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Episode 53: What happened last week for the Ismaili Community
This one is going to be a little different because this week has been a little different.
Farhan Manjiyani
February 10, 2025
👋 Yo! Welcome to the next episode of How to Negotiate, where you learn how to grow your career and income with better negotiation strategy in less than 5 minutes.
Pro-tip: if you have a brown (Muslim) friend in your life and their last name ends in “ani” there is a 99% chance they are Ismaili Muslim - e.g. Manjiyani.
On February 4th, 2025, Ismailis around the world received the heartbreaking news that their spiritual leader His Highness the Aga Khan IV aka Imam Shah Karim had passed away.
I was born into the Shia Imami Nizari Ismailis Muslim community (sect of Shia). We are ~15MM people around the world who believe the Aga Khan was the direct successor of the Prophet Muhammad. For most our lives, the Aga Khan was the only leader we had ever known, so losing him was a shock. You always know it can happen but rarely are you prepared for when it does happen.
There has been profound sadness in the community as people take stock of what matters in their life. The Aga Khan has long been a role model for me. The sheer impact of his life’s work is unparalleled. A single individual who has created a structured institution that betters the lives of all people. What most aspire to do in lifetimes he accomplished in ~60 years. Some highlights:
1) Became Imam as a sophomore in college at Harvard (20 years old). Had 1.5 years left in his degree plan, but completed in 2 semesters.
Despite having access to his grandfather’s personal inheritance, he led a simple life. He consistently took public transportation, no car and was known among his classmates as only having one par of shoes.
“K. Khan,” Stevenson said, “was a charming fellow with a cracking wit.’ According to his roommate, he did not go in much for clothes and became known as “that guy who had only one pair of shoes”. “During the time I knew him,” said Stevenson, “he owned two suits but I never saw either of them pressed. He had about two dozen neckties but they were all the same colour.”
When he became Imam, he took off a semester to go visit the Ismailis around the world to understand the state of affairs. Then he came back and finished 1.5 years of his degree in 2 semesters graduating Cum Laude.
2) Created the Aga Khan Development Network which continues to successfully operate today
A multinational NGO that employees 96,000 people, operates in 30+ countries and has invested $1B+ into development projects for the betterment of all mankind from mobile clinics for healthcare in remote locations to financial literacy including women’s economic inclusion
The annual budget is ~$625MM and all deficits are covered by the Imam’s personal wealth.
In a BBC interview the Imam said “The Imamat revenue is given by the community to the Imam. He has a responsibility to manage the Imamat revenue…. I would say easily 98% of those funds, and in fact at times much more than 98%, in fact probably of the order of 150%, goes back to the community…and in fact, as I said, the Imamat is spending on many occasions more than it actually has.”
Example shared in his biography:
The Aga Khan starts planning to launch I.P.S. “The amount needed to launch three East African I.P.S. companies — in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika — was £1 million but when, even at this late stage, doubts were raised, the Aga Khan simply said: ‘I will finance it!’ and — proof of his confidence in ultimate success — put up nearly the whole amount.” When a project under consideration by I.P.S. was not financially viable and local officials said “There is no market, Your Highness, it will not pay. You will never get your money back.” The Aga Khan replied, “Never mind, my spiritual children expect me to help them — whatever the cost, help them I shall!”
The Aga Khan has invested $140MM of his personal funds in the Aga Khan University alone from 2007-2012.
3) Sacrificed his personal and family life for the betterment of the community
The Imam has consistently put the welfare of the Ismaili community first which has led to two divorces.
“I would not marry a woman who I did not believe could help me. I hope to reorganise my life so as to have a little more time to be with my wife — and my children — though not at the expense of the community.”
The burden of work and travel is very severe. So although I am extremely fortunate to have a wonderful wife and children, I can’t spend as much time with them as I wish. But I hope to have more time for my family later on. (Interviewer: He said exactly the same on the eve of his wedding ten years ago).
Despite his impact, his personal life isas his name has been smeared in western media outlets as a “billionaire philanthropist”
“I take all sorts of precautions when I go out with friends. I have taught myself not to show any emotion in public places. I never sit next to a woman with whom the press is trying to link me. Here in Gstaad I go often to a bistro outside the village for a fondue because the proprietor will not let anyone take pictures in his establishment. I stopped going to certain Paris theatres because I discovered they were tipping off the press to my presence. I realise that I may seem extreme on the subject, but do not forget that my mail has been stolen and my servants bribed. Close personal friends have taken private snapshots of me in my home and then sold them to magazines. I have been blackmailed on the telephone. All I desire is to have my private life respected. Is that unreasonable?”
“I am not affected by suggestions in print that I live a luxurious Western life, while most Ismailis live in underdeveloped Eastern countries (he went on). These are just smears by cheap magazines. Serious publications are aware of the work we do and of our achievements in many countries. Such smear stories never appear in Asian publications.”
4) Has widely recognized for his efforts in providing spiritual guidance and material assistance to the Ismaili Muslims including the Adrienne Clarkson Prize for Global Citizenship. Others include:
28 Title and State Decorations including being made an honourary Companion to the Order of Canada (2005) and Honourary Canadian Citizenship (2009);
21 honorary degrees, from universities representing the US Ivy League, Canadian Group of 13, UK’s Russell Group, and others;
16 civic honours, representing 9 investures as Foreign Member to several state academies (for the creation of new knowledge – promoting research and stimulating the enhancement of thought, literature, language and other forms of national culture) and 3 Leadership posts at influential European Institutions to promote diplomacy, culture and development;
30 awards spanning domains such as architecture and the built environment, restoration and the revival of culture, education, health, diplomacy and peace, philanthropy, sports, corporate enterprise
delivered over 70 high profile keynote addresses
As Aga Khan IV has passed, we now have a new leader. We Ismailis believe the Imam’s spiritual light is eternal, passing seamlessly from one Imam to the next. Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan, his eldest son, is now our 50th Imam - the Aga Khan V.
As always, feedback is a gift and I welcome any/all feedback on this episode. See ya next week!
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