Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan V was named the 50th spiritual leader of the Ismaili community on Wednesday, according to the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) on X.
The succession follows the death of his father Prince Karim Al-Husseini, Aga Khan IV in Lisbon at the age of 88 on Tuesday.
“Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan V was today named the 50th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, following the unsealing of the Will of his late father, Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, who died in Lisbon, Portugal yesterday, aged 88,” the statement said.
“Throughout their 1,400 year history, the Ismailis have been led by a living, hereditary Imam. The Ismailis live in over 35 countries and number approximately 12 to 15 million,” it added.
Born on October 12, 1971, Prince Rahim is the eldest son of the late Aga Khan IV and his first wife, Princess Salimah — née Sarah Croker Poole — a British ex-model. The couple had a daughter and two sons together.
Prince Rahim serves on the boards of many agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network, and has closely followed the work of the Institute of Ismaili Studies and the Ismaili community’s social governance institutions, serving as chairman of the AKDN’s Environment and Climate Committee.
Condolences poured in soon after Prince Khan IV’s death, with global leaders remembering his humanitarian efforts.
The 49th hereditary imam or spiritual leader of the world’s 15 million Ismailis, his name also became synonymous with success as a racehorse owner, with the thoroughbred Shergar among his most famous.
The international jet setter — who held British, French, Swiss and Portuguese citizenship — poured millions into helping people in the poorest parts of the world.
“If you travel the developing world, you see poverty is the driver of tragic despair, and there is the possibility that any means out will be taken,” he told the New York Times in a rare interview in 2007.
By assisting the poor through business, he told the newspaper, “we are developing protection against extremism”.
Prince Rahim awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour
Prince Rahim Aga Khan was conferred with nation’s highest civilian award, the Nishan-i-Pakistan, by President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit to Pakistan last year.
The award recognises individuals who have rendered services of the highest distinction to Pakistan.
Noting Prince Rahim’s role as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development and Chair of the AKDN Environment and Climate Committee, the award citation stated: “Prince Rahim Aga Khan, through his many leadership roles within the Aga Khan Development Network, has, for more than a quarter century, dedicated his untiring efforts to improving the quality of life of peoples in resource-constrained regions of Asia and Africa.
“His personal engagement in assuring that initiatives impacting the economic, health, educational and cultural well-being of poor and marginalised communities respond to evolving and contemporary needs, upholds a multigenerational legacy that traces its origins, in Pakistan, to the founding of the nation.”
