9 Epochal Diamond Jubilee Goals (TheIsmaili Magazine – 5 August 2017)
The following Diamond Jubilee Goals have been released by the Ismaili community institutions for the improvement of the quality of lives of all Ismailis (and in turn those they live and work with - the neighbours)
1. Poverty Alleviation
2. Access to Finance
3. Early childhood development
4. Institutional strengthening & stability
5. Universities
6. Infrastructure
7. Jamat Khanna development
8. Dini (religious) Education
9. Improving perceptions of Islam within and between Muslims and with non Muslims
(source TheIsmaili UK)
More information on each Goal and on projects started and or in progress will be shared.
If anyone has more information on these Diamond Jubilee Goals, and or Projects, please share them.
For example one UK Project - under Access to Finance.
In UK, a new Diamond Jubilee fund has been launched by the community's institutions, AKFED, Habib Bank, and AKDN for members of the UK and Europe community. This will assist Ismailis in starting, developing and expanding business. This will in turn help improve the Quality of life
Diamond Jubilee GOALS and PROJECTS
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mahebubchatur
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India .. Sanitation and toilets - 50% v poor don't..
AKF UK July 2017-newsletter - INDIA NEWS
AKF- AKDN has a revolving fund to help local poor communities for new toilets and sanitation. So far 620 households in 11 villages have benefited with toilets.
AKDN are facilitating access to sanitation for 100,000 families as well as improving water, sanitation, and hygiene in 538 schools
(How many poor Ismailis have/ will benefit)
AKF have been working with India’s government to develop more community-driven approaches to building toilets in villages. Specifically, between 2015 and 2019 the Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Aga Khan Health Services, and the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat
AKDN is working in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, and plans to expand to Hyderabad and Maharashtra.
Asad Umar is the senior program officer for health at the Agha Khan Foundation and responsible for this extensive project. He has seen charitable organizations dole out toilets in the past. As he says, “Clearly, building toilets works only when people use them, and usage is only possible when communities are involved in the planning, construction, and maintenance of toilet facilities.”
Finding the Money
AKDN’s approach is aligned with the implementation strategy of the Indian government; that success rests in part on compelling communities to help build their own toilets. And with that approach in mind, the government’s Swachh Bharat campaign has set up a INR 12,000 ($175) subsidy for each household to buy construction materials for a toilet. Unfortunately, those funds are released only after the toilet is constructed, a practice that Umar says can be problematic. “One of the biggest challenges the poor and the marginalized face in constructing toilets is lack of money.”
To help people get the initial capital they need to construct a toilet, AKDN has established a revolving fund in Madhya Pradesh through local village institutions.
Families in tribal communities can tap into the fund for an interest-free loan to buy raw materials and pay masons. Once the toilet is complete, they pay back the loan by depositing their entire government subsidy into the fund. So far, only families who qualify for the government subsidy are eligible to participate. But even this limited effort has made a notable difference.
In six months, the fund has enabled approximately 620 households in 11 villages to have toilets.
Now, given the success of the model, AKDN is encouraging more communities to find sustainable and community-based ways to finance the construction of toilets.
The key, Umar explains, is to make sure the community does not fall into debt while financing the construction of toilets. “They do not want to take a loan from local moneylenders who charge high interest rates.”
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/engagin ... 8edcb21f5a
Aga Khan Foundation UK
210 Euston RoadLondon, London NW1 2DA
United Kingdom
AKF- AKDN has a revolving fund to help local poor communities for new toilets and sanitation. So far 620 households in 11 villages have benefited with toilets.
AKDN are facilitating access to sanitation for 100,000 families as well as improving water, sanitation, and hygiene in 538 schools
(How many poor Ismailis have/ will benefit)
AKF have been working with India’s government to develop more community-driven approaches to building toilets in villages. Specifically, between 2015 and 2019 the Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, Aga Khan Health Services, and the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat
AKDN is working in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, and plans to expand to Hyderabad and Maharashtra.
Asad Umar is the senior program officer for health at the Agha Khan Foundation and responsible for this extensive project. He has seen charitable organizations dole out toilets in the past. As he says, “Clearly, building toilets works only when people use them, and usage is only possible when communities are involved in the planning, construction, and maintenance of toilet facilities.”
Finding the Money
AKDN’s approach is aligned with the implementation strategy of the Indian government; that success rests in part on compelling communities to help build their own toilets. And with that approach in mind, the government’s Swachh Bharat campaign has set up a INR 12,000 ($175) subsidy for each household to buy construction materials for a toilet. Unfortunately, those funds are released only after the toilet is constructed, a practice that Umar says can be problematic. “One of the biggest challenges the poor and the marginalized face in constructing toilets is lack of money.”
To help people get the initial capital they need to construct a toilet, AKDN has established a revolving fund in Madhya Pradesh through local village institutions.
Families in tribal communities can tap into the fund for an interest-free loan to buy raw materials and pay masons. Once the toilet is complete, they pay back the loan by depositing their entire government subsidy into the fund. So far, only families who qualify for the government subsidy are eligible to participate. But even this limited effort has made a notable difference.
In six months, the fund has enabled approximately 620 households in 11 villages to have toilets.
Now, given the success of the model, AKDN is encouraging more communities to find sustainable and community-based ways to finance the construction of toilets.
The key, Umar explains, is to make sure the community does not fall into debt while financing the construction of toilets. “They do not want to take a loan from local moneylenders who charge high interest rates.”
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/engagin ... 8edcb21f5a
Aga Khan Foundation UK
210 Euston RoadLondon, London NW1 2DA
United Kingdom
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mahebubchatur
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- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
A New Ismaili Jamat Khanna centre being considered in USA
Mayor of Houston visits London Ismaili centre. An Ismaili centre is being considered for Houston, he said. Is this a part of the Diamond Jubilee ? Vice President of Council UK, Dar Khanna Mukhi and Kamadia Sahebans, Few Council members/Invitees, and volunteers were there. Shiraz Kabani (IIS/DJI), is there and addressing them. Can we have details of the speeches. more at link below.
This News was released through Ismailimail. The mayor said “Amazing tour of the Ismaili Cultural Center in London. There are only 6 in the world and one is being considered for Houston. It's a place of worship and community service”
TheIsmaili says “Currently, there are six Ismaili Centers around the globe – in London, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, Burnaby, and Toronto. Sites have been identified in Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California for potential future Ismaili Centres, to be built at upon the approval of Mawlana Hazar Imam”
Link for more https://www.facebook.com/houstonmayor/p ... 6556782535
This News was released through Ismailimail. The mayor said “Amazing tour of the Ismaili Cultural Center in London. There are only 6 in the world and one is being considered for Houston. It's a place of worship and community service”
TheIsmaili says “Currently, there are six Ismaili Centers around the globe – in London, Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe, Burnaby, and Toronto. Sites have been identified in Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles, California for potential future Ismaili Centres, to be built at upon the approval of Mawlana Hazar Imam”
Link for more https://www.facebook.com/houstonmayor/p ... 6556782535
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mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
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mahebubchatur
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- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Elucidation of Goals & what Aga Khan said about some
link to elucidation which you can download and share
http://www.ismaili.net/timeline/2017/ho ... y-2017.pdf
9 Epochal Diamond Jubilee Goals (TheIsmaili Magazine – 5 August 2017)
Please click here for PDF: http://ismaili.net/timeline/2017/2017-dj-goals.pdf
The following Diamond Jubilee Goals have been released by the Ismaili community institutions for the improvement of the quality of lives of all Ismailis (and in turn those they live and work with - the neighbours)
1. Poverty Alleviation
2. Access to Finance
3. Early childhood development
4. Institutional strengthening & stability
5. Universities
6. Infrastructure
7. Jamat Khanna development
8. Dini (religious) Education
9. Improving perceptions of Islam within and between Muslims and with non Muslims
(source TheIsmaili UK)
More information on each Goal and on projects started and or in progress will be shared.
If anyone has more information on these Diamond Jubilee Goals, and or Projects, please share them.
For example one UK Project - under Access to Finance.
In UK, a new Diamond Jubilee fund has been launched by the community's institutions, AKFED, Habib Bank, and AKDN for members of the UK and Europe community. This will assist Ismailis in starting, developing and expanding business. This will in turn help improve the Quality of life[/quote]
http://www.ismaili.net/timeline/2017/ho ... y-2017.pdf
9 Epochal Diamond Jubilee Goals (TheIsmaili Magazine – 5 August 2017)
Please click here for PDF: http://ismaili.net/timeline/2017/2017-dj-goals.pdf
The following Diamond Jubilee Goals have been released by the Ismaili community institutions for the improvement of the quality of lives of all Ismailis (and in turn those they live and work with - the neighbours)
1. Poverty Alleviation
2. Access to Finance
3. Early childhood development
4. Institutional strengthening & stability
5. Universities
6. Infrastructure
7. Jamat Khanna development
8. Dini (religious) Education
9. Improving perceptions of Islam within and between Muslims and with non Muslims
(source TheIsmaili UK)
More information on each Goal and on projects started and or in progress will be shared.
If anyone has more information on these Diamond Jubilee Goals, and or Projects, please share them.
For example one UK Project - under Access to Finance.
In UK, a new Diamond Jubilee fund has been launched by the community's institutions, AKFED, Habib Bank, and AKDN for members of the UK and Europe community. This will assist Ismailis in starting, developing and expanding business. This will in turn help improve the Quality of life[/quote]
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mahebubchatur
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- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Nazrana and Niyats given by the Jamats
Diamond Jubilee Nazrana Given by the Jamat
The Jamat gave Nazranas to Hazar Imam on 11 July 2017. These were
1. all the money collected and given by the Jamat globally, (The Jamat has not been told how much ), and
2. the medallion given by the Jamat, ( we have not been given the image or told how much was the cost)
3. the Time and knowledge Nazrana given by the Jamat to Hazar Imam (we have not been told how many man hours)
Hazar Imam has said the funds and TKN are given back to the Jamats institutions (and or are used for the benefit of the Jamat).
In the Golden Jubilee Hazar Imam said he had requested the additional Time and knowledge Nazrana from the Jamat which will be used by the Jamats institution for the Golden Jubilee goals and to mainly add to and strengthen the Jamats institutions. (That was and is still a Goal) - The total number of man hours were given to the Jamat.
This Goal of strengthening and Jamats institution and capacity has not been achieved in the last 10 years. Therefore this is now a Diamond Jubilee Goal.
The Golden Jubilee TKN we know was not used as intended. Less than 10% was used. The process was & is controlled by the same people & system. (& mainly because of the un-meritocratic culture at DJI, top down, driven by self interest)
Hazar Imam acknowledged, and said our time and knowledge Nazrana and our good Niyats, have been accepted, and that which has not be used is accepted, and will be used in future.
For Diamond Jubilee the DJI/LIF Leaders asked for a new TKN. Many have given.
Hazar Imam made no mention of this in his Farman and unusually did not acknowledge this in the Farman of 11 July 2017
What is a Nazrana, and the types of Nazrana's offered in the past. See below
By Mumtaz Ali Tajddin S. Ali
Meaning of the word Nazrana
The Arabic word nazar (pl. nuzur) means an offering, gift or present. The Persian noun word nazrana means a special gift offered especially to a prince to pay respect.
In Ismaili tradition, Nazrana is an oblation or special gift presented to the Imam mostly during the mehmani, any other occasion or historical period to earn best blessings. It is presented individually on behalf of the family as well as collectively on behalf of a jamat or all jamats of a country.
Nazrana in Qu’ran
The word nazar/nazur occurs six times in the Koran (2:35, 2:270, 14:26, 41:13, 46:21 and 78:40).
The Arabic word hibah (pl. hibat) means gift. He who makes the gift is called wahib (one who presents); the things given, mauhub, and the person to whom it is presented is mauhub lahu.
Two kinds of gift-giving occur in the Koran:
1. God gives gift (ata) to humans is mentioned five times in the Koran.
2. People giving or exchanging, presents (nihla, hadiyya).
According to the Koran, “Who gives away his wealth, purifying himself.” (92:18). Apart from specific obligations, a Muslim is suggested to spend, out of sheer love of God, from his wealth (22:37). If a Muslim spends out of love for God, he is repaid manifold (22:245). The Holy Prophet prohibited sadaqah (alms) and zakat (charity) to himself and his progeny, but he allowed gifts (58:12).
