A call to build on differences: In Harvard visit, the Aga Khan stresses opportunity in diversity
By John Laidler for Harvard Gazette
Promoting a global society that celebrates both its common humanity and its differences is the antidote to the world’s deepening divisions, the Aga Khan — the worldwide spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims — said in a visit to Harvard Thursday.
“In every corner of the planet, the word ‘fragmentation’ seems to define our times,” the Aga Khan told a packed house at the Memorial Church, citing “a more fragile European Union, a more polarized United States, a more fervid Sunni-Shia conflict, intensified tribal rivalries in Africa and Asia, or other splintering threats.”
But the Aga Khan, a 1959 graduate of Harvard College who resides in France, said embracing an approach he terms the “cosmopolitan ethic” offered a way out of mounting polarization.
“A pluralistic, cosmopolitan society is a society which not only accepts difference, but actively seeks to understand it — and to learn from it,” he said. “In this perspective, diversity is not a burden to be endured, but an opportunity to be welcomed.”
As the 49th Imam of the Nizari Ismailis — a branch of Shia Islam — the Aga Khan leads a multi-ethnic community with members in Asia, the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and North America.
Since assuming the hereditary role in 1957, when he was a 20-year-old College junior, the Aga Khan has engaged in global efforts to bolster the economies and the quality of life in developing nations, working through his Aga Khan Development Network.
“Leadership in the spiritual realm — for all imams, whether Sunni or Shia — implies responsibility in worldly affairs,” he said.
His Harvard talk was part of the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture Series presented by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. This year’s event was co-sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program.
The Aga Khan’s visit marked a return to a school where he has deep ties.
More at the Source: news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2015/11/a-call-to-build-on-differences/
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