His Highness the Aga Khan upholding a thousand-year-old tradition

Ismailis have long contributed to the advancement of science, mathematics, and architecture. In the tenth century, the Ismaili Imam al-Mahdi founded the Fatimid state in Tunisia in North Africa.  His successors spread the first Shia state to areas of North Africa including Egypt and parts of Arabia.  It was during the Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171) that the early contributions of Ismailis reached their peak, with founding of Cairo and the building of Al-Azhar Mosque (969-971) in that city. Dar al-Ilm, or the ‘House of Knowledge,’ a precursor of modern universities, was established in Cairo in 1005 by the Fatimid Imam-Caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.  Studies there included jurisprudence, grammar, medicine, logic, mathematics, and astronomy.  The institution was open to everyone regardless of their religious backgrounds.

The Fatimids were noted for employing their officers based on merit rather than on heredity.  Sunnis Muslims, Christians, and Jews occupied high positions in the Fatimid government.  The Fatimids also encouraged the practice of private patronage of mosques and other religious buildings by Muslims of different persuasions.  The Muslim doctrine of justice and equality is an essential aspect of the faith and action of Ismailis.  When His Highness the Aga Khan speaks today of pluralism and acts to defend it, he is upholding a thousand-year-old tradition.  When he creates a university, as he has in Karachi and in Central Asia, he is also walking in the footsteps of his ancestors even as he looks to the future.

— Philip Jodidio. Under the Eaves of Architecture. The Aga Khan: Builder and Patron. (Prestel, 2007)