This place is called "Hasanabad" after the Imam, where Ismailis have erected a mausoleum. Millions of Ismailis and Non Ismailis has visited this mausoleum from all over the world.

Rotman MBA students visit Dubai Ismaili Centre

Zee's Notes: In January of this year a group of University of Toronto's Rotman Business School MBA students visited the Ismaili Centre in Dubai. Here is the story...


http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2009/week19/Tuesday/050517.htm

Canada Prepares For Aga Khan Visit

Street Banner by Vancouver's Convention Center

Canada's Ismaili's prepare for MHI's Golden Jubilee Visit.

Zee's Notes: Today is Friday November 14th, 2008. (D - 4)

If I was to try and tell you of the excitement currently being felt by the Canadian Jamat with MHI set to land in Canada in 4 days - it would be understated but you can see it in the faces of the people in JK tonite. I just got back from Burnaby Lake where the Greater Vancouver Students gathered and there was a buzz like you would not believe. Tonight, the students are having their celebration under the 'Jubilee Dome' - which is a huge semi-permanent tent which serves as the social and entertainment hall. Though the preparations have been underway for months it is now a reality for the Canadian Jamat. I can imagine similar activity occuring throughout the country.

As well, it seems everyone is in meetings being held day and night in the final organizing for Vancouver which is D-10 days. Burnaby Lake was a place to see all the leaders and convenors today in what will be a marathon session but then I suspect the next 10 days will be like this everywhere.

So the big news today was the re-opening of the registration for the International Jamat for the Vancouver and Toronto Deedars. When the website opened 2 days ago the story was that Toronto had it's capacity filled in 15 minutes and in less than 24 hours all Canadian centres were full. So tomorrow November 15th the site will re-open for the International Ismailis again. The Canadian Leadership is getting on with the challenge of reciprocating the incredible hospitality Canadians were blessed to receive this past year in all the Darbars.

Tomorrow there are 3 shows the youth are presenting entitled 'Allah Hu' at Burnaby Lake and Lions Gate Headquarters JK. Inshallah, I'll try to keep you updated on a day-to day basis as to the happenings in Vancouver as we get to the magic day November 25th, 2008.

YAM

From the news:

Aga Khan to make jubilee visit to B.C.

The Province

Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Aga Khan will visit Vancouver on Nov. 25 for a Golden Jubilee anniversary meeting with members of B.C.'s Shia Ismaili Muslim community. "The community is very excited about having His Highness visit," said Farid Damji, a volunteer with the Ismaili Council of B.C.
The Aga Khan has been spiritual leader, or Imam, to the ethnically-diverse community of Ismailis for the past 50 years. Many of his 20,000 followers in the province are expected to gather at B.C. Place Stadium for a ceremonial afternoon. "He will deliver a message and meet community leaders," said Damji. The trip is part of a worldwide tour this year. The Canadian portion runs Nov. 18-25 and Dec. 5-6.

Muslim leader to visit Calgary

Graeme Morton, Calgary Herald

Published: Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Aga Khan, spiritual leader to the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims, will pay a visit to Calgary this month.
The local stop on Nov. 24 -- the Aga Khan's first visit to Calgary in 16 years -- will be part of a weeklong tour of Canada, marking his 50th year at the head of the global Ismaili community. Canada is the 14th country the Aga Khan will visit as part of the celebration, with other stops in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
"We've been anticipating the possibility that he might come to Calgary, but to have it confirmed now is very exciting," says Calgary Ismaili community member Sameera Sereda. "There are a whole generation of young Ismailis who have never had the opportunity to see him." Calgarian Mansoor Ladha had the chance to interview the Aga Khan as a young journalist working in Tanzania in 1970. "We've been waiting for months and months for this announcement to come," Ladha said. "There will be Ismailis coming to Calgary from all across the Prairie provinces for this day." Community member Almoonir Dewji said Calgary's Ismaili population has doubled to about 10,000 since the Aga Khan's last visit here. "There's a tremendous feeling of grace and blessing that he's coming again," says Dewji. "He is a great role model to me personally, because he embodies the teaching of the prophet in the current time." Details of the Aga Khan's schedule while in Calgary are still being finalized, but a large communal gathering at Stampede Park is planned. In addition to his spiritual leadership, the Aga Khan has gained widespread attention for his humanitarian and economic development work in a number of Third World nations. He has been a champion of Islamic art and architecture and of the restoration and preservation of ancient Muslim archeological sites. The Aga Khan has developed close ties with Canadian leaders through the years, lauding our country as an example of religious pluralism in a world often torn along racial and spiritual lines.

