Fast cars, yachts, and racehorses are not typical possessions of religious leaders, but they were part of the lifestyle of the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of the world’s 12 million Ismaili Muslims, who passed away at the age of 88. Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, the 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, claimed direct lineage from the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Hazrat Bibi Fatima and his son-in-law Hazrat Ali, the fourth rightly guided caliph of Islam. The Ismaili sect does not see a conflict between spiritual and material prosperity. As the Aga Khan stated, “It is not an Islamic belief that spiritual life should be totally excluded from our more material everyday activities.” He also expressed to Vanity Fair, “We have no notion of the accumulation of wealth being evil; it’s how you use it … if God has given you the capacity or good fortune to be a privileged individual, you have a moral responsibility to society.” His personal fortune was estimated to exceed £13 billion, likely making him wealthier than the British royal family.
An international businessman and philanthropist, described as “smiling, welcoming, with a receding hairline and slightly overweight figure” by former Guardian journalist Hella Pick, the Aga Khan was a well-known and respected figure among his followers, who are part of minority communities not only in the Indian subcontinent and Africa but also in Europe and Canada. They contributed a portion of their earnings to him, his foundation, and development network, which in turn provided hospitals, clinics, schools, and scholarships to their communities. During a visit to the Ismaili community in Kenya in the early 1980s, Pick observed the deep reverence held for him: “I felt that between the Aga Khan and his followers there was an extra element. I noticed during the Kenya trip that any cup from which he drank and even the jeep he drove during a safari instantly became treasured museum pieces, probably never to be used again.”
Despite his distinguished lineage, the modern dynasty traces back to the expulsion of the then imam from Persia (now Iran) in 1837. After settling in India, he became a strong supporter of the Raj as a spokesperson for the Muslim community and was granted tax-free status by the British, along with the title Aga Khan, meaning Ruler. Upon the accession of the fourth Aga Khan in 1957, Queen Elizabeth II formally conferred upon him the style of His Highness, “in view of his succession to the imamate and his position as spiritual head of the Ismaili community, many members of which reside in Her Majesty’s territories.” He maintained a close relationship with the British royal family and was appointed KBE in 2004.
Non-Muslims often recognized him for his seemingly glamorous lifestyle: a former Olympic skier, owner of fast racing yachts, and a familiar presence at Ascot and other racecourses where his horses, including the ill-fated Shergar—who was kidnapped by an armed gang—were prominent.