Considered by followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV was a student when his grandfather picked him to lead the Shia Ismaili Muslim diaspora.
By The Aga Khan addresses an audience about the challenges to a pluralistic society on Nov. 12, 2015, at the Memorial Church on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.PARIS — The Aga Khan, who became the spiritual leader of the world's millions of Ismaili Muslims at age 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries, died Tuesday. He was 88.
Over decades, the Aga Khan evolved into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly with ease.While his death was announced late in the day in Europe and the Middle East, ceremonies were already being held Tuesday in Ismaili communities in the U.S. Condolences poured in online from charity groups he supported, as well as the equestrian world, where he was a well-known figure.
He had left Harvard to be at his ailing grandfather's side, and returned to school 18 months later with an entourage and a deep sense of responsibility. The Aga Khan Development Network, his main philanthropic organization, deals mainly with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development. It says it works in over 30 countries and has an annual budget of about $1 billion for nonprofit development activities.
The Ismailis — a sect originally centered in India but which expanded to large communities in east Africa, Central and South Asia and the Middle East — consider it a duty to tithe up to 12.5% of their income to him as steward.
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