“That is something unique to Canada. It is an amazing global human asset.”

Canada has for many years been a beacon to the rest of the world for its commitment to pluralism and for its support for the multicultural richness and diversity of its peoples.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture seeks to make a better place in physical terms.

The Islamic ethic is that if God has given you the capacity or good fortune to be a privileged individual in society, you have a moral responsibility to society.

The Muslim world, with its history and cultures, and indeed its different interpretations of Islam, is still little known in the West.

They are all different, in terms of history, and the religious compositions of the populations involved.

A proper home can provide the bridge across that terrible gulf between poverty and a better future.

None of these situations are identical. You cannot take one set of issues from one country and apply it to another.

The search for justice and security, the struggle for equality of opportunity, the quest for tolerance and harmony, the pursuit of human dignity.

If our animosities are born out of fear, then confident generosity is born out of hope.

There is nothing wrong with being well off as long as money has a social and ethical value and is not the object of one’s own greed.

A secure pluralistic society requires communities that are educated and confident both in the identity and depth of their own traditions and in those of their neighbours.

This means trying to bring values into environments, buildings, and contexts that improve the quality of life for future generations.

In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect.

These are moral imperatives which we must work towards and think about on a daily basis.

Pluralist societies are not accidents of history. They are a product of enlightened education and continuous investment by governments and all of civil society in recognizing and celebrating the diversity of the world’s peoples.

The Pope is only concerned with the spiritual welfare of his flock.