Articles, Updates and News on, for and from the Ismaili jamaat
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Today, December 13th, in a one-roomed wooden house in the Tajik mountains, a small neighbourhood will crowd around a metal _pechka_ (stove), caring little for the numbness in their crossed legs, or the cold at their backs. The lights will be off, the sun having set behind the mountains that close in on all sides, and the only sound will be the exicited anticipation of young children.
News agencies are reporting almost 300 dead in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan, with tremors felt in Tajikistan and India.
All of us at *Ismaili Friends* send our deepest condolences to the friends, families and communities who have lost those closest to them.
At the time of writing [717 Muslim pilgrims had lost their lives](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34346449) in a tragic stampede whilst performing the Hajj.
On a day when the Muslim world remembers the mercy of God in sparing Ibrahim's son, it is simply horrific that we must also mourn the loss of so many children, parents, spouses, brothers, sisters and cousins.
PBS' Religion and Ethics program focussed this week on the Aga Khan. Their 10 minute interview/documentary can be viewed here.
Most interesting is the response of the various Ismailis interviewed as they talk about their Imam.
History in the making here as the Aga Khan recently signed an agreement with the nation of Portugal for the establishment there of the permanent Seat of the Imamat for at least the next 25 years.
This is the first time in modern Ismaili history that the Imamat (office of the Imam) has had a physical home.
[News agencies are reporting](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/21/us-tajikistan-floods-idUSKCN0PV1MV20150721) 7 dead, 5 missing, 10 000 forced to evacuate and over $100 million worth of damage due to recent flooding in Tajikistan. The worst hit area is Gorno-Badakshan, home to a large, semi-autonomous Ismaili population.
Similarly, over 300 000 have been displaced in Chitral, Pakistan.
Our belated congratulations to Prince Rahim Aga Khan and his wife Princess Salwa, who gave birth to Prince Irfan on 11th April in Geneva, Switzerland.
Let us pray for the health of mother and baby and for the blessings of the Lord God on the young boy's life.
Many of you will be aware of the disgusting terror attacks carried out in Karachi on Wednesday that left 45 Ismailis dead at the hands of IS-affiliated terrorists. You can read the Al Jazeera report *here* or watch CNN's disturbing report *here*.
The *Ismaili Friends* network joins the Aga Khan in condemning this atrocity as a
"senseless act of violence against a peaceful community"
*Reuters* are reporting "chaotic scenes" as aid is delivered to the scene of last Friday's devastating landslide in Afghan Badakhshan. Armed militia are allegedly re-directing relief supplies to their own villages.
Please continue to pray for the 4000 survivors and displaced villagers.
On Friday a huge landslide devastated a village in the remote north-eastern corner of Afghanistan. The BBC are reporting over 2500 buried alive and more than 4000 displaced.
You can read and watch the latest from the BBC *here*
At the end of last month the Aga Khan was invited by Canada's Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to address their parliament.
You can read a summary of that address or even watch the entire 45 minutes *here*
The Aga Khan featured prominently in the news over the weekend following the conclusion of what has been a 10 year legal battle to divorce his second wife, German Princess Gabriele zu Leiningen .
The British paper, the *Daily Telegraph* reported,
"the case exposed the man who claims to be the direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed to accusations of an affair with an air hostess."
