Posted on 06/23/2002 6:02:04 PM PDT by RCW2001
PAM EASTON, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, June 23, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/23/state2022EDT0084.DTL
(06-23) 17:22 PDT SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) --
Texas Gov. Rick Perry joined the 49th descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, Prince Karim Aga Khan, in opening a new Ismaili Muslim worship and cultural center Sunday just south of Houston.
Aga Khan is considered a progressive Muslim leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims. The new Houston center houses the national offices of the Ismaili Council for the United States and will serve the 15,000 Ismailis who call Houston home.
"Nine eleven has scarred America, but not just America. It has scarred the Islamic world," Aga Khan, a Harvard graduate, said before he unveiled a plaque officially opening the center. "It is in this context that I request that you view the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center, Houston, as much, much more than a place of congregation and a home for administrative offices.
"The center will be a place of peace, humility, reflection and prayer. It will be a place of search and enlightenment, not of anger and of obscurantism."
The center, located on 11.5 acres, took two years to build. The $10 million facility, which includes a community center, a prayer hall and classrooms for religious education, is constructed of muted red and black brick and surrounded by courtyards containing symbolic landscaping, a fountain and sculptures that embody teachings of Islam.
"Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all encompassing unity," Aga Khan said of the importance of the architecture and landscape of the center for which he was the principle financier. "Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environments we build and the quality of the interactions that take place within them reverberate on our spiritual lives."
Hanif Mamdani, who volunteers on behalf of the center, said similar Jamatkahana, or gathering places, are located in Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
Aga Khan said the collapse of the Soviet Union and prolonged difficulties in Afghanistan have forced Ismaili Muslims to find new homes during the last half century.
"Bolstered by a long tradition of self-reliance, and a strong system of community organizations, Ismailis have established themselves quickly as productive members of society in their new homelands," he said. "This has been particularly true in the United States with its long history of welcoming immigrants."
Perry said Ismaili Muslims who call Texas home already have left a lasting imprint on the state, and the new center only enhances that.
"Texas is a better place because of your contributions and sacrifices," Perry said. "I come here today to pay tribute to a people who have demonstrated time and time again that their faith is more than just a belief, it is a call to action."
Aga Khan and Perry said they believe the center will help visitors concentrate on common bonds instead of age-old differences.
"For more than a millennium, the Ismaili tradition has been rooted in understanding, enlightenment and tolerance," Perry said. "You have welcomed peace while shunning discord. You have practiced love while speaking out against hatred. Your faith has been a reservoir of hope for those seeking light."
The Ismailis belong to the Shia branch, which is one of the two major sects of Islam. Sunni Muslims make up the other branch.
Ismaili Muslims live in 25 countries, mostly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Aga Khan and Perry were scheduled to spend Monday in Austin and meet again Tuesday before Aga Khan's departure to Washington.
"It was two summers ago that I had the great fortune to meet His Highness during a trip to France," Perry recalled for the 100 or so invited guests at the center's opening.
"It was a visit I will cherish for as long as I live," he said. "On that day, I witnessed the compassion, love and character of the Islamic faith all embodied by the leader of the Ismaili Muslim Community, His Highness the Aga Khan."
©2002 Associated Press
Hardly. He leads Sanchez by 20 points, and the big guns aren't even out yet.
Perry will be re-elected easily.
I suppose you cretins would cringe if Perry went to the dedication of a new Catholic Church, too.
The better to watch the foxes.
You as clueless as the first two posters?
Did Perry join him in raping an 8-year old girl, like the Holy Prophet did?
Did Perry join him in raping an 8-year old girl, like the Holy Prophet did?
So I am clueless yeah? I would love to havr you explain this to me?
So I am clueless yeah? I would love to havr you explain this to me?
So I am clueless yeah? I would love to have you explain this to me?
IMO citizen Muslims, although too many of them want to kill all Christians and Jews, have voting rights too.
Talk about wasting the bullets!.
Appointing this innocuous Muslim is like appointing bin Laden?
Clueless? Yep.
Gov. Perry did the right thing by his presence at this event. Islam is not going away over night, and instead of resorting to mindless bashing of Muslims, like shooting fish in a barrel, we need to be clear thinking in our strategies and wise enough to support those elements of Islam that can tear it from the clutches of the Wahhabis and give rise to a better form of Islam in the future.
Just as Saudi Arabia invests money, talent and resources in promoting the evil Wahhabi brand of Islam, our government's foreign policy should include support for the non-Wahhabis like the Ismaelis and the Sufis.
Constructive engagement and creative promotion of these other 'denominations' of Islam just may be the answer to turning the Wahhabi tide till it dries up in the dust of the Arabian peninsula.
You get a clue!
I heard there's a butt somewhere in Texas that Perry hasn't kissed --yet!
He came to my hometown last year, had his picture taken with some liberal Dems, the very people we have been fighting for years, put the picture in some fund-raising materials, mailed it out all over Texas. The same people who had their picture taken with him were showing it around, laughing at him. Republicans weren't laughing. He's not real popular around here.
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