Champion of Islamic architecture the Aga Khan dies aged 88
By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslim community and a lifelong advocate for Islamic architecture and culture, has died aged 88.
Prince Karim al-Hussaini, the Aga Khan IV, became the 49th hereditary imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, a branch of Shia Islam with its own distinct theology and cultural traditions, in 1957. At the time he was a 20-year-old Harvard graduate.
The Aga Khan is considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the prophet Muhammad, and treated elsewhere as a head of state, being referred to as ‘his highness’ by Queen Elizabeth when he was given his title.
He was a lifelong philanthropist and defender of Islamic culture and values, and was ‘widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West’, according to source.
With his personal wealth estimated to have been in the billions, the Aga Khan also spent billions of dollars on homes, hospitals and schools in developing countries throughout his lifetime.
In 1967 he founded the Aga Khan Foundation, the first agency of what would become the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), to support sustainable, community-driven development to tackle poverty, primarily in south and central Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East.
The wider Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) employs 96,000 people across more than 30 countries, and channels $1 billion per year into development projects including hospitals, schools, universities, businesses and climate and cultural initiatives.
He was behind the creation of Aga Khan Centres, designed as places for education, knowledge and cultural exchange, and established all around the world. Seven years ago he opened the Maki & Associates-designed centre in King’s Cross, London.
In 1977, the Aga Khan established the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) through the foundation. The award is given every three years to projects that ‘set new standards of excellence in architecture, planning practices, historic preservation and landscape architecture’.
Recipients of the award have included Foster + Posters for its Petronas University of Technology building in Malaysia (2007), and Zaha Hadid Architects for the Issam Fares Institute in Beirut (2016).
The Aga Khan also set up programmes for Islamic architecture at MIT and Harvard, through which he ‘restored ancient Islamic structures throughout the world’, according to a source.
The spiritual leader died in Portugal. The Aga Khan Foundation and Ismail religious community announced the news on their websites.
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