Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1998 to 2002

The new notions of free enterprise, of creating wealth, these are sound notions but they should be followed within the ethic of our faith…The question is, not only what have I achieved, the question is what have I helped others to achieve? That is the notion of social conscience in Islam.”
Mawlana Hazar Imam
Press Conference, Maputo, Mozambique, August 1998
Published in The Ismaili, Realising the Social Conscience of Islam, December 1998

1998 to 2002
Mawlana Hazar Imam
established

• University of Central Asia, the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher learning (2000). AKDN 
• the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London, UK.
• Aga Khan Music Initiative (2000).
• the Aga Khan University’s nursing programme in Uganda (2001).
• ArchNet, the world’s largest on-line resource on architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and related issues with a particular focus on the Muslim world (2002). AKDN 

presided over

• presentation of awards of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Granada, Spain (1998). Speech
• the formal launch by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Presses de l’Universite de Paris-Sorbonne of a new series of publications on Islam (1999). AKDN 
• presentation of awards of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Aleppo, Syria (2001). Speech
• the inauguration of the Islamabad Serena Hotel by President Musharaff (2002). AKDN 
• the inauguration of the First MicroFinanceBank in Islamabad, Pakistan (2002). AKDN 

inaugurated

• Aga Khan Lycée in Khorog, Tajikistan (1998).
• Centro Ismaili in Lisbon, Portugal (1998). Speech
• Aga Khan School in Osh, Kyrgyz Republic (2002). Speech
• Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC (2002). Speech 
• Ismaili Jamatkhana and Centre, Houston, USA (2002). Speech 
• the first of a series of bridges across the Pyanj River that consolidated permanent overland links between Tajikistan and Afghanistan (2002). AKDN Press Release.

met with

• President Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss the plan for development of Cairo’s largest park, and cultural restoration and economic revitalisation projects being undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (1999). AKDN 
• President of Syria in Damascus, to discuss AKDN activities in the region (2001). AKDN
• President of Russia to discuss the potential for expanding activities of the Aga Khan Development Network within the Russian Federation (2002). AKDN 
• Prime Minster of Canada, Jean Chretien, in Ottawa to review the extensive collaboration between the Aga Khan Development Network and the Government of Canada over the past two decades (2002). AKDN 
• President of Kenya, Daniel Arap Moi, and government officials in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the increasing breadth of activities of the Aga Khan Development Network in Kenya (2002). AKDN 
• President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana, Kazakhstan, to discuss projects of AKDN in the region, especially the establishment of the Kazakhstan campus of the University of Central Asia at Tekeli in the mountains of the Taldy-Kurgan oblast (2002).

• industry leaders, government officials and development executives from around the world at the World Bank InfoDev (1999). Speech
• White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy (2000). Speech
• delegates at the Conference on Indigenous Philanthropy in Islamabad, Pakistan (2000). Speech
• Delegates at the XIII International Meeting of Peoples and Religions in Lisbon, Portugal (2000). AKDN 
• International Convocation of the Association of American Universities in Washington, DC (2001). Speech .
• Winners’ seminar of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in Aleppo, Syria (2001). Speech
• Archon Award ceremony of Sigma Theta Tau International in Copenhagen, Denmark (2001). Speech
• the Plenary Session of the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (2002). Speech
• Prince Claus Fund’s Conference on culture and development in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2002). Speech

signed agreements for development work 

• with the Government of Mozambique in Maputo (1998).
• in Paris, between France and the Association Aga Khan, whose members include some of the principal agencies and affiliates of the Aga Khan Development Network (1999). AKDN 
• in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (2001). AKDN 
•  with President Benjamin Mkapa  of Tanzania for the preservation of marine and maritime dimensions of Zanzibar’s history and culture, and tourism (2001). AKDN 
• in Kabul, with Hamid Karzai, Chairman of the Interim Authority of the Government of Afghanistan (2002). AKDN 
• with Zanzibar’s Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha to initiate a comprehensive urban rehabilitation proposal for the Seafront Area of Zanzibar’s Stone Town (2002). AKDN 

Other events

For titles and honours bestowed upon Mawlana Hazar Imam, visit AKDN or view the matrix.

