Rahim Al -Husseini was named on Wednesday as the new Agha Khan, the spiritual leader of the Millions of Ismaili Muslims in the world, after the death of his father.
The 53 -year -old was appointed as Agha Khan V, the fifty -genetic imam of the Ismaili Muslims, at his father’s will. His father died on Tuesday in Portugal.
Aga Khan is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and treats as head of state.
The Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili religious community announced earlier that His Highness Prince Karim Al -Husseini, Aga Khan IV and the Hereditary Imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslim, surrounded by his family.
Prince Rahim is the former eldest son of Aga Khan. He was educated in the United States, after he studied comparative literature at the University of Brown, and worked on councils of various agencies in the Aga Khan Development Network, the main charitable organization of the spiritual leader, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.
The organization mainly deals with health care, housing, education and rural economic development issues. She says it works in more than 30 countries and has an annual budget of about one billion dollars for non -profit development activities.
The AGA Khan Development Network said that Prince Rahim was particularly interested in its work to combat climate change and environmental protection.
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The late Agha Khan won the title of “His Highness” by Queen Elizabeth in July 1957, that is, two weeks after his grandfather, Agha Khan III, made him a heir to the 1300 -year family dynasty as a leader of the Ismaili Muslim sector.
For decades, the late Aga Khan has evolved into a business pole and a good, moving between spiritual and worldly.
He was a defender of Islamic culture and values, and it was widely considered to be the creator of bridges between Muslim societies and the West though – or perhaps because of – his reservation about participating in politics.
A network of hospitals bearing the name Aga Khan is scattered in places where health care lacks the poorest, including Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, where tens of millions of dollars spent in local economies.
Ismailis lived for many generations in Iran, Syria and South Asia before they also settled in East Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East, as well as Europe, North America and Australia recently. They consider it to donate up to 12.5 % of their income to Aga Khan as a host.
Shinla Khoja Mulji, associate professor at George Town University, who is looking at Islamic societies, said that the Ismailis resort to Aga Khan in matters of faith and daily life, and many believers feel deeply deep.
Prince Rahim has three brothers, two brothers and one sister.
And copied 2025 Canadian press
