Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

A few centuries ago, architecture was one of the great Islamic art forms, but today our built environment does not do justice to our cultural past, nor does it accurately reflect the aims and ambitions of our present. Lacking a certain self confidence, Muslims began to absorb and import foreign architectural forms and expressions without thought or analysis.

But most of all, the hope we feel today is warranted by you, the graduands. By your hunger for knowledge. Your compassion for your patients. Your joy in sparking curiosity in your students. And your zeal to find the facts and share them with your fellow citizens, without fear or favour.

Hand in Hand is recognized for their commitment to building equality and understanding between Jewish and Arab students, families and communities through a network of bilingual and integrated schools across Israel. Education plays a fundamental role in fostering pluralism and building societies where diversity is valued.

I am not convinced yet that the total free market approach is healthy for all of human society today as it is. I am not totally convinced that democracy without the understanding of the way and the precondition of democracy is a healthy exercise. I think probably it's important to educate about democracy so that people can understand what are its goals.In countries of hundreds or millions of people that have never experienced democracy, I'm not sure how quickly that process can take place

In Islam there is no reason why a dichotomy should exist. Every Muslim no matter what sect he comes from, will tell you Islam is a way of life. If you read the Qur’an you will find that a very substantial part of Islam and Islam’s teaching has to do with the individual’s behaviour in society in totally secular matters — how you behave in your relations with other people in society, in your business transaction, in your family, in your friends.

I will begin by saying to you, that all civilized societies need to have an ethical framework. Otherwise, civil society cannot function in a serious and planned way. If civil society wants to be a major force at the national level, this is how I see the developed world accepting it. And so, civil society needs to be anchored in a set of ethical premises. I think these ethical premises are often anchored in faith, in religion.

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.

Implicit in this approach is the need for humility, which is also a central Muslim value. We must all search for the answers to the challenges of our generation, within the ethical framework of our faith, and without pre-judging one another or arbitrarily limiting the scope of that search. Like the great Muslim artists, philosophers and scientists of centuries past, we must enthusiastically pursue knowledge on every hand, always ready to embrace a better understanding of Allah’s creation, and always ready to harness this knowledge in improving the quality of life of all peoples.

It should also be clear to anyone who has studied Islamic history or literature, that Islam is, and has always been, a quest that has taken many forms. It has manifested itself in many ways - in different times, amongst different peoples, with changing and evolving emphases, responding to changing human needs, preoccupations, and aspirations.

Our Ismaili tradition, however, has always accepted the spirit of pluralism among schools of interpretation of the faith, and seen this not as a negative value, but as a true reflection of divine plenitude. Indeed, pluralism is seen as essential to the very survival of humanity. Through your studies you have known the many Qur’anic verses and hadiths of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that acknowledge and extol the value of diversity within human societies

The untrue and unfair, but increasingly widespread equating of the words “Islam” and “Muslim” with “intolerance”, sometimes even with the word “terrorism”, could lead some Muslims to feel despair, indignation, or even shame. To me, however, the current global focus on the Muslim world, and on Islam itself, presents a golden opportunity for us to educate and enlighten, while actively exemplifying the counterpoint I mentioned before.

As you look towards the future, I hope that you will remember that intellectual pursuits should, wherever possible, seek to address the universal aspirations of humankind, both spiritual and concrete. Those aspirations, for our generation more than for any before, are intertwined in a single global community.

But geography as a cushion between cultures has been diminishing in recent years. The communications revolution has meant “the death of distance”. More than that, cultures are now mixing physically to an extent that would once have seemed impossible.

Optimists can point to the Gececondus of Turkey, the Favelas of Peru, the Kampungs of Indonesia, and the Bastees of India as evidence of the inventiveness and vitality of private enterprise. And so they are — the poor tend to know how to build their houses more economically than public authorities. Their success in approaching housing incrementally, improving their homes as family resources permit, reflects a degree of flexibility not found in the large scale formal sector.

The architect must not only be a master of form, he has to be a communicator and I hope this seminar has given architects the possibility to communicate at many different levels and on a variety of subjects. In doing so I trust they will be able in the years ahead, more successfully to address one of the greatest challenge facing the human race which is to build for itself in quantity and quality, appropriate shelter.

Unless change takes account of rural life in all its aspects, unless it respects the past and the heritage of rural areas and peoples, unless it recognises the intricate ties between the physical and the social environment, it will fail to achieve planning and developing goals for each nation. It will also fail to provide attractive alternatives to migration and thereby fail to stem the tide of people flooding into the cities adding to the already almost insurmountable social problems the urban areas are facing.

My grandfather was a most gifted person. […] While the past was a book he had read and re-read many times, the future was just one more literary work of art into which he used to immerse himself with deep thought and concentration. Innumerable people since his death have told me how he foresaw the future, and this certainly was one of his great strengths.”

...and I do not believe that it is wealth, or military power, that will bring the Muslim world back to what you and other Muslims and I aspire for it to be. What will bring it back? Only one thing, the quality and the capability of the people of the Muslim world. That is what will bring it back, and if in some small way you and I can contribute to this objective, then I think we, and future generations, will have made a small contribution to bringing the Muslim world back to a position of standing and respect and esteem in the community of nations, which I think we deserve

Furthermore, education must be meaningful to the needs of the nation. There must be a relationship between the kind of education provided and the requirements of the country's economy and demography. This in turn demands control both of the curricula offered and of the quality of teaching, especially in profit-making schools.

If government, through its laws and attitudes, creates a climate of stability, then those professional people will not merely contribute to development, they will of their own volition, seek to improve standards. But if the environment is wrong, if it is disabling, then standards will fall, the quacks and the crooks and the corrupt will flourish and the good men and women will despair and leave.