Much has been written about His Highness prince Karim Aga Khan (late), a charismatic personality and a visionary leader of the current century. Quite a few writers have delved into the spiritual as well as temporal dimensions of his illuminating personality, his sublime genealogy, his noble services to humanity and the monumental contributions made by different institutions established by him and working under the umbrella of Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), an NGO operating internationally, founded by him during the early years of his Imamat, and working in around 35 countries across the globe.
Today, instead of repeating what all has been written earlier during the past six days, I would like to append a few points which, though, have been cursorily mentioned by other writers too, nonetheless, merit a detailed deliberation.
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan was not only the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims living across the globe but was admittedly a beacon of hope for the distressed, the poverty-stricken and the deprived segment of society besides being a healer of the suffering and ailing humanity, thus sharing their pains vicariously.
His monumental contributions in various fields including education, health and socio-economic development have become instrumental in bringing about a complete metamorphosis in the lives of millions of people belonging to the poor and underprivileged stratum of society living in remote and backward areas across the globe, northern areas of Pakistan including Chitral and GB being a case in point. The institutions he established serve as a benchmark of quality worthy of emulation.
He would work day in and day out for the welfare of humanity even during the twilight days of his life despite his declining health. He strongly believed in an egalitarian and pluralistic society. His outlook of religion transcended the borders of sectarian bias and he would see all schools of thought through the prism of the pristine teachings of Islam. He was a messenger of peace, tolerance, religious harmony, universal brotherhood and above all, peaceful co-existence. Violence and extremism were alien to his teachings and he would always impress upon his jamat (community) to exude forbearance, geniality, love, compassion and spirit of accommodation towards others and stay away from all kinds of violence and extremism. He was an embodiment of truthfulness, honesty, integrity and trustworthiness which he liberally manifested through his actions and words which remarkably corresponded with each other.
He taught the people that the sole aim and the summum bonum of human life is to serve humanity, show compassion to them, help them, take them out of distress and provide them with solace and comfort. He served humanity rising above 3Cs (caste, creed and colour). The poor and the underprivileged segment of society saw in him a saviour who could deliver them from miseries and hardships, and rightly so because they can see perceptible improvement in the quality of life they have. His extraordinary contributions in the field of education, health and socio-economic development as mentioned earlier have earned unreserved acclaim from all and sundry.
His charismatic personality presented a perfect symphony of spirituality and worldliness. In his religious robe, he created an aura that had a spellbinding effect on his devout followers.
With his sad passing away, the world in general and the Muslim world in particular is divested of a great visionary leader.
Col sb has nicely summarized the golden periods of His Highness prince Karim Aga Khan as a 49th Imam of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslim and the direct descendant of our Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad SWS. No doubt, HH prince Karim Aga Khan was a true messenger of peace, tolerance, religious harmony, universal brotherhood, honesty and trustworthy. He never encouraged violence and extremism through his teachings and emphasized to stay away from all kinds of violence and extremism. His noble and undeniable services to humanity and great contributions irrespect of caste, creed and colour was highly acknowledged and appreciated by World Community on his graceful departure on 04 February 2025. He was committed to make difference in the lives of unprivileged people by providing education, health facilities and socio-economic development initiatives in 35 Countries.
This was my comment on Col sb article.
Dur Wali Balim laspur Upper Chitral