At the age of 20, Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, who was the community’s eldest chief and the 49th familial imam or religious leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, passed away in Lisbon on Tuesday. He was 88.
As founder-chairman of Aga Khan Development Network, the Aga Khan IV, as he is known, will also be remembered for scholarships that helped rebuild the classic Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery in Delhi along with the Qutub Shah Tombs near Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, writes Mohammed Wajihuddin. The reconstruction of the flowers at Humayun’s Tomb, in truth, was a product on the 50th anniversary of India’s Independence. The Aga Khan personally traveled to India in September 2013 to unveil the restored Tomb.
Prince Karim, who was aloof and soft-spoken, won respect from everyone for his current perspective and stance on Islam as a thought-provoking religion that values compassion and sympathy.
Later Wednesday, Prince Karim’s boy Rahim Al-Hussaini was named the new Aga Khan.
Prince Karim was bearded and had clear shaven clothes, which is unusual for most Muslim religious leaders.
The jet-setting religious president 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 worldwide following of nearly 15 million. His support for initiatives ranged from health efforts in developing nations to higher growth on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Aga Khans are very close to India. Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Shia Ismailis, who was given the title of the Aga Khan ( commanding chief ) after he seized deported immigrants for questioning after marrying the daughter of the then Shah of Iran Fatehali Shah Kachar, immigrated to India in the early 1840s and settled in Mumbai ( then Bombay ). The Imamat, or the community’s moral wing, remained in the town until Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, the Aga Khan III, left for Europe where he passed away on July 11, 1957, where it was until his death.
Prince Karim, who was 20 years old, eluded his father, Prince Aly Khan, and his brother, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, to take his uncle as ruler. At the time, he was a Harvard pupil studying Islam.
According to The Aga Khan III,” I’m convinced that it is in the best hobbies of the Ismaili area to be succeeded by a young person who has been raised and developed in recent years and in the midst of the novel time, and who brings a new outlook on life to his business.”
The Aga Khan’s most recent visit to India was in February 2018 as part of his leadership’s diamond jubilee events. In Mumbai, he had addressed around 40, 000 supporters at Mumbai University’s Kalina school.
” His global philanthropic plays have provided the world with cases of green, long-term change. As the 49th familial Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, his advice has helped the Ismaili area learn to live ethically and religiously and to become active people, according to MLA Amin Patel, who had attended the spiritual party’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”.
