Aga Khan IV Quotes
In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect. Nor do these two involve any contradiction, provided man remembers that his own mind is itself the creation of God. Without this humility, no balance is possible. With it, there are no barriers. Indeed, one strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours, God has opened and continues to open new windows for us to see the marvels of His creation
Aga Khan IV. Address at the Inauguration of the Aga Khan University. Karachi, Pakistan, 11 Nov. 1985.
This quotation, 500 years later, would be used by American anti-Catholics to justify their antipathy to the Catholic Church. This was about a most undemocratic statement about the common man and his capabilities which was completely counter to the American view. The fact that it was 500 years past or that many American Catholics did not believe it or that even if they did, it was restricted to matters of theological faith, was not considered by the Know-Nothings and others.
Prince Shāh Karim al-Husayni (شاه كريم الحسيني Shāh Karĩm al-Ḥussaynĩ), known by the religious title Mawlana Hazar Imam within Ismaili Muslim circles and as Aga Khan IV (آقا خان or آغا خان) elsewhere, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism, a denomination of Isma'ilism within Shia Islam. He has held this position of Imam since 11 July 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III. Aga Khan claims to be a direct lineal descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, considered Imam in Shia Islam, and Ali's wife Fatima, Muhammad's daughter from his first marriage.