The Koran says, “The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is as the parable of a grain of corn growing seven ears, in every ear containing a hundred grains. And God multiplies (further) for whom He pleases. And God is Ample-giving, Knowing” (2:261). It is noteworthy that while the Koran represents the increase to be seven-hundredfold, even multiples of it, Jesus Christ, in a similar parable – the parable of the sower – promises thirty, sixty or a hundredfold increase (Matt. 13:23, Mark 4:8)
Koran further says, “And the parable of those who spend their wealth to seek God’s pleasure and for the strengthening of their souls is as the parable of a garden on elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls, so it brings forth its fruit twofold; but if heavy rain falls not on it, light rain (suffices). And God is Seer of what you do.” (2:265)
Story of Nazrana/gift-giving in Qu’ran
The only case that involves gift-giving in a narrative context in the Koran is the Queen of Sheba’s sending gift (hadiyya) to Soloman to test whether he was noble prophet or a worldly king (27:35-6). In his Tafsir (9th vol., p. 515), Tabari writes that the Queen’s presents are said to have consisted of bricks of gold and silver, slave boys and girls, horses and jewellery.
Nazrana in Torah (Old Testament)
MET: Abner’s Messenger before David; The Queen of Sheba Bringing Gifts to Solomon; The Annunciation
The tradition of presenting nazrana to God is also found in the Torah or Old Testament:
“Cain (son of Adam) brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel (another son of Adam), he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.” (Genesis, Ch. 4
3, 4).
The offering to God was turned into money, then the cash was deposited at a place selected by God.
“God spoke to Moses to tell the followers that an half shakel shall be the offering of the Lord” (Exodus, 30:12-16).
“And the Lord called unto Moses: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: If any man of you brings an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock” (Levi, 1:1-2).
General article
http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/
Early age
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/nazrana-offerings-early-age-of-islam/
Ismaili history
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/nazrana-offerings-in-ismaili-history/
Ginans
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/nazrana-offerings-in-ginans/
MSMS Time
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/11/nazrana-offerings-during-the-imamat-of-imam-sultan-muhammad-shah/
The Jamat gave Nazranas to Hazar Imam on 11 July 2017. These were
1. all the money collected and given by the Jamat globally, (The Jamat has not been told how much ), and
2. the medallion given by the Jamat, ( we have not been given the image or told how much was the cost)
3. the Time and knowledge Nazrana given by the Jamat to Hazar Imam (we have not been told how many man hours)
Hazar Imam has said the funds and TKN are given back to the Jamats institutions (and or are used for the benefit of the Jamat).
In the Golden Jubilee Hazar Imam said he had requested the additional Time and knowledge Nazrana from the Jamat which will be used by the Jamats institution for the Golden Jubilee goals and to mainly add to and strengthen the Jamats institutions. (That was and is still a Goal) - The total number of man hours were given to the Jamat.
This Goal of strengthening and Jamats institution and capacity has not been achieved in the last 10 years. Therefore this is now a Diamond Jubilee Goal.
The Golden Jubilee TKN we know was not used as intended. Less than 10% was used. The process was & is controlled by the same people & system. (& mainly because of the un-meritocratic culture at DJI, top down, driven by self interest)
Hazar Imam acknowledged, and said our time and knowledge Nazrana and our good Niyats, have been accepted, and that which has not be used is accepted, and will be used in future.
For Diamond Jubilee the DJI/LIF Leaders asked for a new TKN. Many have given.
Hazar Imam made no mention of this in his Farman and unusually did not acknowledge this in the Farman of 11 July 2017
What is a Nazrana, and the types of Nazrana's offered in the past. See below
By Mumtaz Ali Tajddin S. Ali
Meaning of the word Nazrana
The Arabic word nazar (pl. nuzur) means an offering, gift or present. The Persian noun word nazrana means a special gift offered especially to a prince to pay respect.
In Ismaili tradition, Nazrana is an oblation or special gift presented to the Imam mostly during the mehmani, any other occasion or historical period to earn best blessings. It is presented individually on behalf of the family as well as collectively on behalf of a jamat or all jamats of a country.
Nazrana in Qu’ran
The word nazar/nazur occurs six times in the Koran (2:35, 2:270, 14:26, 41:13, 46:21 and 78:40).
The Arabic word hibah (pl. hibat) means gift. He who makes the gift is called wahib (one who presents); the things given, mauhub, and the person to whom it is presented is mauhub lahu.
Two kinds of gift-giving occur in the Koran:
1. God gives gift (ata) to humans is mentioned five times in the Koran.
2. People giving or exchanging, presents (nihla, hadiyya).
According to the Koran, “Who gives away his wealth, purifying himself.” (92:18). Apart from specific obligations, a Muslim is suggested to spend, out of sheer love of God, from his wealth (22:37). If a Muslim spends out of love for God, he is repaid manifold (22:245). The Holy Prophet prohibited sadaqah (alms) and zakat (charity) to himself and his progeny, but he allowed gifts (58:12).
The Koran says, “The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is as the parable of a grain of corn growing seven ears, in every ear containing a hundred grains. And God multiplies (further) for whom He pleases. And God is Ample-giving, Knowing” (2:261). It is noteworthy that while the Koran represents the increase to be seven-hundredfold, even multiples of it, Jesus Christ, in a similar parable – the parable of the sower – promises thirty, sixty or a hundredfold increase (Matt. 13:23, Mark 4:8)
Koran further says, “And the parable of those who spend their wealth to seek God’s pleasure and for the strengthening of their souls is as the parable of a garden on elevated ground, upon which heavy rain falls, so it brings forth its fruit twofold; but if heavy rain falls not on it, light rain (suffices). And God is Seer of what you do.” (2:265)
Story of Nazrana/gift-giving in Qu’ran
The only case that involves gift-giving in a narrative context in the Koran is the Queen of Sheba’s sending gift (hadiyya) to Soloman to test whether he was noble prophet or a worldly king (27:35-6). In his Tafsir (9th vol., p. 515), Tabari writes that the Queen’s presents are said to have consisted of bricks of gold and silver, slave boys and girls, horses and jewellery.
Nazrana in Torah (Old Testament)
MET: Abner’s Messenger before David; The Queen of Sheba Bringing Gifts to Solomon; The Annunciation
The tradition of presenting nazrana to God is also found in the Torah or Old Testament:
“Cain (son of Adam) brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel (another son of Adam), he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.” (Genesis, Ch. 4
3, 4).The offering to God was turned into money, then the cash was deposited at a place selected by God.
“God spoke to Moses to tell the followers that an half shakel shall be the offering of the Lord” (Exodus, 30:12-16).
“And the Lord called unto Moses: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: If any man of you brings an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock” (Levi, 1:1-2).
General article
http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/
Early age
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/nazrana-offerings-early-age-of-islam/
Ismaili history
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/nazrana-offerings-in-ismaili-history/
Ginans
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/nazrana-offerings-in-ginans/
MSMS Time
ismailimail.wordpress.com/2017/08/11/nazrana-offerings-during-the-imamat-of-imam-sultan-muhammad-shah/
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mahebubchatur
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6 Diamond Jubilee themes launched globally..
The Leaders of the community's constitutional bodies have now launched 6 global Diamond Jubilee themes. Programs and projects will be launched under each of the themes which will last for 2 months
The current Theme is Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre development.
The following themes have been released by the Jamats Council in India.
First Theme
During Aug & Sept 2017
Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre spaces and development
Second Theme
During Oct & Nov 2017
Education and continuing our legacy
Third Theme
During Dec 2017 and Jan 2018 -Engaging with differences and understanding ourselves
Fourth Theme
Feb and Mar 2018
Realising the social conscience of Islam - our Responsibility
Fifth Theme
During April and May 2018
Dini Education - rooted in our faith
Sixth Theme
During June and July 2018 - Becoming ambassadors of Islam
The current Theme is Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre development.
The following themes have been released by the Jamats Council in India.
First Theme
During Aug & Sept 2017
Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre spaces and development
Second Theme
During Oct & Nov 2017
Education and continuing our legacy
Third Theme
During Dec 2017 and Jan 2018 -Engaging with differences and understanding ourselves
Fourth Theme
Feb and Mar 2018
Realising the social conscience of Islam - our Responsibility
Fifth Theme
During April and May 2018
Dini Education - rooted in our faith
Sixth Theme
During June and July 2018 - Becoming ambassadors of Islam
-
mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Re: 6 Diamond Jubilee themes launched globally..
[quote="mahebubchatur"]The Leaders of the community's constitutional bodies have now launched 6 global Diamond Jubilee themes. Programs and projects will be launched under each of the themes which will last for 2 months
The current Theme is Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre development.
The UK Jurisdiction Ismaili Councils have launched the following 6 Diamond Jubilee themes.
This council covers 9 countries - United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Germany , Denmark, Finland Austria and Italy
The 6 Themes are
First Theme
During Aug & Sept 2017
Jamat Khanna development and Ismaili centres
Second Theme
During Oct & Nov 2017
Early childhood Education
Third Theme
During Dec 2017 and Jan 2018
pluralism, culture , Diversity
Fourth Theme
Feb and Mar 2018
Poverty alleviation.
Fifth Theme
During April and May 2018
Perceptions of Islam
Sixth Theme
During June and July 2018
Impact of Islam
The current Theme is Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre development.
The UK Jurisdiction Ismaili Councils have launched the following 6 Diamond Jubilee themes.
This council covers 9 countries - United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Germany , Denmark, Finland Austria and Italy
The 6 Themes are
First Theme
During Aug & Sept 2017
Jamat Khanna development and Ismaili centres
Second Theme
During Oct & Nov 2017
Early childhood Education
Third Theme
During Dec 2017 and Jan 2018
pluralism, culture , Diversity
Fourth Theme
Feb and Mar 2018
Poverty alleviation.
Fifth Theme
During April and May 2018
Perceptions of Islam
Sixth Theme
During June and July 2018
Impact of Islam
-
mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Theme 1 - Diamond Jubilee August - Sept 2017
Theme 1 - Article By Aga Khan Ismaili Council for Canada
August 2017 - Not by the IIS or ITREB who are mandated constitutionally and as scholars/experts.
The History of Jamatkhanas and Their Significance
The Ambassadorial Role of the Ismaili Centres
Diamond Jubilee Theme 1 of 6 - August - Sept 2017
One of the ways in which Ismailis have expressed their identity wherever they have lived is through their places of prayer, known today as the Jamatkhana. Other Muslim communities give their religious buildings different names: from ribat and zawiyya to khanaqa. And, in addition, there are other places where Muslims of all interpretations can come together, such as non-denominational mosques.
What we dedicate today is what we identify as an Ismaili Centre – a building that is focused around our Jamatkhana, but which also includes many secular spaces… And soaring above it all is the great crystalline dome that you have observed, through which light from the prayer hall will provide a glowing beacon, symbolising the spirit of enlightenment that will always be at the heart of the Centre’s life.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, September 12, 2014
Prayer and worship are central concepts in Islam, yet Muslims have always practiced their faith in diverse ways. During the earliest years of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the Muslim community living in Mecca had no special place of worship and the arrangements for communal worship were informal.
According to a famous hadith, or saying, of the Prophet, the “whole world is a masjid.” Following the Hijra to Medina, specific places of worship began to emerge, such as the courtyard next to the Prophet’s house.
Throughout history, various communities of interpretation of Islam evolved, including the branches of the Shia and Sunni, as well as many Sufi Tariqahs. In addition to the masjid, or mosque, many of these communities developed their own distinctive spaces of gathering in which they performed practices and rituals specific to their Tariqah. Among these diverse spaces is the Jamatkhana.
The word jamatkhana means “the house of the community” and is an amalgamation of the Arabic word jama‘a, which means group or community, and the Persian word khana, meaning house. It refers to a place where members of certain Sunni and Shia communities come together for prayers and communal gatherings. It is commonly associated with the activities of Sufi groups, but has also evolved into the principle space of worship for Shia Ismaili Muslims.
As with other Muslim spaces of gathering, there has been an evolution in both function and form of the Jamatkhanas, reflecting the changing historical and cultural context of these institutions as well as the evolving needs of the community.
The first Ismaili Jamatkhanas were established in South Asia.
In the book A Scent of Sandalwood, Aziz Esmail writes that, “Pir Sadardin... is credited with the setting up of the first jamatkhana (communal centre) at Kotdi (in Sind).” In more recent decades, Jamatkhanas have been established in other parts of the world, including Central Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Australia, becoming the principle place of gathering for the Jamat in today’s world.
Jamatkhanas are designated by the Imam of the Time for the use of murids who have given him their bay‘a, or oath of allegiance.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Centre in Khorog, Tajikistan in 2008, “Here, the Jamatkhana will be reserved for traditions and practices specific to the Shia Ismaili tariqah of Islam.”
