Prince Karim Al-Hussaini who, at 20, became the 49th hereditary Imam or spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, and led the community with a blend of modernity and entrepreneurial flair, died Tuesday in Lisbon. He was 88.
As founder-chairman of Aga Khan Development Network, the Aga Khan IV, as he is known, will also be remembered for endowments that helped restore the iconic Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery in Delhi along with the Qutub Shah Tombs near Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, writes Mohammed Wajihuddin. The restoration of the gardens at Humayun’s Tomb, in fact, was a gift on the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Aga Khan himself visited India in Sept 2013 to inaugurate the restored Tomb.
Suave and soft-spoken, Prince Karim commanded respect globally for his modern outlook and interpretation of Islam as a thinking faith that teaches compassion and tolerance.
Late Wednesday, Prince Karim’s son Rahim Al-Hussaini was named the new Aga Khan.
Unlike most Muslim spiritual leaders who are bearded, Prince Karim was clean shaven and donned contemporary attire.
The jet-setting spiritual leader was also counted among the world’s wealthiest people. According to The New York Times, the Aga Khan’s fortune was variously estimated at $1 billion to $13 billion, with a substantial family inheritance as well as private investments in luxury hotels, airlines and racehorses. He had a global following of approximately 15 million. The projects he supported ranged from health initiatives in developing countries to upscale development on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Aga Khans have a strong connection with India. Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Shia Ismailis who was bestowed the title of the Aga Khan (commanding chief) after heCops take deported immigrants for questioning after their arrival in Amritsar married the then Shah of Iran Fatehali Shah Kachar’s daughter, emigrated to India in the early 1840s and settled in Mumbai (then Bombay). For nearly a century, the Imamat or the spiritual headquarters of the community remained in the city till Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, the Aga Khan III, left for Europe where he died on July 11, 1957.
Prince Karim succeeded his grandfather the Aga Khan III at the age of 20, bypassing his father Prince Aly Khan and uncle Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. He was then a student of Islamic studies at Harvard.
The Aga Khan III had reasoned: “In view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world…including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interests of the Ismaili community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age, and who brings a new outlook on life to his office.”
The Aga Khan’s last visit to India was in Feb 2018 as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of his leadership. In Mumbai, he had addressed around 40,000 followers at Mumbai University’s Kalina campus.
“His global humanitarian works have provided the world with examples of sustainable, long-term change. As the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, his guidance has led the Ismaili community to live through the lens of ethics and faith and become contributing citizens,” said MLA Amin Patel, who had attended the spiritual leader’s address.
Sophia Premjee, communications coordinator, Ismaili Council for India, summed up the Aga Khan’s life: “His life stands as a testament to the profound difference one visionary leader can make in creating a more just, educated and interconnected world.”