| Part of a series on Shī‘ah Islam |
| Ismāʿīlism |
|---|
| Concepts |
| The Qur'ān · The Ginans Reincarnation · Panentheism Imām · Pir · Dā‘ī l-Muṭlaq ‘Aql · Numerology · Taqiyya Żāhir · Bāṭin |
| Seven Pillars |
| Guardianship · Prayer · Charity Fasting · Pilgrimage · Struggle Purity · Profession of Faith |
| History |
| Shoaib · Nabi Shu'ayb Seveners · Qarmatians Fatimids · Baghdad Manifesto Hafizi · Taiyabi Hassan-i Sabbah · Alamut Sinan · Assassins Pir Sadardin · Satpanth Aga Khan · Jama'at Khana Huraat-ul-Malika · Böszörmény |
| Early Imams |
| Ali · Ḥassan · Ḥusain as-Sajjad · al-Baqir · aṣ-Ṣādiq Ismā‘īl · Muḥammad Abdullah /Wafi Ahmed / at-Taqī Husain/ az-Zakī/Rabi · al-Mahdī al-Qā'im · al-Manṣūr al-Mu‘izz · al-‘Azīz · al-Ḥākim az-Zāhir · al-Mustansir · Nizār al-Musta′lī · al-Amīr · al-Qāṣim |
| Groups and Present leaders |
| Nizārī · Aga Khan IV Dawūdī · Dr. Burhanuddin Sulaimanī · Al-Fakhri Abdullah Alavī · Ṭayyib Ziyā'u d-Dīn |
Aga Khan (Persian: آغا خان ) is the hereditary title of the Imam of the largest branch of the Ismā'īlī followers (Arabic: الطائفة الإسماعيلية) of the Shī‘a faith. They affirm the Imamat of the descendants of Ismail ibn Jafar, eldest son of Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq, while the larger Twelver branch of Shi`ism follows Ismail's younger brother Musa al-Kazim and his descendants.
Abdullah Jafar bin Muhammad As-Sadiq's sons, Ismail bin Jaffar and Abul Hassan Musa bin Jaffar, are followed by Twelver Shiites. A third son, Ismail bin Jafar, died during childhood.
The Fatimid kingdom was ruled by seven successors, after which a dispute developed between two princes – Nizar and Mustali – which resulted in the defeat of the Nizaris, many of whom left Egypt for the region of Iran.
In the 1st half of the 19th century when the Nizārī Imams still lived in Iran the honorific title of "Aga Khan" was bestowed upon Aga Hasan Ali Shah, the 46th Imam of the Ismailis, by Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar, the Shah of Persia. Etymologically the title combines the Turkish military title Agha, meaning a "noble" or "lord", with the Turko-Mongol title Khan for a local ruler, so the combination means roughly "Commanding Chief". In Persia's Qajar court protocol, Khan (and Amir) was commonly part of commanders of armed forces and provincial tribal leaders which ranked fourth in precedence amongst the eight title classes for non-members of the dynasty...
In 1887, the colonial rulers of India, the Secretary of State for India acting through the Viceroy of India, formally recognized the Aga Khan's rank and nobility. During the latter stages of the First Anglo-Afghan War (in 1841 and 1842), Aga Khan I and his cavalry officers provided assistance to General Nott in Kandahar Province and also to General England in his advance from Sindh to join Nott. For these services, and others which Aga Khan I was enabled to render to Sir Charles Napier in his conquest of Sindh in 1843–44, the Aga Khan received a pension from the British Government of India. He was awarded his 'princely' status by the British government's representatives in India and became the only religious or community leader in British India granted a personal gun salute; all other salute dynasties were either rulers of Princely States, or Political Pensioners holding ancestral princely titles in states abolished by the British.
When Hassan Ali Shah, the first Aga Khan, came to Sindh from Afghanistan, he and his army were welcomed by Mir Nasir Khan of Sindh.
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Karīm al-Hussainī became the present Aga Khan IV upon assuming the Imamat of the Ismailis on July 11, 1957, at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan (Aga Khan III). In his will, his grandfather stated the conditions that led him to select his grandson as successor to the Ismaili Imamat:
In view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes that have taken place, including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interests of the 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.[1]
Prince Karim Aga Khan IV is the 49th Ismaili Imam, claiming lineage to Ali, cousin of Muhammad, and his wife Fatimah, Muhammad's daughter.[2] The title His Highness was granted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1957,[3] and His Royal Highness by the Shah of Iran in 1959.[4] On July 11, 2007, Aga Khan IV completed 50 years of the imamat of the Ismaili community.
The Aga Khan, heir to the family fortune and a society figure, is founder and chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest private development networks in the world. AKDN continues to work with a variety of African and Asian countries to improve living conditions and promote education. For instance, in Afghanistan the AKDN has mobilised over $750 million in development projects.[5] In 1979, the Aga Khan also established the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to promote the study of Islamic art, architecture, urbanism, landscape design, and conservation – and the application of that knowledge to contemporary design projects.[6] The program engages in research at both institutions and students can graduate with a Master of Science of Architectural Studies specializing in the Aga Khan program from MIT's Department of Architecture.