The Jamatkhana plays a significant role in the lives of the Jamat. We gather as a community to pray together, to build our community, to strengthen our identity, to enable intellectual and social
development, and to reinforce our ethics through service.
Jamatkhanas can be catalysts for our Jamat's progress, as well as for reaching out to the society around us.
At their heart, Jamatkhanas reflect the core values of the Ismaili community, as Mawlana Hazar Imam emphasized at the foundation ceremony of Dhaka Jamatkhana in 2008:
“We see it as a place of peace and tranquillity, filled with a spirit of humility and prayer. It will not be a place for conceit or self-satisfaction, but rather a place for search and enlightenment. It will be a place where men and women in this pluralist country can help strengthen those common bonds which reflect our common challenges and which will shape our common destiny.”
Below are further resources to learn more about the history of Jamatkhanas:
1. What Is Shi’a Islam?, Dr. Farhad Daftary and Professor Azim Nanji, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
2. Muslim Spaces of Piety and Worship, Karim Jiwani, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
3. New jamatkhanas opening across Afghanistan seen as catalysts for progress, The Ismaili
4. Glossary, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
5.
Thank you for visiting this website. In order to improve the quality of the website and learn about its importance and effectiveness, please take a few minutes to complete a short survey. The data collected through this survey will help us to serve you and others in a more effective and efficient manner. Please click on this link to complete the survey.
“These new buildings and the spaces within and around them, are in rich symbolism; drawing on the plurality of cultures which characterise Ismailis here, and around the world.
The array of facilities included is a reflection of the core values of the Ismaili community, its organisation, its discipline, its social conscience, the importance of its community organisations, and its attitude toward the society in which it exists.”

Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of The Ismaili Centre, Lisbon, July 11, 1998
The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Ismaili community in the regions in which they are established.
They have developed more recently as a response to the Jamat’s settlement in new contexts and countries.
The Centres belong to the historic category of Jamatkhana, serving the community’s need for worship and gathering, while also housing a range of secular spaces where Ismailis can extend a hand of friendship to the broader community among whom they live.
The Centres provide opportunities for Ismailis to engage with non-Ismailis through social, cultural and intellectual exchange.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam remarked at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe:
“We will seek to demonstrate that spiritual insight and worldly knowledge are not separate or opposing realms, but that they must always nourish one another, and that the world of faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind.”
Our faith teaches us to seek knowledge to better understand Allah’s creation and to use that knowledge in the service of others.
According to the 11th century Ismaili scholar and poet Sayyidna Nasir-i-Khusraw, “Knowledge is a shield against the blows of time”; it dispels “the torment of ignorance” and nourishes “peace to blossom forth in the soul.”
The Ismaili Centres offer a place for people to come together to share knowledge and wisdom.
The architecture and aesthetics of these ambassadorial buildings seek to illustrate the core values of the Ismaili community, bridge tradition and modernity, dispel misperceptions of Islam, promote pluralism, and foster the exchange of culture and knowledge.
There are six Ismaili Centres around the world. The Centres in London and Burnabywere the first to be established in 1985. Four additional Centres have since opened in Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto.
Each Centre draws from historic decorative traditions such as geometric patterns and calligraphy, structural features such as domes and arches, interplays of light and shadow, as well as water features.
However, each Centre is uniquely designed to fit within the context of the country and community in which it is built.
Through their architecture and variety of uses, they are bridges of friendship and understanding, serving to enhance relationships with various faith communities, government and civil society. Inshallah, they will continue to be significant markers and symbols of our Shia Ismaili Muslim identity for generations to come.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby in 1982:
“This will be a place of congregation, of order, of peace, of prayer, of hope, of humility, and of brotherhood. From it should come forth those thoughts, those sentiments, those attitudes, which bind men together and which unite. It has been conceived and will exist in a mood of friendship, courtesy, and harmony.”
Learn more:
1. The Ismaili Centres
2. Ismaili Centre Resources
3. Ismaili Centres chapter from Under the Eaves of Architecture: The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron by Philip Jodidio, 2008
Thank you for visiting this website. In order to improve the quality of the website and learn about its importance and effectiveness, please take a few minutes to complete a short survey. The data collected through this survey will help us to serve you and others in a more effective and efficient manner. Please click on this link to complete the survey.
Verified Content:
More at http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10499
A Feedback
Feedback (requesting IIS/ITREB/ M Talib President Canada /LIF to respond & clarify)
Thank you. This information and much more detail is available on other Ismaili website in the context of Ismailism
1. What MHI said on 11 July 2017 is missing
2. Esoteric meaning of Jamat Khanna in Farmans and Ginans is missing
3. Jamat Khanna is house of Imam - Ahl al Bayat - with related Ginans and Farman are missing
4. Quranic references to contextually Muslim Prayers spaces and mosques are missing
5. Jamat Khanna previously Khanaqah - have been there since Fatimid times & before - They are today for Ismailis globally called Jamat Khannas with references - not clear or referenced
6. Why Ismailis area not allowed to join Ismailis in JK to say prayers together as all other major religions allow. See answer below - missing
7. Book by Nasir Ali Hunzai. Not referenced & this should also be on the literature desks as MHI has agreed and approved in a clear Farman - see this book at http://www.monoreality.org/wp-content/u ... glish_.pdf
8. Clarify Why this and related articles or the diamond jubilee themes not on the IIS website?
9. Clarify Why is the Jamat not given details of all the projects and programs for Diamond Jubilee including new Jamat Khanna development
10. Also can Jamat now have a copies of Farmans including the 11 July 2017 , Farman, Talika and the second one over Lunch. Why are these and all Farmans blocked and not given to all the Jamats (MHI says they must be given to all to have read understand share and follow
The following are the Ismaili websites for more information. MHI has approved the dissemination and the demystifying.
1. http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10499
2. http://www.salmanspiritual.com/jamatkhana/index.cfm
3. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/ismailig ... ayers/amp/
4. http://www.monoreality.org/wp-content/u ... glish_.pdf
5. Nano wisdoms. http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/
6. There are many others, and related Facebook pages
August 2017 - Not by the IIS or ITREB who are mandated constitutionally and as scholars/experts.
The History of Jamatkhanas and Their Significance
The Ambassadorial Role of the Ismaili Centres
Diamond Jubilee Theme 1 of 6 - August - Sept 2017
One of the ways in which Ismailis have expressed their identity wherever they have lived is through their places of prayer, known today as the Jamatkhana. Other Muslim communities give their religious buildings different names: from ribat and zawiyya to khanaqa. And, in addition, there are other places where Muslims of all interpretations can come together, such as non-denominational mosques.
What we dedicate today is what we identify as an Ismaili Centre – a building that is focused around our Jamatkhana, but which also includes many secular spaces… And soaring above it all is the great crystalline dome that you have observed, through which light from the prayer hall will provide a glowing beacon, symbolising the spirit of enlightenment that will always be at the heart of the Centre’s life.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Toronto, September 12, 2014
Prayer and worship are central concepts in Islam, yet Muslims have always practiced their faith in diverse ways. During the earliest years of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the Muslim community living in Mecca had no special place of worship and the arrangements for communal worship were informal.
According to a famous hadith, or saying, of the Prophet, the “whole world is a masjid.” Following the Hijra to Medina, specific places of worship began to emerge, such as the courtyard next to the Prophet’s house.
Throughout history, various communities of interpretation of Islam evolved, including the branches of the Shia and Sunni, as well as many Sufi Tariqahs. In addition to the masjid, or mosque, many of these communities developed their own distinctive spaces of gathering in which they performed practices and rituals specific to their Tariqah. Among these diverse spaces is the Jamatkhana.
The word jamatkhana means “the house of the community” and is an amalgamation of the Arabic word jama‘a, which means group or community, and the Persian word khana, meaning house. It refers to a place where members of certain Sunni and Shia communities come together for prayers and communal gatherings. It is commonly associated with the activities of Sufi groups, but has also evolved into the principle space of worship for Shia Ismaili Muslims.
As with other Muslim spaces of gathering, there has been an evolution in both function and form of the Jamatkhanas, reflecting the changing historical and cultural context of these institutions as well as the evolving needs of the community.
The first Ismaili Jamatkhanas were established in South Asia.
In the book A Scent of Sandalwood, Aziz Esmail writes that, “Pir Sadardin... is credited with the setting up of the first jamatkhana (communal centre) at Kotdi (in Sind).” In more recent decades, Jamatkhanas have been established in other parts of the world, including Central Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Australia, becoming the principle place of gathering for the Jamat in today’s world.
Jamatkhanas are designated by the Imam of the Time for the use of murids who have given him their bay‘a, or oath of allegiance.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Centre in Khorog, Tajikistan in 2008, “Here, the Jamatkhana will be reserved for traditions and practices specific to the Shia Ismaili tariqah of Islam.”
The Jamatkhana plays a significant role in the lives of the Jamat. We gather as a community to pray together, to build our community, to strengthen our identity, to enable intellectual and social
development, and to reinforce our ethics through service.
Jamatkhanas can be catalysts for our Jamat's progress, as well as for reaching out to the society around us.
At their heart, Jamatkhanas reflect the core values of the Ismaili community, as Mawlana Hazar Imam emphasized at the foundation ceremony of Dhaka Jamatkhana in 2008:
“We see it as a place of peace and tranquillity, filled with a spirit of humility and prayer. It will not be a place for conceit or self-satisfaction, but rather a place for search and enlightenment. It will be a place where men and women in this pluralist country can help strengthen those common bonds which reflect our common challenges and which will shape our common destiny.”
Below are further resources to learn more about the history of Jamatkhanas:
1. What Is Shi’a Islam?, Dr. Farhad Daftary and Professor Azim Nanji, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
2. Muslim Spaces of Piety and Worship, Karim Jiwani, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
3. New jamatkhanas opening across Afghanistan seen as catalysts for progress, The Ismaili
4. Glossary, The Institute of Ismaili Studies
5.
Thank you for visiting this website. In order to improve the quality of the website and learn about its importance and effectiveness, please take a few minutes to complete a short survey. The data collected through this survey will help us to serve you and others in a more effective and efficient manner. Please click on this link to complete the survey.
“These new buildings and the spaces within and around them, are in rich symbolism; drawing on the plurality of cultures which characterise Ismailis here, and around the world.
The array of facilities included is a reflection of the core values of the Ismaili community, its organisation, its discipline, its social conscience, the importance of its community organisations, and its attitude toward the society in which it exists.”

Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of The Ismaili Centre, Lisbon, July 11, 1998
The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Ismaili community in the regions in which they are established.
They have developed more recently as a response to the Jamat’s settlement in new contexts and countries.
The Centres belong to the historic category of Jamatkhana, serving the community’s need for worship and gathering, while also housing a range of secular spaces where Ismailis can extend a hand of friendship to the broader community among whom they live.
The Centres provide opportunities for Ismailis to engage with non-Ismailis through social, cultural and intellectual exchange.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam remarked at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe:
“We will seek to demonstrate that spiritual insight and worldly knowledge are not separate or opposing realms, but that they must always nourish one another, and that the world of faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind.”
Our faith teaches us to seek knowledge to better understand Allah’s creation and to use that knowledge in the service of others.
According to the 11th century Ismaili scholar and poet Sayyidna Nasir-i-Khusraw, “Knowledge is a shield against the blows of time”; it dispels “the torment of ignorance” and nourishes “peace to blossom forth in the soul.”
The Ismaili Centres offer a place for people to come together to share knowledge and wisdom.
The architecture and aesthetics of these ambassadorial buildings seek to illustrate the core values of the Ismaili community, bridge tradition and modernity, dispel misperceptions of Islam, promote pluralism, and foster the exchange of culture and knowledge.
There are six Ismaili Centres around the world. The Centres in London and Burnabywere the first to be established in 1985. Four additional Centres have since opened in Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto.
Each Centre draws from historic decorative traditions such as geometric patterns and calligraphy, structural features such as domes and arches, interplays of light and shadow, as well as water features.
However, each Centre is uniquely designed to fit within the context of the country and community in which it is built.
Through their architecture and variety of uses, they are bridges of friendship and understanding, serving to enhance relationships with various faith communities, government and civil society. Inshallah, they will continue to be significant markers and symbols of our Shia Ismaili Muslim identity for generations to come.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby in 1982:
“This will be a place of congregation, of order, of peace, of prayer, of hope, of humility, and of brotherhood. From it should come forth those thoughts, those sentiments, those attitudes, which bind men together and which unite. It has been conceived and will exist in a mood of friendship, courtesy, and harmony.”
