In his small studio in Brooklyn Heights, New York, Hamid Rahmanian spent 10,000 hours in front of his computer cobbling together a new Shahnameh, the epic mythology of Iran. In the 1,000 years since the Persian poet Ferdowsi put the oral tradition into verse, there have been many versions produced in lithograph, miniature and manuscript form. To create Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, Rahmanian meticulously researched and scanned images and texts spanning the 14th through the 19th centuries, from the Indian subcontinent to the Levant and beyond.
Category Archives: Middle East
Dubai Terry Fox Run proves a huge success once again – Yahoo! News Maktoob
The Dubai Terry Fox Run proved a huge success on Friday morning at Dubai Festival City where thousands of participants gathered to raise funds for cancer research projects and awareness.
Around 8000 people took part in the run to raise over Dh200,000 which will be directed to projects taking place in the UAE.
“We had Aga Khan Scouts band who opened proceedings. It’s become a tradition of the event, they’ve been with us the past few years and every year they kick off the programme.”
The Dubai Terry Fox Run has helped complete 26 research projects from 1998 to present, and the funds raised yesterday will be directed towards seven ongoing projects.
via Dubai Terry Fox Run proves a huge success once again – Yahoo! News Maktoob.
Related search: http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/?s=Terry+Fox&submit=Search
Faiz Moosa: Everyone Deserves To Play Ball (Dubai Little League: Challenger Division)
Faiz Moosa, An Ismaili young boy in Dubai – Making a difference. Everyone Deserves To Play Ball (Dubai Little League: Challenger Division)
The Challenger Division in Dubai is a baseball league organized and founded by Faiz Moosa. It is a baseball league in Dubai that gives special needs children the opportunity to partake in the beautiful sport of baseball. Games are held every Saturday at the Dubai Little League fields and the division has been active for two years.
Ismaili Community in Dubai Supports “Rashid Centre” – Zawya
Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum, Board Member of Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre, visited Ismaili Community in Dubai, where he was received on behalf of the Ismaili Centre in Dubai, by Amiruddin Thanawala President of Ismaili Community in the UAE and his Vice President Aziz Merchant, in the presence of Mrs. Mariam Othman, General Manager of Rashid Center, and a group of active members of the Ismaili Community led by Nizar Shariff and Murtaza Hashwani, Alykhan Lalani, Yasmin Kassam, Sumeira Hashwani, Nishat Jiwani and Aleem Shariff. Continue reading
Mulla Zabihullah Chahozi: My Id e Norouz is the Didar of Mawlana Karim
My Id e Norouz is the Didar of Mawlana Karim
My Id e Norouz is the Speech of Mawlana Karim
I have no higher ambition in this world
other than seeing the shining face of Mawlana Karim
O Lord please fulfill my prayer
make me His Shia and amongst His followers
More http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/my-id-e-norouz/
Professional Development – The Aga Khan Early Learning Centre – Dubai
A recent training was provided for the staff on the UK Phase 1 ‘Letters and Sounds’ activities that help children develop their auditory discrimination and listening skills, skills which are important to develop before children embark on learning letters. Staff were also introduced to the Jolly Phonics programme which is introduced to children in the Preschool. The programme uses visual, auditory and kinesthetic techniques to help children learn the letter sounds.
Aqil Safdar Rashid – Unsung Heroes – Founder of the 1 Well 700 Lives campaign
Through his fundraising initiative, this 16-year-old student has impacted – and probably saved – thousands of lives simply by providing something we all take for granted: water.
Tell us about your initiative.
Through appealing to friends, colleagues and corporations, by the end of 2012 the 1 Well 700 Lives initiative raised over US$60,000, which resulted in the building of wells in 30 different villages in Afghanistan impacting the lives of over 21,000 people.
Peaceful Times and Fond Memories of Salamiyya, Syria | Simerg Photos
Isfahan: Animated film inspired by the Persian Architecture
Dizbad Jamatkhana, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
Proactive Ismaili Imam: His Highness the Aga Khan – Part 2
Article by Noori Mamdani
History: a live broadcast of the past, a joy of the present, and a treasure for the future. History has significant past knowledge, culture, and memories of ancestors wrapped in its womb. The historical monuments, art, music, culture, language, food, and traditional clothes educate people about who they are, where they are, and where they belong in the particular era.
Furthermore, the deep roots of history help individuals to see the fruitful stems of growth. The growth in the field of economics, science, architecture, education, and the quality of life of people in this period of modernization. Therefore, destroying history from the lives of the people would be the same as cutting the roots of a tree. No matter how healthy species a tree may be from, it won’t be able to survive without its roots.
