Paying tribute to a great human being like Aga Khan IV by sharing this book. Aga Khan: King without a kingdom By Mansoor Ladha In an announcement on social media, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) said: 'His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), passed away peacefully in Lisbon on 4 February 2025, aged 88, surrounded by his family.” The Aga Khan has been described as a king without a kingdom. He is also considered to be a bridge between East and West and a moderate Face of Islam on the global stage during a time of war, terrorism, extremism, and radicalization. His influence, authority, and power surpassed those of a leader of any stature. He has met more foreign heads of state, presidents, and prime ministers than the president of the United States, the most powerful nation on earth. The king without a kingdom is the Aga Khan, a direct descendant of Prophet Mohammed through his cousin and son-in-law Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima. This charismatic and dynamic leader of the Ismailis, a minority sect among the world’s 20 million Shia Muslims, ascended to the throne of the Imamat on July 11, 1957, on the demise of his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah, or Aga Khan III, at the age of 20 while a student at Harvard University. Two world leaders celebrating their Diamond Jubilee – 60 years in office – are late Queen Elizabeth and The Aga Khan, 88. Both assumed leadership roles at an early age in their lives – the Queen when she was 26 and the Aga Khan at the tender age of 20. He has therefore held more power and influence at a younger age than any other man in the contemporary world. He had at his disposal jets ready to take off at a moment’s notice. Whenever he visited a foreign country, he was treated like a head of state, received by playing his anthem and the flag fluttering on his limousine. The U.S. magazine, Vanity, has placed the Aga Khan, together with the Pope, late Queen Elizabeth, Alan Greenspan, and George Soros among those who can affect the fate of the world. In his will, his grandfather proclaimed that he wanted to be succeeded by “a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age and who brings a new outlook to life in his office as Imam.” Many followers of the Aga Khan, called Ismailis, have settled in the West, including in Canadian cities, especially following their expulsion from Uganda by dictator Idi Amin in 1972, sparking the largest exodus in African history. At the time, the Aga Khan asked his friend late PM Pierre Trudeau if Canada would accept Uganda refugees. First time in Canadian history, 6,000 non-white refugees were allowed in the country without any immigration protocol. Ismailis celebrated July 2017-2018 as the Diamond Jubilee Year during which new initiatives were announced as a tribute to the Aga Khan’s humanitarian work. This was also the time for the Ismailis to re-dedicate their allegiance to their faith and to their Imam and an occasion to offer their gratitude to Canada for accepting them in their time of need. The Aga Khan had high praise for Canadian values, describing Canada as “a model for the world,” and “the most successful pluralist society on the face of our globe.” Establishing Canada as the headquarters of the Ismaili community, he has inaugurated five landmark award-winning architectural masterpieces and the finest local monuments in Canadian cities. They include the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto); Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan Park (Toronto); Aga Khan Garden (Edmonton); Global Centre of Pluralism (Ottawa) and the Delegation of Ismaili Imamat (Ottawa). These notable institutions clearly indicate the importance that the Aga Khan and the Ismaili community have for Canada, thus making it the command center of the community. The Aga Khan was one of the six foreigners accorded honorary Canadian citizenship in 2010 and he was invited to address the Canadian parliament, an honour usually accorded to heads of state, in 2014. He has also been awarded several honorary degrees by universities all around the world and bestowed national honours by numerous countries in recognition of his humanitarian activities. The post-colonial world saw a West disinterested in Asia and Africa, but the Aga Khan saw an opportunity in human capital and established the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) to empower communities in these regions to help themselves. Vanity Fair has described AKDN as a “staggeringly large and effective organization,” akin to “his own UN … that also includes an enormous portfolio of for-profit businesses.” The network employs 80,000 people in 30 countries, operating universities, hospitals, and school programs for people in poor and war-torn parts of the world, regardless of their faith. The Aga Khan’s Canadian charity, the Aga Khan Foundation, is part of this network. Since 2004, the Canadian government has sponsored 16 global development initiatives in partnership with the foundation, worth a total of more than $300 million. The foundation’s projects have supported craft producers in Mozambique to invest in childhood education in Bangladesh or work to improve women’s health in Afghanistan. Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), has partnered with AKDN in several countries in projects to eradicate poverty and provide humanitarian assistance. A monumental project of the Aga Khan’s Imamat was the founding of Pakistan’s first private university in 1983 — the Aga Khan University and the Aga Khan University Hospital, inaugurated in Karachi in 1985. Aga Khan scored another first by founding a second of the world’s first internationally chartered institution of higher learning in Central Asia. Following the fall of the Soviet Union in that region, the Aga Khan and the governments of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan signed agreements to establish the University of Central Asia in 1994. However, the Aga Khan's contribution did not just end with international development and humanitarian aspects. He has also been a promoter of education, establishing schools, universities, and hospitals. As a great lover of architecture, he inaugurated the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1977, the world's largest architectural award totalling US$500,000, aimed at promoting architecture reflecting pluralism, characterizing Muslim communities and enhancing the understanding and appreciation of Islamic culture. A major institution established by Aga Khan in Toronto is the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre, the first museum in the Western world dedicated to Islamic art and objects. Housing more than 1,000 rare objects, including artifacts from private collections of Aga Khan and his uncle Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, the museum is dedicated to presenting an overview of the artistic, intellectual, and scientific contributions that Muslim civilizations have made to world heritage Other projects to boost Islamic architecture in the United States and elsewhere include Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture at MIT and Harvard has an endowment of $58 million US offering American students fellowships to travel to the Middle East and other Islamic countries to study Muslim architecture. In 1985, a group of women persuaded 1,000 Canadians to join them in a walk to fight global poverty, raising $55,000. This grassroots initiative, 39 years later, is celebrated as the World Partnership Walk, an annual event held across Canada by the Ismaili community raising more than $100 million. As the largest event in Canada in support of international development, it has raised funds for millions of people in Africa and Asia to break the cycle of poverty and improve quality of life. World Partnership Walk is held in 10 Canadian cities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Ottawa, Kitchener, London, Montreal, and Regina. His advice and counsel have been sought by governments and heads of state. He has been a regular delegate at international conferences on Syria, Afghanistan, and other world trouble spots, and he was invited to Moscow to discuss Afghanistan and other world issues with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. During his Diamond Jubilee, Ismailis from around the world pledged to volunteer to donate their time and knowledge, labelled TKN, an initiative started during his Golden Jubilee in 2007 – whereby an immense pool of expertise involving tens of thousands of Ismaili volunteers have been enlisted, which included doctors, accountants, teachers, nurses, and other professionals. Many of these Ismaili professionals – one-third of whom are Canadians – have travelled to developing countries as part of this outpouring of service in the name of their Imam. During the Aga Khan’s reign of 68 years, the Ismailis have progressed educationally and prospered economically, becoming a successful model community, which has been the envy of the world. Described as the “Prince of the Islamic World,” the Aga Khan has moulded his community into a successful exemplary community who have contributed in professional, economic, social, political, and civic matters of the country of their adoption. It is a tribute to his leadership that the Ismailis are so highly regarded everywhere. As we look into the future, it is fair to predict that the community will progress on the solid foundations laid by the Aga Khan for years to come. The Aga Khan may be a king without a country, but he was a citizen of the world. ** Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based journalist, travel writer and author of Aga Khan: Bridge between East & West, Memoirs of a Muhindi, Off the Cuff and A Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. Book name: Aga Khan Bridge between East & West by Mansoor Ladha