Aga Khan IV Quotes
Violence is not a function of the Islamic faith.
Aga Khan IV, Hereditary Imam. Shia Inami Ismali Muslims, Baccalaureate Address, Brown University, May 25, 1996
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Most Muslims believe that Islam is a religion of peace. A small minority of fanatic extremists believe as Al-Buti does. They are the ones who are the most dangerous for all.
The Nazis and most of the Arabs were allies in WWII. The Jews of Palestine—although they were opposed to many of the British policies regarding Palestine—were active in the Allied cause contributing units to the British Army. Although the Germans were brutal to civilians, murdering millions, they refrained from public pronouncements or exhortations to kill civilians in most cases. The Arabs did not. The Mufti was actually given the rank of General in the Nazi SS and had his own SS unit. In this despicable exhortation he actually uses a concept and wording from the Koran. See {584355}. This quotation is important in that it refutes a common claim by some Palestinians that it was only the Germans who were responsible for the Holocaust and the post war Jewish Refugee problem and that the Palestinians had to bear the price rather than place Israel in Europe. This quotation and the other by the Grand Mufti prove that Palestinians were not only complicit in persecution of Jews but took a leadership and advocacy role.
Sirhindi is a very important Muslim Imam and is credited with breathing new life and energy into the 2nd millennium of Islam. An irony of this quotation is that Sufi’s are often characterized as “moderate” Muslims. The quotation is extremely important in that there are some who attribute the anti-Semitism of the Muslims to the dispute over the State of Israel. However, it was the anti-Semitism that caused the problems with Israel. This quotation is from the 17th century—more than 300 years before Israel was established and over 200 years before the Zionist movement even thought about recovering Palestine for the Jews. Islamic anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity began in the Prophet’s lifetime and continued thereafter. It is as vicious today as it was 500 years ago, except for the fact that there is now an Islamic Reformation that despite the Koran’s statements regarding non-believers, they have a more modern view of the world and the people within it. Islamic cultures like Indonesia and Turkey do not have the same degree of anti-Semitism as Pakistan and the Arab Countries.
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.
