Aga Khan V
Aga Khan V | |
|---|---|
| آقاخان پنجم | |
Aga Khan V in 2025 | |
| 50th hereditary Imam of Nizari Isma'ili | |
| Tenure | 4 February 2025 – present |
| Installation | 11 February 2025 |
| Predecessor | Aga Khan IV |
| Born | Rahim al-Hussaini 12 October 1971 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Spouse | |
| Issue |
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| House | Fatimid |
| Father | Aga Khan IV |
| Mother | Salimah Aga Khan |
| Religion | Nizari Isma'ilism |
| Occupation |
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| Part of a series on Islam Isma'ilism |
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| Islam portal |
Shah Rahim al-Hussaini (Persian: رحیم الحسینی; born 12 October 1971), known as the Aga Khan V (Persian: آقاخان پنجم, romanized: Āqā Khān Panjum), is a religious leader, philanthropist (through the Aga Khan Development Network), and businessman. He is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Nizari Isma'ili Muslims, a branch of Islam. He is the descendant from Muhammad through his daughter, Fatima, and his cousin and son-in-law, Ali. The Qasimi Nizari Ismailis maintain that they are the only Shi‘i group today led by a living, present, hereditary Imam.[1]
He is the second of four children of Shah Karim al-Husseini, who went by the title Aga Khan IV, and succeeded as the Nizari Imam following his father's death on 4 February 2025. He is the fifth person in the family to hold the title Aga Khan.[2] Upon assuming the Imamate, he inherited his father's estate, which had been valued at over US$13.3 billion by Vanity Fair in 2013.[3]
Early life and education
Rahim Aga Khan was born on 12 October 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the eldest son and second oldest of three children born to Shah Karim al-Husseini (Aga Khan IV) and his first wife Salimah Aga Khan (née Sarah Croker-Poole), a British national.[4][5][6][7]
Rahim was educated in the United States, receiving his secondary education at Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts (1990), before graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature in 1995.[5][8][9] In 2006 he completed graduate studies in management and administration in Barcelona, Spain, at the IESE Business School University of Navarra.[8][10]
Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Rahim has been involved for many years in the governance of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), where, he chaired the AKDN Environment and Climate Committee.[11]
In 2019, Rahim sat on either the Board or Executive Committee for several of AKDN agencies and affiliated structures, including the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, and the Aga Khan University Foundation.[12]
In 2010, he established the Aga Khan Brown Workshop series at the Watson Institute.[13]
Succession to the Imamate
Shah Rahim al-Hussaini, who had been designated successor by his father, was publicly announced as the 50th Imam following his father's death on 4 February 2025. The announcement took place after the reading of Shah Karim al-Husseini’s will at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon. According to Nizari Ismaili tradition, leadership passes through designation by the previous Imam.[14]
Personal life
Rahim married Kendra Irene Spears on 31 August 2013 in Geneva.[15] They have two children: Irfan (b. 11 April 2015)[16] and Sinan (b. 2 January 2017).[17] In 2019, he bought a house in Unstad in Vestvågøy Municipality, Norway.[18][19] The couple divorced in February 2022.[20]
Titles, styles and honours
The titles Prince and Princess are claimed by the Aga Khans and their children by virtue of their descent from Fath-Ali Shah of the Iranian Turkic Qajar dynasty. The title was officially recognised by the British government in 1938.[21]
Scholar Farhad Daftary wrote of how the honorific title "Aga Khan" (from Agha and Khan) was first given to Hasan Ali Shah (the Aga Khan I) at the age of thirteen when he, as the young 46th Imam, went with his mother to the Qajar court in Tehran to successfully obtain justice for his slain father, Shah Khalil Allah III, as those involved in the murder were punished. "At the same time, the Qajar monarch bestowed on him the honorific title (laqab) of Agha Khan (also transcribed as Aqa Khan), meaning lord and master." Daftary additionally commented, "The title of Agha Khan remained hereditary amongst his successors." Fath-Ali Shah also gave his daughter, princess Sarv-i-Jahan Khanum, in marriage to the young Imam.