Learn more:
1. The Ismaili Centres
2. Ismaili Centre Resources
3. Ismaili Centres chapter from Under the Eaves of Architecture: The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron by Philip Jodidio, 2008
Thank you for visiting this website. In order to improve the quality of the website and learn about its importance and effectiveness, please take a few minutes to complete a short survey. The data collected through this survey will help us to serve you and others in a more effective and efficient manner. Please click on this link to complete the survey.
Verified Content:
More at http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10499
A Feedback
Feedback (requesting IIS/ITREB/ M Talib President Canada /LIF to respond & clarify)
Thank you. This information and much more detail is available on other Ismaili website in the context of Ismailism
1. What MHI said on 11 July 2017 is missing
2. Esoteric meaning of Jamat Khanna in Farmans and Ginans is missing
3. Jamat Khanna is house of Imam - Ahl al Bayat - with related Ginans and Farman are missing
4. Quranic references to contextually Muslim Prayers spaces and mosques are missing
5. Jamat Khanna previously Khanaqah - have been there since Fatimid times & before - They are today for Ismailis globally called Jamat Khannas with references - not clear or referenced
6. Why Ismailis area not allowed to join Ismailis in JK to say prayers together as all other major religions allow. See answer below - missing
7. Book by Nasir Ali Hunzai. Not referenced & this should also be on the literature desks as MHI has agreed and approved in a clear Farman - see this book at http://www.monoreality.org/wp-content/u ... glish_.pdf
8. Clarify Why this and related articles or the diamond jubilee themes not on the IIS website?
9. Clarify Why is the Jamat not given details of all the projects and programs for Diamond Jubilee including new Jamat Khanna development
10. Also can Jamat now have a copies of Farmans including the 11 July 2017 , Farman, Talika and the second one over Lunch. Why are these and all Farmans blocked and not given to all the Jamats (MHI says they must be given to all to have read understand share and follow
The following are the Ismaili websites for more information. MHI has approved the dissemination and the demystifying.
1. http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/10499
2. http://www.salmanspiritual.com/jamatkhana/index.cfm
3. https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/ismailig ... ayers/amp/
4. http://www.monoreality.org/wp-content/u ... glish_.pdf
5. Nano wisdoms. http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/
6. There are many others, and related Facebook pages
-
mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Diamond Jubilee article goals and legacy
RELATED INFORMATION
Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee To Be Celebrated In 2017-18
Sixty days ahead of the commencement of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee on 11 July 2017, TheIsmaili is pleased to launch the first in a series of Jubilee-related articles. Dr Mahmoud Eboo, Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum, talks about the Ismaili tradition of commemorating Jubilee anniversaries of our Imams, and the legacies that they leave behind.
In the lifetime of each Ismaili murid, there are special moments when we rejoice in our individual, spiritual connection with the Noor of Imamat. Similarly there are occasions in the history of the Jamat when we collectively celebrate the living presence of the Imam of the Time, and commemorate the continuity of the rope of Imamat that has guided and protected us since the time of Hazrat Ali.
The Diamond Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam will be such an occasion. The 11th of July 2017 will mark 60 years — a milestone anniversary for our 49th hereditary Imam, Shah Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV.
“The anniversaries of the Imam of the Time's Imamat are opportunities and occasions for the Jamat to reflect and to commemorate what the Imam of the Time has done for the Jamat,” says Aitmadi Dr Mahmoud Eboo, Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum.
The Ismaili tradition of Jubilees is well established. The upcoming Diamond Jubilee was preceded by Golden and Silver Jubilees that marked 50 and 25 years respectively of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Imamat. Four Jubilees were celebrated during the lifetime of Hazar Imam’s grandfather, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, including his Platinum Jubilee commemorating 70 years of his Imamat.
Jubilee years are looked upon by the Jamat and the Imam as particularly special.
“For the Diamond Jubilee, the leaders of the Jamat made a submission to Mawlana Hazar Imam that for this 60th anniversary, the Jamat would like to commemorate this as a Jubilee,” explains the LIF Chairman. “Hazar Imam graciously accepted, and in doing so mentioned that if we were going to commemorate it as a Diamond Jubilee, then we should look at certain goals.”
Past Jubilees have been catalytic in realising significant goals and initiatives, and have left behind legacy programmes. For example, the Jubilee Insurance Company and Diamond Trust Bank were founded in the 1930s and 40s in response to the financial needs of the Jamat at that time. They’ve persisted over the decades, and grown to become important pillars in the East African region.
The goals for the Diamond Jubilee encompass a range of issues: early child development, strengthening our religious education system, and expanding access to Jamatkhanas. They also include building capacity of the institutions established by the Ismaili Imamat over the past six decades to ensure they grow and flourish in the years ahead.
Jubilee legacy projects are intimately connected with values that also reach back many centuries. The Aga Khan University, which is a Silver Jubilee project, and the more recently established University of Central Asia, are cases in point.
“The notion of education is historical within the Shia Ismaili tariqah of Islam — it goes back 1 400 years,” explains Chairman Eboo. “The Imam's ancestors built Al-Azhar a thousand years ago because of the ethical precept of valuing knowledge, of valuing the notion of education as being central to human development.”
Another example is the Time and Knowledge Nazrana, which was established during Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee as a way for murids to make a gift of their time and knowledge towards building institutional capacity. In the Diamond Jubilee, it is evolving into a permanent mechanism for harnessing the intellectual capacity of the worldwide Jamat within an ethical framework of service that has long been part of the Ismaili tradition.
These are not projects whose horizons are limited to a few years or decades. “They are programmes that are designed to impact the quality of life of the Jamat for generations to come,” says Chairman Eboo.
Poverty, however, is a more immediate concern. Addressing it will involve bringing to bear the entire capacity of Imamat institutions, says the LIF Chairman, and the time horizon is much shorter.
“We are hopeful that within the next generation, we will be able to improve and address issues of poverty,” he says.
Four main factors have been identified as critical in eliminating poverty: ensuring access to education from early childhood onwards; access to healthcare and quality medical facilities; ensuring that families live in quality homes with clean water, electricity and sanitation; and the ability for individuals to tap economic opportunities to be able to support themselves and their families.
It is critical that these factors be addressed for Ismailis living in rural and urban settings, as well as for the wider populations amongst whom the Jamat lives, says the LIF Chairman. If these efforts are successful, they should result in a marked difference in the levels of poverty over the next 10 years or so.
As far reaching and ambitious as the aspirations of the Diamond Jubilee are, the spiritual foundations of the commemoration remain central: the renewal of that special bond that links each of us with our Imam in this time, and the Noor of Imamat across all time.
It is this legacy that has always been, and shall always be, the most enduring.
TheIsnaili July 2017
Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee To Be Celebrated In 2017-18
Sixty days ahead of the commencement of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee on 11 July 2017, TheIsmaili is pleased to launch the first in a series of Jubilee-related articles. Dr Mahmoud Eboo, Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum, talks about the Ismaili tradition of commemorating Jubilee anniversaries of our Imams, and the legacies that they leave behind.
In the lifetime of each Ismaili murid, there are special moments when we rejoice in our individual, spiritual connection with the Noor of Imamat. Similarly there are occasions in the history of the Jamat when we collectively celebrate the living presence of the Imam of the Time, and commemorate the continuity of the rope of Imamat that has guided and protected us since the time of Hazrat Ali.
The Diamond Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam will be such an occasion. The 11th of July 2017 will mark 60 years — a milestone anniversary for our 49th hereditary Imam, Shah Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV.
“The anniversaries of the Imam of the Time's Imamat are opportunities and occasions for the Jamat to reflect and to commemorate what the Imam of the Time has done for the Jamat,” says Aitmadi Dr Mahmoud Eboo, Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum.
The Ismaili tradition of Jubilees is well established. The upcoming Diamond Jubilee was preceded by Golden and Silver Jubilees that marked 50 and 25 years respectively of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Imamat. Four Jubilees were celebrated during the lifetime of Hazar Imam’s grandfather, Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah, including his Platinum Jubilee commemorating 70 years of his Imamat.
Jubilee years are looked upon by the Jamat and the Imam as particularly special.
“For the Diamond Jubilee, the leaders of the Jamat made a submission to Mawlana Hazar Imam that for this 60th anniversary, the Jamat would like to commemorate this as a Jubilee,” explains the LIF Chairman. “Hazar Imam graciously accepted, and in doing so mentioned that if we were going to commemorate it as a Diamond Jubilee, then we should look at certain goals.”
Past Jubilees have been catalytic in realising significant goals and initiatives, and have left behind legacy programmes. For example, the Jubilee Insurance Company and Diamond Trust Bank were founded in the 1930s and 40s in response to the financial needs of the Jamat at that time. They’ve persisted over the decades, and grown to become important pillars in the East African region.
The goals for the Diamond Jubilee encompass a range of issues: early child development, strengthening our religious education system, and expanding access to Jamatkhanas. They also include building capacity of the institutions established by the Ismaili Imamat over the past six decades to ensure they grow and flourish in the years ahead.
Jubilee legacy projects are intimately connected with values that also reach back many centuries. The Aga Khan University, which is a Silver Jubilee project, and the more recently established University of Central Asia, are cases in point.
“The notion of education is historical within the Shia Ismaili tariqah of Islam — it goes back 1 400 years,” explains Chairman Eboo. “The Imam's ancestors built Al-Azhar a thousand years ago because of the ethical precept of valuing knowledge, of valuing the notion of education as being central to human development.”
Another example is the Time and Knowledge Nazrana, which was established during Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee as a way for murids to make a gift of their time and knowledge towards building institutional capacity. In the Diamond Jubilee, it is evolving into a permanent mechanism for harnessing the intellectual capacity of the worldwide Jamat within an ethical framework of service that has long been part of the Ismaili tradition.
These are not projects whose horizons are limited to a few years or decades. “They are programmes that are designed to impact the quality of life of the Jamat for generations to come,” says Chairman Eboo.
Poverty, however, is a more immediate concern. Addressing it will involve bringing to bear the entire capacity of Imamat institutions, says the LIF Chairman, and the time horizon is much shorter.
“We are hopeful that within the next generation, we will be able to improve and address issues of poverty,” he says.
Four main factors have been identified as critical in eliminating poverty: ensuring access to education from early childhood onwards; access to healthcare and quality medical facilities; ensuring that families live in quality homes with clean water, electricity and sanitation; and the ability for individuals to tap economic opportunities to be able to support themselves and their families.
It is critical that these factors be addressed for Ismailis living in rural and urban settings, as well as for the wider populations amongst whom the Jamat lives, says the LIF Chairman. If these efforts are successful, they should result in a marked difference in the levels of poverty over the next 10 years or so.
As far reaching and ambitious as the aspirations of the Diamond Jubilee are, the spiritual foundations of the commemoration remain central: the renewal of that special bond that links each of us with our Imam in this time, and the Noor of Imamat across all time.
It is this legacy that has always been, and shall always be, the most enduring.
TheIsnaili July 2017
-
mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Diamond Jubilee Theme -1. - Part 2. Ambassadorial role of JK by Ismaili Council of Canada - August 2017
These new buildings and the spaces within and around them, are in rich symbolism; drawing on the plurality of cultures which characterise Ismailis here, and around the world. The array of facilities included is a reflection of the core values of the Ismaili community, its organisation, its discipline, its social conscience, the importance of its community organisations, and its attitude toward the society in which it exists.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of The Ismaili Centre, Lisbon, July 11, 1998
The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Ismaili community in the regions in which they are established. They have developed more recently as a response to the Jamat’s settlement in new contexts and countries.
The Centres belong to the historic category of Jamatkhana, serving the community’s need for worship and gathering, while also housing a range of secular spaces where Ismailis can extend a hand of friendship to the broader community among whom they live.
The Centres provide opportunities for Ismailis to engage with non-Ismailis through social, cultural and intellectual exchange. As Mawlana Hazar Imam remarked at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe:
“We will seek to demonstrate that spiritual insight and worldly knowledge are not separate or opposing realms, but that they must always nourish one another, and that the world of faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind.”
Our faith teaches us to seek knowledge to better understand Allah’s creation and to use that knowledge in the service of others. According to the 11th century Ismaili scholar and poet Sayyidna Nasir-i-Khusraw, “Knowledge is a shield against the blows of time”; it dispels “the torment of ignorance” and nourishes “peace to blossom forth in the soul.” The Ismaili Centres offer a place for people to come together to share knowledge and wisdom.
