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

Prince Amyn Mohammed displays the silver trowel after placing the last brick at the "topping out" ceremony at the Ismaili Centre in London on 13th May 1982. As guest of honour at the ceremony held on the roof of the nearly completed Ismaili Centre in central London, Prince Amyn Mohammed said that the Centre has the "the difficult vocation of bridging East and West, of bringing together strong and brilliant cultures." Mr.

Your Excellencies, Mr. Mayor, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to have been asked to open this exhibition on Islamic Calligraphy. Indeed, of all the Muslim art forms, calligraphy holds, perhaps, pride of place as the foremost and perhaps most characteristic of the modes of visual expression in Islam. From China to Canada and from Russia to South Africa, the widespread use of calligraphy still unites Muslims and visibly differentiates them from the adepts of other religions.

Leading religious leaders from around the globe reached a landmark accord with the World Bank this week, one that aims to put spiritual, moral and social values back into the financial giant's balance sheets.

''This is an historic moment'', Wendy Tyndale, a spokesperson for the international development agency Christian Aid, told IPS Friday. ''For the first time in the 53 years of its history, the World Bank has opened its doors to dialogue with the faiths.''

Leaders of nine world faiths are to meet the president of the World Bank in London next week for two days of unprecedented talks on poverty and development policies.

Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and World Bank President James Wolfensohn said in a statement on Monday they hoped the meeting would foster a better understanding between financiers and religious groups about tackling global poverty.

Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, who died on Monday at the age of 70, was the uncle of Karim Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslims.
Born in Paris in 1933, he was the second son of the late Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, the 48th hereditary Imam and the late Princess Andree Aga Khan. The family traces its bloodline to the Prophet.

Educated in Lausanne and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University, Prince Sadruddin chose a career in politics and rose almost to the top of the United Nations. He devoted much of his life to global environmental causes.

Aga Khan Foundation work is praised in UK The Aga Khan Development Network has been praised in London for its 'outstanding work' in Kenya.
In a debate in the House of Lords on Monday night, which discussed a whole range of development issues across East Africa, Baroness Rawlings said the Network was one of the 'finest organisations' in the field of development assistance.

'The AKDN comprises private development agencies to improve living conditions and opportunities in East Africa and other specific regions of the developing world,' Baroness Rawlings said.

The Aga Khan outlined plans on Friday to build the English-speaking world's biggest Islamic academic centre in the historic heart of London.
'It's a gift to London, it would bring a real enrichment of the city's cultural life,' his private affairs director Iain Cheyne told Reuters, confirming a 24 million pound ($35 million) offer to develop the prime site on London's river Thames.

Prince Karim Aga Khan, 66, heads a largely Third World-orientated network of charitable institutes and businesses. Now he wants to make his mark on London.