Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini: Profile of Newly Appointed Aga Khan and Spiritual Leader of Ismaili Muslims
Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan V, has been named the 50th hereditary spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims following the passing of his father, Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV.
He was named on Wednesday, February 5, as announced by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and the Ismaili religious community after the unsealing of his late father’s Will. Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, passed away in Lisbon, Portugal, at the age of 88.
Prince Rahim is the eldest son of the former Aga Khan.
Early Life and Education
Born on October 12, 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland, he is the eldest son and second of three children of Aga Khan IV.
He attended Phillips Academy Andover and graduated from Brown University in the United States in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature.
He later pursued graduate studies in management and administration at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, in Barcelona, Spain.
Career
Prince Rahim has been actively involved in the governance of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the non-profit organisation founded by his father to tackle with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development.
AKDN has operations in over 30 countries and has an annual budget of about $1 billion ( Kshs 1. 29 trillion) for non-profit development activities.
Throughout his career, he has served on the boards of various agencies within the organization.
The agencies include the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, the Aga Khan University Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Aga Khan Development Network Foundation, the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
According to the ADKN, Prince Rahim has a particular interest in climate change and environmental protection. He currently serves as the chairman of the AKDN Environment and Climate Committee.
He also co-chairs AKDN’s Budget Review Committees and frequently travels to oversee various programs and projects under the organization’s umbrella.
In 2010, he established the Aga Khan Brown Workshop series at the Watson Institute
Spiritual Leadership
The 53-year-old was designated as the Aga Khan V, the 50th hereditary imam of the Ismaili Muslims.
The Ismaili Muslims are a branch of Shia Islam, tracing their lineage to the Prophet Muhammad. They follow a hereditary line of spiritual leaders known as the Aga Khans, who guide them in both religious and worldly matters.
Prince Rahim rose to leadership as a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Hazrat Bibi Fatima, and the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph of Islam and the first Shia Imam.
Family
Prince Rahim married Kendra Irene Spears with whom he shares two children: Prince Irfan and Prince Sinan. His marriage to Spears was however rocky, ending in a divorce in February 2022.
