Khalili Foundation

Last updated

The Khalili Foundation
Founded1995
FounderProfessor Sir Nasser David Khalili
Registration no.1044028
Focus Interfaith dialogue, Intercultural dialogue
Location
Area served
International [1]
Executive Director
Waqas Ahmed
Website www.khalili.foundation
Formerly called
Maimonides Foundation

The Khalili Foundation is a UK-based charity promoting interfaith and intercultural understanding through art, culture and education. [2] Its founder and chairman is the London-based philanthropist, art collector and scholar Sir David Khalili. A Persian Jew who grew up in Iran, he is notable for having the world's largest private collection of Islamic art. [3] Established in 1995, the foundation has created interfaith and intercultural links through "cultural, academic, sporting and educational programmes". [4]

Contents

History

The investiture of Sir David Khalili presided by King Charles III "for services to interfaith relations and charity" at Windsor Castle David Khalili investiture 16Nov22a.jpg
The investiture of Sir David Khalili presided by King Charles III "for services to interfaith relations and charity" at Windsor Castle

The foundation was registered with the Charity Commission in 1995, having previously been named the Maimonides Foundation after Moses Maimonides, a 12th-century philosopher, theologian and leader of the Jewish faith. [5] [6] Maimonides wrote positively about Christianity and Islam was thus taken by Khalili as inspiration for the name. [7] [8] [4]

In the aftermath of the September 11th attacks in the United States, according to Mehri Niknam, Executive Director of what was then named the Maimonides Foundation, "everyone told us it would be impossible to co-operate with Muslims." Instead they intensified their effort of promoting inter-cultural understanding. [9] Niknam said at a conference about the attacks that "religions cannot be isolationist, cultures must develop or stagnate, and communities need to interact." [10]

Sir David Khalili was appointed as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 2012 for "his outstanding commitment to the promotion of peace through education and culture". [11] [12] The foundation was mentioned when he was knighted "for services to interfaith relations and charity" in the Queen's birthday honours for 2020. [12] Niknam was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2005 for her work as director of the charity. [5]

Partnerships

Baroness Patricia Scotland and Sir David Khalili at the launch of the Commonwealth Faith Festival, 8 February 2024 Baroness Scotland and Sir David Khalili at Commonwealth Faith Festival.jpg
Baroness Patricia Scotland and Sir David Khalili at the launch of the Commonwealth Faith Festival, 8 February 2024

Faith in the Commonwealth is a global citizenship education project started and overseen jointly by the Commonwealth and the Khalili Foundation. [13] [14] [11] It gives peace activism workshops to people from the ages of 15 to 29 from different faith backgrounds, including those of no faith, [15] supporting them in developing social action projects within their communities. [16] These projects address topics such as hate speech, girls' education, and indigenous people's rights. [16] Workshops have taken place in Kenya, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Uganda, and the Caribbean. [11]

The Khalili Foundation has partnered with the Prince's Trust and its Mosaic Initiative to support global citizenship events for young people. [17] The foundation gave "global citizenship training" to young people in the UK as part of the trust's Young Leaders Programme. These trainees ran a series of Youth Summits for people from 22 Commonwealth countries on themes including education and sustainable development. [18]

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, the Khalili Foundation, in association with UNESCO, produced and published a book of essays on cultural diversity by intellectuals, artists, and leaders including Antonio Guterres, Patricia Scotland, Michelle Bachelet, David Adjaye, Sami Yusuf, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Wales, Daniel Barenboim, and Vandana Shiva. [19]

Interfaith programmes

Khalili at the 2012 launch of the Interfaith Explorers educational materials Khalili Interfaith Explorers launch.jpg
Khalili at the 2012 launch of the Interfaith Explorers educational materials

Interfaith Explorers

Interfaith Explorers is a UNESCO-supported online educational resource for children aged 10 to 11, teaching about Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. [20] The course is freely offered to schools and supported by four hundred online videos. [21] Begun in 2012, it has been promoted in 18,000 primary schools in England and Wales and to UNESCO's international network of 13,500 schools. [22] Interviewed in 2012, Khalili said that it is important to show children the similarities between Abrahamic religions at an early age: "We have no choice but to start now. If we don’t, in twenty to thirty years we’ll be sitting down here having the same conversation about the Middle East problem." [23]

Schools programme

The schools programme brings Jewish and Muslim school students together to discuss inter-faith and cultural issues. [24] It was introduced in 2003, when Jewish sixth formers from Immanuel College visited Muslim students in Brondesbury College, along with staff from both schools. [25] The students were given a talk on the similarities between the history and the culture of the Jewish and Muslim people. The message of the talk was "harmonious co-existence and good citizenship in the United Kingdom". [24] The foundation has provided speakers for schools and student groups to promote discussion of topics including social inclusion, antisemitism and Islamophobia. [25]

The foundation has paid for 3,000 copies of an English book based on Quranic stories of Joseph and Moses to be translated into Arabic and distributed to school children on the West Bank. [6] [26] This is intended to show Muslim and Jewish children the shared heritage of the religions. [6] Forty thousand free copies of Khalili's textbook on Islamic art — 20,000 each in English and in Arabic — have been distributed by the foundation in the UK and in Muslim countries to promote understanding of Islamic heritage. [27]

Football programme

The Circle of Piece, a painting by the British artist Ben Johnson designed by Khalili as a kaleidoscope of the word "peace" in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. Khalili Foundation Circle Peace.jpg
The Circle of Piece, a painting by the British artist Ben Johnson designed by Khalili as a kaleidoscope of the word "peace" in Hebrew, English, and Arabic.

