This is a core principle of my own faith – Islam – that learning is ennobling, regardless of the geographic or cultural origin of the knowledge we acquire. Such teachings spurred a spiritually liberated people to new waves of adventure in the realms of the spirit and the intellect, amongst whose visible symbols were the University of al-Azhar and Dar al-Ilm established by my Fatimid ancestors in Cairo, and the illustrious counterpart institutions in Baghdad, Cordova, Bukhara, Samarkand and other Muslim centres.
— Mawlana Hazar Imam at American University of Beirut Lebanon, Beirut, June 25, 2005
Right after the passing away of Prophet Muhammad, there were processes of determination of what governance would be after his lifetime. And there were two interpretations. One was a hereditary interpretation which is essentially the essence of Shia Islam. There was a consultational process amongst leaders of the community of the time to select what was believed to be the most appropriate, most competent leader. And, therefore, two principles, or three principles were established at the time: heredity; secondly, consultation; thirdly, competence. If you look at modern states they are all there in one form or the other. So I think it is important to see how these forces which were logical, proper forces that existed just after the time of Prophet Muhammad’s death, they are still in the Islamic Ummah today, and indeed outside.
— Interview of H.H. The Aga Khan by Rajiv Mehrotra of DD TV New Delhi, India “In Conversation” November 27, 2004
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