Thus, history builds a path that leads toward the future. Therefore, without the presence of history, the growth of the future would be unknown. Hence, the proactive Ismaili Imam, the Aga Khan, is actively taking every possible step to preserve history by preserving the historical monuments and improving the quality of life of people within the ambit. One of the best examples of the Aga Khan’s work is in Syria, a country known for its Islamic history.
Syria and Islamic civilization go a long way back in history.
Click here to read the article: Proactive Ismaili Imam – Part 2 – By Noori Mamdani
Related: Article on Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Project, by Noori Mamdani
Encyclopedia of Henna: The Techniques of Persian Henna
New Interview Transcript: His Highness the Aga Khan’s 2008 Syrian TV Interview (Aleppo, Syria)
In August 2008, following the Opening Ceremony of the Aleppo and Masyaf Citadels and the Castle of Salah ad-Din, His Highness the Aga Khan gave Syrian TV a wide-ranging and important interview. The NanoWisdoms Archive is pleased to make available the interview’s transcript for all to study and reflect over at these critical times.
Among the many topics covered, the Aga Khan discusses AKDN’s extensive development plans for Syria, the role of culture as a development strategy and his firm belief in employing public-private partnerships to meet societal needs. The interview ends with the Aga Khan’s message to the Syrian people and the Ummah, setting out Syria’s unique place in Islam’s history and informing the Ummah, twice, that “progress does not mean occidentalisation” and that Muslim “values systems are massively important for the future.”
Click for the interview transcript and video at NanoWisdoms:
His Highness the Aga Khan’s 2008 Syrian TV Interview (Aleppo, Syria)
Prayers and thoughts for the safety of all the people of Salamieh and Syria
Dr Sayyad Jalal Badakhchani of Institute of Ismaili Studies Awarded Certificate of Honour in Iran
Dr Sayyad Jalal Badakhchani, Research Associate at the IIS, has recently been awarded the certificate of honour by the Heritage Foundation and the National Library of Iran for his contributions to reintroducing the extant Persian text of Qa’imiyat, a collection of poems from the Alamut period of Ismaili history.
via The Institute of Ismaili Studies – IIS Research Associate Awarded Certificate of Honour in Iran.
Syria: How Ancient Artifacts Are Being Traded for Guns | TIME.com
The badly damaged outer gate of Aleppo‘s Citadel.
Abu Khaled knows the worth of things. As a small-time smuggler living along the porous border between Syria and Lebanon, he has dabbled in antiquities as much as the cigarettes, stolen goods and weapons that make up the bulk of his trade. So when a smuggler from Syria brought him a small, alabaster statue of a seated man a few weeks ago, he figured that the carving, most likely looted from one of Syria’s two dozen heritage museums or one of its hundreds of archaeological sites, could be worth a couple thousand dollars in Lebanon’s antiquities black market. So he called his contacts in Beirut. But instead of asking for cash, he asked for something even more valuable: weapons.
More at TIME.com – via http://artsislamica.com
Also read: Archaeological Heritage of Syria in Danger
Castle of Soru, Iran
From the book cover of Eagle’s Nest: Ismaili Castles of Iran and Syria by Peter Willey
Read related article: The Eagles’ Serene Palace of Symmetric Wisdom: Historical and Intellectual Genealogy of the Nizaris of Alamut
Click here for related posts on Ismaili Castles
Faiz Moosa: Pitching it right for special kids | GulfNews.com
DUBAI Faiz Moosa is just 15 years old but he is up with a task which not many would have really put their thoughts into. Growing up as a kid in Atlanta, USA it was not surprising that Faiz loved to play baseball so was his youngest brother Armaan Moosa, who is just eight years old.
But it was their other brother Faraz Moosa, 11-years-old, a specially challenged kid who always was there watching them play from the sidelines. This was noticed by Faiz, who decided to do something for his younger brother after his parents shifted their base from the US to Dubai.
Faiz continued to play baseball after joining the Dubai Little League (DLL) and with their support the Dubai Challengers League took shape.
Aqeel Rashid makes a presentation for the Zakat Fund Workshop in UAE
27th September 2012: Aqil Rashid was recently invited by the Zakat Fund of the UAE to speak at a workshop in Abu Dhabi, for Zakat Funds’ officials, as well as officials from various UAE charities. His initiative was presented as a case study within the overall context of the use of Social Media for charity purposes.
Aqil Rashid – TEDxDubaiChange
Aqil Rashid : is a 15 year old born and brought up in Dubai who is currently studying in St Marys Catholic High School. He started the 1 Well 700 Lives initiative at the age of 13 encouraged by his father to donate some money in an effort to teaching him the value of compassion. He would like to pursue a degree in International Development Studies so as to continue his efforts on a larger scale. His inspiration is a 16 year old from Canada named Bilal Rajaan.
