The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, dies at 88

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM - MARCH 09: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV attends the Commonwealth Day Service 2020 at Westminster Abbey on March 9, 2020 in Lo
The Aga Khan Prince Karim Al Hussaini, the spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Muslims, has died.
He was 88 years old.
The Aga Khan died on Tuesday in Portugal surrounded by his family, according to the Aga Khan Foundation.
An announcement on his successor will come later, the foundation said.
The Aga Khan is survived by three sons, one daughter and several grandchildren.
He will be buried in Lisbon but a burial date was not released.
Aga Khan at 20
The backstory:
The Aga Khan, also known as Mawlana Shah Karim Al Hussaini Aga Khan IV, became the Aga Khan at 20 as a Harvard undergraduate and poured a material empire built on billions of dollars in tithes into building homes, hospitals, and schools in developing countries.
Considered by his followers to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the Aga Khan was a student when his grandfather passed over his playboy father as his successor to lead the diaspora of Shia Ismaili Muslims, saying his followers should be led by a young man "who has been brought up in the midst of the new age."
Over decades, the Aga Khan evolved into a business magnate and a philanthropist, moving between the spiritual and the worldly and mixing them with ease.
Aga Khan Development Network
Dig deeper:
A defender of Islamic culture and values, he was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite — or perhaps because of — his reticence to become involved in politics.
The Aga Khan Development Network, his main philanthropic organization, dealt mainly with issues of health care, housing, education and rural economic development.
A network of hospitals bearing his name are scattered in countries where health care had lacked for the poorest, including Bangladesh, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, where he spent tens of millions of dollars for development of local economies.
His eye for building and design led him to establish an architecture prize, and programs for Islamic Architecture at MIT and Harvard. He restored ancient Islamic structures throughout the world.
The extent of the Aga Khan’s financial empire is hard to measure. Some reports estimated his personal wealth to be in the billions.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered from The Associated Press. This story was reported from Los Angeles.