Recently, at the Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana
in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., on June 23, 2002,
KARIM AGA KHAN
declared in his speech before the distinguished guests 
and the members of his Jamaat 
"the word of the Quran is the word of God"

This speech is copied from

 http://www.akdn.org/speeches/texas.html

Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan 
at the Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana 
and Center, Houston, June 23, 2002

Governor Perry, 
First Lady of Texas, Anita Perry, 
Mayor Wallace, 
Leaders and representatives of the Congress of the United States, 
the State of Texas and the City of Houston,
Consuls General, 
Distinguished Guests

It is a great pleasure to be here today to welcome one and all to the  Inauguration of the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center at Houston. 
I am particularly thankful for your presence Governor Perry, and of the First Lady of Texas, and for that of many other elected officials on an occasion of great significance for the Ismaili Community of greater Houston. 

--- some text, complimenting the architect and the contractor is deleted ---

Many of you may be surprised by the amount of time I have devoted to talking about architecture on this occasion.  Those familiar with my understanding of the importance of architecture in the teachings of Islam and Islamic history will not have the same reaction.  Islam does not deal in dichotomies but in all 
encompassing unity.  Spirit and body are one, man and nature are one. What is more, man is answerable to God for what man has created. Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environments we build and the quality of the interactions that take place within them reverberate on our spiritual lives.  As the leader of a Muslim community, 
and particularly one that now resides in twenty-five countries on four continents,  the physical representation of Islamic values is particularly important to me.  It should reflect who we are in terms of our beliefs, our cultural heritage and  our relation to the needs and contexts in which we live in today’s world.

--- some text is deleted ---

  Nine eleven has scarred America, but not just America.  It has scarred the Islamic world, and hundreds of millions of devout and practicing Muslims for whom the word of the Quran is the word of God. We have clarity and direction enough when the Quran affirms that to save a life is, as if, to save humankind altogether.   It is in this context that I request that you view the Ismaili Jamatkhana and Center, Houston, as much, much more than a place of congregation, and a home for administrative offices. The Center will be a place of peace, humility, reflection and prayer.  It will be a place of search and enlightenment, not of anger and of obscurantism. It will be a center which will seek to bond men and women of this pluralist country to replace their fragility in their narrow spheres by the strength of civilized society bound together by a common destiny.  It is already a symbol of the hopes of people who lived through change and turbulence, and have ultimately found security and opportunity here in the United States, the majority of whom have chosen the State of Texas. 

  Thank you for sharing this important occasion with us.

 ---  the end of speech  ---

Note: No devout follower of Karim Aga Khan can dispute the Revealed Verses of the Glorious Qur'an after having read the above speech. Here is an important Verse:

"Nor be of those who reject the Signs of Allah or thou shalt be of those who perish.  (Glorious Qur'an 10: 95)

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