The Aga Khan Development Network says Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan V was named the 50th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims on February 5, following the unsealing of the Will of his late father, Prince Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV, who died in Lisbon, Portugal on February 4, aged 88.
Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his progeny) through his daughter, Hazrat Bibi Fatima, and the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, the fourth Rightly Guided Caliph of Islam and the first Shia Imam.
Prince Rahim is the eldest son of His Highness Karim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV. Prince Rahim has three siblings, two brothers and one sister.
A graduate of Brown University, Rhode Island, USA, with a Bachelor's Degree in Comparative Literature awarded in 1996, Prince Rahim received his secondary education at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts. After spending some time in the construction sector, in 2006, Prince Rahim completed an executive development program in management and administration, at the University of Navarra IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, before joining the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The 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.
Prince Rahim married Kendra Irene Spears on August 31, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland. They have two children: Prince Irfan (b. 11 April 2015) and Prince Sinan (b. 2 January 2017).
Throughout their 1,400 year history, the Ismailis Muslims have been led by a living, hereditary Imam. The Ismaili Muslims are a global, multi-ethnic community whose members, comprising a wide diversity of cultures, languages and nationalities, live in Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and North America.