Ismaili centre: Fostering social connectivity...

Read Article here - XPRESS

Ismaili Center, Designers Must Work With Neighbors

Zee's notes: As the Ismailis in the USA get more prominence in light of MHI's just completed visit here is an old article of a local citizen's perspective from a community paper on the approved new Ismaili Center to be built in Glenview - a Chicago suburb.

THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS WEEK OF NOVEMBER 6, 2005

By MAUREEN PEKOSH
The topic of my third grade religious education class this week was the Saints.
We discussed how a few centuries ago, ordinary people were persecuted and discriminated against because they wanted to practice their Catholic faith in a land where the Catholic faith was not widely accepted. It seemed strange to these eight year olds that there were ever times and places where people could not just go to a Catholic church or pray as these religious education students are being encouraged to do.
We also learned a prayer in Spanish and the names of places named after Saints in multiple languages as well as English. The point of the lesson was that God is not just for English speaking Americans, but that He is worshipped in many countries throughout the world by people of different races who speak various languages.
Glenview is a very diverse community, home to many individuals of different beliefs with different cultural backgrounds and traditions.
I was pleased to see that 13 religious leaders of various faiths recently encouraged the Glenview Village Planning Commission to approve the Ismaili house of worship request. As Reverend Graham Smith, rector of St. David's Episcopal Church affirmed, the addition of the Ismaili congregation would bring with it a "contribution to the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that make Glenview such an attractive place to live."
When religious leaders stand up and make a statement about the benefit of including the Ismaili community in our local religious dialogues, I am comforted to know that Glenview will not become a place where history will say we made martyrs of the Ismaili faithful for their fight to practice their religion within our community.
However, there are valid issues that have been raised by concerned residents. The additional traffic that the proposed house of worship will bring to the area is a legitimate worry. Even with the location currently vacant, traffic inevitably queues up waiting to turn left from Golf onto Shermer and can become dangerous at times as drivers seem to extend their ability to turn left past their allotted green light. Adding to that congestion in any way does not seem to be a wise decision. Hundreds of worshippers coming in hundreds of cars would exacerbate an intersection that the Illinois Dept. of Transportation (IDOT) has been discussing improving for years and is only now adding to its wish list, but not formally planning. Further, a site serving a community of 900 worshippers with access and egress off Shermer at MacArthur Lane might encourage visitors to cut through the narrow streets of Park Manor where children are out playing and cars are often parked. Worshipers arriving at 5:00 in the morning might not be the best alarm clock for a neighborhood that does not intend to arise at that hour.
Getting out of my neighborhood during the morning and evening rush hour is always a challenge. There is a Methodist church at the end of my street but that really does not affect the traffic flow. The problem is the only direct way off of my street is Harlem, a major thoroughfare. At times, generally when pre-school is about to start or let out, traffic can get backed up on Harlem waiting to turn into the car pick up line at the church. But the delay lasts five minutes at the most and the number of vehicles involved numbers closer to thirty not in the hundreds. There is also a difference because so many people frequenting the church are neighbors. They are not coming from towns between Chicago and Northlake; many of them consider the church part of their neighborhood.
What can be done to truly make the Ismaili center and its designers act like a part of the community, like a good neighbor? They cannot rely upon the way other communities have embraced their centers, but must address their proposed new neighbors' concerns. They must work with the Planning Commission, the Park Manor Civic Council, and their own members to devise a plan that meets everyone's needs to the most extent.
It is likely that all sides will have to make compromises but that is standard where different parties have divergent agendas. The neighbors will have to accept that the site will not stay vacant forever and any proposed use will bring an increase in traffic and noise. The site planners may have to enclose parking, relocate their driveway or offer the community some other concession that shows they are truly willing to be good neighbors. The Village Board will have to weigh the pros and cons of the proposal, no easy task since they are comparing apples and oranges, and determine what is best for Glenview as a whole. For the parties directly involved, it is likely the party that is the least willing to compromise who will be the most disappointed by the outcome.

