Word: ismailis
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Give to Receive. The Ismailis are a prosperous minority scattered mainly through Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Naturally industrious, they gave tithes for more than 40 years to Karim's grandfather, the old Aga Khan, and their gifts came back to bless them. A playboy but a shrewd financier, the old Aga Khan invested the Ismailis' money in blue-chip stocks, used the proceeds to finance a network of Ismaili banks, shops and factories. In Ismaili communities, he built hospitals, mosques and schools. He left an estimated $800 million, though the young Aga Khan warns...
Surrounded by a flock of wazirs (councilors) everywhere he went, he blessed thousands of faithful followers, who fought to touch his hand and besieged him with requests. The visitor listened gravely, kept three secretaries busy handling his replies. For the 20 million members of the Ismaili Moslem sect face challenging times, and their new Imam was determined to lead them well. "All that really matters for me is my work.'' says 23-year-old Karim Aga Khan. "All the rest is tripe...
Young Karim gives and invests with an eye on political trends. In Uganda, where the 10,000 Ismailis almost monopolize retail trade, black nationalist leaders last year organized a boycott of Ismaili shops, and the Aga Khan is now advising his followers to shift into other lines-"small industry, the professions, the civil service." In every country, the Aga Khan interviews key Cabinet ministers to find out what industries the government is keen on developing, and sets up a local
...Ismaili to get the business going. "Any little tidbit that comes up. I jump on." he says. Sound Ismaili business ventures can count on low-interest (about 3%) loans from the Aga Khan's banks...
Worst Blow. When the Aga Khan died in 1957, he named Aly's Harvard-educated son Karim, 23, as head of the Ismaili sect. Close friends say that Aly was crushed at being passed over, that it was "the worst blow he had received since his mother died." It seemed to effect a change in Aly's behavior: he soon appeared at the United Nations as the Ambassador of Pakistan, where thousands of Ismailis live. Canada's U.N. Ambassador...