Getting to know someone: The perspective of a Johns Hopkins Ismaili

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Hello all! My name is Khurram Ali and I am an International Studies major here at Hopkins. I am also on the pre-medicine track, so I have taken a broad range of courses at this school.

You are probably wondering “what is he going to do with IR and pre-med?” I want to practice medicine but I also want to do health development work. Part of my inspiration to improve the lives of others comes from my religious faith—the other part comes from my desire to seek knowledge. If you asked me these questions three years ago, I probably would not have been able to say much. But in my time here I have developed a better sense of not  only what I want to do—but whoI want to be.  And the latter is much more important.

I want to begin from a global context. Perhaps one of the most difficult challenges of our time is our conflict with those that seek to use violence as political posturing. In the post 9/11 world, the media is filled with images of terrorism and acts of aggression that have erupted outside of the United States in places unfamiliar to many of us. Reporters from all sides of the spectrum (from the Washington Post to the Economist to Al Jazeera) depict our fight against terrorism as a conflict between the East and West.

 

Wait, what? East vs West?

This makes me feel weird. Because. Well…really? East vs West?

For 17 years of my life I have lived in the West. Both my parents are from the East and I was born in Karachi. So where do I belong?

I am reminded of Samuel Huntington’s famous book “The Clash of Civilizations”.  Are we at war with the East? I mean West?

As a Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim, and as a western-educated American, I am prone to say that we are instead (as Edward Said and others have noted) in the midst of a “clash of ignorances.”

My religious community is led by the Aga Khan IV, the 49^th descendant of the Holy Prophet. The Aga Khan preaches a message of peace and unity. He cites the Qu’ran to explain that all members of our world come from a single source (in Islam, God) and that from that single source we have matured into different creatures with unique characteristics and abilities. He notes this to remind us that diversity is a strength—indeed, human beings are different so that we can learn from each other and find solidarity in what makes us unique. But he also notes this to point to our common humanity—despite being different, we all live together as one, with a responsibility to our planet and God’s creation.

Understanding this notion of pluralism has been central to my experience at Johns Hopkins. Indeed, the people that I have met here come from all walks of life—and getting to know them has been my greatest reward.

I wish I could tell you all about my friends and the cool things that they do—but then I would never be able to stop writing. I will say this: one thing that all my closest friends here have in common is a strong desire to learn from others. We enjoy getting to know people and we love making new and exciting friendships. Why does this matter?

It matters if we want to stop things like the conflict between “the East and the West.” Policy is important, but so is understanding that democracy relies on pluralism—alienation and exclusionism creates divisions in our society that are unacceptable in a truly democratic ethos. Learning to get to know others is a fundamental skill—we might have differences, but realizing that those differences should help us understand each other is so much better than letting differences preclude us from getting to know each other. I think this is true for college life as much as it is true for life in general.

My religious faith has helped me understand the value of pluralism—but my experiences here have helped me live by that principle.  Thinking of this really makes me hope that Huntington is wrong, because according to him “a clash of civilizations” is inevitable. But if we live in a clash of ignorances, we can hope to prevent conflict by actually learning from each other.

I wish you the best of luck on that uniquely enjoyable and enriching journey.

1 Comment

• By Dominique D., October 21, 2011 @ 8:07 PM

  Hi Khurram! Great entry! :)

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