Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, dead at 88
B.C.'s 20,000 Ismaili Muslims are in mourning following Khan's death on Tuesday. On Wednesday, his son Prince Rahim al-Hussaini, was named as his successor— Aga Khan V.

B.C.’s 20,000 Ismaili Muslims are in mourning after the death of Aga Khan IV on Tuesday.
The Aga Khan was the spiritual leader of the world’s 20 million Ismaili Muslims and, according to a statement from the Aga Khan Development Network, he died peacefully in Portugal, with his family at his side, at age 88.
On Wednesday, his son, Prince Rahim al-Hussaini, was named as his successor and designated as Aga Khan V. The Ismaili B.C. Facebook group noted in a post that the prince is the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, and that the announcement was made in the presence of the Imam’s family and senior Jamati leaders in Lisbon on Wednesday.
Throughout their 1,400 year history, the Ismailis have been led by a living, hereditary Imam, according to the network.?
Aga Khan IV was a Harvard undergraduate and oversaw a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries.
According to the B.C. government, there are about 20,000 Ismailis living in Metro Vancouver. The province’s Ismaili Centre is in Burnaby.
The Aga Khan visited Vancouver in 2018 and, in 2022, signed an agreement of co-operation with the B.C. government. At that time, the Aga Khan explained that many of the first Ismailis to come to Canada 50 years ago arrived in B.C.
“The Ismaili Centre B.C., which was opened in 1985, reflects the community’s permanent presence in, and commitment to, this great province and country,” he said. “During the past five decades, members of the Ismaili community from across the world have made British Columbia their home, and these individuals have established strong roots, contributing to the province’s pluralism, vitality and cultural, economic and social fabric.”

Sheherazade Hirji, senior communications adviser in Canada for the Aga Khan Development Network, described the Aga Khan as “instrumental in opening the door for Canada to be the home for a large number of Ismailis at a time of crisis, and so we owe much gratitude to him for enabling the privileges that come with making Canada our home.”
The Aga Khan helped set up the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa and the first Islamic arts museum in Toronto. He was granted honorary Canadian citizenship in 2009.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid tribute to the Aga Khan on Wednesday, calling him a compassionate global leader who would be deeply missed by people around the world.
The Aga Khan was a key figure in an ethics scandal involving Trudeau, who was found to have breached federal conflict of interest rules by vacationing on the Aga Khan’s private island in 2016. At the time, the ethics commissioner said Trudeau broke the rules by accepting a gift that could be seen as influencing government decisions.
Trudeau’s father, Pierre, was a longtime friend of the Aga Khan, after Canada accepted thousands of Ismailis in the early 1970s who were fleeing persecution in Uganda.
His eldest son and successor, Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, was educated at Phillips Academy Andover and graduated in 1995 from Brown University with a bachelor of arts in Comparative Literature.
He has two sons from his former wife, Princess Salwa. Prince Irfan was born in 2015 and Prince Sinan was born in 2017.
The Ismaili Council for B.C. said in a statement that Prince Rahim is passionate about protecting the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change, and served as chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network’s environment and climate committee.
He’s also concerned with addressing the needs of those living in extreme poverty and supporting the improvement of their livelihoods through education, training and enterprise, the council said.
Added Hirji: “Our hope from the new Imam is that he will build and adapt his late father’s legacy in response to evolving times, and that he continues to guide the community on all matters of interpretation of the faith.”
With files from Tiffany Crawford and The Canadian Press
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