The architecture and aesthetics of these ambassadorial buildings seek to illustrate the core values of the Ismaili community, bridge tradition and modernity, dispel misperceptions of Islam, promote pluralism, and foster the exchange of culture and knowledge.
There are six Ismaili Centres around the world. The Centres in London and Burnaby were the first to be established in 1985. Four additional Centres have since opened in Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto. Each Centre draws from historic decorative traditions such as geometric patterns and calligraphy, structural features such as domes and arches, interplays of light and shadow, as well as water features. However, each Centre is uniquely designed to fit within the context of the country and community in which it is built.
Through their architecture and variety of uses, they are bridges of friendship and understanding, serving to enhance relationships with various faith communities, government and civil society. Inshallah, they will continue to be significant markers and symbols of our Shia Ismaili Muslim identity for generations to come.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby in 1982:
“This will be a place of congregation, of order, of peace, of prayer, of hope, of humility, and of brotherhood. From it should come forth those thoughts, those sentiments, those attitudes, which bind men together and which unite. It has been conceived and will exist in a mood of friendship, courtesy, and harmony.”
Learn more:
1. The Ismaili Centres
2. Ismaili Centre Resources
3. Ismaili Centres chapter from Under the Eaves of Architecture: The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron by Philip Jodidio, 2008
These new buildings and the spaces within and around them, are in rich symbolism; drawing on the plurality of cultures which characterise Ismailis here, and around the world. The array of facilities included is a reflection of the core values of the Ismaili community, its organisation, its discipline, its social conscience, the importance of its community organisations, and its attitude toward the society in which it exists.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam, Opening Ceremony of The Ismaili Centre, Lisbon, July 11, 1998
The Ismaili Centres are symbolic markers of the permanent presence of the Ismaili community in the regions in which they are established. They have developed more recently as a response to the Jamat’s settlement in new contexts and countries.
The Centres belong to the historic category of Jamatkhana, serving the community’s need for worship and gathering, while also housing a range of secular spaces where Ismailis can extend a hand of friendship to the broader community among whom they live.
The Centres provide opportunities for Ismailis to engage with non-Ismailis through social, cultural and intellectual exchange. As Mawlana Hazar Imam remarked at the opening ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Dushanbe:
“We will seek to demonstrate that spiritual insight and worldly knowledge are not separate or opposing realms, but that they must always nourish one another, and that the world of faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind.”
Our faith teaches us to seek knowledge to better understand Allah’s creation and to use that knowledge in the service of others. According to the 11th century Ismaili scholar and poet Sayyidna Nasir-i-Khusraw, “Knowledge is a shield against the blows of time”; it dispels “the torment of ignorance” and nourishes “peace to blossom forth in the soul.” The Ismaili Centres offer a place for people to come together to share knowledge and wisdom.
The architecture and aesthetics of these ambassadorial buildings seek to illustrate the core values of the Ismaili community, bridge tradition and modernity, dispel misperceptions of Islam, promote pluralism, and foster the exchange of culture and knowledge.
There are six Ismaili Centres around the world. The Centres in London and Burnaby were the first to be established in 1985. Four additional Centres have since opened in Lisbon, Dubai, Dushanbe and Toronto. Each Centre draws from historic decorative traditions such as geometric patterns and calligraphy, structural features such as domes and arches, interplays of light and shadow, as well as water features. However, each Centre is uniquely designed to fit within the context of the country and community in which it is built.
Through their architecture and variety of uses, they are bridges of friendship and understanding, serving to enhance relationships with various faith communities, government and civil society. Inshallah, they will continue to be significant markers and symbols of our Shia Ismaili Muslim identity for generations to come.
As Mawlana Hazar Imam said at the foundation ceremony of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby in 1982:
“This will be a place of congregation, of order, of peace, of prayer, of hope, of humility, and of brotherhood. From it should come forth those thoughts, those sentiments, those attitudes, which bind men together and which unite. It has been conceived and will exist in a mood of friendship, courtesy, and harmony.”
Learn more:
1. The Ismaili Centres
2. Ismaili Centre Resources
3. Ismaili Centres chapter from Under the Eaves of Architecture: The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron by Philip Jodidio, 2008
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Jamat khanas & dvelopment - DJ Goal
Muslim Spaces of Piety and Worship
Table of Contents
* Variety of Spaces of Gathering
* The Masjid
* The Ribat, Khanaqah, Zawiyah and Tekke
* The Husayniyah and Imambarah
* The Jamatkhana
“(This light is found) in houses which Allah has allowed to be raised so that His name is remembered there, where He is glorified in the mornings and in the evenings.”
(Qur’an, 24:36)
Variety of Spaces of Gathering
The Qur’anic revelation to Prophet Muhammad (Salla-llahu ‘alayhi wa alihi wa-sallam) allows for a wide spectrum of interpretations across time, space, and cultural context. This has allowed for a plurality of interpretations, legal, theological and doctrinal formulations, as well as forms and expressions of devotion, piety and ritual action. This variety also extends to the spaces of gathering, interaction and worship. The presence of diverse persuasions and schools of thought in Islam has led to the coexistence of a wide range of spaces of worship. In addition to the masjid, they include the ribat, khanaqah, zawiyah, tekke, husayniyahand the jamatkhana. Together, these institutions have played and continue to play varied and significant religious and social roles in the lives of those associated with them and comprise an important element in the history and evolution of expressions of piety in Muslim societies.
The Masjid
The masjid (mosque; plural: masajid) constitutes among the most visible and prominent symbols of Muslim presence and can be found in almost all parts of the world. Literally meaning ‘a place of prostration’, the masjid was the formal institutional space established for the collective performance of prayer and ritual, and for meeting the social needs of the emerging ummah (community).
Origin
Most historians agree that in the early days of Islam (i.e. in early 7th century Mecca) the original Muslim community had no specific or special place of prayer and the arrangements for communal worship were informal.According to a famous saying (hadith) of the Prophet, the “whole world is a masjid”.1 It is only after the hijra(migration) to Medina, that a specific house (space) emerged and evolved, where Muslims could collectively perform ritual prayers together as well as manage the affairs of the state. Thenceforth, wherever the nascent Muslim community became permanently established in large numbers (e.g., Basra, Kufa, Damascus, Al-Fustat), the mosque became a focal point for their religious and social life. In these ‘new’ Muslim lands, there were attempts initially to reproduce, in both form (design) and function, the first masjid of Medina. However, as the Muslim empire spread across geography, it came in contact with different cultures and traditions with their own forms of spaces and institutions. In addition, internal factors, such as the increasing availability of wealth and patronage, influx of new converts, the diversity in notions of piety, and the corresponding needs of the communities of users, collectively contributed to a rapid change and evolution in mosque design and usage.
Evolution of Form and Function
The first masjid in Medina served as both a place of communal prayer as well as a socio-cultural centre. Its functions included: communal and individual prayers, Qur’anic recitations, delivery of homilies (qisas), sermons (khutbas) on Fridays, recitation of dhikr, place of retreats (i’tikaf) and vigils – especially during the month of Ramadhan - and celebration of festivals. Mosques have also served as centres for collection and distribution of alms (zakat). The poor, homeless and travellers have often found shelter and sustenance there. The contracting of marriage and business agreements can also occur there2. An important development with regard to the evolving form and function of mosques revolves around the emergence of practices associated with building of shrine (tomb) mosques (called maqbara,mashhad or maqam) over the tombs of members of the Prophet’s family (including Hazrat Imam Ali ‘alayhi salamand Hazrat Fatima ‘alayha salam) and of his early companions. Subsequently, with the growth and influence of Sufism, building and visiting of shrine-mosques (ziyarah) dedicated to sufi shaykhs, pirs, or sages for barakah and intercession became a regular feature of Muslim piety, devotion and religious landscape.3
It is important here also to note that even during this formative stage of Muslim history, along with the ‘chief mosques’ (in the centre of town with residence of the commander in chief), other ‘types’ of mosques soon began to evolve. There was a tendency for communities belonging to different schools of thought and interpretation to establish their own distinctive mosques. Thus there emerged mosques that were frequented largely by the Shi‘a or the Sunni communities associated with specific legal schools such as the Shafi, Maliki, etc.
In addition to the above functions and roles of the masjid in the religious domain, there also emerged significant enlargement in the use of the mosque for intellectual and educational purposes. Mosques as places of religious and ethical learning took on a more formal educational role with circles of religious scholars and students gathered to study the Qur’an, hadith, law, etc. For instance, theFatimid Imam-Caliphs established Al-Azhar, both as a mosque as well as a place of learning. Some mosques, such as those of Baghdad, Isfahan, Mashhad, Qum, Damascus and Cairo, became major centres of learning for students from all over the Muslim world.
Needless to say, the above evolving and expanding functions of the mosque impacted the form or physical design (architecture) of the mosque. Rapidly, ancillary buildings evolved such as madrasas, (schools) libraries, residence quarters, baths, etc., which often formed part of a mosque complex. The multiplicity of the mosque function (already evident in the first mosque at the time of the Prophet) reached a pinnacle in the Ottoman complex known as the Kulliye. The majestic Sulemaniye Kulliye (16th century) in Istanbul, by the famous architect Sinan, for example, consisted of a very large congregational mosque, five madrasas, two schools, a hospital and medical school, a sufilodge, a hostel or caravanserai, a public bath and fountain, a public kitchen, housing for mosque teachers and caretakers, a wrestling ground, cafes, shops, imperial mausoleums, and a cemetery.4
It is interesting here to mention in the context of the evolution of “forms” that many of the architectural features of a mosque such as domes, minarets, minbar (pulpit), etc., which have come to be normatively interpreted as ‘essential’ and unchanging requirements of a mosque, were also a product of historical evolution and were not present in the ‘prototype’ mosque in Medina. Thus, from the beginning, there have not been any specific forms determined by religious injunctions, other than the indication of the direction of prayer (qibla). Architectural shapes were rather defined by extra religious factors such as influence of different cultures, traditions, environments, patrons, materials, technology, etc.5
The transformations brought about by colonialism, independence and modernization in Muslim societies have resulted in some shifts and changes in the uses of the mosque today. As in the past, the mosque remains the hub and symbol of intense social and cultural activity, whether Muslims are a majority or a minority in the region.6
In Muslim societies, the mosque, particularly the large ‘national’ or ‘state’ mosque has remained a highly visible feature serving to proclaim their ‘Islamic’ identity, while in non-Muslim lands, where millions of Muslims now live and work, it announces a Muslim presence to non-Muslims and signifies ‘home’ to the faithful.7
The above discussion on the evolution of functions and forms of the masjid and its relation to the changing needs of the community may also apply, in part, to other Muslim places of piety (e.g. zawiyahs, khanaqahs, jamatkhanas, etc).
The Ribat, Khanaqah, Zawiyah and Tekke
These places of gathering are generally associated with the rise and institutional development of Sufism, and are an important element in the history and evolution of Muslim societies. Over the years, these establishments and institutions have played (like the masjid) diverse and significant religious and social roles in the lives of Muslims. Over the course of many centuries, Sufi tariqas (orders) have multiplied and spread all over the Muslim world, from North Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The spread of these tariqas was accompanied by the construction of specific spaces of gathering and their particular forms and expressions of rituals. The names of these centres or ‘convents’ have varied according to location: zawiya and ribat were used largely (though not exclusively) in the Maghrib; khanaqah in Egypt; khanagah from Iran to India (the term dargah is also used); and tekke in Turkish-speaking areas. Support for the above institutions by the ruling elites gradually broadened and led to significant patronage in building them and endowing stipends for the Sufis living there. As a result of the above, these parallel institutions to the masjidbecame widespread and today, in many Muslim countries, such institutions are found in all major cities and even in remote villages.8
In these various residential teaching centres, Sufis gathered to practise acts of devotion, piety and meditation. Chief among these were the performance of dhikr (remembrance, invocation) and sama (poetry recitation accompanied by music). Also, through teachers (referred to as shaykh, pir or murshid) and disciples, individuals were educated to learn the Qur’an and its spiritual meaning, to cultivate an inner life, and to read the writings of great poets and writers in the Sufi tradition.9 Elaborate initiation rituals developed in which the disciple had to pronounce the bay‘ah(oath of allegiance) to the murshid and be invested with symbols of their entrance into the order (e.g., cloak, hat, etc.). As it was common for many Sufi shaykhs to be buried in their ‘place of residence’ (khanaqah), these spaces have become popular pilgrimage sites (ziyarat) to seek barakah and shafa‘a(intercession).
