# Aga Khan V

Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan (Persian: رحیم الحسینی آغا خان;‎ born 12 October 1971), known as His Highness the Aga Khan V (Persian: آقاخان پنجم), is a religious leader, businessman, and socialite best known as the 50th hereditary Imam, of the Shia Nizari Isma'ili Muslims, as he succeeded the 1,400-years old family's dynasty, linked by heredity to the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Hazrat Bibi Fatima, and the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali, the first Shia Imam. Today the Ismailis are the only Shia community who, throughout history, have been led by a living and present, hereditary Imam in direct descent from the Prophet.
He is the second of the Aga Khan IV's four children, and succeeded his father as per his testament, upon his death on 4 February 2025, at his palace in Lisbon. He is also known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam (the present Imam) by his Shia Isma'ili followers. He is the fifth Nizari imam who hold the title Aga Khan.

## Early life and education

Prince Rahim Aga Khan was born on 12 October 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the eldest son and second oldest of three children born to the Aga Khan IV (Prince Karim Al-Husseini) and his first wife Princess Salimah Aga Khan (née Sarah Croker-Poole), a British national.
Prince Rahim was educated in the United States, receiving his secondary education at Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts (1990), and graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature in 1995. In 2006 he completed graduate studies in management and administration in Barcelona, Spain, at the IESE Business School University of Navarra.
In 2010, he established the Aga Khan Brown Workshop series at the Watson Institute.

## Career

Based in Geneva, Switzerland Prince Rahim has been actively involved for many years in the governance of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), where as of 2020 he chaired the AKDN Environment and Climate Committee.
As of 2019, Prince Rahim sat on either the Board or Executive Committee for several of the AKDN's agencies and affiliated structures, including the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, and the Aga Khan University Foundation.
Prince Rahim travels regularly to oversee programs and other projects of the Aga Khan Development Network.
Following the death of the Aga Khan IV, on 4 February 2025, Prince Rahim was named the fifth Aga Khan and the 50th hereditary imam of Nizari Isma'ilism, as prescribed in his father's will. His formal accession ceremony was held on 11 February 2025.

## Governance & Leadership

* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V became the Chair of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in February 2025.
** AKDN is a network of private, non-denominational group of development agencies, led by The Ismaili Imamat, works in over 30 countries around the world closely with the Governments and Civil Societies stakeholders more than 200 in number. And operate over 1,000 programmes and institutions − many of which date back over 60 years, and some over 100.
** AKDN employ approximately 96,000 people, with annual budget of approximately $1 billion for non-profit development activities. AKDN's annual highlights shows: • Delivery of 14 million outpatient visits through more than 940 health facilities • Provide early childhood development to over 2.3 million preschool children • Teach nearly 1 million students through 200 schools and 2 universities • Provide safe water to over 770,000 people • Generate 1.8 billion kWh of clean electricity • Provide financial services to over 50 million people • Train 40,000 community volunteers in disaster management & response • Plant over 3.2 million trees.
** AKDN agencies have won more then 100 awards for their work in a variety of disciplines, from historic preservation to water and sanitation.
* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan, in accordance with his father’s wishes and the founding charter of AKU, has become the Chancellor of the Aga Khan University. AKU is a not-for-profit institution, founded in 1983 as Pakistan’s first private university, with mission to improve the quality of life in the developing world and beyond through world-class teaching, research and health-care delivery. Starting in 2000, the University expanded to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom.
* The eldest son, His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan of UCA’s Founding Chancellor His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, in accordance with UCA’s International Treaty and Charter, has assumed the role of the Chancellor of the University of Central Asia (UCA). He has been actively engaged in the University’s governance and strategic direction since 2017 as a founding Trustee. The UCA is a private, not-for-profit, secular university, founded in 2000 through an International Treaty signed by His Late Highness the Aga Khan IV with the Presidents of Tajikistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan, with the mission to promote the social and economic development of Central Asia, particularly its mountain communities, by offering an internationally recognised standard of higher education and world-class centre for knowledge and learning, connecting isolated rural communities with the global community and building human capital needed for modern economies and stable governance.
* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V has assumed the role of the Chair of The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) upon his succession in accordance with historical Shia Imami Ismaili tradition on 4 February 2025. The IIS is a research institute established in 1977 as an academic institution of higher education aims to promote the study of Muslim cultures and societies, both historical and contemporary, in order to foster a greater understanding of their relationships with other societies and faiths. From 2018 IIS moved to new premises, in the heart of Aga Khan Centre in London's King's Cross, a place for education, knowledge, cultural exchange and insight into Muslim civilisations.
* His Highness the Aga Khan V is the new President of the Global Centre for Pluralism. The Global Centre for Pluralism is an independent, charitable organization founded by His Late Highness the Aga Khan IV in a partnership with the Government of Canada. The Centre works with policymakers, educators and community leaders around the world to influence perspectives, inform policies and inspire actions to advance pluralism.