Aga Khan's cultural centre crown jewel for Don Mills

Apr 02, 2008 04:30 AM Christopher Hume Urban Affairs Columnist

Perhaps the Aga Khan knows something we don't. Why else would the spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims have chosen a 7-hectare site near Don Mills and Eglinton to build his $200 million community centre/cultural campus?

Most Torontonians would have dismissed that location without a second thought; after all Wynford Dr., where the old Bata and Shell corporate sites were located, is more a drive-by corner than a destination.
But once the transformation is complete, sometime around 2011, it will be a full-fledged international destination, a place for all.
The three-part project consists of a museum and a community/religious centre surrounded by gardens. Though work won't begin until later this year, drawings show a complex of rare beauty that, even more amazing, is rendered in the language of contemporary architecture. Unlike most such religious/culture centres that have appeared recently in these parts, this one looks to the future, not the past.
The designer of the museum, intended to house the Aga Khan's exquisite collection of Islamic art and artifacts, is none other than acclaimed Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. The Pritzker Prize winner has conceived a state-of-the-art facility clad in white stone and set off by a dome—like metal structure on the roof. Inside, there will be a 350-seat theatre as well as all the usual features – library, café, restaurant and storage.
It sits north of the centre by Charles Correa, another celebrated architect, in this case from Mumbai. A modernist known for his sensitivity to local conditions, Correa has contributed a low-slung building also highlighted by a multi-faceted dome rendered in glass. The centre will contain the meeting rooms and various spaces. The jamatkhana, or prayer room, is the sacred part of the complex; it will be a simple, unadorned area lit by the dome above. Clad in limestone, this large rambling structure reads like a geological feature, part of the landscape; it's the largest element on site.
In between and all around will be a series of gardens, ponds, fountains and rows of trees that can be expected to erase all signs of suburbia. Designed by Vladimir Djurovic of Lebanon, this green space takes its inspiration from the traditional Islamic idea of the garden as a place of quiet contemplation and enclosed beauty. It must also serve to block out the nearby parkway and off-ramp, the major arterials and the whole apparatus of a postwar car-based city.
Interestingly, the Aga Khan, who signs off on all plans, was strongly in favour of the gardens – and underground parking for 750 cars. His Highness was concerned about what kind of image the centre will send to the population at large. He wanted non-Ismailis to feel as welcome as possible, and also to be confronted with the sheer beauty of the complex.
Given the number of surface lots in Toronto, one might think we love them, but thankfully the Aga Khan doesn't. Though his demand will raise the cost of the project, that's a price he's willing to pay.
For this, and everything else, we should be eternally grateful. It is revealing that the Aga Khan and his foundation treat this city with more respect than most developers who work here. Not only did Toronto win the museum over London, England, the plan will empower three important architects to help transform Toronto.
The Aga Khan is also hard at work in Ottawa, converting the old War Museum of Sussex Dr. into the Global Centre for Pluralism. There's another Ismaili centre, also designed by Maki, under construction in the embassy district.
Too often the subtext of the diversity debate focuses on what Canada can do for immigrants. This time, it's about how much they can do for Canada – and Toronto.
Christopher Hume writes on urban development, To reach him, email chume@thestar.ca.

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