For Farhana Alarakhiya and Rob Parker, the biggest issue was what to put on the top of their Christmas tree.
Mr. Parker was accustomed to a star – it had been part of his childhood since his family attended the United Church in his home town of Dundas, Ont. But that symbol made Ms. Alarakhiya uncomfortable as an Ismaili Muslim who immigrated from Kenya with her family when she was 9 and takes her faith seriously. Islam sees Jesus Christ as a prophet, she says, and she felt the star was connected too closely to the image of Jesus as the Son of God.
In the end, they settled on a handmade ornament she found at a craft show that Ms. Alarakhiya calls an “orb” and Mr. Parker jokingly calls an “amoeba.”
–snip–
“The example I give to my daughter is: All the religions that are out there, think of them as a string of Christmas lights,” Ms. Alarakhiya says. “The colours are all different. But the electricity that runs through them is the same.”
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“I would also like to quote an infinitely more powerful statement about the unity of mankind, because it comes directly from the Holy Quran, and which I would ask you to think about. The Holy Quran addresses itself not only to Muslims, but to the entirety of the human race, when it says:
“O mankind! Be careful of your duty to your Lord Who created you from one single soul and from it created its mate and from them twain hath spread abroad a multitude of men and women.”
These words reflect a deeply spiritual insight – A Divine imperative if you will – which, in my view, should under gird our educational commitments. It is because we see humankind, despite our differences, as children of God and born from one soul, that we insist on reaching beyond traditional boundaries as we deliberate, communicate, and educate internationally.”
Extract from “The Peterson Lecture” by His Highness the Aga Khan to the Annual Meeting of the International Baccalaureate, marking its 40th Anniversary Atlanta, Georgia. April 18, 2008.
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