I was pleasantly surprised when I recieved my online copy of Ontario's Al-Akhbar newsletter indicating the formation of the new official website of the Ismaili Muslim Community:
http://www.theismaili.org/
In stature, this new website belongs among the other two more established official websites, those of The Aga Khan Development Network(AKDN) and Institute of Ismaili Studies(IIS), and I have placed its web address on my Suggested Links corner. I see these three websites as being valuable resources to be tapped into on an ongoing basis. Due to the specific nature of my blogsite, I find myself using and linking more to the Institute of Ismaili Studies website but I certainly will be consulting all three regularly for any information that would add to the value of my blogsite. Anyone who is very familiar with my posts knows how much I depend on and use the IIS website.
Obviously, the Ismaili Mail website feels the same way that I do and has made the new official website of the Ismaili Muslim Community( http://www.theismaili.org/ ) one of its posts of the week:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/07/13/official-website-of-the-ismaili-muslim-community/
"The Ismaili", the name of the new official website of the Ismaili Muslim Community, has a marvellous gallery of images of key milestones of Mowlana Hazar Imam's 50 years of Imamat.
The most recent are the magnificent pictures of the Imam and his "beloved family" standing outside the official residence wearing the most splendid, noble-looking and dignified gowns, hats and outfits I have ever seen. The day was July 11th 2007 and they were just about to go inside for the homage ceremony.
Over here accross the pond in Tdot, I put on the sunday best clothes I recently had custom-made in Shanghai, China and dutifully transported my mother to Toronto's International Center for a day of rememberance, illumination, good food and good books. My mother wanted to reach there early so she could take her chair in the seniors section of the complex. My wife and daughter would join us little later. As it turned out there were so many people at the Toronto International Center that they ended up on one end of the sprawling complex and I at the other. I later texted my wife at the speed of light(300,000km/sec) and we were able to re-connect in the chow line.
For me a huge attraction of these large communal gatherings is the Literature Counter, a place of illumination itself, where knowledge is dispensed in the form of the written word, art and picture. During the June 2005 Padhramni in Toronto, I seperated myself from a thick wad to build on my burgeoning collection of books and publications put out mostly by the Institute of Ismaili Studies. I still have not finished reading those books but a few days ago I acquired more new publications from the Literature counter at the Golden Jubilee celebration in Toronto, Canada. I also picked up 5 new small tasbihs. With the kind of mileage people put on these whirring beads these days, I felt it would be smart to have replacements for those inevitable wear and tear breakdowns. The books were a bargain pricewise especially compared to having to purchase them from Amazon.com.
In Toronto it was a marvellous gathering, one that will find a prominent spot in the cobwebs of my memory, akin to the cherished memory of my marriage at the hand of Mowlana Hazar Imam during his visit to Toronto in November 1978.
The list of like-minded websites and blogsites continues to grow larger and, by my reckoning, that is a very good thing.
Speaking of a very good thing, I just discovered a new like-minded blogsite called Ismailiworld:
http://www.ismailiworld.blogspot.com/
and I am linking to it for the simple reason that it has already linked to my blogsite.
easynash
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation:Aga Khan 4(2006)
The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being:Aga Khan 3(1952)
Our interpretation of Islam places enormous value on knowledge. Knowledge is the reflection of faith if it is used properly. Seek out that knowledge and use it properly:Aga Khan 4(2005)
