Karim Aga Khan and the Ismaili Shia imamate:Involving academic research to redefine the authority of the living imam

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that Ismaili scholars are involved in a redefinition of the Ismaili Shia imamate. For some years, several Ismaili scholars completed PhD where they attempted to prove that the present living imam, Shah Karim al-Husayni, aka Karim Aga Khan or Aga Khan IV, established a new concept of the imamate, based in particular on the transfer of some matters regarding his authority to the AKDN, an organisation “dedicated to improving the quality of life of those in need, mainly in Asia and Africa, irrespective of their origin, faith, or gender.”, according to its website. This type of religious evolution was already analysed by Max Weber more than a century ago, and some religious groups, such as the Bahais or the Ramakrishna Mission, have already carried out this transfer. However, according to Ismaili researchers, the innovative character of the transfer made by the present Aga Khan lies in the redefinition of the interaction between the secular and the religious.