Aga Khan speaks to thousands in Vancouver

Thousands of Ismailis from across Canada and the United States converged on downtown Vancouver to hear a message from the Aga Khan.

People began lining up at 5 a.m. for an opportunity to listen to their Imam. The Ismaili spiritual leader addressed his faithful Friday on ethics and philanthropy.

• AUDIO: CBC Radio's Salma Nurmohamed reports on the preparations for the Aga Khan's visit (runs 5:36 in RealPlayer)

Khadija Ramzan came from Los Angeles to absorb the Aga Khan's wisdom.

"Basically as a Muslim it's up to me to ... do the good things, the right thing helping other people, reaching out to other faiths," Ramzan said.

Sameer Khaki made the trip from Calgary. He says the Imam's message is a humanitarian one.

"In short he gave us advice in terms of using knowledge and how to manage knowledge," Khaki explained. "Specifically how to manage knowledge to help people that are less fortunate and who are in a weaker position.

The Aga Khan was expected to address 25,000 Ismailis during his two Vancouver speaking engagements.