Embassy Mag is Canada’s most widely read foreign policy newsweekly magazine, and they have selected ‘Where Hope Takes Root’ by Aga Khan as one of the most influential book.
Embassy has looked back over the foreign policy and political books published since September 2007 to find out which ones have entered into the public consciousness and influenced political debate in Canada. We have also solicited responses from dozens of academics, government officials, parliamentarians and civil society workers to find out what they are reading.
The following is a list, in alphabetical order by author, of the books that have brought forward worthwhile and sometimes provocative ideas and concepts that have inspired discussion and debate amongst Canada’s politicos, experts and academics.
Where Hope Takes Root: Democracy and Pluralism in an Interdependent World
By the Aga Khan
When the Aga Khan arrived in Ottawa in October 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government welcomed him with open arms. They also cemented a strong relationship with the billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader of the world’s 20 million Ismaili Muslims, a movement Mr. Harper has cited as a prime example of tolerance and moderation. In his book, the Aga Khan explains his attraction to Canada, and the thinking behind his drive to spread pluralism and, with it, democracy, which the government is wholeheartedly supporting.
Ismailimail 
‘He only can guide you to the straight path
The path of spiritual enlightenment and vision
Remember Him and praise Him
O believers with your limited understanding
Do not test the guidance of Hazar Imam
Gradually you will begin to understand His teachings’.
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Idd Mubarak to all!
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“Where Hope Takes Root: Democracy and Pluralism in an Interdependent World” is an outstanding publication and certainly deserves to be on this prestigious list. Congratulations as well to Tarek Fatah, whose book “Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State” also made it to the list.
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MASHALLAH.
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If anyone wants to understand more about the notions MHI discusses, I highly suggest reading about the Public Sphere by Habermas and Nancy Fraser’s research on Rethinking the Public Sphere
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Where Hope Takes Root – H H The Aga Khan
“I would go even further and say that the inability of human society to recognise pluralism as a fundamental value constitutes a real handicap for our development and a serious danger for our future. Since the end of the cold war, a number of factors appear to have been common and significant ingredients in, if not the primary cause of, many of the conflicts we have witnessed. Perhaps the most common of these ingredients is the failure of those involved to recognize that human society is essentially pluralist. Peace and development require that we seek, by every means possible, to invest in and enhance that pluralism. Groups that seek to standardize, to homogenize or, if you allow me, to normatize all that and those around them must be actively resisted through countervailing activities.”
(P.9 – Enhancing Pluralism)
“My hope is that society as a whole will not only accept the fact of its plurality but will undertake, as a solemn responsibility, to preserve and enhance pluralism as one of our fundamental values and an inescapable condition for world peace and further development.”
(P.14 – Enhancing Pluralism
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We have a reading club at Manchester jamatkhana, in England.We are beginning this October by purchasing a copy of the above book, and we shall be discussing it, chapter by chapter, on a monthly basis.How about we do this (if circumstances permit) across the world as a golden jubilee gift to Mawlana Hazar Imam?
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Penguin Books is publishing a series of books (18 in all) called “Extraordinary Canadians”. Three outstanding Canadians who form part of this series were discussed by their respective authors on Wednesday October 29, 2008 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Ottawa), in a very interesting session moderated by John Ralston Saul, the husband of Canada’s former Governor General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson.
The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson has written the introductory chapter in Mawlana Hazar Imam’s work “Where Hope Takes Root”. At the book signing ceremony following the discussion I was able to personally meet with Mr. Ralston Saul, and conveyed him my appreciation for the Right Honourable’s excellent introductory remarks in “Where Hope Takes Root”. He told me that she really enjoyed writing the chapter in the book and that it was her pleasure to do so. He further told me “His Highness is a remarkable man”. He also indicated that he has made references to Mawlana Hazar Imam in a couple of his own books.
This event was organized by the Ottawa International Writers Festival. Next Wednesday, November 5th, the Festival hosts “Place Within: Rediscovering India”, One on One with MG Vassanji at the Saint Brid’s Centre for the Arts and Humanities located at 314 St. Patrick, Ottawa.
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We also have Monia Mazigh and Sally Armstrong next week on Thursday, NOVEMBER 6 for SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN RIGHTS
7:00 PM
HOPE AND DESPAIR: MY STRUGGLE TO FREE MY HUSBAND, MAHER ARAR
with Monia Mazigh
Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts and Humanities
(314 Saint Patrick)
On September 26, 2002, Maher Arar boarded an American Airlines plane bound for New York, returning early from vacation with his family because a work project needed his attention. He was a Canadian citizen, a telecommunications engineer and entrepreneur who had never been in trouble with the law. His nightmare began when he was pulled aside by Immigration officials at JFK airport, questioned, held without access to a lawyer, and ultimately deported to Syria on the suspicion that he had terrorist links. He would remain there, tortured and imprisoned for over one year. Meanwhile his wife, Monia, and their two children stayed on visiting family in Tunisia, unaware that their lives were about to be torn apart.
Upon her return to Canada, Monia was horrified at the media’s and public’s willingness to assume that the Canadian police and intelligence agencies, and their American counterparts, take on her husband as a terrorist was correct. She began a tireless campaign to bring public attention and government action to her husband’s plight, eventually turning the tide of public opinion in Arar’s favour, and gaining his release and return to Canada. Of her willingness to speak out, she has said that she was never afraid: “I had lost my life. I didn’t have more to lose.”
This is a remarkable story of personal courage, and of an extraordinary woman who lets us into her life so that other Canadians can understand the denial of rights and the discarding of human rights her family suffered. Candid, poignant, and inspiring, this is the most important book of the season.
8:30 PM
BITTER ROOTS TENDER SHOOTS: THE UNCERTAIN FATE OF AFGHANISTAN’S WOMEN
With Sally Armstrong
Everyone knows that Canada’s military is in Afghanistan, but what they don’t know is how much the average Canadian is contributing to aid efforts in that country. In Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots, respected journalist Sally Armstrong revisits Afghanistan to compare women’s lives pre- and post-Taliban, interviewing Afghan and Western women who are dedicated to improving health, education, culture, religion, and human rights. Armstrong connects these stories with the analysis of experts and considers the grassroots efforts of Canadians and the dedicated tax dollars being spent by the Canadian government. Bitter Roots, Tender Shoots is a moving portrayal of the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan in 2008.
$15 General / $10 Student or Senior / Free for Member
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