Rahim al-Hussaini was appointed Wednesday as the new Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the millions of Muslims Ismailis in the world, after the death of his father.
The 53 -year -old man was designated as Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary imam of Muslims Ismaili, in his father’s will. His father died on Tuesday in Portugal.
Aga Khan is considered by its disciples as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and is treated as a head of state.
The Aga Khan development network and the ISMAILI religious community announced earlier that its extension Prince Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV and the 49th hereditary imam of Muslims Shiite Ismaili, died surrounded by his family.
Prince Rahim is the eldest son of the former Aga Khan. He studied in the United States, after having studied comparative literature at Brown University and sat on the boards of directors of various agencies in Aga Khan Development Network, the main philanthropic organization of the spiritual chief, according to a press release he published on Wednesday.
The organization mainly deals with matters of health care, housing, education and rural economic development. It indicates that it operates in more than 30 countries and has an annual budget of around $ 1 billion for non -profit development activities.
The development network of Aga Khan said that Prince Rahim was interested in work to fight climate change and protect the environment.
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The late Aga Khan received the title “her Highness” from Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after her grandfather, Aga Khan III, did so unexpectedly to the family of the 1,300 family years as head of the Ismaili Muslim sect.
Over the decades, the late Aga Khan has become a corporate magnate and a philanthropic, moving with the spiritual and the world with ease.
Defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely considered as a manufacturer of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite – or perhaps because of – his reluctance to get involved in politics.
A network of hospitals bearing Aga Khan is dispersed in places where health care lacked for the poorest, including Bangladesh, Tadjikistan and Afghanistan, where he spent tens of millions of dollars in Local development economies.
Ismailis has lived for many generations in Iran, Syria and South Asia also also settled in East Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as in Europe, North America and in Australia more recently. They consider that it is a donation of 12.5% of their income to Aga Khan as a holder.
Shenila Khoja-Molofji, associate professor at the University of Georgetown who is doing research on Muslim societies, said that Ismailis are turning to Aga Khan in matters of faith and daily life, and many believers “feel a deep and personal link ”with him.
Prince Rahim has three brothers and sisters, two brothers and a sister.
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press
