Egypt Daily News – At the age of 20, Prince Karim al-Husseini, the Aga Khan IV, inherited the reins of a Shiite Muslim dynasty spread across 35 countries with some 15 million followers, the Ismaili sect, and used entrepreneurship to become one of the richest hereditary rulers in the world.
The Aga Khan IV, who combined entrepreneurship and philanthropy as the leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims, died on Tuesday at his home in the Portuguese capital Lisbon at the age of 88.
Born in Geneva on December 13, 1936, and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, before returning to Geneva to attend school at the Le Rosy Institute, Prince Karim al-Husseini Aga Khan IV was an urban man who always shied away from media appearances and rejected the idea that expanding his personal wealth would interfere with his philanthropic projects. He saw his ability to prosper as complementing his duty to improve the lives of Ismaili Muslims, a branch of the Shiite tradition of Islam.
Aga Khan IV The 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims
After becoming Aga Khan, he once said: “An imam or leader of his religion is not expected to withdraw from everyday life, on the contrary, he is expected to protect his community and contribute to improving the quality of their lives, so the idea of a dichotomy between faith and the world is alien to Islam.”
His projects included developing the Costa Smeralda luxury resort area in Sardinia, breeding thoroughbred racehorses, and creating health initiatives for the poor in the developing world.
He objected to his lifestyle being described as extravagant, although he traveled on private jets and a luxury yacht, and owned a private island in the Caribbean.
In a 2006 speech, Prince Karim al-Husseini said: “The role and responsibility of the Imam is to explain the faith to the community and also to do everything in his power to improve the quality and security of their daily lives.”
Although he did not have an inherited kingdom like other hereditary rulers, the Aga Khan’s wealth has been variously estimated at $1 billion to $13 billion, derived from investments, joint ventures and private holdings in luxury hotels, airlines, racehorses and newspapers, according to the New York Times.
Unusually, the Aga Khan – a name often translated as a combination of the Turkish and Persian word for supreme leader – inherited his title from his grandfather, Aga Khan III, who bypassed his other grandchildren to appoint his grandson as his successor.
Taking over as the 49th Imam of Ismaili Muslims in 1957, the Aga Khan IV took the reins and imposed what he said were clear responsibilities.
At the time, he was a 20-year-old student studying Islamic history at Harvard University.
In the same year, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon him the non-hereditary title of Her Royal Highness the Prince, reflecting the close ties between the two families, who shared a passion for beautiful horses.
In his will, his grandfather Sultan Muhammad Shah said he chose to skip a generation in part because “the radically changing conditions in the world” -including advances in atomic science, required “a young man who has grown 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.”
In fact, the Aga Khan IV faced many of the modern crises that his followers, centered in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and East Africa, have experienced.
Many of them faced unrest, such as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s decision in 1972 to expel Asians and unrest in Tajikistan following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Aga Khan has long been known as a well-connected person and, as such, was able to convince Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, whom he met in the 1960s, to allow thousands of Ismaili Muslims to migrate to Canada when they were forced to leave Uganda.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Aga Khan’s followers in Tajikistan’s mountainous Pamir region were among those involved in a devastating civil war in the 1990s against the government led by Imam Ali Rahman.
In response, the Aga Khan was quick to invest in power generation and a mobile phone company in Tajikistan, and later built healthcare, microfinance and other facilities, as well as the Central Asian University in Khorog.
But the Aga Khan’s revered status among Ismaili Muslims, who live mainly in Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, apparently provoked resentment and resistance among the country’s secular leaders, who sought to prevent demonstrations in support of the Aga Khan.
Who is Prince Karim al-Husseini Aga Khan IV?
- Prince Karim al-Husseini was born in Geneva on December 13, 1936
- He was the eldest son of Prince Ali Khan, a famous businessman
- His first wife was Joan (Yardbuller) Khan, a descendant of the British aristocracy.
- His younger brother Amin Aga Khan was born the following year.
- In 1949, his parents separated, and Prince Ali – his father – married American actress Rita Hayworth, with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan.
- Known as Prince Karim in his youth, the Aga Khan grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, before attending school at the Le Rosé Institute in Geneva.
- He went to Harvard University to study Islamic history after becoming the fourth Aga Khan after the death of his grandfather.
In a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair, he said how he felt at the time of his inauguration as Aga Khan at the age of 20: “It was a shock, but I don’t think anyone in my position would have been prepared.”
He added that his new status meant that from now on his life’s path was set with fixed coordinates: “I was a university student who knew what the work was going to be for the rest of my life.” Some of his followers attributed divine status to him, but he rejected such notions of piety.
- In 1969, he married Sarah Crocker Poole, a British model, who became Salima Aga Khan after their marriage.
- The couple had three children, Princess Zahra, Prince Rahim, and Prince Hussein, before separating in 1995.
- All three siblings worked in Aga Khan organizations.
- Prince Rahim was nominated to succeed him as the fifth Aga Khan.
- In 1998, the Aga Khan married German Gabriele Thyssen zu Leiningen, who became Inara Aga Khan, and they had a son, Prince Ali Muhammad.
- The couple separated a few years later and spent a decade negotiating a divorce settlement that was said to be worth around $60 million when adjusted for inflation.
He is survived by his children, his brother Prince Amin Mohammed, his half-sister Princess Yasmin, and four grandchildren.
In 1960, Prince Ali, the Aga Khan’s father, died in a car accident in Suresnes, outside Paris, and his sons inherited his lucrative equestrian empire, which included nine farms in Ireland and France.
Prince Ali told Vanity Fair in 2013: “The three of us found ourselves with this family tradition that none of us knew anything about at all.”
Since then, the Aga Khan has owned, trained and bred many champion horses, and in France, his filly Valera won the prestigious Prix de Diane in 2012, setting a new owners’ record of seven wins.
Death of the Aga Khan IV
Prince Karim al-Husseini, the fourth Aga Khan, died on Tuesday in Lisbon, Portugal.
Aga Khan’s burial place
The fourth Aga Khan will be buried in Aswan, Egypt, on Sunday after a funeral ceremony at the Ismaili Center in Lisbon on Saturday, attended by community leaders, members of the Portuguese government and foreign dignitaries, the Ismaili Imamate said in a statement.