The football programme began in 1990, with Jewish and Muslim children aged 9 to 12 playing football on Sunday mornings for three weeks. The children, from both secular schools and faith schools, play in mixed-faith teams. [25] Parents attend the matches, bringing adults from both communities together. [9] The Arsenal football club has supported this cause by providing training and allowing the use of their stadium in North London. [26] [6] The foundation also trains young people to act as football coaches in their own communities. [28]

International visits

The foundation has sent representatives to the Middle East, encouraging prominent figures and officials from both Judaism and Islam to attend each other's places of worship. Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Sheikh Zaki Badawi are among those who have travelled internationally, supported by the foundation, to attend mosques and synagogues. [6] The foundation has also brought Jewish and Muslim academics together in theology seminars and lectures. [6] The foundation believes they would thus enhance understanding and relationships between Jews and Muslims. [29]

Academic programmes

The programmes include theology seminars, academic lectures, and a Jewish-Muslim lecture series. [30]

Art programmes

One of the foundation's art programmes, Dialogue Through Art, creates an opportunity for Jewish and Muslim students to collaborate on an art project. It also offers students a positive experience of both Jewish and Islamic heritage through joint visits to relevant art exhibitions and museums. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic–Jewish relations</span> Overview of the relationship between the religions of Judaism and Islam

Islamic–Jewish relations comprise the human and diplomatic relations between Jewish people and Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and their surrounding regions. Jewish–Islamic relations may also refer to the shared and disputed ideals between Judaism and Islam, which began roughly in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. The two religions share similar values, guidelines, and principles. Islam also incorporates Jewish history as a part of its own. Muslims regard the Children of Israel as an important religious concept in Islam. Moses, the most important prophet of Judaism, is also considered a prophet and messenger in Islam. Moses is mentioned in the Quran more than any other individual, and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. There are approximately 43 references to the Israelites in the Quran, and many in the Hadith. Later rabbinic authorities and Jewish scholars such as Maimonides discussed the relationship between Islam and Jewish law. Maimonides himself, it has been argued, was influenced by Islamic legal thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interfaith dialogue</span> Positive interaction of different religious people

Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Relief</span> International aid agency based in Birmingham, UK

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Interfaith marriage, sometimes called interreligious marriage or "mixed marriage", is marriage between spouses professing different religions. Although interfaith marriages are often established as civil marriages, in some instances they may be established as a religious marriage. This depends on religious doctrine of each of the two parties' religions; some prohibit interfaith marriage, and among others there are varying degrees of permissibility.

The Faith and Belief Forum, formerly known as the Three Faiths Forum (3FF), is an interfaith organisation in the United Kingdom.

Princess Badiya bint El Hassan is a Jordanian princess. She is the third daughter of Prince Hassan bin Talal and Princess Sarvath al-Hassan, and a first cousin of King Abdullah II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nasser Khalili</span> British-Iranian scholar, collector and philanthropist

Sir Nasser David Khalili KCSS is a British-Iranian scholar, collector, and philanthropist based in London. Born in Iran and educated at Queens College, City University of New York and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he is a naturalised British citizen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yehuda Stolov</span>

Yehuda Stolov, an Israeli, is a founder and the executive director of the Interfaith Encounter Association (IEA). He currently resides in Jerusalem with his wife, Lia and his three kids.

Maimonides may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Blair Faith Foundation</span> Charitable foundation

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation was an interfaith charitable foundation established in May 2008 by former British prime minister Tony Blair. Since December 2016 its work has been continued by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

Dilwar Hussain is an independent British consultant working on social policy, Muslim identity and Islamic reform in the modern world. He formerly taught MA courses on Islam and Muslims at the Markfield Institute of Higher Education.

The Awareness Foundation, formerly the Trinity Foundation for Christianity and Culture, is a Christian charity that was established in England in 2003 for the purpose of peace-building between the Middle East and West.

Coexist House is a charity for interfaith dialogue based at Inner Temple in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Mogra</span>

Ibrahim Mogra is an imam from Leicester and former Assistant Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Janner-Klausner</span> British rabbi

Laura Naomi Janner-Klausner is a British rabbi and an inclusion and development coach who served as the inaugural Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism from 2011 until 2020. Janner-Klausner grew up in London before studying theology at the University of Cambridge and moving to Israel in 1985, living in Jerusalem for 15 years. She returned to Britain in 1999 and was ordained at Leo Baeck College, serving as rabbi at Alyth Synagogue until 2011. She has been serving as Rabbi at Bromley Reform Synagogue in south-east London since April 2022.