Admission to such spaces is usually open to all, but this is not universally true. For instance, khanaqahs of the Suhrawardi Order in India are known to restrict participation to those who have given their bay‘ah, pledge of allegiance, to the pir or shaykh of the Sufi Order.10With regard to the issue of the exclusivity of such spaces, Sunni jurists have viewed it to be a matter dependent on custom.
As with the masjid and other similar spaces of gathering, these largely Sufi institutions not only served religious roles, but also encompassed socio-economic functions. For example, as places to which people take offerings, the zawiyahs and khanaqahs also contribute to the redistribution of social wealth. The needy and disabled are catered for and assured of food and lodging. Socio-religious activities and festivals, for instance, the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (mawlid) are also organized in these establishments at specific times of the year.
While the names and functions of these Sufi institutional spaces came to resemble each other, they manifested considerable diversity in terms of location, structure, size and organization. Sometimes these buildings would be isolated but more frequently were connected with a mosque. In some khanaqahs, the dervishes lived in small cells while other ‘convents’ had only one large room in which all the dervishes lived, studied and worked together. The architecture also varied in size, layout, and materials used, and reflected local cultural elements and manifestations. The organisation of these institutions was also not alike everywhere. Some tariqas lived on futuh (unsolicited gifts or donations) whereas others enjoyed generous patronage of the rulers and regular stipends from other benefactors.11
Contemporary Role
It may be argued that the zawiyah, khanaqah and ribat today have become less important in social life than they were up to the nineteenth century. The economic and social transformations in Muslim countries that have accompanied the emergence of centralized states, massive urbanization, and the expansion of communication systems has led to the emergence of competing institutions of socialisation. The emergence of nation states that regulate functions historically associated with traditional Muslim social institutions (e.g. mosque, zawiyah, khanaqah and ribat) has contributed to the latter’s weakening. Other forces, such as confiscation of the religious endowments (waqf; pl. awqaf) attached to institutions such as zawiyahs, as for example in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya (during French rule), drastically contributed to the erosion of the social role of these institutions.
Finally, there have also been certain ‘internal’ forces that have contributed to the decline or destruction of these Sufi institutions. Central among these include certain intolerant ‘reformist’ movements which, from time to time, have interpreted the rich and diverse practices and expressions of piety associated with these institutions, particularly the visiting of mausoleums of saints or awliyas, as bid’a(innovation) and ‘un-Islamic’, and embarked on their curtailment, if not outright destruction - all with the ideological aim of imposing an imaginary pure and pristine Islam. Such accusations clearly reflect an attempt on the part of a dominant or vocal group to impose its own particular interpretation of Islam on what is actually a rich diversity of forms and interpretations.
In any case, Sufi orders and institutions continue to survive despite the restrictions of some modern governments and the opposition of extremist groups. They act as channels that both preserve the influence of saints of the past and encourage spiritual discipline. Furthermore, in some European and American cities where Sufi tariqahs are emerging and growing, one can find similar institutions (such as zawiyah and khanaqah), often in private, where adherents meet regularly to perform acts of worship that closely resemble tariqah religious practices.
The Husayniyah and Imambarah
Husayniyah and Imambarah refer to spaces of gathering where ritual ceremonies commemorating the life and martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Husayn ‘alayhi salam are held.12Husayniyahcan be a temporary tent set up especially for the Muharram mourning ceremonies or a permanent building that is also used for religious occasions throughout the year.
The husayniyahs are found in all Shi‘a Ithna‘ashari (Twelver) communities throughout the world and are known as such in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. In Iran, the terms husayniyah and takiyah are used interchangeably, with local customs determining the relative usage. Among the Shi‘a of Bahrain and Oman, such sites are called ma’tam, while among the Shi‘a Ithna‘asharis of India the terms Imambarah (literally ‘enclosure of the Imams’) and ashur-khana are used.
In Muslim cities, towns and villages with a significant community of Shi‘a Ithna‘asharis, husayniyahs are as common as mosques in popular religious practice. They are sites for the intensely emotional recitations (rawzah-khvani) of the tragic circumstances surrounding the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Husayn (A.S.) as well as the performance of ta’ziyah (passion plays). The husayniyah are also used as a starting and culminating point for ‘ashura dastah’ (mourning processions).
The imambarahs in the Indian Subcontinent acquired complex forms and meanings in the eighteenth century, during the rule of the Nawabs of Oudh. Besides symbolizing a shrine of Hazrat Imam Husayn (A.S.), with his zareeh(sarcophagus) as its central element, it was also built as the burial place of the Nawab. In Lucknow, which is one of the centres of Twelver Shi‘ism in India, there are hundreds of imambarahs. Families may have their own imambarah, normally just a part of a room. Wealthier families have rooms set aside as imambarahs, richly decorated. In addition, every neighbourhood has its own imambarah.13
Imambarahs, like other parallel Muslim spaces, are multifunctional. Along with the above devotional rituals and practices, they are also locations of community education and rituals for various rites of passage (i.e. marriage or funerals). The forms (architecture) of these spaces vary according to the geographical and cultural setting, size of the community as well as the symbolic intentions of the builders.
The Jamatkhana
The term ‘Jamatkhana’ literally means ‘a house of assembly or gathering’. Specifically, it has come to designate a gathering space for community activities and for devotional practice among a variety of Muslim groups such as the Musta‘lian and Nizari Ismailis in certain parts of the world. In the predominantly South Asian Chishti order, the institution for Sufi activity was called jamatkhana and was centred on the residence of the shaykh.14 The Shi‘i Bohra and Sunni Memoncommunities of India also have private places of gathering called jamatkhana.
The custom of meeting in closed sessions, at specially designated places, to learn about and practice their own interpretations of faith, has been part of the Ismaili tradition from pre-Fatimid times. During the Fatimid period, the Ismailis used to participate in majalis al-hikma (sessions of wisdom), which were accessible only to those who had pledged their allegiance to the Imam-of-the-time.
Community tradition, based on passages from Ismaili ginans, suggests that the earliest Ismaili jamatkhanas were established in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent during the 14th and 15thcenturies.
Situating the jamatkhana within the tradition of Muslim piety, His Highness the Aga Khan made the following remarks on the occasion of the foundation laying ceremony for the Ismaili Centre in Dubai:
“For many centuries, a prominent feature of the Muslim religious landscape has been the variety of spaces of gathering co-existing harmoniously with the masjid, which in itself has accommodated a range of diverse institutional spaces for educational, social and reflective purposes. Historically serving communities of different interpretations and spiritual affiliations, these spaces have retained their cultural nomenclatures and characteristics, from ribat and zawiyya to khanaqa and jamatkhana. The congregational space incorporated within the Ismaili Centre belongs to the historic category of jamatkhana, an institutional category that also serves a number of sister Sunni and Shi‘a communities, in their respective contexts, in many parts of the world. Here, it will be space reserved for traditions and practices specific to the Shi‘a Ismaili tariqa of Islam.”15
Contemporary Role
In the Shia Ismaili community today, the jamatkhana represents the physical space in which the community gathers in a shared process of communal worship and expressions of piety. The Ismaili Constitution defines jamatkhanaas a place designated by the Imam-of-the-time for Ismaili tariqah practices.
Consonant with the ethos of Islam, which welds together the ‘worldly’ and the ‘spiritual’, the jamatkhanas (like other Muslim spaces of piety and worship) are multifunctional and act as the religious, educational and social centres for the Ismaili community. These functions (and forms) have evolved, as in the case of all other Muslim spaces and institutions, reflecting the changing historical and cultural contexts of these institutions as well as the evolving needs of its users. Speaking on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, His Highness the Aga Khan suggested that among the programmatic dimensions of the Ismaili Centre will be “lectures, presentations, conferences, recitals, and exhibits of art and architecture.”16
The recently built high-profile Ismaili jamatkhana and Centres are ‘representational’ buildings. As His Highness the Aga Khan stated at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe:
“These Centres serve to reflect, illustrate and represent the community’s intellectual and spiritual understanding of Islam, its social conscience, its organisation, its forward outlook and its positive attitude towards the societies in which it lives…Like its counterparts elsewhere, the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe will stand for the ethics that uphold the dignity of man as the noblest of creation. It will bring down walls that divide and build bridges that unite. ..It is my prayer that, once it has been built, the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe will be a place of order, of peace, of hope, of humility and of brotherhood, radiating those thoughts, and attitudes which unite us in the search for a better life.”17
In terms of form or architecture of the Ismaili jamatkhanas, again as with other Muslim spaces of gathering, there is no single ‘monolithic’ type or required norm. Rather, the forms vary depending on the cultural context, geography, materials available, technology and, of course, varieties of functions required. Reflecting this last criterion (of function), the larger jamatkhanas contain not only prayer halls, but also meeting areas, classrooms, libraries, recreation and social spaces, etc.
To conclude, beginning with the revelation of the Holy Qur’an and the historical experiences of Muslims over 1400 years (cumulative traditions), the devotional life of Muslims has consisted of a rich variety of expressions, forms, interpretations and spaces. As a result, a pluriform rather than uniform culture has been characteristic of the reality of Muslim societies throughout history. Moreover, this cultural pluralism, rather than being a weakness, remains a source of strength and inspiration for millions of Muslims around the world.
Endnotes
1Sahih Muslim, trans. by A. Saddiqi (Lahore, 1976), vol. I, section on ‘Masajid’
2 J. Pedersen, ‘Masdjid’, in The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden, 1974), pp. 337-8
3 ‘Mosque’, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic world, ed. John Esposito, Vol. 3, 1995, p.134.
4 R Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning(Edinburgh, 1994)
5 Dogan Kuban, Muslim Religious Architecture. Part I (Leiden, 1974), pp 2-10
6 Mohammed Arkoun, ‘The Metamorphosis of the Sacred’, in The Mosque: History, Architectural Development and Regional Diversity,eds. M. Frishman and H. Khan (London, 1994), p. 271
7 Oleg Grabar, ‘The Mosque in Islamic Society Today’, in The Mosque, p. 244
8 Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World, p. 371
9 Azim Nanji, ed., The Muslim Almanac(Detroit, 1996), p. 413
10 Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (Aligarh), ‘Some Aspects of Khanaqah Life in Medieval India’, Studia Islamica, 1952.
11 Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (North Carolina, 1975), p.232
12 Gustav Thaiss, ‘Husayniyah’, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World, vol.2, p.153
13 The Encyclopaedia of Islam. volume 3 (Leiden, 1979), p.1163
14 Muslim Almanac, p.498.
15 Except of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Dubai, UAE, December 13th, 2003.
16 Except of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, December 18th, 1996.
17 Excerpt of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, August 30th, 2003.
This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Ismaili UK in March 2006.
Credit - Institute of Ismaili studies London ( A constitutional entity of the Ismaili community)
Table of Contents
* Variety of Spaces of Gathering
* The Masjid
* The Ribat, Khanaqah, Zawiyah and Tekke
* The Husayniyah and Imambarah
* The Jamatkhana
“(This light is found) in houses which Allah has allowed to be raised so that His name is remembered there, where He is glorified in the mornings and in the evenings.”
(Qur’an, 24:36)
Variety of Spaces of Gathering
The Qur’anic revelation to Prophet Muhammad (Salla-llahu ‘alayhi wa alihi wa-sallam) allows for a wide spectrum of interpretations across time, space, and cultural context. This has allowed for a plurality of interpretations, legal, theological and doctrinal formulations, as well as forms and expressions of devotion, piety and ritual action. This variety also extends to the spaces of gathering, interaction and worship. The presence of diverse persuasions and schools of thought in Islam has led to the coexistence of a wide range of spaces of worship. In addition to the masjid, they include the ribat, khanaqah, zawiyah, tekke, husayniyahand the jamatkhana. Together, these institutions have played and continue to play varied and significant religious and social roles in the lives of those associated with them and comprise an important element in the history and evolution of expressions of piety in Muslim societies.
The Masjid
The masjid (mosque; plural: masajid) constitutes among the most visible and prominent symbols of Muslim presence and can be found in almost all parts of the world. Literally meaning ‘a place of prostration’, the masjid was the formal institutional space established for the collective performance of prayer and ritual, and for meeting the social needs of the emerging ummah (community).
