The Aga Khan, who became the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims at the age of 20, has died at his home in Portugal aged 88, surrounded by his family.
As a Harvard undergraduate, he poured a massive amount of his inherited wealth into tithes and building homes, hospitals, and schools in developing countries, and in doing so, became loved around the world and across faiths.
His successor, who was selected as successor in his will by his father, will be read out in the presence of his family and senior religious leaders in Lisbon before the name is made public. No date has been set for his successor yet.
Considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV was a student when his grandfather skipped a generation, over his playboy father as successor to lead the diaspora of Shia Ismaili Muslims, saying his followers should be led by a young man ‘who has been brought up in the midst of the new age.’
Aga Khan – western business magnate and philanthropist
Over decades, the Aga Khan evolved into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly and mixing them naturally.
Treated like a head of state, the Aga Khan was given the title of ‘His Highness’ by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather, the Aga Khan III, unexpectedly made him heir to the family’s 1,300-year dynasty as leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect.
He became the Aga Khan IV in 1957, in Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, on the spot where his grandfather once had his weight equalled in diamonds in gifts from his followers.
A defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between the array of Muslim communities and the West despite his distaste for politics.
Averse to scandal, Aga Khan dragged into political scandal
In 2017, he found himself amidst an international political scandal when Justin Trudeau was strongly criticised for accepting an invitation from the Aga Khan for accepting what most considered a ‘free holiday’ at the Aga Khan’s private residence in the Bahamas.
He poured money into building new hospitals in the third world where there had never been one before.
A network of hospitals bearing his name is scattered in places where health care had lacked for the poorest, including Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, where he spent tens of millions of dollars for the development of local economies.
His eye for building and design led him to establish an architecture prize, and programs for Islamic Architecture at MIT and Harvard. He restored ancient Islamic structures throughout the world.
The extent of the Aga Khan’s financial empire is hard to measure. Some reports estimated his personal wealth to be in the billions.