Mawlana Hazar Imam, on the Afghan-Tajik border, September 1998. Photo: The Ismaili, December 1998.

in Tajikistan, September 1998. Photo: The Ismaili, December 1998.

Khorog, Tajikistan, September 1998. Photo: The Ismaili, December 1998

Mawlana Hazar Imam attended the formal launch by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) and the Presses de l’Universite de Paris-Sorbonne of a new series of publications on Islam. Photo: AKDN

The 28 November 2000, His Highness the Aga Khan was meeting U. S. President Bill Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright at the first White House Conference on Culture and Diplomacy, Washington. Photo: Mansour Saleh/AKDN

Mawlana Hazar Imam delivering his keynote address at the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit. Photo: Gary Otte/AKDN

Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Excellency Emomali Rahmon, President of Tajikistan signed the International Treaty establishing the new University of Central Asia in a ceremony in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. AKDN / Gary Otte

Mawlana Hazar Imam shaking hands with Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa (right) after signing an Agreement of Co-operation for Development. | AKDN / Gary Otte

Mawlana Hazar Imam speaking during the XIIIth International Meeting of Peoples and Religions. Photo: Patrick Ruchdi/AKDN

Selected World Events – 1998 to 2002

• Google was founded (1997)
• The Korean company Saehan introduced the MPMan (1998).
• First trial payments using a mobile phone to pay for a Coca Cola vending machine were set in Finland (1998).
• The first full internet service on mobile phones was introduced by NTT DoCoMo in Japan (1999).
• Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace opened , breaking a string of box office records (1999).
• Wikipedia was launched (2001).
• September 11 changed the world forever (2001).
• The X-Box and Playstation were introduced (2001).
• First time the word ‘selfie‘ was used in print (2002).
• Europeans agree on single currency, the Euro (2002).

Sources:
The Ismaili UK, December 2002
The Ismaili Canada, various issues
Ilm, various issues

Compiled by Nimira Dewji

 

Countdown to Diamond Jubilee Series

 

Mawlana Hazar Imam: “When I assumed the responsibilities of the Imamat … I too became involved, as leader of the Ismaili community, in that most vital business, the well-being of ordinary people.” Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 2014 to June 2017 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 2009 to 2013 Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee Journey Legacy of Jubilees – Legacy of Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee – July 11, 2007 to December 13, 2008 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 2003 to 2007 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1998 to 2002 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1993 to 1997 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1988 to 1992 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1983 to 1987 Legacy of Jubilees – Silver Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam: “…the issue of improving the living conditions of the poor has long been of the deepest concern to me.” Legacy of Jubilees – Silver Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam: “We will not let bigotry, communalism or sectarianism make our lives inward-looking and increasingly meaningless…” Mawlana Hazar Imam: “…this Silver Jubilee is a symbolic affirmation of the ties between myself as Imam and the Ismaili community…” Legacy of Jubilees – Silver Jubilee of Mawlana Hazar Imam Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1978 to 1982 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee – Snapshots of Imamat – 1973 to 1977 Legacy of Jubilees of Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah Countdown to Diamond Jubilee: Snapshots of Imamat – 1968 to 1972 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee: Snapshots of Imamat – 1963 to 1967 Countdown to Diamond Jubilee: Snapshots of Imamat – 1957 to 1962

 

Previously on Ismailimail…

Ismaili Centre Toronto Welcomes 50 New Canadian Citizens Today in history: Firdawsi’s epic poem, the Shahnama, was completed Student led tour of Aga Khan Academy, Maputo Will religious literacy help in a multicultural society? Landscapes of Spirituality: The Topography of Ismaili Sacred Sites in Xinjiang, China