Origin
Most historians agree that in the early days of Islam (i.e. in early 7th century Mecca) the original Muslim community had no specific or special place of prayer and the arrangements for communal worship were informal.According to a famous saying (hadith) of the Prophet, the “whole world is a masjid”.1 It is only after the hijra(migration) to Medina, that a specific house (space) emerged and evolved, where Muslims could collectively perform ritual prayers together as well as manage the affairs of the state. Thenceforth, wherever the nascent Muslim community became permanently established in large numbers (e.g., Basra, Kufa, Damascus, Al-Fustat), the mosque became a focal point for their religious and social life. In these ‘new’ Muslim lands, there were attempts initially to reproduce, in both form (design) and function, the first masjid of Medina. However, as the Muslim empire spread across geography, it came in contact with different cultures and traditions with their own forms of spaces and institutions. In addition, internal factors, such as the increasing availability of wealth and patronage, influx of new converts, the diversity in notions of piety, and the corresponding needs of the communities of users, collectively contributed to a rapid change and evolution in mosque design and usage.
Evolution of Form and Function
The first masjid in Medina served as both a place of communal prayer as well as a socio-cultural centre. Its functions included: communal and individual prayers, Qur’anic recitations, delivery of homilies (qisas), sermons (khutbas) on Fridays, recitation of dhikr, place of retreats (i’tikaf) and vigils – especially during the month of Ramadhan - and celebration of festivals. Mosques have also served as centres for collection and distribution of alms (zakat). The poor, homeless and travellers have often found shelter and sustenance there. The contracting of marriage and business agreements can also occur there2. An important development with regard to the evolving form and function of mosques revolves around the emergence of practices associated with building of shrine (tomb) mosques (called maqbara,mashhad or maqam) over the tombs of members of the Prophet’s family (including Hazrat Imam Ali ‘alayhi salamand Hazrat Fatima ‘alayha salam) and of his early companions. Subsequently, with the growth and influence of Sufism, building and visiting of shrine-mosques (ziyarah) dedicated to sufi shaykhs, pirs, or sages for barakah and intercession became a regular feature of Muslim piety, devotion and religious landscape.3
It is important here also to note that even during this formative stage of Muslim history, along with the ‘chief mosques’ (in the centre of town with residence of the commander in chief), other ‘types’ of mosques soon began to evolve. There was a tendency for communities belonging to different schools of thought and interpretation to establish their own distinctive mosques. Thus there emerged mosques that were frequented largely by the Shi‘a or the Sunni communities associated with specific legal schools such as the Shafi, Maliki, etc.
In addition to the above functions and roles of the masjid in the religious domain, there also emerged significant enlargement in the use of the mosque for intellectual and educational purposes. Mosques as places of religious and ethical learning took on a more formal educational role with circles of religious scholars and students gathered to study the Qur’an, hadith, law, etc. For instance, theFatimid Imam-Caliphs established Al-Azhar, both as a mosque as well as a place of learning. Some mosques, such as those of Baghdad, Isfahan, Mashhad, Qum, Damascus and Cairo, became major centres of learning for students from all over the Muslim world.
Needless to say, the above evolving and expanding functions of the mosque impacted the form or physical design (architecture) of the mosque. Rapidly, ancillary buildings evolved such as madrasas, (schools) libraries, residence quarters, baths, etc., which often formed part of a mosque complex. The multiplicity of the mosque function (already evident in the first mosque at the time of the Prophet) reached a pinnacle in the Ottoman complex known as the Kulliye. The majestic Sulemaniye Kulliye (16th century) in Istanbul, by the famous architect Sinan, for example, consisted of a very large congregational mosque, five madrasas, two schools, a hospital and medical school, a sufilodge, a hostel or caravanserai, a public bath and fountain, a public kitchen, housing for mosque teachers and caretakers, a wrestling ground, cafes, shops, imperial mausoleums, and a cemetery.4
It is interesting here to mention in the context of the evolution of “forms” that many of the architectural features of a mosque such as domes, minarets, minbar (pulpit), etc., which have come to be normatively interpreted as ‘essential’ and unchanging requirements of a mosque, were also a product of historical evolution and were not present in the ‘prototype’ mosque in Medina. Thus, from the beginning, there have not been any specific forms determined by religious injunctions, other than the indication of the direction of prayer (qibla). Architectural shapes were rather defined by extra religious factors such as influence of different cultures, traditions, environments, patrons, materials, technology, etc.5
The transformations brought about by colonialism, independence and modernization in Muslim societies have resulted in some shifts and changes in the uses of the mosque today. As in the past, the mosque remains the hub and symbol of intense social and cultural activity, whether Muslims are a majority or a minority in the region.6
In Muslim societies, the mosque, particularly the large ‘national’ or ‘state’ mosque has remained a highly visible feature serving to proclaim their ‘Islamic’ identity, while in non-Muslim lands, where millions of Muslims now live and work, it announces a Muslim presence to non-Muslims and signifies ‘home’ to the faithful.7
The above discussion on the evolution of functions and forms of the masjid and its relation to the changing needs of the community may also apply, in part, to other Muslim places of piety (e.g. zawiyahs, khanaqahs, jamatkhanas, etc).
The Ribat, Khanaqah, Zawiyah and Tekke
These places of gathering are generally associated with the rise and institutional development of Sufism, and are an important element in the history and evolution of Muslim societies. Over the years, these establishments and institutions have played (like the masjid) diverse and significant religious and social roles in the lives of Muslims. Over the course of many centuries, Sufi tariqas (orders) have multiplied and spread all over the Muslim world, from North Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The spread of these tariqas was accompanied by the construction of specific spaces of gathering and their particular forms and expressions of rituals. The names of these centres or ‘convents’ have varied according to location: zawiya and ribat were used largely (though not exclusively) in the Maghrib; khanaqah in Egypt; khanagah from Iran to India (the term dargah is also used); and tekke in Turkish-speaking areas. Support for the above institutions by the ruling elites gradually broadened and led to significant patronage in building them and endowing stipends for the Sufis living there. As a result of the above, these parallel institutions to the masjidbecame widespread and today, in many Muslim countries, such institutions are found in all major cities and even in remote villages.8
In these various residential teaching centres, Sufis gathered to practise acts of devotion, piety and meditation. Chief among these were the performance of dhikr (remembrance, invocation) and sama (poetry recitation accompanied by music). Also, through teachers (referred to as shaykh, pir or murshid) and disciples, individuals were educated to learn the Qur’an and its spiritual meaning, to cultivate an inner life, and to read the writings of great poets and writers in the Sufi tradition.9 Elaborate initiation rituals developed in which the disciple had to pronounce the bay‘ah(oath of allegiance) to the murshid and be invested with symbols of their entrance into the order (e.g., cloak, hat, etc.). As it was common for many Sufi shaykhs to be buried in their ‘place of residence’ (khanaqah), these spaces have become popular pilgrimage sites (ziyarat) to seek barakah and shafa‘a(intercession).
Admission to such spaces is usually open to all, but this is not universally true. For instance, khanaqahs of the Suhrawardi Order in India are known to restrict participation to those who have given their bay‘ah, pledge of allegiance, to the pir or shaykh of the Sufi Order.10With regard to the issue of the exclusivity of such spaces, Sunni jurists have viewed it to be a matter dependent on custom.
As with the masjid and other similar spaces of gathering, these largely Sufi institutions not only served religious roles, but also encompassed socio-economic functions. For example, as places to which people take offerings, the zawiyahs and khanaqahs also contribute to the redistribution of social wealth. The needy and disabled are catered for and assured of food and lodging. Socio-religious activities and festivals, for instance, the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (mawlid) are also organized in these establishments at specific times of the year.
While the names and functions of these Sufi institutional spaces came to resemble each other, they manifested considerable diversity in terms of location, structure, size and organization. Sometimes these buildings would be isolated but more frequently were connected with a mosque. In some khanaqahs, the dervishes lived in small cells while other ‘convents’ had only one large room in which all the dervishes lived, studied and worked together. The architecture also varied in size, layout, and materials used, and reflected local cultural elements and manifestations. The organisation of these institutions was also not alike everywhere. Some tariqas lived on futuh (unsolicited gifts or donations) whereas others enjoyed generous patronage of the rulers and regular stipends from other benefactors.11
Contemporary Role
It may be argued that the zawiyah, khanaqah and ribat today have become less important in social life than they were up to the nineteenth century. The economic and social transformations in Muslim countries that have accompanied the emergence of centralized states, massive urbanization, and the expansion of communication systems has led to the emergence of competing institutions of socialisation. The emergence of nation states that regulate functions historically associated with traditional Muslim social institutions (e.g. mosque, zawiyah, khanaqah and ribat) has contributed to the latter’s weakening. Other forces, such as confiscation of the religious endowments (waqf; pl. awqaf) attached to institutions such as zawiyahs, as for example in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya (during French rule), drastically contributed to the erosion of the social role of these institutions.
Finally, there have also been certain ‘internal’ forces that have contributed to the decline or destruction of these Sufi institutions. Central among these include certain intolerant ‘reformist’ movements which, from time to time, have interpreted the rich and diverse practices and expressions of piety associated with these institutions, particularly the visiting of mausoleums of saints or awliyas, as bid’a(innovation) and ‘un-Islamic’, and embarked on their curtailment, if not outright destruction - all with the ideological aim of imposing an imaginary pure and pristine Islam. Such accusations clearly reflect an attempt on the part of a dominant or vocal group to impose its own particular interpretation of Islam on what is actually a rich diversity of forms and interpretations.
In any case, Sufi orders and institutions continue to survive despite the restrictions of some modern governments and the opposition of extremist groups. They act as channels that both preserve the influence of saints of the past and encourage spiritual discipline. Furthermore, in some European and American cities where Sufi tariqahs are emerging and growing, one can find similar institutions (such as zawiyah and khanaqah), often in private, where adherents meet regularly to perform acts of worship that closely resemble tariqah religious practices.
The Husayniyah and Imambarah
Husayniyah and Imambarah refer to spaces of gathering where ritual ceremonies commemorating the life and martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Husayn ‘alayhi salam are held.12Husayniyahcan be a temporary tent set up especially for the Muharram mourning ceremonies or a permanent building that is also used for religious occasions throughout the year.
The husayniyahs are found in all Shi‘a Ithna‘ashari (Twelver) communities throughout the world and are known as such in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. In Iran, the terms husayniyah and takiyah are used interchangeably, with local customs determining the relative usage. Among the Shi‘a of Bahrain and Oman, such sites are called ma’tam, while among the Shi‘a Ithna‘asharis of India the terms Imambarah (literally ‘enclosure of the Imams’) and ashur-khana are used.
In Muslim cities, towns and villages with a significant community of Shi‘a Ithna‘asharis, husayniyahs are as common as mosques in popular religious practice. They are sites for the intensely emotional recitations (rawzah-khvani) of the tragic circumstances surrounding the martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Husayn (A.S.) as well as the performance of ta’ziyah (passion plays). The husayniyah are also used as a starting and culminating point for ‘ashura dastah’ (mourning processions).
The imambarahs in the Indian Subcontinent acquired complex forms and meanings in the eighteenth century, during the rule of the Nawabs of Oudh. Besides symbolizing a shrine of Hazrat Imam Husayn (A.S.), with his zareeh(sarcophagus) as its central element, it was also built as the burial place of the Nawab. In Lucknow, which is one of the centres of Twelver Shi‘ism in India, there are hundreds of imambarahs. Families may have their own imambarah, normally just a part of a room. Wealthier families have rooms set aside as imambarahs, richly decorated. In addition, every neighbourhood has its own imambarah.13
Imambarahs, like other parallel Muslim spaces, are multifunctional. Along with the above devotional rituals and practices, they are also locations of community education and rituals for various rites of passage (i.e. marriage or funerals). The forms (architecture) of these spaces vary according to the geographical and cultural setting, size of the community as well as the symbolic intentions of the builders.
The Jamatkhana
The term ‘Jamatkhana’ literally means ‘a house of assembly or gathering’. Specifically, it has come to designate a gathering space for community activities and for devotional practice among a variety of Muslim groups such as the Musta‘lian and Nizari Ismailis in certain parts of the world. In the predominantly South Asian Chishti order, the institution for Sufi activity was called jamatkhana and was centred on the residence of the shaykh.14 The Shi‘i Bohra and Sunni Memoncommunities of India also have private places of gathering called jamatkhana.
The custom of meeting in closed sessions, at specially designated places, to learn about and practice their own interpretations of faith, has been part of the Ismaili tradition from pre-Fatimid times. During the Fatimid period, the Ismailis used to participate in majalis al-hikma (sessions of wisdom), which were accessible only to those who had pledged their allegiance to the Imam-of-the-time.
Community tradition, based on passages from Ismaili ginans, suggests that the earliest Ismaili jamatkhanas were established in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent during the 14th and 15thcenturies.
