- Aga Khan IV
Karīm al-Hussaynī, Āgā Khān IV KBE CC GCC -- (born December 13, 1936) is the current (49th) Imām of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. He has been in this position, and held the title of Aga Khan, since July 11, 1957. The Ismailis are ethnically and culturally diverse and reside in over 25 countries around the world. A modern Muslim leader, the Aga Khan is responsible for the interpretation of the faith for his followers and as part of the office of the Imamate, … - Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan
Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, KBE (January 17, 1933 - May 12, 2003) served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1966 to 1978, during which he reoriented the agency's focus beyond Europe and prepared it for an explosion of complex refugee issues. He was also a proponent of greater collaboration between non-governmental organizations and UN agencies. The Prince's interest in ecological issues led him to establish the Bellerive Foundation in the late 1970s, … - Nasir Khusraw
Abu Mo’in Hamid al-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nasir Khusraw Qubadyani [also spelled "Khusrow"] (1004 - 1088 CE) was a Persian poet, philosopher, Isma'ili scholar and a traveler. He was born in Qubadyan, a village near Balkh in Afghanistan and died in Yamagan, a village in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. He is considered as one of the great poets and writers in Persian literature, the "Safarnama", an account of his travels, … - Aga Khan III
Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III GCSI GCMG GCIE GCVO PC (Persian: آغا خان الثالث(November 2, 1877 - July 11, 1957) was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38. - Ja'Far Al-Sadiq
Ja'far Al-Sadiq (Arabic: جعفر الصادق in full Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Husayn (702 AD - 765 AD).<br /> Ja'fa al-Sadiq is considered the sixth infallible Imam and one of Ahl al-Bayt of the Shi'a Muslims. The dispute over who was to succeed him led to the split of the Ismailis from the mainstream Twelver Shi'a and the establishment of the Aga Khan's family line. - Prince Aly Khan
Prince Ali Solomone Khan, known as Aly Khan, was a vice president of the United Nations General Assembly representing Pakistan, for which he served as U.N. ambassador (1958-1960). Best known, however, as an international playboy and a racehorse owner and jockey, he was a son of Aga Khan III, the head of the Ismaili Muslims, and the father of Aga Khan IV. His first name was typically spelled "Aly" in the popular press. - Aga Khan I
Aga Khan I, also Āghā Khān I and Āqā Khān I, was the title accorded to Ḥasan ‘Alī Shāh (b. 1804 in Kahak; d. 1881), the 46th Imam of the Qāsim-Shāhī Nizari Ismailis. - Muhammad Al-Baqir
Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (First of Rajab 57 AH (676 AD) – Seventh of Dhu al-Hijjah 114 AH (743 AD)) was the fifth Shi’a Imam. His father was Imam Ali ibn Hussain (fourth Shi’a Imam) and his mother was the daughter of Imam Hassan ibn Ali (second Shi’a Imam), and her name was Fatima bint Hassan ibn Ali. He is highly respected by Sunni Muslims for his religious knowledge and Islamic scholarship. - Al-Amir
Al-Amir Bi-Ahkamillah was the tenth Fatimid Caliph (1101-1130). Like his father Al-Musta'li (1094-1101), Al-Amir was controlled by the regent Malik al-Afdal (1094-1121) and had little influence in political matters. However, after the overthrow of al-Afdal in 1121 he managed to gain control of government. His reign was marred by the loss of Tyros to the Crusaders, as well as by the continuation of the Shiite schism between the Nizari (Assassins) and the Mustalids. - Wilferd Madelung
Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung is a scholar of Islam. He was born in Stuttgart, Germany, where he completed his early education at Eberhard-Ludwig-Gymnasium. His family moved to the United States after in 1947. He studied at Georgetown. Madelung went to Egypt in 1952 and stayed there for a year. During his stay in Egypt the Coup d'État of 1952 by the Free Officers occurred. He also met Ihsan Abbas, the famous scholar of Islamic History, there. - Al-Hakim Bi-Amr Allah
- Al-Musta'Li
- Princess Zahra Aga Khan
Princess Zahra Aga Khan (born September 18, 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland) is the eldest child of His Highness the Aga Khan. She attended Institut Le Rosey and Harvard University, from where she graduated in 1994 with a degree in Third World Development Studies. She married Mark Boyden, an Anglican, in a civil ceremony on June 21, 1997. The couple have a daughter, Sara, and a son, Ilyan. After her graduation, from Harvard University with a BA (Honours) in 1994, … - Ad-Darazi
Muhammad bin Ismail Nashtakin ad-Darazi was a 11th century Ismaili preacher and early leader of Druze. Nashtakin, a Turk, was born in Buchara. He was probably a tailor, as denoted by his surname "ad-Darazi". Ad-Darazi was the first to publicly proclaim the divinity of Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim. After losing favor with the Caliph when his preachings incited several riots, ad-Darazi disappeared. Some accounts put Ad-Darazi in Syria after his disappearance, … - Hamid Al-Din Al-Kirmani
