Epigraph
They ask thee (Muhammad) what they shall spend. Say: ‘Whatever of good and abundant wealth you spend should be for parents and near relatives and orphans and the needy and the wayfarer. And whatever good you do, surely Allah knows it well.’ (Al Quran 2:216)
Aga Khan and Stephen Harper
The Ismaili Muslim leader hails Canada as “a wonderful partner” in helping children, isolated people and nations emerging from conflict.
Aga Khan, leader of the world Shia Ismaili Muslims, and Stephen Harper shared the stage at Massey Hall on Friday.
A few hundred people gathered in Toronto’s Massey Hall on Friday to listen to one of the world’s best-known and respected religious figures: the Aga Khan.
Alongside Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the hereditary leader of the world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims helped announce a $100-million joint venture between Canada and the Aga Khan for development aid in Africa and Asia.
“It is a particularly happy day for me that we are extending this partnership, strengthening it, giving it new opportunities, in areas of development need that are essential: young children, isolated peoples, post-conflict situations,” he told the crowd, which included members of the Ismaili community as well as business, charitable and government leaders.
In Canada “we have a partner, a wonderful partner, who works with us not in the easy and the comfortable parts of the world, but who works with us where there are challenges, where there are difficulties, where people fight, where people seek to develop just a simple life of survival,” he said in a speech frequently interrupted by applause.
Fresh off a speech in Parliament on Thursday, Aga Khan also remarked on Toronto specifically, in light of the soon-to-be built Ismaili centre and museum.
“In the next months, Toronto will come up on a radar screen of great cities around the world,” he said.
The spiritual leader’s brief address was deeply inspirational to some in the audience, who could barely hold back tears.
“I can’t even speak too much, because I’m so emotional already,” said Mehrun Velji, 57, who hopes to retire soon and do volunteer work for the Aga Khan’s many initiatives. “He cares about the whole world, and he’s working so hard day and night to bring everybody into one big family,” she said.
Here the voice of a hypnotised fanatic; “He cares about the whole world, and he’s working so hard day and night to bring everybody into one big family,”
yet the man, misguidedly referred to as “his highness”, is hardly known outside horse racing and gambling environment of Switzerland and the Aga shrines of Pakistan!
We, the sane, are not fooled by this clever device for tax avoidance as we are well aware that all charitable donations are tax deductable!
If the Aga Khan is really concerned with the plight of the destitutes, why not begin by obeying Allah and pay the obligatory Zakkat, which is 2.5% of his wealth, for the poor as commanded by the religion he is claiming to represent?
How many leaders in the Islamic world are out there that can quote a verse from the Holy Quran to a standing ovation in a western goverment’s Parliament?
I am sure you too would take advantage of any tax avoidance if you were able to-I know I would as long as it is within the law. The Ismaili community is VERY sane as well as very well educated and can very easily recognise when someone takes advantage of them. Look at the schools as well as the hospitals and Universities that have been built in Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique to name a few, what have the other leaders from the Ummah done that even equals his accomplishments? The sad thing is that you wouldnt even know how parts of the world he is active in-some of them have no Ismaili populations.
I also think Aminu Baba’s comments are misplaced. The Aga Khan Development Network is the best Humanitarian Agency in the world, practically 100% financed by The Aga Khan and his community. In other words it looks as if His Highness is in fact spending more than the obligatory Zakat amount for Humanitarian Development. As Al R says, how many other leaders of the Islamic world (and the non-Islamic world for that matter) can show such a record?