Her son will succeed him at the head of the Nizâritis Ismaelis

Rahim al-Hussaini, son of Aga Khan IV who died on Tuesday in Lisbon at the age of 88, will succeed his father at the head of the Nizârites Ismaelis, a branch of Shiite Islam, under the title of Aga Khan V, we learned Wednesday, February 5.

“Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan V was appointed today the 50th hereditary imam (spiritual leader) of Ismaelian Shiite Muslims, following the opening of the will of his late father, Prince Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV »»announced the authorities of this Shiite Muslim group.

Before his death, Aga Khan had appointed his successor in his last wishes, according to the Shiite practice of “Nass” (Transfer of the imamate from one imam to another through an explicit designation, in the same way that the prophet Mohammed was designated by God, according to tradition).

A “direct descendant of the prophet”

53 years old, Rahim al-Hussaini is the father of two children and graduated in comparative literature from Brown University in the United States. Considered a “Direct descendant of the prophet Mohammed”he was born from the first marriage of Aga Khan IV.

He thus takes the spiritual direction of this branch of Shiism which has between twelve and fifteen million members distributed around the world, especially in Central Asia and South, in Africa and the Middle East.

The death of Aga Khan IV was announced on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday by its foundation, the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), which said in a statement that it was dead “Peacefully” in Lisbon on Tuesday, “Surrounded by his family”.

AGA Khan had established the world headquarters of its community in 2015 in Lisbon, in the capital of Portugal, where its funeral will take place soon.

In the center of Lisbon, the green flag crossed by a red strip of the Ismaelis was at half mast on Wednesday above the Mendonça palace, a large mansion that Aga Khan had renovated to make it the world seat of its community there is Ten years.