Paris At the age of 20, the Aga Khan, a Harvard undergraduate who established a material empire on billions of dollars in tithes to build homes, hospitals, and schools in impoverished nations, became the spiritual head of the millions of Ismaili Muslims worldwide. He passed away on Tuesday. He was eighty-eight.
His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the 49th hereditary imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims and the Aga Khan IV, passed away in Portugal with his family by his side, according to a statement from the Ismaili religious community and his Aga Khan Development Network.
His testament, which will be read in front of his family and Lisbon’s ecclesiastical authorities before the name is made public, named his successor. No date has been specified. The website of the Ismaili community states that the successor is selected from among his male offspring or other family members.
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, who is regarded by his followers as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, was a student when his grandfather appoints a young man who was raised in the modern era to lead the Shia Ismaili Muslim diaspora instead of his playboy father.
Over many years, the Aga Khan became a humanitarian and commercial tycoon who effortlessly blended the holy with the secular.
Ceremonies were already taking place Tuesday among Ismaili communities in the United States, even though news of his passing was confirmed late in the day in Europe and the Middle East. Online condolences flooded in from the equestrian community, where he was well-known, and charity organizations he supported.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trude remarked on Tuesday that he was a very good friend and that he was a very caring world leader. People from throughout the world will miss him terribly.
Two weeks after his grandpa, the Aga Khan III, suddenly made him the heir to the family’s 1,300-year dynasty as the leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect, the Aga Khan was treated as a head of state and bestowed the title of His Highness by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957.
On October 19, 1957, he was crowned Aga Khan IV at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where his grandfather’s weight was once exceeded in diamonds from gifts from his supporters.
Eighteen months after leaving Harvard to be by his sick grandfather’s side, he returned with a group of friends and a strong sense of duty.
He stated in a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair magazine, “I was an undergraduate who knew what his work for the rest of his life was going to be.” Nobody in my circumstances, in my opinion, would have been ready.
Despite—or maybe because of—his hesitancy to get engaged in politics, he was widely recognized as a bridge-builder between Muslim cultures and the West, a champion of Islamic culture and values.
His primary charitable organization, the Aga Khan Development Network, focuses on issues related to rural economic development, housing, health care, and education. It claims to have an annual budget of over $1 billion for charity development initiatives and to operate in more than 30 countries.
In countries like Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan, where he invested tens of millions of dollars to boost local economies, there is a network of hospitals bearing his name that are dispersed throughout areas where the poorest people had no access to healthcare.
It is difficult to gauge the size of the Aga Khan’s financial empire. According to some sources, he has billions of dollars in personal wealth.
As stewards, the Ismailis, a sect that began in India and spread to sizable numbers in East Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East, believe it is their obligation to donate up to 12.5% of their wealth to him.
In 2012, he told Vanity Fair, “We don’t think that wealth accumulation is bad.” According to the Islamic ethic, you have a moral obligation to society if God has granted you the ability or good fortune to be a privileged member of society.
He was born on December 13, 1936, in Creux-de-Genthod, close to Geneva, Switzerland, according to websites run by the Ismaili community. He was the son of Joan Yarde-Buller and Aly Khan, and he spent some of his early years in Nairobi, Kenya, where a hospital now bears his name.
In addition to representing Iran as a skier at the 1964 Winter Olympics, he rose to fame as a horse breeder and owner. Because of his talent for construction and design, he founded Islamic architecture schools at Harvard and MIT as well as an architecture prize. He repaired historic Islamic buildings all across the world.
The Aga Khan had been based in Portugal for a number of years and had spent a considerable amount of time in France. Switzerland is home to his foundation and development network.
In Lisbon, the Aga Khan will be laid to rest. The date was not made public.
Three sons, a daughter, and numerous grandkids survive him.