Harris Bokhari is the founder and a trustee at the Patchwork Foundation, for which he won the Diversity Champion of the Year Award in early 2018. The Patchwork Foundation promotes the positive integration of disadvantaged and minority communities into British democracy and civil society."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalili Collections</span> 8 art collections of Nasser D. Khalili

The Khalili Collections are eight distinct art collections assembled by Nasser D. Khalili over five decades. Together, the collections include some 35,000 works of art, and each is considered among the most important in its field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Marks</span> Social activist

Laura Elizabeth Marks is an inter-faith social activist, policy adviser, writer and media commentator. Marks has founded and chaired social organisations including Mitzvah Day International and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalili Collection of Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage</span> Collection of items relating to Islamic pilgrimage

The Khalili Collection of the Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage is a private collection of around 5,000 items relating to the Hajj, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca which is a religious duty in Islam. It is one of eight collections assembled, conserved, published and exhibited by the British-Iranian scholar, collector and philanthropist Nasser Khalili; each collection is considered among the most important in its field. The collection's 300 textiles include embroidered curtains from the Kaaba, the Station of Abraham, the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad and other holy sites, as well as textiles that would have formed part of pilgrimage caravans from Egypt or Syria. It also has illuminated manuscripts depicting the practice and folklore of the Hajj as well as photographs, art pieces, and commemorative objects relating to the Hajj and the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalili Collection of Islamic Art</span> Private collection of art from Islamic lands

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art includes 28,000 objects documenting Islamic art over a period of almost 1400 years, from 700 AD to the end of the twentieth century. It is the largest of the Khalili Collections: eight collections assembled, conserved, published and exhibited by the British-Iranian scholar, collector and philanthropist Nasser David Khalili, each of which is considered among the most important in its field. Khalili's collection is one of the most comprehensive Islamic art collections in the world and the largest in private hands.

References

  1. ↑ "KHALILI FOUNDATION - Charity 1044028 governing document". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  2. ↑ "KHALILI FOUNDATION - Charity 1044028 overview". register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-12-06.
  3. ↑ "British entrepreneur Nasser David Khalili named UNESCO goodwill ambassador". UN News. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  4. 1 2 "About". Khalili Foundation. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
  5. 1 2 Casciani, Dominic (16 March 2005). "How do Jews and Muslims talk?". BBC News. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Binyon, Michael (20 December 2005). "Bridge between the mosque and the synagogue". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  7. ↑ Khalili, Nasser D. (2015). "A Common Faith". FIRST.
  8. ↑ "KHALILI FOUNDATION - Charity 1044028". Charity Commission. Retrieved 2022-02-16.
  9. 1 2 "Table Talk - Bridging The Religious Divide". emel - the muslim lifestyle magazine (7). September–October 2004. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  10. ↑ Niknam, Mehri (2003). "Lessons of 9/11". European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe. 36 (1): 33–35. ISSN   0014-3006 – via JSTOR.
  11. 1 2 3 "Nasser David KHALILI". UNESCO. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  12. 1 2 "Queen's Birthday Honours: High Awards". GOV.UK. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  13. ↑ "Kenyan peacebuilders join forces to boost positive interfaith relations". Modern Diplomacy. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  14. ↑ "Faith in the Commonwealth". Khalili Foundation. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  15. ↑ "Faith in the Commonwealth". thecommonwealth.org. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  16. 1 2 "Faith in the Commonwealth: Promoting Global Citizenship and Religious Literacy" (PDF). Commonwealth Secretariat. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  17. ↑ "Khalili Foundation launch partnership with Mosaic". Prince's Trust Mosaic. 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  18. ↑ "Young people from the Commonwealth discuss views on education at Youth Summit". www.princes-trust.org.uk. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  19. ↑ Ottone, Ernesto (2021). "Foreword". In Ahmed, Waqas (ed.). UNESCO The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity: Marking the 20th Anniversary. London: Khalili Foundation. p. 13. ISBN   978-1-3999-1149-8.
  20. ↑ "Maimonides Interfaith Foundation". The Religious Education Council of England and Wales. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  21. ↑ Rocker, Simon (31 May 2012). "Interfaith project has royal backing". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  22. ↑ "Universality and the Art of Peace: A conversation with Professor Nasser D. Khalili". FIRST: 22. Autumn 2014.
  23. ↑ Conway, Vassilissa (24 November 2012). "Conversation with Professor Khalili". The Art Collector. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  24. 1 2 "Schools Programme". Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  25. 1 2 3 Niknam, Rebecca (2005). "Developing inter faith programmes with and for young people: the Maimonidies Foundation experience". Connecting for the future : young people and inter faith relations in Britain. London: Interfaith Network for the U.K. ISBN   1-902906-21-7. OCLC   77560991.
  26. 1 2 Swibel, Matthew (28 March 2005). "Can't we all just get along? [Sidebar to "God Is Great"]". Forbes . Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  27. ↑ "Visions of Splendour | Maimonides Interfaith Initiative". Khalili Foundation. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  28. ↑ Lloyd, Ian (30 May 2001). "Using sport to bridge ethnic gap". News Shopper. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  29. ↑ "International visits". Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
  30. ↑ "Academic Programmes". Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 2010-09-28.
  31. ↑ "The Maimonides Foundation, London". Coventry University. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
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