The style of His Highness was granted to the Aga Khan V by King Charles III on 10 February 2025.[22]
Patrilineal descent
| Patrilineal descent[23] |
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Shah Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.
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Awards
- Pakistan:
- Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Pakistan (7 June 2024)[24][25]
- Kenya:
- Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (26 August 2025)[27]
- Uganda:
- Collar of the Most Excellent Order of the Pearl of Africa (11 September 2025)[28]
- United States:
- Symbolic Key to the City of Sugar Land, Texas by the Mayor of Sugarland (5 November 2025)
- Symbolic Key to the City of Carrollton by the Mayor of Carrollton (9 November 2025)[30]
References
- ^ "Address to both Houses of the Parliament of Canada in the House of Commons Chamber". Aga Khan Development Network. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "the.ismaili". the.ismaili. Retrieved 11 March 2025.
- ^ "How the Fourth Aga Khan Balances Spiritual Muslim Leadership with a Multi-billionaire Lifestyle". Vanity Fair. 14 January 2013. Archived from the original on 4 May 2025. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
- ^ "AKDN, Prince William to launch environmental prize". DAWN.COM. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ^ a b Henley, Jon (5 February 2025). "Rahim al-Hussaini named as 50th Aga Khan after death of father". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ Khalip, Andrei (5 February 2025). "Aga Khan IV's son Rahim named Ismaili Muslims' new spiritual leader". Reuters.
- ^ Saleem, Sadiq (5 February 2025). "Aga Khan IV Age, Died, Net Worth, Education, Successor, Children and Family". The Educationist Hub. Archived from the original on 6 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ a b Lusa (5 February 2025). "Rahim Aga Khan é o novo líder da comunidade ismailita". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "Rahim Al-Hussaini is named the new Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims". AP News. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "El príncipe Rahim Aga Khan V nombrado el 50º líder espiritual de los ismaelitas". SWI swissinfo.ch (in European Spanish). 5 February 2025. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ "AKDN Partners with Prince William to Launch Earthshot Prize". TOLOnews. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ^ "University of Washington and Aga Khan University sign agreement to further population health, research, service and education". UW News. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
- ^ "Islam and the Humanities", Watson Institute
- ^ "Prince Rahim Aga Khan V Named 50th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims | The Institute of Ismaili Studies". www.iis.ac.uk. 5 February 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
- ^ "The wedding of Prince Rahim and Miss Kendra Salwa Spears". TheIsmaili.org. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
- ^ "The Ismaili". 14 April 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- ^ "Prince Sinan". the.Ismaili. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^ Johansen, Bente H. (12 July 2020). "Prins Rahim Aga Khan kjøpte hus i Lofoten – nå skal det renoveres". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^ "Prins får grønt lys for å renovere «surfebolig» i Lofoten". e24.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). 12 July 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- ^ "Die Liebe zwischen Prinz Rahim Aga Khan und Prinzessin Salwa ist zerbrochen". MSN (in Swiss High German ). Retrieved 5 February 2025.
- ^ Edwards, Anne (1996). Throne of Gold: The Lives of the Aga Khans, New York: William Morrow. ISBN 0-00-215196-0
- ^ "The King is pleased to grant the new Aga Khan the title "His Highness"". Royal.UK. 10 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
- ^ "The Aga Khan's Direct Descent from Prophet Muhammad: Historical Proof". Ismaili Gnosis. 9 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- ^ "Prince Rahim Agha Khan honoured with Pakistan's top civilian award". Daily Pakistan Global. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Prince Rahim Aga Khan conferred with 'Nishan-i-Pakistan' award". Dunya News. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Prince Karim Aga Khan buried in Egypt's Aswan". The News. 9 February 2025. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
- ^ Ruto awards Prince Rahim Aga Khan V Kenya’s highest civilian honour
- ^ "Mawlana Hazar Imam awarded Uganda's highest civilian honour and opens new AKU campus in Kampala". The Ismaili. Ismaili Council for the USA. 26 August 2025. Retrieved 12 September 2025.
- ^ "Mawlana Hazar Imam arrives in the United States". The News. 5 November 2025. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
- ^ a b c "Mawlana Hazar Imam honoured upon arrival in Dallas". The News. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 10 November 2025.