11th July 2007 marks a landmark in the history of the Ismaili
Muslim community, as this day marks the completion of the 50th year of
Imamate of the leader of the Ismaili Muslim community, Prince Karim Aga
Khan 1V. He is the current (49th) Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili
Muslims. His contribution in the field of education, medicine,
architecture, social work, institution building, relief work, etc., is
spectacular. He always tried to bring the positive image of Islam in
front of others. His attractive personality has influenced many Muslim
brothers to work for the welfare of the people. He is the direct
descendant of Sir Aga Khan 111, whose contribution for the establishment
of Pakistan can never be forgotten.
Prince Karim Aga Khan, the
Aga Khan IV is the eldest son of Prince Aly Salman Khan and his wife,
Princess Tajudowlah. He was born in Geneva, Switzerland on December 13,
1936. His brother name is Prince Amyn, and sister name is Princess
Yasmin Aga Khan. The Aga Khan spent his childhood in Nairobi, Kenya,
where his early education was done by private tutoring. The Aga Khan
later attended the Institute le Rosey in Switzerland. He graduated from
Harvard University in 1959 with a BA Honors Degree in Islamic history.
As a modern leader of Islam, he always tried to emphasize to improve the
lives of the Muslims.
Following the death of his grandfather,
Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, Prince Karim, at the age of 20, became
the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims on 11 July 1957.
Upon
becoming the Imam, the Aga Khan stated that he intended to continue the
work his grandfather had pursued in building modern institutions to
improve the quality of life of the Ismaili community. The main themes
that the Aga Khan emphasized are development, education, interracial
harmony, and faith in religion. He elaborated on this concept in a 2006
speech in Germany stating,
"The role and responsibility of an
Imam, therefore, is both to interpret the faith to the community, and
also to do all within his means to improve the quality, and security of
their daily lives." Throughout the early years of his Imamate, the Aga
Khan continued his grandfather's work through the establishment of
institutions such as the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi in 1958, and
primary and secondary schools in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in the
1960s, The Aga Khan Hospital in Pakistan, and numerous educational
institutions throughout the world. We can say that he is the leader of a
common man. He is the King of the Muslim community. He always work for
the betterment of the lives of the people of the third world country.
The
Aga Khan has been particularly interested in the elimination of global
poverty; eradication of illiteracy; the advancement of the status of
women; the promotion of Islamic culture, music, art, and architecture,
upgrading the economical status of the third world country, etc.
Prince
Aga Khan always believes in building bridges between religions. He
always tried to restore peace in the world and brought the positive
image of Islam in the modern world.
In 1977, the Aga Khan
established the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, a premier award
recognizing excellence in architecture that encompasses contemporary
design and social, historical, and environmental considerations. It is
the largest architectural award in the world.
He is the founder
and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest
private development networks in the world, which works towards social,
economic, and cultural development in Asia and Africa. The establishment
of the AKDN brought under the same umbrella a number of development
agencies and institutions that The Aga Khan's humanitarian endeavors
draw inspiration from ethics of compassion, generosity, sincerity, etc.
Few of the agencies of AKDN are as under:
Aga
Khan Foundation (AKF) Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AAKAM) Aga Khan
Education Services (AKES) Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development
(AKFED) Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) Aga Khan Planning and Building
Services (AKPBS) Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) Aga Khan University
(AKU) The University of Central Asia (UCA) Focus Humanitarian Assistance
(FOCUS), an affiliate of the AKDN, is responsible handling disasters.
Recent example includes the massive earthquake in Pakistan, Oct 8, 2005.
Prince Aga Khan team handled the prevailing problematic situation
effectively.
He is also the Chairman of The Institute of Ismaili
Studies, which he founded in 1977. This institute is one of the best
Institutes, where different Islamic degrees programmes for our younger
generations are being offered. The objective of IIS is to promote
scholarship and learning of Muslim cultures and societies, historical as
well as contemporary, and a better understanding of their relationship
with other societies and faiths.
The Aga Khan has been recognized
by several national and international organizations for his service to
humanity. Few of them are as follows:
The Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has awarded him the title
of His Highness on July 26, 1957. On August 12, 1957, the Sultan of
Zanzibar invested the title of Brilliant Star of Zanzibar. It was his
first visit to Pakistan with his wife when the President of Pakistan
granted the title of Nishan-e-Imtiaz on January 15, 1970.
The
World Monuments Fund honored the Aga Khan IV with its prestigious
Hadrian Award for his vigorous and fruitful efforts to preserve and
revitalize historic cities in Islamic world on October 28, 1996 at New
York.
In 2003, he was named Knight Commander in the Order of the
British Empire (KBE) "for services to international development,
especially in Asia and Africa, and to UK-French relations." In 2005, he
was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy, the 2005 Die
Quadriga and the 2005 Vincent Scully Prize. He was also named Honorary
Companion of the Order of Canada. His Highness has been awarded honorary
degrees by universities in Pakistan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and
the United States. He has also received numerous awards and prizes from
various professional organisations in recognition of his work in
architecture and the conservation of historic buildings. There are
around more than 18 million followers of Prince Aga Khan throughout the
world. Whatever he has done for boosting the economy of Pakistan by
investing in to various sectors like hotel industry, banking, etc., are
laudable. His Highness the Aga Khan donated $50-million to support
rehabilitation, socio-economic development, and earthquake-preparedness
in areas of the North West Frontier Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir
affected by the 8 October 2005 shock. Prince Aga Khan provided a
combination of financial and technical support to the urban and rural
communities in high-mountain, seismically sensitive areas in Pakistan,
Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia. There are many schools, colleges
and universities in Pakistan as well, which were created by him for the
development of intellects in Pakistan.
Scholars have called his
community, the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the most progressive, organized,
schooled and financially well-off sect within Islam.
Today, he is
working all over the world to eradicate the social problems. His basic
concern is of Muslim brothers and sisters, for whom he works day and
night for their upliftment. He is creating a positive image of Islam
globally for which we salute him.
He is truly the leader of Islam in this modern world. Wish him a very happy Golden Jubilee.
Munir Moosa Sewani is one of the famous, prominent and creative
names in the field of Education since 8 years. He is a Master Trainer In
Special Education, Post Graduate, Teacher Educator and a Teacher. He is
a Freelance Writer and Photographer too. He is an author of the famous
self-published storybook for children named as "The MORAL STORIES FOR
CHILDREN" and has also written Biology course book for Secondary
Classes. He has written almost more than 30 articles on social, health,
educational and cultural issues, which are internationally recognized
and published on most of the famous world wide websites, magazines and
newspapers. He is also a Social worker, private tutor, career counselor,
musician, lyrics writer and have multi- dimensional talents. His future
plan is to write dozens of informative books and articles and to work
for education and media too.
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