## Global Founding Patronship

* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V expressed gratitude to the European Commission for inviting him to a conference under Syria's new government on 17 March 2025 at Brussels, Belgium. He reaffirmed the Ismaili Imamat's and Aga Khan Development Network's (AKDN) support for Syria, committing a minimum of €100 million over the next two years toward the country’s recovery. The focus will be on scaling up humanitarian efforts, investing in renewable energy, expanding healthcare and education, addressing food insecurity, and preserving Syria’s cultural assets. The Imam stressed the importance of peace and a pluralistic government for all Syrians, emphasizing the urgent need for humanitarian aid and the creation of hope, stability, and prosperity in Syria.
* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, is now a founding partner of the Paris Peace Forum, through the AKDN's Chairmanship. The Paris Peace Forum is an international multi-stakeholder platform dedicated to global governance solutions. AKDN is a Strategic Partner and represent itself in the Governance of the Paris Peace Forum's, Executive Committee and General Assembly to work reinforcing its enduring collaboration with the French Republic and commitment to historic shared values of peace, human development and pluralism.
* His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V is a Global Alliance Founding Partner through AKDN with His Royal Highness Prince William for The Earthshot Prize. The prize aims to find new solutions to environmental crises and the improvement of living standards, particularly for communities who are most at risk from climate change. Prince Rahim, Chair of AKDN’s Environment and Climate Committee, said: “The Aga Khan Development Network is proud to be a Founding Partner of The Earthshot Prize. It is our collective responsibility to be good stewards of the planet. At this critical moment, we must all nurture and invest in solutions that can repair our planet before it is too late."
* His Majesty King Charles III named His Highness Aga Khan V as Global Founding Patron of The King’s Trust Group in March 2025. As Global Founding Patron, His Highness the Aga Khan will support the delivery of The Trust’s work in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and through local partners in India, Jordan, Pakistan, Malta, Barbados and Greece. The King’s Trust Group is a global network of support for young people, inspired by the vision of the Royal Founding President, His Majesty King Charles III.

## Personal life

Prince Rahim married Kendra Irene Spears on 31 August 2013 in Geneva. They have two children: Prince Irfan (b. 11 April 2015) and Prince Sinan (b. 2 January 2017). In 2019, he bought a house in Unstad in Vestvågøy Municipality, Norway. The couple divorced in February 2022.

## Titles, styles and honours

The titles Prince and Princess are used by the Aga Khans and their children by virtue of their descent from Shah Fath Ali Shah of the Persian Qajar dynasty. The title was officially recognised by the British government in 1938.
Author Farhad Daftary wrote of how the honorific title Aga Khan (from Agha and Khan) was first given to Hasan Ali Shah (The Aga Khan I) at the age of thirteen when he as the young Imam with his mother decided to go to the Qajar court in Tehran to obtain justice upon his father's death and was eventually successful. "At the same time, the Qajar monarch bestowed on him the honorific title (laqab) of Agha Khan (also transcribed as Aqa Khan), meaning lord and master...in due course simplified in Europe to Aga Khan". Daftary additionally commented, "The title of Agha Khan remained hereditary amongst his successors."
The style of His Highness was formally granted to the Aga Khan V by King Charles III on 10 February 2025. In accordance with long-standing tradition of the Ismaili Imams with the British Monarch and, to mark the accession of Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan as the fiftieth hereditary Imam of the Shi’a Ismaili Muslim community. Spoken style (second person, e.g. "His Highness" or "Your Highness")

### Honours

* Pakistan:
** Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Pakistan (7 June 2024)
* Egypt:
** Symbolic Key to the City of Aswan, presented to His Highness Prince Rahim Aga Khan V by the Governor of Aswan (9 February 2025)
* Kenya:
** Chief Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart of Kenya (CGH, 8 March 2025)