His Highness the Aga Khan, the founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. The Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest private development networks in the world, which coordinates the activities of over 200 agencies and institutions, employing approximately 80,000 paid staff, the majority of whom are based in developing countries. AKDN is partly funded by his followers and donor partners that include numerous governments and several international organisations. AKDN agencies operate in the fields of health, education, culture, rural development, institution-building and the promotion of economic development, with special focus on countries of the Third World.
Son of Prince Aly Khan and Princess Tajuddawlah Aly Khan, the Aga Khan was born on 13 December 1936, in Geneva. He spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, and then attended Le Rosey School in Switzerland. He graduated from Harvard University in 1959 with a BA Honors Degree in Islamic history. He became the 49th Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims on 11 July 1957 at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan. In his will, the Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah had explained the rationale for choosing his eldest grandson as his successor with these words:
In view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world has provoked many changes, including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interests of the Nizari 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.
As spiritual leader, the Aga Khan has emphasised the view of Islam as a thinking, spiritual faith: one that teaches compassion and tolerance and that upholds the dignity of man, Allah’s noblest creation. Over the course of history, Ismaili Imams and their communities have made major contributions to the cultural, religious and intellectual life of Muslims. These include the University of Al-Azhar and the Academy of Science, Dar al-Ilm, in Cairo, and indeed the city of Cairo itself, which was founded by the Aga Khan’s ancestors. Among the renowned philosophers, jurists, physicians, mathematicians, astronomers and scientists of the past who flourished under the patronage of Ismaili Imams are Qadi al-Numan, al-Kirmani, Ibn al-Haytham (al-Hazen), Nasir e-Khusraw and Nasir al-Din Tusi.
For His Highness the Aga Khan, one manifestation of his hereditary responsibilities has been a deep engagement with development for over 50 years.The Aga Khan has encouraged Nizari Ismailis settled in the industrialised world to contribute towards the progress of communities in the developing world through various development programs. He has described his role as Imam as being partly to uplift the material and spiritual wellbeing of Nizari Ismailis – a duty which requires an understanding of Nizari Ismailis in the context of their geographic location and their time. He elaborated on this concept in a 2006 speech in Germany, saying:
This engagement of the Aga Khan with Nizari Ismailis is said to extend to the people with whom the Nizari Ismailis share their lives, locally and internationally.
"The role and responsibility of an Imam, therefore, is both to interpret the faith to the community, and also to do all within his means to improve the quality, and security, of their daily lives and the people with whom Ismailis share their lives."
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Titles
As a descendant of the Fatimids, the Egypt-based dynasty that founded Cairo and ruled much of North Africa and the Middle East from the tenth through the twelfth centuries, the Aga Khan retains the hereditary title of “Prince”. The title of “Aga Khan” dates to 1818, when Hassan Ali Shah, the 46th Ismaili Imam, was granted the honorary hereditary title of “Aga Khan” by the Shah of Persia. The title “His Highness” was granted by Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain in 1957.
Watch: Five Minute Video by Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson (Former Governor General of Canada) on the Aga Khan’s Life and Work:
Visit Official Websites to learn more:
http://www.akdn.org/about-us/his-highness-aga-khan
http://www.theismaili.org/
