Jafferi Centre - Revision history

Mohamedali: /* Harmony Between Two Communities */

2020-10-07T09:58:07Z

‎Harmony Between Two Communities

Mohamedali: /* Harmony Between Two Communities */

2020-10-06T10:52:33Z

‎Harmony Between Two Communities

Mohamedali: /* Harmony Between Two Communities */

2020-10-06T10:52:07Z

‎Harmony Between Two Communities

Mohamedali: /* Closing the Tour */

2020-10-06T10:48:35Z

‎Closing the Tour

Mohamedali: /* Closing the Tour */

2020-10-06T10:48:07Z

‎Closing the Tour

Mohamedali: /* Khoja History & Heritage */

2020-10-06T10:47:35Z

‎Khoja History & Heritage

Mohamedali: /* Khoja History & Heritage */

2020-10-06T10:46:28Z

‎Khoja History & Heritage

Mohamedali: /* Khoja History & Heritage */

2020-10-06T10:45:47Z

‎Khoja History & Heritage

Mohamedali: /* The Cafeteria */

2020-10-06T10:44:52Z

‎The Cafeteria

Show changes

Mohamedali: /* Location */

2020-10-06T08:42:16Z

‎Location

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 The religious and social separation between the two ethnic Lohana communities came to be sharply defined after the Aga Khan Case in 1866 presided over by Justice Sir Joseph Arnould in the Bombay High Court. Communal properties such as burial grounds and many of the [[Jamat Khanas]] were claimed by imam Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I). Though some jamat khanas that were under family or trust names were sometimes divided into two prayer halls with a wall between. Some years back, I had heard Khoja Ismailis who had been for a visit to India, say how surprised they were to find two prayer halls in one building. One was for vadi jamat that was the jamat khana, and the other was for nindhi jamat that was the masjid of the Ithna Asheri. Both stood shoulder to shoulder like brothers as if to say though their faiths differed they were from one family. The two jamats that share a unique Indian ethnic identity called Khoja, mingled with ease in the jamat khana-masjid yard outside.
-It was the separation that led to the development of two Khoja ethnic community structures. One, the Ismaili structure is a vertical hierarchy centering on the absolute authority of the imam. The other, the Ithna Asheri structure functions under [[The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities]] or WFSIMC which is based in London. Both the structures are like pyramids if one was to make diagrams. But there is a difference. Members of the WFSICC are elected by the jamat through a parliamentary type of voting process. The jamat feeds its suggestions and concerns through several committees to the central management that makes decisions. The Ismaili structure that includes not just the [[Khojas]] but also other Ismailis from Syria, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and others like the Punjabis and Momnas, is based on appointments from the hands-on day to day volunteers up the ladder to the International Leaders’ Forum. There is yet another difference which is that in the Ithna Asheri jamat there is a marked separation between men and women in all secular and religious functions including sittings in committees. Men and women also vote separately and elect their own leaders. Among the Ismailis, women can be presidents of councils, chairs of boards and they even lead the [[jamat]] in prayers, conduct and preside over religious ceremonies. They wear neither the veil nor the hijab.
+It was the separation that led to the development of two Khoja ethnic community structures. One, the Ismaili structure is a vertical hierarchy centering on the absolute authority of the imam. The other, the Ithna Asheri structure functions under [[The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities]] or WFSIMC which is based in London. Both the structures are like pyramids if one was to make diagrams. But there is a difference. Members of the WFSICC are elected by the jamat through a parliamentary type of voting process. The jamat feeds its suggestions and concerns through several committees to the central management that makes decisions. The Ismaili structure that includes not just the [[Khojas]] but also other Ismailis from Syria, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and others like the Punjabis and Momnas, is based on appointments from the hands-on day to day volunteers up the ladder to the International Leaders’ Forum. There is yet another difference which is that in the Ithna Asheri jamat there is a marked separation between men and women in all secular and religious functions including sittings in committees. Men and women also vote separately and elect their own leaders. Among the Ismailis, women can be presidents of councils, chairs of boards and they even lead the jamat in prayers, conduct and preside over religious ceremonies. They wear neither the veil nor the hijab.
 ==The Satpanthi Khojas==

