Karim Aga Khan IV: "Nobody will ever
convince me that the faith of Islam,
that Christianity, that Judaism will
fight each other in our times -- they
have too much in common."
SPIEGEL:
Your Highness, in a lecture Pope
Benedict XVI quoted Emperor Manuel as
saying: "Show me just what Muhammad
brought that was new, and there you will
find things only evil and inhuman, such
as a command to spread by the sword the
faith he preached." This quotation from
the 14th century has caused great uproar
in the Muslim world. Why? And what was
your reaction?
Aga Khan:
From my point of view, I would start by
saying that I was concerned about this
statement because this has caused great
unhappiness in the Islamic world. There
appears to be momentum towards more and
more misunderstandings between
religions, a degradation of relations. I
think we all should try not to add
anything to worsen the situation.
SPIEGEL:
Benedict XVI did explicitly dissociate
himself from the emperor's quoted
statement. The pope's own position with
regard to his lecture is that he wanted
it to promote a dialogue; and since
then, several times, he has expressed
his respect for the world religion that
is Islam. Was it just an unfortunate
choice of words? Or was he deliberately
misunderstood?
Aga Khan:
I do not wish to pass judgement on that,
nor can I. And it might also be
unreasonable for me to presume that I
know what he meant. But that (medieval)
period in history, to my knowledge, was
one of the periods of extraordinary
theological exchanges and debates
between the
Byzantine Empire and the Muslim world. A
fascinating time. The emperor's
statement does not reflect that, so I
think it is somewhat out of context.
SPIEGEL:
The theme of Pope Benedict's lecture was
different, it was one of his favorites:
the link between faith and reason which,
he said, implies a rejection of any link
between religion and violence. Is that
something you could agree on?
Aga Khan:
If you interpret his speech as one about
faith and reason then I think that the
debate is very exciting and could be
enormously constructive between the
Muslim world and the non-Muslim world.
So I have two reactions to the pope's
lecture: There is my concern about the
degradation of relations and, at the
same time, I see an opportunity. A
chance to talk about a serious,
important issue: the relationship
between faith and logic.
[PRINCE
KARIM AGA KHAN IV.
Prince Karim Aga Khan
IV is considered to be the direct
descendant of the Prophet Mohammad and,
as the 49th imam, the spiritual leader
of the Ismaili Muslims. A minority
community within the Muslim faith, the
Ismailis include some 20 million members
scattered across 25 countries in Central
Asia, Europe and
Eastern Africa. The Aga Khan
himself lives near Paris in Aiglemont Palace. Born near Geneva, the prince grew up in Kenya, Switzerland and London before being educated at Harvard. At the
age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather
as the Aga Khan, thus becoming a
religious leader and the administrator
of billions in assets. Fed by his family
inheritance and a 10 percent tithing fee
from Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan
channels much of the money into the Aga
Khan Development Network, one of the
world's most important private
development aid organizations. The Aga
Khan has two sons from his first
marriage - -
Rahim, 34, and Hussein, 32. He
also has a son from his second marriage
to the German princess Gabriele zu
Leiningen -
- six-
year-
old Ali Mohammed. The Aga Khan must name
one of his sons as his successor, but
that choice will remain a secret until
his death.]
SPIEGEL:
If the pope were to invite you to take
part with other religious leaders in a
debate about faith, reason and violence,
would you accept?
Aga Khan:
Yes, definitely. I would, however, make
the point that an ecumenical discussion
at a certain stage will meet certain
limits. Therefore I would prefer to talk
more about a cosmopolitan ethic stemming
from all of Earth's great faiths.
SPIEGEL:
Does Islam have a problem with reason?
Aga Khan:
Not at all. Indeed, I would say the
contrary. Of the Abrahamic faiths, Islam
is probably the one that places the
greatest emphasis on knowledge. The
purpose is to understand God's creation,
and therefore it is a faith which is
eminently logical. Islam is a faith of
reason.
SPIEGEL:
So, what are the root causes of
terrorism?
Aga Khan:
Unsolved political conflicts,
frustration and, above all, ignorance.
Nothing that was born out of a
theological conflict.
SPIEGEL:
Which political conflicts do you mean?
Aga Khan:
The ones in the Middle East and in
Kashmir, for example. These conflicts have
remained unresolved for decades. There
is a lack of urgency in understanding
that the situation there deteriorates,
it's like a cancer. If you are not going
to act on a cancer early enough,
ultimately it's going to create terrible
damage. It can become a breeding ground
for terrorism.
Now to the issue of spreading faith by
the sword: All faiths at some time in
their history have used war to protect
themselves or expand their influence,
and there were situations when faiths
have been used as justifications for
military actions. But Islam does not
call for that, it is a faith of peace.
SPIEGEL:
It's true that horrible crimes were
committed in the name of Christianity,
for example by the crusaders. That was
long ago, that's the past. But jihadists
commit their crimes now, in our times.
Aga Khan:
It is not so far in the past that we
have seen bloody fights in the Christian
world. Look at Northern Ireland.
If we Muslims interpreted what happened
there as a correct expression of
Protestantism and Catholicism or even as
the essence of the Christian faith you
would simply say we don't know what we
are talking about.
SPIEGEL:
"The West (will stand) against the Rest"
wrote Professor Samuel Huntington in his
famous book "Clash of Civilizations." Is
such a conflict, such a clash
inevitable?
Aga Khan:
I prefer to talk about a clash of
ignorance. There is so much horrible,
damaging, dangerous ignorance.
SPIEGEL:
Which side is responsible
Aga Khan:
Both. But essentially the Western world.
You would think that an educated person
in the 21st century should know
something about Islam; but you look at
education in the Western world and you
see that Islamic civilizations have been
absent. What is taught about Islam? As
far as I know -- nothing. What was known
about Shiism before the Iranian
revolution? What was known about the
radical Sunni Wahhabism before the rise
of the Taliban? We need a big
educational effort to overcome this.
Rather than shouting at each other, we
should be learning to listen to each
other. In the way we used to do it, by
working together, with mutual
give-and-take. Together we brought about
some of the highest achievements of
human civilization. There is a lot to
build on. But I think you cannot build
on ignorance.
SPIEGEL:
Nonetheless, it is striking that a
particularly large number of
Muslim-dominated states figure among the
most backward and undemocratic states in
the world. Is Islam in need of an era of
enlighten? Is the faith even
incompatible with democracy as others
claim?
Aga Khan:
As I said before, one has to be fair.
Some of the political leaders have
inherited problems that are in no way
attributable to the faith. New
governance solutions have to be tested
and validated over time. Nor do I
believe Muslim states are systematically
economic underperformers. Some of the
fastest growing economies and some of
the most successful newly industrialized
countries are in the Islamic world. Now
concerning democracy: My democratic
beliefs do not go back to the Greek or
French (thinkers) but to an era 1,400
years ago. These are the principles
underlying my religion. During the
prophet's life (peace be upon him),
there was a systematic consultative
political process. And the first imam of
the Shiites, Prophet Muhammad's cousin
and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, emphasized:
"No honor is like knowledge, no power is
like forbearance, and no support is more
reliable than consultation."
