Discover the real story behind Aga Khan IV's wealth and lifestyle, debunking myths of extravagance. Learn how his modest choices, visionary projects, and global commitments reflect his dedication to the Ismaili community and sustainable development. Explore his impactful investments in Sardinia, efficiency-driven habits, and the truth behind his use of resources for the betterment of underdeveloped regions.
#AgaKhan #IsmailiCommunity #Leadership #SustainableDevelopment #WealthWithPurpose #ModestLifestyle #GlobalImpact #ResponsibleLeadership #SardiniaDevelopment #Philanthropy
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.
– Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV,
(Sunday Telegraph Magazine Interview, ‘The Quiet Prince of Islam’, May 27, 1979, NanoWisdoms
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1916/)
GB: It is often suggested that your affluent lifestyle is very different from that of most Ismailis who live mostly in the poverty of the Third World. Do you think that is a fair comment?
Aga Khan: I think that affluence is perhaps the wrong terminology. I do not seek to do things, in fact I have stayed away from things which did not seem to me to be good sense, where it was affluence for the sake of affluence. I’ll give you an example. I have a private aircraft, but that aircraft today is flying between 450 and 600 hours a year. You take 600 hours of time — that translates into approximately two months of working days. I cannot afford, nor can people who work in my organisation, to eliminate two months of working time…if you have to run an organisation in as diverse areas as I do there are certain things you’ve got to do to be efficient. When you talk about extremely poor people, of course there are poor people throughout the developing world and there will be poor people for years and years. I think they would ask whether the Imamat as an institution was helping them as best as it could and I think it would be true to say that the Imamat is assisting them.
– Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV,
(The Age Interview, ‘Aga Khan: Enigma of East and West’, July 14, 1979, NanoWisdoms
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/10329/)
Each decision involved big issues. Symbolising the expansion of his interests, he [the Aga Khan] took delivery of the new Gruman Gulfstream jet, twice the size and cost of the old Mystere: “It will enable me to visit my community more frequently,” he told me.
– Willi Frischauer, (The Aga Khans, 281)
“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.”
– Willi Frischauer, (The Aga Khans, 191)
When the Aga Khan enters, it is with a burst of youthful but well-controlled energy. He wears a sober dark suit, white shirt and an unobtrusive tie. He looks elegant whatever he wears, rather like an English squire who sports his shabbiest jacket during weekends on his estate. His mother says that it is a job to get him to buy a new suit, and friends have noticed holes in the soles of his shoes. One of them says: “The Aga Khan wears a French smile and English socks—not a bad combination.”
– Willi Frischauer, (The Aga Khans, 14)
But after my grandfather died I found the work so onerous, and there was so much misunderstanding here about the Imam and the Ismailis, that I felt I had to find a place where I could go and not be disturbed. So I joined a small group that had interests in Sardinia and found myself caught in a development that just grew. We found the place so beautiful, and we were so happy, that we decided we had to be very careful, because if not the place would simply become another ugly, over-crowded tourist centre.
– Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV
(The Sunday Times Interview, ‘The Ruler Without A Kingdom’, NanoWisdoms
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1400/)
It has transformed the country. Tourism is the one way you can bring prosperity to a place that has nothing except undeveloped beauty. I’ve been amazed how many political leaders in Africa and the Middle East have said, “Come and do the same thing to us.”
– Imam Shah Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV
(The Sunday Times Interview, ‘The Ruler Without A Kingdom’, NanoWisdoms
http://www.nanowisdoms.org/nwblog/1400/)