Born December 13th, 1936 to Princess Tajuddawlah in Geneva, Switzerland, Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini is the fourth Aga Khan and 49th Ismaili Imam. Known variously as Hazar Imam or Mawla to our Ismaili friends, he is a British citizen, raised in Kenya, educated at Harvard, who owns property in Italy and has his primary residence in Aiglemont, France. Building on the work of his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah, he has transformed the office of the Imam into the role of an international dignitary.
He has been married twice and has four children born 30 years apart. By some estimates a billionaire, most of his fortune is arguably part of the Imamate (the office of the Imam) and used for the benefit of our Ismaili friends.
Karim al Hussaini succeeded his grandfather to the title of Aga Khan IV after his father was passed over for disputed reasons. Whilst rumors abounded that Aly Khan's lavish lifestyle dissuaded his father from choosing him as his successor, Aga Khan III cited the need for a young, contemporary individual to lead the Ismaili faithful into the new era.
Prince Karim became the Ismaili Imam at the age of 20, on July 11th, 1957. He rapidly transformed the Ismaili organisational structure, overseeing in particular the foundation of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a non-profit development organisation which now employs more than 80 000 people and has a more than $500 million per year budget.
In developing the Imamate, the Aga Khan has taken seriously a two-fold interpretation of his role, focusing not just on the spiritual needs of our Ismaili friends, but also their physical:
“I, as Imam of the Ismailis, have responsibility for and supreme authority over the community. This means taking the lead in the practice of the religion but also engaging in ongoing activities to improve the Ismailis’ quality of life ...”
The Aga Khan has also been instrumental in promoting Ismailism on the world stage, positioning the faith as the peaceful, pluralist face of Islam and heralding the intellectual heritage of the Muslim religion. He has founded the Global Centre for Plurlalism in Ottawa as well as the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the recently opened Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.