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Video Interview: CBC Interview (3rd), One-on-One with Peter Mansbridge
Baghdad is one of the great historic cities of the Islamic world. Iraq is not a new country. It’s part of the history of our civilisation. It’s been a pluralist country. Great philosophers, great historians, great scientists. Reverse the question again. What would the Christian world think if a Musl… Read more
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Speech: Funding Agreement for the Global Centre for Pluralism Signing
As Canadians know so well, the idea of pluralism is not a new one in this world. It has honourable and ancient foundations, including deep roots in Islamic tradition. What is new, today, is that society is globalised, intimately interconnected and extraordinarily interdependent. (1) Read more
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Interview: Spiegel Online Interview (2nd) – ‘Islam Is a Faith of Reason’
Does Islam have a problem with reason? Not at all. Indeed, I would say the contrary. Of the Abrahamic faiths, Islam is probably the one that places the greatest emphasis on knowledge. The purpose is to understand God’s creation, and therefore it is a faith which is eminently logical. Islam is a fait… Read more
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Speech: Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, Foundation Stone Ceremony
What we begin here may not have its full impact in any of our lifetimes. But the beginnings we undertake today may well be among the most important things we will ever do…. Read more
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Speech: American University in Cairo Commencement Ceremony
At various times in world history, the locus of knowledge has moved from one centre of learning to another. Europe once came to the Islamic world for intellectual enrichment and even rediscovered its own classical roots by searching in Arabic texts. Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe”… Read more
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Speech: Acceptance Address – Tutzing Evangelical Academy’s ‘Tolerance’ Award
There is a human impulse it seems — fed by fear — to define “identity” in negative terms. We often determine “who we are” by determining who we are against. This fragmenting impulse not only separates peoples from one another, it also subdivides communities and then it subdivides the subdivisions…. … Read more
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Speech: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, Commencement
[D]emocratic institutions have not lived up to their potential. In both the developed and the developing world, the promise of democracy has too often been disappointed. For many centuries, enlightened people have argued that democracy was the key to social progress. But today, that contention is in… Read more
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Speech: French Medical Institute for Children Inauguration
I should especially emphasise the significance of this Institute in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. This Institute was created through a Public-Private Partnership to establish a new medical institute through a strategic collaboration: The support of the French Government, that of the Afghan Gove… Read more
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Alcan Award Prize awarded to AKPBS
Date: March 02, 2006 Location: Canada, Pakistan Speaker: Princess Zahra Aga Khan Source URL: https://the.akdn/en/resources-media/resources/speeches/alcan-award-prize-awarded-akpbs-princess-zahra-aga-khan Source: AKDN website Full Text By Princess Zahra Aga Khan,Vancouver, Canada·2 March 2006·5 min Distinguished Guests, I would like to begin by thanking everyone who contributed to the purpose and arrangements for this evening’s event. Particular credit goes to the Directors,… Read more
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Speech: Acceptance Address – Honorary Doctorate, University of Evora
One of history’s great lessons is that a society can underwrite human progress only when it overcomes its insularity and suspicion of “the other,” and instead, looks upon difference as a source of strength. For, while our new century continues to be marred by conflict and tension, the effective worl… Read more