The floor and galleries of the House of Commons of Canada rise in applause for Mawlana Hazar Imam. TheIsmaili / Zahur Ramji

At Jamatkhanas in cities and towns, around dinner tables, by phone and over the Internet, the Ismaili Muslim community across Canada and around the world buzzed with excitement when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he had invited Mawlana Hazar Imam to address the Parliament of Canada.

Hazar Imam would be the first faith leader to be accorded this privilege, usually reserved for heads of state and government.

“I felt incredibly proud and happy when I heard about the invitation,” said Tamizah Valji of Edmonton. “This is an event of historic significance, which reflects the immense respect of our country for the Imam and the work of the Imamat.”

The mood was amplified exponentially when individual Jamati members began to receive invitations to represent the wider Canadian Jamat at a Toronto event to be hosted by the Prime Minister in honour of Mawlana Hazar Imam. Those that could not be present for the events in Ottawa and Toronto gathered at local Jamatkhanas, tuned in on television or watched the webcast on the Parliament website, TheIsmaili.org and other websites.

“Canada is home to a well-established and fast-growing Ismaili community,” said Prime Minister Harper as he introduced Mawlana Hazar Imam in the House of Commons. “His Highness has therefore become an increasingly frequent visitor, and always a welcome one.”

He noted that the Ismaili community is one of Canada's most successful immigrant stories – a testament to the success of Canadian pluralism.

“It was a good day – a good day for all of us – when you told your followers to ‘make Canada your home,'” he said to Mawlana Hazar Imam.

Among the distinguished guests joining Parliament were the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Canada's 26th Governor General, and her husband John Ralston Saul, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada, Prince Amyn, Prince Rahim, Princess Salwa, Prince Hussain, and Jamati leaders from Canada and around the world. TheIsmaili / Zahur Ramji

Members of Parliament and the Senate attended the special joint parliamentary session in the House of Commons, as well as many dignitaries, including former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, and members of the Imam's family: Prince Amyn, Princess Zahra, Prince Rahim, Princess Salwa, and Prince Hussain. The global Jamat was represented by the Ismaili Leaders' International Forum, and the Aga Khan Development Network by heads of the AKDN agencies and AKDN Resident Representatives from countries around the world.

In addition, the entire Jamat of Canada was represented by the President of the Ismaili Council for Canada, other members of Jamati institutions from across Canada, and by one Mukhi, Mukhiani, Kamadia or Kamadiani from each Jamatkhana in the country, including university campus Jamatkhanas.

Mukhi Faheem Savja shared the excitement and anticipation expressed by students at the University of Ottawa Jamatkhana. “After returning to our Ottawa campus Jamat that same evening, we shared our experiences from the day,” he said. “The joy of having the Imam in the city where we study was overwhelming.”

“More overwhelming was the realisation that we, as students, have the ability to enable the vision that the Imam has for the future,” he added.

Addressing the Parliament of Canada as a faith leader, Mawlana Hazar Imam explained that the Ismaili Imamat is “a supra-national entity, representing the succession of Imams since the time of the Prophet” (peace be upon him and his family), and situated it in the context of Shia and Sunni interpretations of Islam. Although the Ismaili Imam's role is spiritual – not political, said Hazar Imam – the fundamental unity of the spiritual and material worlds in Islam does not permit an Imam to remove himself from the practical matters of family, business and community.

“Faith, rather, is a force that should deepen our concern for our worldly habitat, for embracing its challenges, and for improving the quality of human life,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam. “This Muslim belief in the fusion of Faith and World is why much of my attention has been committed to the work of the Aga Khan Development Network.”

Driven by people and drawing on ethics that are Islamic and universally shared by humanity – “the elimination of poverty, access to education, and social peace in a pluralist environment” – the agencies of the AKDN work together to fulfil their objective of improving the quality of human life.

This idea resonates with many Muslims, for whom it is a reality lived every day. “As an ophthalmologist, I am keenly aware of the contribution that eyesight has to quality of life,” says Dr Karim Damji. “My colleagues and I feel very privileged to be able to assist individuals in improving or maintaining their eyesight. This underscores for me that quality of life is a holistic notion with spiritual and worldly aspects.”

Hazar Imam described to Parliament how over the past quarter-century, AKDN's collaboration with Canada has served to advance these goals. He cited the contributions of McMaster University and the then Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to the establishment of Pakistan's first private nursing school – now part of the Aga Khan University – that has significantly raised the quality of that profession in Pakistan and the surrounding region.

The Imam also gave examples where Canada and AKDN have collaborated on rural development and in early childhood education, making a measurable and meaningful difference to populations in Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and East Africa. He made special mention of the Global Centre for Pluralism, a joint initiative of the Ismaili Imamat and the Government of Canada.

But in a world where “there are too many societies where too many people live in a culture of fear, condemned to a life of poverty,” Mawlana Hazar Imam urged Parliament that “the world needs to pay more attention – much, much more attention – to the potential role of Civil Society.”

“By Civil Society I mean an array of institutions which operate on a private, voluntary basis, but are motivated by high public purposes,” explained Hazar Imam. “They include institutions devoted to education, culture, science and research; to commercial, labour, ethnic and religious concerns; as well as professional societies in law, accounting, banking, engineering and medicine. Civil Society encompasses groups that work on health and safety and environmental matters, organisations that are engaged in humanitarian service, or in the arts or the media.”

Princess Zahra, Prime Minister Harper, Canadian parliamentarians, and other distinguished guests applaud Mawlana Hazar Imam in the House of Commons. TheIsmaili / Gary Otte

Countries that have a strong and growing civil society are better positioned to resist the dangers of destabilising forces. Hazar Imam cited Kenya as a country where only a few years ago, as the nation stood on the brink of civil war, the strength of civil society permitted a peaceful solution to be found. He also commended Canada for its success in building civil society.

“Canada is uniquely able to articulate and exemplify three critical underpinnings of a quality Civil Society,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam, “– a commitment to pluralism, to meritocracy, and to a cosmopolitan ethic.”

Voluntary service – which has been a strong tradition for generations of Shia Ismailis – has enabled the Jamat to be an important contributor to civil society in the countries where they live. Hazar Imam told Parliament that through the Time and Knowledge Nazrana, “tens of thousands of [Ismaili] volunteers” around the world have given countless hours toward strengthening AKDN institutions and programmes that improve people's quality of life.

“One third of those [volunteers] were Canadians,” noted Mawlana Hazar Imam. “Their impact has been enormous in helping us to achieve best practice standards in our institutions and programmes, making us, we hope, an even better partner for Canada!”

Watching and listening to the Imam of the Time deliver a landmark address to the highest legislative body of their country was an emotional experience for many Canadian Ismailis.

“The progress made by the Canadian Jamat in a few short decades would not have been possible without our Imam's constant guidance and support,” said Tamizah Valji.

Others expressed gratitude to their adopted country: “It's thanks to Canada for accepting us into this great country when we were in need. I'm grateful that my family and I are living here and are now able to give something back to our country.”

The ethic of helping others – a value that has bound the Ismaili community with Canada for more than four decades – elicits a deep connection between all human beings, a connection that Mawlana Hazar Imam referred to at the conclusion of his address.

“Central to my life has been a verse in the Holy Quran which addresses itself to the whole of humanity,” said the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims to those gathered in the House of Commons of Canada. “It says: ‘Oh Mankind, fear your Lord, who created you of a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them scattered abroad many men and women….'” (Qur'an 4:1)

“I know of no more beautiful expression about the unity of our human race – born indeed from a single soul.”