Ḥakīm Pīr Nāṣir-i Khisraw in his inimitable style of poetry says that God graces human beings, the cream of His creation, with a mother, her breast full of milk and a nipple so that the child has only to suck the nourishment for its growth and development. This is Pīr Nāṣir’s analogy for the seekers of spiritual knowledge who have to only suck the milk of enlightened knowledge!

In the aftermath of the Covid 19 pandemic, it was apparent that such seekers of knowledge were ready for a Zoom platform to deliver such knowledge to them. The organisers were inspired by the following Farmān of Mawlānā Ḥāzir Imam made on 29th October 1958 to the Ismailia Association for Pakistan:

“Each one of you should have a deep knowledge and true understanding of his Faith. To those who contribute to the acquisition of this knowledge and understanding by others, and to those who have made it their aim to know about their Faith, I send my best loving blessings.”

The Global Lecture series aim to deliver knowledge of the Ismaili Tariqah of Islam systematically, beginning with some Core Concepts, progressing to several Key Verses of the Holy Qur’an followed by a detailed Intellectual History of the Tariqah bringing it to our contemporary times. A series of thematic presentations on the guidance of the Imam of the Time has now culminated in a series presently studying the speeches of the Imam in the public fora.

The contents of the lectures are underpinned by the Imam of the Time’s emphasis to have recourse to “primary sources”. In guidance to the Ismailia Association for Pakistan in 1960, He said: “More than ever today we must be able to publish authoritative documents based on primary sources. There is no point in us rereading and rereading and rereading third-hand or fourth-hand documents. We can only get tied up in other people’s interpretations, get further and further away from the original concept and thoroughly muddle and cloud what should be the truth.”

In the context of the above guidance, Global Lectures and presentations use primary sources and are fully referenced. The topics and themes are to strengthen the identity of the global Ismaili Jamat and equip the younger generation to live comfortably in a pluralist world. Lecture sessions are followed by questions and answers and interactive discussions are encouraged. All the lectures, selected books and PowerPoint presentations are available on the website. Lectures are delivered in English and Urdu to cater to audiences from the East and the West. Volunteers are in the process of transcribing the lectures which are also posted on the website with each lecture course.