Prince Karim Agha Khan marks his diamond jubilee or 60th year as the 49th hereditary spiritual leader (Imam) of the world’s Ismaili community.
This worldwide celebration brings together the global Ismaili community, partners of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), and the government and faith community leaders in over 25 countries. All these years show Aga Khan’s commitment to partnerships based on the principles of ethics in action, peace and pluralism.
Over the past six decades, Aga Khan has transformed the quality of life for millions of people around the world. In the areas of health, education, cultural revitalisation, and economic empowerment, he has worked to inspire excellence and improve living conditions and opportunities in some of the world’s most remote and troubled regions.
In Islam’s ethical tradition, religious leaders not only interpret the faith but also have a responsibility to help improve the quality of life of their community and the societies among which they live. For Aga Khan, this has meant dedicating his life to addressing the concerns of the developing world.
Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan as the Imam of the Ismaili community sixty years ago, at the age of 20. Today, Aga Khan leads a global community of some 15 million people, living predominantly in South Asia, Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America, and the Far East.
Like the Muslim world as a whole, the Ismaili community represents a rich diversity of cultures, languages, and nationalities. His role as Imam includes the interpretation of the faith and responsibility for religious institutions and activities of his followers worldwide.
Following in the tradition of his forefathers – going back over a thousand years to the establishment, by the Ismaili Imams, of the earliest universities and institutions of learning in the Muslim world – Aga Khan has also emphasised the importance of education for both men and women. He has established centres of learning that are at the forefront of teaching practice, knowledge and scientific research, including the Aga Khan University, the University of Central Asia, and the Aga Khan Academies.
In keeping with tradition, Aga Khan’s diamond jubilee celebrations will include the launching of new social, cultural, and economic development projects. The new initiatives to be announced or dedicated this year include coordinated programmes to alleviate poverty, increased access to finance for education, health and housing, early childhood development, and infrastructure (principally, water, energy and telecommunications) projects in developing countries.
Aga Khan believes diversity should inspire, not divide, and that enhancing pluralism is a crucial building block for constructing peaceful and successful societies. In 2006, Aga Khan and the Canadian government established the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa to conduct research and advance knowledge about the values that underpin inclusive pluralistic societies.
In his own words: “The world we seek is not a world where difference is erased but where difference can be a powerful force for good, helping us to fashion a new sense of cooperation and coherence in our world and to build together a better life for all.”