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 The religious and social separation between the two ethnic Lohana communities came to be sharply defined after the Aga Khan Case in 1866 presided over by Justice Sir Joseph Arnould in the Bombay High Court. Communal properties such as burial grounds and many of the [[Jamat Khanas]] were claimed by imam Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I). Though some jamat khanas that were under family or trust names were sometimes divided into two prayer halls with a wall between. Some years back, I had heard Khoja Ismailis who had been for a visit to India, say how surprised they were to find two prayer halls in one building. One was for vadi jamat that was the jamat khana, and the other was for nindhi jamat that was the masjid of the Ithna Asheri. Both stood shoulder to shoulder like brothers as if to say though their faiths differed they were from one family. The two jamats that share a unique Indian ethnic identity called Khoja, mingled with ease in the jamat khana-masjid yard outside.
-It was the separation that led to the development of two Khoja ethnic community structures. One, the Ismaili structure is a vertical hierarchy centering on the absolute authority of the imam. The other, the Ithna Asheri structure functions under [[The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities]] or WFSIMC which is based in London. Both the structures are like pyramids if one was to make diagrams. But there is a difference. Members of the WFSICC are elected by the jamat through a parliamentary type of voting process. The jamat feeds its suggestions and concerns through several committees to the central management that makes decisions. The Ismaili structure that includes not just the [[Khojas]] but also other Ismailis from Syria, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and others like the Punjabis and Momnas, is based on appointments from the hands-on day to day volunteers up the ladder to the International Leaders’ Forum. There is yet another difference which is that in the Ithna Asheri jamat there is a marked separation between men and women in all secular and religious functions including sittings in committees. Men and women also vote separately and elect their own leaders. Among the Ismailis, women can be presidents of councils, chairs of boards and they even lead the jamat in prayers, conduct and preside over religious ceremonies. They wear neither the veil nor the hijab.
+It was the separation that led to the development of two Khoja ethnic community structures. One, the Ismaili structure is a vertical hierarchy centering on the absolute authority of the imam. The other, the Ithna Asheri structure functions under [[The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities]] or WFSIMC which is based in London. Both the structures are like pyramids if one was to make diagrams. But there is a difference. Members of the WFSICC are elected by the jamat through a parliamentary type of voting process. The jamat feeds its suggestions and concerns through several committees to the central management that makes decisions. The Ismaili structure that includes not just the [[Khojas]] but also other Ismailis from Syria, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and others like the Punjabis and Momnas, is based on appointments from the hands-on day to day volunteers up the ladder to the International Leaders’ Forum. There is yet another difference which is that in the Ithna Asheri jamat there is a marked separation between men and women in all secular and religious functions including sittings in committees. Men and women also vote separately and elect their own leaders. Among the Ismailis, women can be presidents of councils, chairs of boards and they even lead the [[jamat]] in prayers, conduct and preside over religious ceremonies. They wear neither the veil nor the hijab.
 ==The Satpanthi Khojas==

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==Harmony Between Two Communities==
-The religious and social separation between the two ethnic Lohana communities came to be sharply defined after the Aga Khan Case in 1866 presided over by Justice Sir Joseph Arnould in the Bombay High Court. Communal properties such as burial grounds and many of the jamat khanas were claimed by imam Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I). Though some jamat khanas that were under family or trust names were sometimes divided into two prayer halls with a wall between. Some years back, I had heard Khoja Ismailis who had been for a visit to India, say how surprised they were to find two prayer halls in one building. One was for vadi jamat that was the jamat khana, and the other was for nindhi jamat that was the masjid of the Ithna Asheri. Both stood shoulder to shoulder like brothers as if to say though their faiths differed they were from one family. The two jamats that share a unique Indian ethnic identity called Khoja, mingled with ease in the jamat khana-masjid yard outside.
+The religious and social separation between the two ethnic Lohana communities came to be sharply defined after the Aga Khan Case in 1866 presided over by Justice Sir Joseph Arnould in the Bombay High Court. Communal properties such as burial grounds and many of the [[Jamat Khanas]] were claimed by imam Hasan Ali Shah (Aga Khan I). Though some jamat khanas that were under family or trust names were sometimes divided into two prayer halls with a wall between. Some years back, I had heard Khoja Ismailis who had been for a visit to India, say how surprised they were to find two prayer halls in one building. One was for vadi jamat that was the jamat khana, and the other was for nindhi jamat that was the masjid of the Ithna Asheri. Both stood shoulder to shoulder like brothers as if to say though their faiths differed they were from one family. The two jamats that share a unique Indian ethnic identity called Khoja, mingled with ease in the jamat khana-masjid yard outside.
 It was the separation that led to the development of two Khoja ethnic community structures. One, the Ismaili structure is a vertical hierarchy centering on the absolute authority of the imam. The other, the Ithna Asheri structure functions under [[The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities]] or WFSIMC which is based in London. Both the structures are like pyramids if one was to make diagrams. But there is a difference. Members of the WFSICC are elected by the jamat through a parliamentary type of voting process. The jamat feeds its suggestions and concerns through several committees to the central management that makes decisions. The Ismaili structure that includes not just the [[Khojas]] but also other Ismailis from Syria, Afghanistan, Northern Pakistan, Central Asia and others like the Punjabis and Momnas, is based on appointments from the hands-on day to day volunteers up the ladder to the International Leaders’ Forum. There is yet another difference which is that in the Ithna Asheri jamat there is a marked separation between men and women in all secular and religious functions including sittings in committees. Men and women also vote separately and elect their own leaders. Among the Ismailis, women can be presidents of councils, chairs of boards and they even lead the jamat in prayers, conduct and preside over religious ceremonies. They wear neither the veil nor the hijab.
 ==The Satpanthi Khojas==

