{"id":15143,"date":"2025-02-05T01:30:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T01:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/05\/aga-khan-spiritual-leader-of-ismaili-muslims-dead-at-88-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-05T01:30:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T01:30:54","slug":"aga-khan-spiritual-leader-of-ismaili-muslims-dead-at-88-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/05\/aga-khan-spiritual-leader-of-ismaili-muslims-dead-at-88-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, dead at 88 – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The\u00a0Aga Khan<\/a>, who became the spiritual leader of the world\u2019s millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries, has died. He was 88.<\/p>\n

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His Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced that His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV and 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, died Tuesday in Portugal surrounded by his family.<\/p>\n

His successor was designated in his will, which will be read in the presence of his family and religious leaders in Lisbon before the name is made public. A date has not been announced. The successor is chosen from among his male progeny or other relatives, according to the Ismaili community\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

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 passed over his playboy father as his successor to lead the diaspora of Shia Ismaili Muslims, saying his followers should be led by a young man \u201cwho has been brought up in the midst of the new age.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Over decades, the Aga Khan evolved into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly with ease.<\/p>\n

While his death was announced late in the day in Europe and the Middle East, ceremonies were already being held Tuesday in Ismaili communities in the U.S. Condolences poured in online from charity groups he supported, as well as the equestrian world, where he was a well-known figure.<\/p>\n

Treated as a head of state, the Aga Khan was given the title of \u201cHis Highness\u201d by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, two weeks after his grandfather the Aga Khan III unexpectedly made him heir to the family\u2019s 1,300-year dynasty as leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect.<\/p>\n

He became the Aga Khan IV on Oct. 19, 1957, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on the spot where his grandfather once had his weight equaled in diamonds in gifts from his followers.<\/p>\n

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He had left Harvard to be at his ailing grandfather\u2019s side, and returned to school 18 months later with an entourage and a deep sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was an undergraduate who knew what his work for the rest of his life was going to be,\u201d he said in a 2012 interview with Vanity Fair magazine. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in my situation would have been prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite \u2014 or perhaps because of \u2014 his reticence to become involved in politics.<\/p>\n

He was thrust into a Canadian political scandal after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family took a vacation on the Aga Khan\u2019s private island in the Bahamas in 2017.<\/p>\n

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