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AGA ALI SHAH, AGA KHAN II (1298-1302/1881-1885), 47TH IMAM

"Imam Aga Ali Shah, His Highness Aga Khan II was born in 1246/1830 at Mahallat, where he spent the first decade of his age. In the outset of 1256/1840, Imam Aga Ali Shah had been taken to Iraq, where he stayed a few years with his mother. Under the instruction of Iranian and Arab teachers, eminent for their piety and learning, he had been taught the oriental languages, and he achieved a reputation as an authority on Persian and Arabic literature, as a student of metaphysics and as an exponent of religious philosophy.

ABBASIDS

Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet had a son, Abdullah, who never tried to establish his own caliphate. Abdullah and his son, Ali bin Abdullah resided in Humayma. It was the latter's son, Muhammad bin Ali to have taken the charge of Kaysaniya sect from the dying Abu Hashim. Thus, the house of Abbas inherited the party and organization of Abu Hashim along with his claims. Muhammad bin Ali led the Kaysaniya sect, and propagated in the name of Ahl al-Bayt, declaring that the caliph should be from Alid descent and the Umayyads had no right to rule.

AGA JHANGI SHAH

"He was the son of Imam Hasan Ali Shah. Marium Khanum, also called Khanum Baji, who died on May 21, 1894 was the third wife of Imam Hasan Ali Shah. She was the mother of Aga Jhangi Shah and Bibi Saheba, the wife of Suleman Khan.

ABDUS SALAM (880-899/1475-1493), 33RD IMAM

"Mahmud Shah, surnamed Abdus Salam or Salam Shah, whose exact date of birth is not known. But the evidence is in favour of his having been born in 859/1456 in Shahr-i Babak, where he mostly passed his early life. He is also called Shah Salamullah. He ascended to the office of Imamate at the age of 21 years. It is related that he was a pragmatic scholar and had gleaned historical informations from his father and the elders of the community, notably the period stretching from the reduction of Alamut to his time.

AGA KHAN ACADEMY

The first of a planned network of Aga Khan Academies dedicated to expanding access to education of an international standard of excellence in Asia and Africa was inaugurated in Mombasa, Kenya on December 20, 2003 in presence of the President of Kenya, Mr. Mwai Kibaki. The network of Academies will feature a curriculum based on the framework of the International Baccalaureate (IB). At the centre of this approach is a broad education in the humanities from pre-primary years through to higher secondary.

AB-I SHAFA

"The word ab-i shafa in Persian means healing water, and its synonymous in Arabic is ma'ush- shafa. The word shafa occurs six times in the Koran (9:14, 26:80, 10:57, 16:69, 17:82 and 41:44), which literally means remedy, recovery, healing or convalescence. One of the names of the Koran itself is shafa (healing): "And We revealed the Koran which is a healing (shifaun) and a mercy to the believers" (17:82). The word ma' (pl.

ABJAD

The word abjad means chronogram, which is a mode of reckoning numbers by means of the Arabic letters of the alphabets, counting alif for one; bay for two; jim for three, etc. It may be noted that in English, only seven letters have of this chronogram, viz. C for 100, D for 500, I for 1, L for 50, M for 1000, V for 5 and X for 10.

AGA KHAN CASE - 1866

"Imam Hasan Ali Shah had to face periodical troubles from certain dissident members of his community. In 1243/1827, while the Imam was in Iran, a group led by Habib Ibrahim in Bombay refused to pay tithe and forced others to do so. The leaders of the Bombay jamat reported to the Imam in Iran at the end of 1244/1828. The Imam, in order to overcome this opposition, sent to Bombay as his agent, Mirza Abul Kassim, who was accompanied by the Imam's mother, Bibi Sarcar Mata Salamat (1744-1832) in 1245/1829.

AGA KHAN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK (AKDN)

It is a group of institutions working to improve living conditions and opportunities in specific regions of the developing world. The Network's institutions have individuals mandates that range from the fields of health and education to architecture, rural development and the promotion of private sector enterprise. Together they collaborate in working toward a common goal

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

In social development, the Network is particularly active in health, education, housing and rural development. The purpose of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is to promote creative and effective solutions to problems that impede social development. AKF provides funding and technical assistance for many social development projects carried out by both Network institutions and other agencies. The Aga Khan University (AKU) is an international institution whose Faculty of Health Sciences and Institute for Educational Development are in Karachi, Pakistan.

ABU ABDULLAH AS-SHII

"Abu Abdullah al-Shi'i was hailed from Kufa. He espoused Ismailism by the hand of da'i Firuz. Imam Radi Abdullah sent him to Ibn Hawshab in Yamen for further training in esoteric doctrines as well as affairs of the state, where he stayed for a year. Ibn Hawshab then sent him towards Maghrib.

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)

Founded in 1967, the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is now a major non-governmental organization (NGO) active in health, education and rural development. With roots in the third world and support in the West, it cooperates with more than thirty other national and international agencies to finance programmes, primarily in Africa and Asia. To encourage a new generation of development practitioners aware of the realities of the third world, it also provides scholarships, training and internships to young people from developing and industrialized countries. AKF's headquarters are in Switzerland.

ABU ALI SINA

"Abu Ali ibn Sina, Ibn Sina or Avicenna, known in the West as Prince of Physicians, was born in 370/980 in the village of Afshana near Bukhara. He was an encyclopeadist, philosopher, physiologist, physician, mathematician, astronomer, logician and poet. He gained the titles of Shaikh al-Ra'is (leader among the wise men) and Hujjat al-Haq (proof of God), displayed a remarkable aptitude for learning from an early age. His father Abdullah hailed from Balkh and was in the service of the Samanid court.

The Aga Khan University (AKU)

With the faculty of Health Sciences and the Institute for Educational Development in Pakistan, the Aga Khan University (AKU) occupies a pivotal place in the Network's social development activities. Inaugurated in 1985, its purpose is to provide higher education and stimulate research pertinent to Pakistan and the developing world, while maintaining internationally accepted academic standards.

ABU BAKR

Abu Bakr, the son of Abu Qahafa was born in the Qoraish family. When he was born he was taken to the Kaba, dedicated to the gods, and named Abdul Kaba. In his early age, he liked to play with the young camels, which earned him the surname of Abu Bakr, i.e., the father of the foal of the camel. He did not receive any formal education. At the age of 18 years, he adopted the profession of a cloth merchant, which was his family business, and came to be recognized as one of the richest merchants of Mecca. He was first among the elders to accept Islam in Mecca.

Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS)

The Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) is one of the most comprehensive non-profit health care systems in the developing world. Building on the Ismaili community's health care efforts during the first half of the century, AKHS now provides primary health care and curative medical care in India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania and Syria. It includes five general hospitals, the Aga Khan University Hospital in Pakistan, six maternity homes and more than 230 health centers.

ABU HATIM AR-RAZI

"Abu Hatim ar-Razi was born near Ray around 260/874. He was the hujjat of Ray, and conducted the mission with great efficiency and promptness. He studied Ismaili doctrines, also Arabic poetry, and the religious science of Islam, comparative religion and indeed the natural and mathematical sciences. He succeeded to bring the ruler of Ray, Ahmad bin Ali (307-311/92O-924) to the Ismaili fold, who was formerly aggressive to the Ismailis.


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