Hamid al–Din Abu’l–Hasan Ahmad b. ‘Abdallah al–Kirmani was a Persian Isma'ili scholar who served as a "da'i", theologian and philosopher under the Fatimid caliph-imam al-Hakim bi Amr Allah. He was called upon to refute the dissident "da'i"s, who by proclaiming al-Hakim's divinity had initiated the Druze movement. His prominent works are: * "Rahat al-‘aql" (Peace of Mind, or Comfort of Reason), … - Qadi Al-Nu'Man
Abu Hanifa al-Nu‘man b. Muhammad b. Mansur b. Ahmad b. Hayyun al-Tamimi, generally known as al-Qadi al-Nu‘man (d. 974 CE/ 363 AH) was an Isma'ili jurist and the official historian of the Fatimid caliphs. Born in North Africa, he converted to Isma'ili Islam and began his career in Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia, western Libya and eastern Algeria) under the first caliph, al-Mahdi Billah (r. 909-934 CE/ 297-322 AH), … - Asghar Ali Engineer
Asghar Ali Engineer is a Muslim scholar and engineer. Internationally he is known for his work on liberation theology in Islam, the leader of the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra movement, and his work on (and action against) communalism and communal and ethnic violence in India and South East Asia. He is an advocate of a culture of peace and non-violence. Asghar Ali Engineer was born 10 March 1939 in Salumbar, Rajasthan, India as the son of a Bohra priest. - Aga Khan II
Aga Khan II, also Āghā Khān II and Āqā Khān II, was the title of Aqa Ali Shah (b. 1830 in Mahallat, Iran; d. August 1885 in Pune, India), the 47th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims. A member of the Iranian royal family, he became the Imam in 1881. During his lifetime, he helped to better not only his own community, but also the larger Muslim community of India. He was an avid sportsman and hunter. - Mu'Ayyad Fi'L-Din Al-Shirazi
Al-Mu'ayyad fid-Din al-Shirazi was an 11th century Isma'ili scholar, philosopher-poet, preacher and theologian of Persian origin. He served the Fatimid caliph-imam Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah as a "da‘i" in varying capacities, eventually attaining the highest rank of "da‘i al–du ‘at" (chief "da‘i") in the Fatimid "da‘wa". - Hassan-I Sabbah
Hassan-i Sabbah was an Iranian Ismā'īlī Nizarī missionary who converted a community in the late 11th century in the heart of the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran. The place was called Alamut and was attributed to an ancient king of Daylam. He founded a group whose members are sometimes (originally derogatorily) referred to as the "Hashshashin". - Mowafak Tarif
- Prince Rahim Aga Khan
Prince Rahim Aga Khan (October 12, 1971-) is the eldest son of His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan and his first wife Princess Salimah. He graduated from Brown University in the United States in 1995 and is involved in his father's economic development institutions. He graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts in 1990. - Ian Iqbal Rashid
Ian Iqbal Rashid (born 1965 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) is a Canadian/British Ismaili Muslim poet, screenwriter and filmmaker. He was raised primarily in Toronto, Ontario, and has lived primarily in Bristol as an adult. Rashid published his first book of poetry, "Black Markets, White Boyfriends and Other Acts of Elision", in 1991, and was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Award. He subsequently published two further books of poetry, … - Ghulam Ali Allana
Ghulam Ali Allana was friend and biographer of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan. He was also an English language Pakistani poet. He was also a councillor and friend Muhammad Ali Jinnah's sister Fatima Jinnah. He was born to an Ismaili Khoja family and died in Karachi. His son Pyar Ali Allana is a politician and has been a member of the parliament in Benazir Bhutto's era as the prime minister of the country. - Rahim Jaffer
Rahim Jaffer (born December 15, 1971) is the Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament for the Edmonton—Strathcona district of Alberta. Born in Kampala, Uganda and of Indian origin, he originally won his seat as a member of the Reform Party of Canada (later the Canadian Alliance and then merged with the Progressive Conservatives to form the Conservative Party). Jaffer is a Muslim of the Ismaili faith, … - Al-Maqrizi
Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 - 1442); Arabic:, was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi. According to Paul E. Walker, :A Mamluk [-era] historian and himself a Sunni, he is remarkable in this context for his unusually keen interest in the Ismaili Fatimid dynasty and its role in Egyptian history. - M. G. Vassanji
M.G. Vassanji, C.M. is an Afro-Asian-Canadian novelist. Although of South Asian heritage, Vassanji grew up in East Africa--he was born in Nairobi, Kenya in 1950, and raised in Tanzania. While attending the University of Nairobi he won a scholarship to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study nuclear physics. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to Canada in 1978 to work at the Chalk River nuclear laboratories, … - Ubayd Allah Al-Mahdi Billah
Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah a.k.a Said ibn Husayn is considered the founder of the Fatimid dynasty, the only major Shi'ite caliphate in Islam, and established Fatimid rule throughout much of North Africa. After establishing himself as the first Imam of the Fatimid dynasty he made claim to genealogic origins dating as far back as Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, through Husayn, Fatimah's son, and Ismail. - Abu Mansoor Nizar Al-Aziz Billah
Al-Aziz was the fifth Caliph of the Fatimids (975-996). Since Abdallah, the heir to the throne, had died before his father Ma'ad al-Muizz Li-Deenillah (953-975), his brother Abu l-Mansur Nizar al-Aziz acceded to the Caliphate with the help of Jawhar as-Siqilli. Under Al-Aziz the Fatimid Empire stretched as far as Palestine and Syria (from 977/978). Mecca and Medina also acknowledged the suzerainty of the Fatimids. - Ma'Ad Al-Mustansir Billah
Abū Tamīm Ma'add al-Mustanṣir bi-llāh, was born in Cairo on 16th Jamada II, 420/ and eight months afterwards was declared to succeed his father. His name was Ma'd Abu Tamim, surnamed al-Mustansir billah (Imploring the help of God). He ascended on 15th Shaban, 427/June 13, 1036 at the age of 7 years. During the early years, the state affairs were administered by his mother. His period of Caliphate lasted for 60 years, the longest of all the caliphs, … - Isma'Il Ibn Jafar
Isma'il bin Jafar was the eldest son of the sixth Shia Imam, Jafar as-Sadiq. To protect him from persecution, his father sent him into hiding and publicly declared him deceased. The majority of sources indicate that the Imam Jafar as-Sadiq designated Ismail as his successor and the next Imam after him. Ismail was also known as Imam Jafar's most beloved son. However, it appeared to most people that Ismail died before his father. - Inaara Aga Khan
The Begum Aga Khan, LL.D, ("Begum Inaara Aga Khan" or "Princess Inaara Aga Khan"), (born "Gabriele Homey", April 1, 1963) is the current Begum Aga Khan, the wife of the Aga Khan IV, (49th) Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. - Kamal Jumblatt
Kamal Jumblatt ; (December 6, 1917 – March 16, 1977) was an important Lebanese politician. He was the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War until his assassination in 1977. He is the father of the present Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. - Mobina Jaffer
Mobina S. B. Jaffer, QC, LLB (born August 20 1949 in Uganda) is a Canadian Senator representing British Columbia. She is the first South Asian and the first Muslim woman appointed to the Upper House. Born to an East Indian family living in Africa, Jaffer was educated in England and Canada. She earned a law degree from the University of London in 1972 and a post-graduate degree from Simon Fraser University. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. - Abu 'Abdullah Al-Shi'I
Abu 'Abdullah al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn Zakariyya al-Shi'i (d. February 28, 911) was a "Da'i" for the Isma'ilis in Yemen and North Africa mainly among the Kutama Berbers, whose teachings influenced the rise of the Fatimid dynasty. He was born in Kufa in Iraq (or Sanaa, according to some accounts) and was active in the administration of the Abbasid Caliphate, before he began to associate with Ismaili teachers. - Hamza Ibn-'Ali Ibn-Ahmad
Hamza ibn ˤAlī ibn Aḥmad was an 11th century Ismaili and founding leader of Druze. Hamza was of Persian descent. He was a leader of the daˤwah or Fātimid Missionary Organisation. Hamza believed in transmigration of souls and in 1017 he sent a letter to Fatimid officers and courtiers, demanding that they should acknoqledge the divinity of al-Hakim, the reigning Fatimid Caliph and Ismaili Imam, and his previous Ismaili Imams. - Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem (born Kemal Amin Kasem on April 27 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, USA, of Palestinian/Lebanese heritage) is an American radio personality and voice actor. He currently hosts four weekly syndicated radio programs based on the popular American Top 40 franchise, which he founded in 1970. "American Top 20 with Casey Kasem", "American Top 10 with Casey Kasem", "Casey Kasem's American Top 40: The 70s", … - Yasmin Ratansi
Yasmin Ratansi (born January 4, 1951) is a Canadian MP (member of parliament), who represents the riding of Don Valley East in the Canadian House of Commons. She is a member of the Liberal Party. Ratansi is an Ismaili, and is the first Muslim woman elected to the Canadian House of Commons. Born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, before being elected to the House, Ratansi worked as a management consultant and a certified general accountant. - Azzam Azzam
Azzam Azzam (born 1963) is a Druze Israeli who was convicted in Egypt of spying for Israel, and jailed for eight years. He maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal and since, no credible evidence was presented at his trial, and no additional evidence was ever released. - Salah Tarif
Salah Tarif (Arabic: صالح طريف, Hebrew: סאלח טריף, born February 9, 1954) is a Druze Israeli former Knesset member. A member of the Labour Party, he first joined the Knesset near the end of the 12th Knesset Assembly. He was elected to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Knessets, and served another partial term at the end of the 16th Knesset. He served as the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, …
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