SUGAR LAND -- Prince Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims, dedicated a new center here Sunday to "peace, humility, reflection and prayer."

The Aga Khan, one of the world's wealthiest men, attended the opening of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center, along with Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace, Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders.

The Aga Khan, as he is popularly known, is regarded as a progressive leader who emphasizes education and seeks to adapt Islam to modernity. He is regarded as the 49th imam of the community and a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad.

"(The Ismaili Center) will be a place of search and enlightenment, not of anger and of obscurantism," said the Aga Khan.

"Nine-eleven has scarred America -- but not just America," he said. "It has scarred the Islamic world, and hundreds of millions of devout and practicing Muslims for whom the word of the Quran is the word of God. We have clarity and direction enough when the Quran affirms that to save a life is as if to save humankind altogether."

The comments are in contrast to statements and religious edicts from some Muslim religious leaders who have justified the suicide attacks by Islamic terrorists on the World Trade Center Towers that took the lives of more than 3,000.

The Aga Khan argued for the recognition of the diversity and pluralism within Islam. He told the 150 invited guests that the strength of Islam comes from such diversity and pluralism.

Unfortunately, he said, there are forces at work in the Islamic world that seek to force others to conform to a rigid standard.

He also called for intellectual discourse, research and innovation.

Perry praised the Aga Khan and the Ismaili community and buttressed the call for peace and tolerance.

"At the dawn of the 21st century, we must heed the lessons of centuries past: that peace among men can never be achieved through a dialogue of division," Perry said. "It can only be achieved when we realize our common bonds, our common humanity.

"For more than a millennium, the Ismaili tradition has been rooted in understanding, enlightenment and tolerance," Perry said. "You have welcomed peace while shunning discord. You have practiced love while speaking out against hatred. Your faith has been a reservoir of hope for those seeking faith."

He also praised the leader for having established universities in Pakistan and central Asia and for promoting social, cultural and economic improvement through the Aga Khan Development Network.

The Aga Khan, his wife, Begum Inaara Aga Khan, and his son, Prince Rahim, will visit Perry in Austin today.

The $10 million center is not only the newest center for the American Muslim community, it also will serve as national headquarters for the Ismaili Council for the United States.

The governor and his wife, Anita, toured the new center with the royal couple and architect Ramesh Khosla of India.