Ismail Bhai

Ismail Bhai is a husband, a father and a member of the Shia Ismaili Muslim community of Dallas, Texas.

He holds that faith, learning and family are the three pillars of a good life, and that each is strengthened by the others. Outside his work in insurance he is drawn to open country: the cricket field, the patient discipline of wildlife photography, and the mountains in winter.

Shia Ismaili Muslims are a culturally diverse community living in more than twenty-five countries, guided by a living, hereditary Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through Hazrat Ali and Bibi Fatima.

The tradition holds that faith is not separate from the world but is expressed in it: in the quality of one's work, the care of one's family and the service one offers to others, of every faith and background.

Few communities place learning so close to the heart of faith. The intellect is understood as a divine gift, and its cultivation as a duty owed equally by daughters and sons.

That conviction is visible in institutions such as the Aga Khan University, the Aga Khan Academies and the University of Central Asia, and in countless schools across Asia and Africa that serve students of every faith. For Ismail, education is the surest investment a family can make: it compounds across generations and can never be taken away.

Voluntary service is one of the quiet strengths of Ismaili life. Members give their time to the Jamatkhana, to schools, to health programs and to neighbours in need, without expectation of reward. It is an ethic of responsibility: that whatever one has been given is held in trust, and is meant to be shared.

The community regards difference not as a threat but as an enrichment of human life. In a city as varied as Dallas, that idea is a daily practice: respect for one's neighbours, curiosity about their traditions, and a common commitment to the place one calls home.

At the centre of it all is family. The shared table, the long conversations, the traditions passed from parents to children: these are where values are learned rather than taught. Ismail's wife, Rozmeen Bhai, writes on faith, the saree and the kitchen at rozmeenbhai.com.

• Cricket. The history and spirit of the game, at ismailbhaicricket.com.
• Wildlife. Photography of the natural world, at ismailbhaiwildlife.com.
• Skiing. Notes from the mountains, at ismailbhaiskiing.com.
• Insurance. Lessons in managing risk, at ismailbhaiinsurance.com.