Situating the jamatkhana within the tradition of Muslim piety, His Highness the Aga Khan made the following remarks on the occasion of the foundation laying ceremony for the Ismaili Centre in Dubai:
“For many centuries, a prominent feature of the Muslim religious landscape has been the variety of spaces of gathering co-existing harmoniously with the masjid, which in itself has accommodated a range of diverse institutional spaces for educational, social and reflective purposes. Historically serving communities of different interpretations and spiritual affiliations, these spaces have retained their cultural nomenclatures and characteristics, from ribat and zawiyya to khanaqa and jamatkhana. The congregational space incorporated within the Ismaili Centre belongs to the historic category of jamatkhana, an institutional category that also serves a number of sister Sunni and Shi‘a communities, in their respective contexts, in many parts of the world. Here, it will be space reserved for traditions and practices specific to the Shi‘a Ismaili tariqa of Islam.”15
Contemporary Role
In the Shia Ismaili community today, the jamatkhana represents the physical space in which the community gathers in a shared process of communal worship and expressions of piety. The Ismaili Constitution defines jamatkhanaas a place designated by the Imam-of-the-time for Ismaili tariqah practices.
Consonant with the ethos of Islam, which welds together the ‘worldly’ and the ‘spiritual’, the jamatkhanas (like other Muslim spaces of piety and worship) are multifunctional and act as the religious, educational and social centres for the Ismaili community. These functions (and forms) have evolved, as in the case of all other Muslim spaces and institutions, reflecting the changing historical and cultural contexts of these institutions as well as the evolving needs of its users. Speaking on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, His Highness the Aga Khan suggested that among the programmatic dimensions of the Ismaili Centre will be “lectures, presentations, conferences, recitals, and exhibits of art and architecture.”16
The recently built high-profile Ismaili jamatkhana and Centres are ‘representational’ buildings. As His Highness the Aga Khan stated at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe:
“These Centres serve to reflect, illustrate and represent the community’s intellectual and spiritual understanding of Islam, its social conscience, its organisation, its forward outlook and its positive attitude towards the societies in which it lives…Like its counterparts elsewhere, the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe will stand for the ethics that uphold the dignity of man as the noblest of creation. It will bring down walls that divide and build bridges that unite. ..It is my prayer that, once it has been built, the Ismaili Centre in Dushanbe will be a place of order, of peace, of hope, of humility and of brotherhood, radiating those thoughts, and attitudes which unite us in the search for a better life.”17
In terms of form or architecture of the Ismaili jamatkhanas, again as with other Muslim spaces of gathering, there is no single ‘monolithic’ type or required norm. Rather, the forms vary depending on the cultural context, geography, materials available, technology and, of course, varieties of functions required. Reflecting this last criterion (of function), the larger jamatkhanas contain not only prayer halls, but also meeting areas, classrooms, libraries, recreation and social spaces, etc.
To conclude, beginning with the revelation of the Holy Qur’an and the historical experiences of Muslims over 1400 years (cumulative traditions), the devotional life of Muslims has consisted of a rich variety of expressions, forms, interpretations and spaces. As a result, a pluriform rather than uniform culture has been characteristic of the reality of Muslim societies throughout history. Moreover, this cultural pluralism, rather than being a weakness, remains a source of strength and inspiration for millions of Muslims around the world.
Endnotes
1Sahih Muslim, trans. by A. Saddiqi (Lahore, 1976), vol. I, section on ‘Masajid’
2 J. Pedersen, ‘Masdjid’, in The Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden, 1974), pp. 337-8
3 ‘Mosque’, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic world, ed. John Esposito, Vol. 3, 1995, p.134.
4 R Hillenbrand, Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning(Edinburgh, 1994)
5 Dogan Kuban, Muslim Religious Architecture. Part I (Leiden, 1974), pp 2-10
6 Mohammed Arkoun, ‘The Metamorphosis of the Sacred’, in The Mosque: History, Architectural Development and Regional Diversity,eds. M. Frishman and H. Khan (London, 1994), p. 271
7 Oleg Grabar, ‘The Mosque in Islamic Society Today’, in The Mosque, p. 244
8 Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World, p. 371
9 Azim Nanji, ed., The Muslim Almanac(Detroit, 1996), p. 413
10 Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (Aligarh), ‘Some Aspects of Khanaqah Life in Medieval India’, Studia Islamica, 1952.
11 Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (North Carolina, 1975), p.232
12 Gustav Thaiss, ‘Husayniyah’, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World, vol.2, p.153
13 The Encyclopaedia of Islam. volume 3 (Leiden, 1979), p.1163
14 Muslim Almanac, p.498.
15 Except of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Dubai, UAE, December 13th, 2003.
16 Except of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon, Portugal, December 18th, 1996.
17 Excerpt of speech made by His Highness the Aga Khan at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ismaili Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, August 30th, 2003.
This is an edited version of an article that appeared in The Ismaili UK in March 2006.
Credit - Institute of Ismaili studies London ( A constitutional entity of the Ismaili community)
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mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Diamond Jubilee - 6 Themes starting July 2017
The following 6 Diamond Jubilee Education Themes which started started in July 2017
1. Aug & Sept 2017 - Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre spaces - use of andcHeritage
2. Oct & Nov 2017 - Education and continuing our legacy
3. Dec and Jan 2018 - Engaging with differences and understanding ourselves
4. Feb and Mar 2018 - realising social conscience of Islam - our role
5. April and May 2018 - Dini (religious) Education - rooted in our faith
6. June and July 2018 - Becoming ambassadors of Islam
USA Aga Khan community Council News - September 2017
Jamatkhanas: Spaces of Community, Places of Belonging
In September as a Global Jamat we continue to explore the first theme of the Diamond Jubilee year, Celebrating the Grace of Jamatkhanas and Ismaili Centres in our Lives. In the U.S., this includes various initiatives in Jamatkhanas and through other platforms, including a One Jamat Celebration in various Jamatkhanas last month. This month we will explore what Jamatkhana means to each one of us. Other activities this month will include Jamati Religious Education (JRE) Programs, Jamati Reading Circles (JRC), Quest Programs, and more! Also, be sure to check out the newly launched Family Reflections Program that will explore each month’s Diamond Jubilee theme through evolving activities!
As we consider the importance of Jamatkhanas in our lives, we reflect also on the varied uses of our Jamatkhana spaces. In addition to being community centers for prayer, reflection and dini learning, Jamatkhanas also can serve as central points of engagement from which we are able to put our faith into action in the service of our wider communities.
By way of example, in the aftermath of the recent Hurricane Harvey that impacted Texas, our Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center in Sugar Land, Texas (IJKC Houston), served as a staging area for evacuees to seek temporary relief and nourishment before they were able to be routed to other accommodations or to family/friends. IJKC Houston also served as an Emergency Operations Center where the Southwest Council and FOCUS helped monitor the Jamat's status, and even coordinated rescue efforts. IJKC Houston was the receiving area for supplies that were later delivered to residents of Houston by our I-CERV volunteers, who partnered with other area organizations, including other Jamatkhanas in Houston and Dallas.
Other uses of our Jamatkhana spaces allow us to engage in meaningful dialogue for educational, cultural, and civic activities, in partnership with our wider communities. IJKC Houston has hosted the Sugar Land Mayoral candidates debate, and will, for the second time, soon host TEDx Sugar Land. Similarly, our other Jamatkhana spaces, in Plano, TX, Duluth, GA, and Glenview, IL, among others, host various civic activities to further dialogue and learning. For instance, the Ismaili Jamatkhana, Plano will host members of the National Association of Conflict Resolution (ACR) for a "Restoring Community Day" workshop during the ACR's national conference next month.
The foregoing examples are but a few ways in which our Jamatkhana spaces afford us opportunities to put our faith into action through service, as well as to build bridges of understanding, while demonstrating the ethics of our faith."
As we share & explore what Imams have said of heritage and use of Jamats Khannas as a part of the Diamond Jubilee Theme.
Hazar Imam said Jamat Khannas are to be used for multiple purposes and not for obscurantism (not to deliberately prevent facts & full details being shared explained and made known to all Jamat , and other communities, where the Jamat Khannas are located.
For the Jamat to understand & share, as Imam says, it is critical for Imams Farmans, guidance , the constitution and all materials and books regarding the Ismaili muslim faith , be shared explained and given to all members of the community, to read, access, understand and share.
1. Aug & Sept 2017 - Jamat Khanna & Ismaili centre spaces - use of andcHeritage
2. Oct & Nov 2017 - Education and continuing our legacy
3. Dec and Jan 2018 - Engaging with differences and understanding ourselves
4. Feb and Mar 2018 - realising social conscience of Islam - our role
5. April and May 2018 - Dini (religious) Education - rooted in our faith
6. June and July 2018 - Becoming ambassadors of Islam
USA Aga Khan community Council News - September 2017
Jamatkhanas: Spaces of Community, Places of Belonging
In September as a Global Jamat we continue to explore the first theme of the Diamond Jubilee year, Celebrating the Grace of Jamatkhanas and Ismaili Centres in our Lives. In the U.S., this includes various initiatives in Jamatkhanas and through other platforms, including a One Jamat Celebration in various Jamatkhanas last month. This month we will explore what Jamatkhana means to each one of us. Other activities this month will include Jamati Religious Education (JRE) Programs, Jamati Reading Circles (JRC), Quest Programs, and more! Also, be sure to check out the newly launched Family Reflections Program that will explore each month’s Diamond Jubilee theme through evolving activities!
As we consider the importance of Jamatkhanas in our lives, we reflect also on the varied uses of our Jamatkhana spaces. In addition to being community centers for prayer, reflection and dini learning, Jamatkhanas also can serve as central points of engagement from which we are able to put our faith into action in the service of our wider communities.
By way of example, in the aftermath of the recent Hurricane Harvey that impacted Texas, our Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center in Sugar Land, Texas (IJKC Houston), served as a staging area for evacuees to seek temporary relief and nourishment before they were able to be routed to other accommodations or to family/friends. IJKC Houston also served as an Emergency Operations Center where the Southwest Council and FOCUS helped monitor the Jamat's status, and even coordinated rescue efforts. IJKC Houston was the receiving area for supplies that were later delivered to residents of Houston by our I-CERV volunteers, who partnered with other area organizations, including other Jamatkhanas in Houston and Dallas.
Other uses of our Jamatkhana spaces allow us to engage in meaningful dialogue for educational, cultural, and civic activities, in partnership with our wider communities. IJKC Houston has hosted the Sugar Land Mayoral candidates debate, and will, for the second time, soon host TEDx Sugar Land. Similarly, our other Jamatkhana spaces, in Plano, TX, Duluth, GA, and Glenview, IL, among others, host various civic activities to further dialogue and learning. For instance, the Ismaili Jamatkhana, Plano will host members of the National Association of Conflict Resolution (ACR) for a "Restoring Community Day" workshop during the ACR's national conference next month.
The foregoing examples are but a few ways in which our Jamatkhana spaces afford us opportunities to put our faith into action through service, as well as to build bridges of understanding, while demonstrating the ethics of our faith."
As we share & explore what Imams have said of heritage and use of Jamats Khannas as a part of the Diamond Jubilee Theme.
Hazar Imam said Jamat Khannas are to be used for multiple purposes and not for obscurantism (not to deliberately prevent facts & full details being shared explained and made known to all Jamat , and other communities, where the Jamat Khannas are located.
For the Jamat to understand & share, as Imam says, it is critical for Imams Farmans, guidance , the constitution and all materials and books regarding the Ismaili muslim faith , be shared explained and given to all members of the community, to read, access, understand and share.
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mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Aga Khan's guidance (Farman) on use of Jamat Khannas..
“I request that you view the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center, Houston, as much, much more than a place of congregation, and a home for administrative offices. The Center will be a place of peace, humility, reflection and prayer. It will be a place of search and enlightenment, not of anger and of obscurantism. It will be a center which will seek to bond men and women of this pluralist country to replace their fragility in their narrow spheres by the strength of civilized society bound together by a common destiny.”
– Mawlana Hazar Imam at the Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center,
in Houston, Texas, June 23, 2002
And an Article in TheIsmaili on 13 Sept 2017. https://the.ismaili/jamatkhanas-spaces- ... -belonging
– Mawlana Hazar Imam at the Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center,
in Houston, Texas, June 23, 2002
And an Article in TheIsmaili on 13 Sept 2017. https://the.ismaili/jamatkhanas-spaces- ... -belonging
Last edited by mahebubchatur on Sat Sep 16, 2017 6:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mahebubchatur
- Posts: 734
- Joined: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:01 pm
Diamond Jubilee Theme 1 Jamat Khannas
An earlier Article on Jamat Khanna http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/2214