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 Next I look forward to visiting a Sunni Khoja masjid and jamaat. I wonder how they have come together and made their community after the separation from the Satpanth in the 19th Century. I wonder how they keep their historical memory and if they would identify themselves as Khoja Sunni similar to how Khoja Ithna Asheri do twining their ethnic identity with their religious one. Or if they would rather wish to be known as Sunni similar to how the Khoja Ismaili present their identity today as just Ismaili or more recently as Ismaili Muslims. I wonder if they would remember me as their estranged cousin brother? And I am thinking if they would be as warm and welcoming as the Khoja Ithna Asheris were to me visiting the Jafferi Centre in Toronto in the summer of 2014.
-'''Article by:''' Sultan Somjee
+'''Article by:''' [[Sultan Somjee]]
 ''' (Ethnographer and Author of Bead Bai )'''

@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 Next I look forward to visiting a Sunni Khoja masjid and jamaat. I wonder how they have come together and made their community after the separation from the Satpanth in the 19th Century. I wonder how they keep their historical memory and if they would identify themselves as Khoja Sunni similar to how Khoja Ithna Asheri do twining their ethnic identity with their religious one. Or if they would rather wish to be known as Sunni similar to how the Khoja Ismaili present their identity today as just Ismaili or more recently as Ismaili Muslims. I wonder if they would remember me as their estranged cousin brother? And I am thinking if they would be as warm and welcoming as the Khoja Ithna Asheris were to me visiting the Jafferi Centre in Toronto in the summer of 2014.
-'''Article:''' Sultan Somjee
+'''Article by:''' Sultan Somjee
 ''' (Ethnographer and Author of Bead Bai )'''

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 ==Khoja History & Heritage==
-Earlier in 2014, curator Burket Ali wrote on the poster commemorating Khoja History and Heritage: Learn the origins and the history of our community and understand how we have evolved. The poster informed about a people to people educational exhibition that was put together in Leicester, the UK. Hundreds of Ithna Asheris of varied ethnicities attended this exhibition. There also came an invited group of Khoja Ismailis including the mukhi of the Leicester jamat Khana, and a donation from a well-wishing Ismaili was warmly received. Also in 2014 I saw a parallel between this exhibition, the exhibition at Jafferi Centre and a short film called [[The Khojas:A Journey of Faith]] - A People’s History. This enchanting movie made by [[Hasnain Walji]] from California had premier showings in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary in the summer of this year. There were groups of Khoja Ismailis among the audience.
+Earlier in 2014, curator Burket Ali wrote on the poster commemorating Khoja History and Heritage: Learn the origins and the history of our community and understand how we have evolved. The poster informed about a people to people educational exhibition that was put together in Leicester, the UK. Hundreds of Ithna Asheris of varied ethnicities attended this exhibition. There also came an invited group of Khoja Ismailis including the mukhi of the Leicester jamat Khana, and a donation from a well-wishing Ismaili was warmly received. Also in 2014 I saw a parallel between this exhibition, the exhibition at Jafferi Centre and a short film called [http://khojapedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_Khojas_a_Journey_of_faith '''The Khojas: A Journey of Faith'''] - A People’s History. This enchanting movie made by [[Hasnain Walji]] from California had premier showings in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary in the summer of this year. There were groups of Khoja Ismailis among the audience.
 ==Library and Archives Storing Memories==

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-==Location==
+==Centre's Location==
 At 9000 Bathrust Avenue in Toronto’s plush suburb is the Jafferi Centre. It’s markedly different Islamic architecture stands out from the surrounding neighbourhood. As we turned into the Centre’s grounds, not far away at the end of the road, I saw yet another religious architectural style, a Jewish Centre. Here, I thought, is a fine example of Canadian pluralism.
 ==Insight Tour of the Centre==