THE NIZARI-ISMAILIS IN MODERNITY Alnoor S Gova B.Sc. York University 1992 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the FACULTY of EDUCATION @ Alnoor S Gova 2005 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fa11 2005 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME Alnoor Gova DEGREE Master of Arts TITLE The Nizari-lsmailis in Modernity EXAMINING COMMITTEE: Chair Deborah Bartlette -- Geoff Madoc-Jones, Assistant Professor Senior Supervisor Farouk Mitha, PhD Candidate (ABD), Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, University of Victoria Member --- Sean ~lenkEsop,Assistant Professor Member Heesoon Bai, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education Examiner Date September 19, 2005 SIMON FRASER ' uruivmsrnh brary DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection, and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada This thesis will explore the challenges and negotiations towards an articulation of important constituent elements, of the personal and community, that shape identity in the space between two "social imaginaries" (Taylor 2004), the Shia-Imami-Nizari-Ismaili Muslim and the "modernw-Western. The dissertation includes the following approaches; autobiographical narration, intermingled with the voices of social theorists Charles Taylor, Selya Benhabib and the Ismaili community leadership (the Ismaili Imamat), towards rendering a historical philosophical lens that provides common ground, for analysis of the tensions and accommodations towards personal and communal identity construction within the Nizari-Ismaili Muslim community, and its evolution of a social imaginary and the role of education. However, the overarching theme of the thesis relates to the challenge that secular society and globalization pose to a traditional religious worldview. Key Terms: Autobiography, Identity, Islam, Ismaili, Philosophy, Education Dedication To my parents for all you have taught me and all that you go through with me and for all Ihave put you through thank you both for always being there.... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to all who have supported and encouraged the space for this work to germinate and manifest. In particular Iwould like to acknowledge Geoff Macoc-Jones his continued enthusiasm and guidance with commitment and interest and support for me to take on this work ... Farouk Mitha for his encouragement and intellectual sustenance ... Heesoon Bai for her uplifting spirit ... TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval ................................................................................. ii ... Abstract ....................................................................................111 Acknowledgements ...................................................................v Table of Contents .....................................................................vi Introduction ........................................................................... I Chapter I . Persistent Inertias Encountered En Route to Multiple Modern Imaginaries .................................................... 5 The Social Imaginary ..................................................................5 Conundrum of Time and Space: A Compression of the Vertical along the Horizontal ......................................................-8 A Childhood Lesson on Interiority: Between the Juxtaposition of Two Social Imaginaries ..............................................12 Trajectories of a Self within the Politics of Identity ....................... 17 Perceptions of Essentialist Distortions: Inertias that Perpetuate an Ignorance of the Other ............................................. 21 A Multiculturalists Predicament ..................................................28 'Unresolved Geographies Embattled Landscapesff (Said 1999) ....... 31 En Route to Multiple Modern Imaginaries ....................................33 Towards an Education For and About Muslims ..............................36 An Interpretative Community of Muslims ....................................44 Khoja-Ismaili Precipitate from a Macronarrative Cultural Interlocution: The Inter-Indian Encounter ......................48 Intra-Muslim Distinction ............................................................50 Construction of a "Euro-Africff Ismaili Identity ..............................54 Dilemma of Diaspora ................................................................56 Intersecting The Pedagogical and Performative: Culmination of a Reconstituted Global Ismaili Social Imaginary - A Pan-Ismaili Identity Projected from the Western Lands .....58 Would Four 'Halfiefsf / Divided = a Whole ME? .............................63 A Non-Literalist Vista upon Creation and Being ............................69 Constituent Cosmic Imaginaries .................................................73 Intersection of the Horizontal and Vertical within an Ismaili Cosmological Imaginary ................................................76 The Ismaili Imamatfs Engagement in Global Affairs - Synthesizing the Pedagogical and Performative ................77 Ismaili Communal Imaginary Transformation into a Global- Philanthropic Network ...................................................79 Islamic-oriented Education Program for Nizari-Ismaili Muslims .......87 Core Structural and Fundamental Features of the Ta'lim Approach Outlined in the Pre-school and Primary Guide for Parents and Teachers .......................... ...................90 Continued Aspirations of the Aga Khan Development Networks International Educational Institutions ..............................95 The Aga Khan Academies: Logic of the Concept ...........................97 Practices and Values that Inform the Intentioned Outcomes of the AKA ......................................................................99 One Size-Fits-All Approach to Education.................................... 100 A Recommendation of Rethinking Curricula for Sustainable Society ..................................................................... 101 Role of Madrasa Pre-School in Facilitating Primary School Admissions ................................................................103 Appendix I............................................................................ 109 vii This thesis offers a personal voice and those of certain social theorists and the Ismaili Imamat (leadership); layered upon history events, in an attempt to explain the "social imaginary" (see page 5) of the Shia-Imami-Nizari-Ismaili-Muslims and the role of education in its past and future construction. It functions as an autobiographical inquiry (read : personal discovery, subjective) as a departure point for an open-ended discussion about personal and community identity construction within the context of the Nizari-Ismaili ~uslim'(NIM) social imaginary (SI). A historical philosophical lens focuses the dialogue aimed at uncovering constituent elements informed by a "horizons of significance2" (the Ismaili Imamat) towards illuminating some aspects of my own identity within the NIM-SI in Canada. It attempts to reveal some tensions and negotiations in the juxtaposition of a 'Modern' Secular Western SI and the NIM-SI. It applies voices from within and outside the NIM-SI, to the discussion which is anticipated to be read as a generative dialogue aimed at creating common ground for analysis of the dynamics of a NIM-SI. The paper threads, interjects, describes, weaves and fragments my "self" and the communities construction and deconstruction of identity between the boundaries of two large social imaginaries; that are seen as juxtaposed spheres with "semi-permeable" membranes which surface from within, competing trajectories. This paper is meant to be read as a dialogue, sub-sections of chapters are organized as interrelated aporiafs of an existential quest informed by the NIM-SI. My intention has been to ground common contexts through an inter-subjective