By Dr. Jalaledin Ebrahim, LMFT, PhD – Integral Psychotherapy
It was July 11, 1957 when a young 20 year old Iranian citizen of Arab, Persian and English ancestry, then still a student at Harvard University, became invested with the authority of ‘Imamah’ over a far flung community of over 12 million Muslims. A direct descendant of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him) through the line of the Prophet’s cousin, Ali, and his daughter Fatima, His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th Imam of an obscure (to the Western media and in many parts of the Muslim world) sect of Islam that traces its roots to the Fatimid caliphate and the leaders of the Nizari community, legendarily known as the Assassins.
Fast forward to 2003.
Forty-six years later, this cosmopolitan polyglot billionaire was the singular Muslim religious leader who was quietly invited to both the White House and 10 Downing Street. These consultations, before and after the second Gulf War, were held presumably to discuss urgent matters that were affecting the future and political re-structuring of Afghanistan where approximately a million of his followers are citizens.
It is interesting to note that upon the investiture of his title and position as the Imam of the Time in 1957, the Aga Khan returned to Harvard University to complete his studies in Islamic history before he assumed his role as “Imam of the Atomic Age.” What was he saying by his own example to his followers about the importance of secular education, learning and wisdom?
Click here to read: https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/what-really-went-wrong
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