"Our social customs, our daily work, our constant efforts must be turned up must be brought into line with the highest form of possible civilisation. At its greatest period, Islam was at the head of science, was at the head of knowledge, was in the advanced line of political, philosophic and literary thought..."
H.R.H. Prince Aga Khan III:
On the 2nd of November, 1877, the world saw the birth of a great leader and the 48th Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III. Sir Aga Khan was born in Karachi and acceded to the throne of Imamat at the age of eight upon the sad demise of his father, Ali Shah Aga Khan II. Sir Aga Khan, even at that tender age, was able to manage the affairs of his followers with great wisdom and was bestowed with the title of His Highness at the age of nine.
Right from his adolescent years, Sultan Mohamed Shah was imparted excellent knowledge in various disciplines under the strict care of his beloved mother. He was able to read and write with perfect ease in the languages he was learning and made remarkable progress in both Eastern and Western Literature with in-depth knowledge of ancient and modern history. The languages specially studied by him included Persian, Arabic, English and French. He also acquired proficiency in Philosophy and Theology.
At the age of 18, he was able to speak in public on religious philosophy and politics. Through his intimate knowledge of Eastern as well as Western cultures, he was uniquely placed to play a significant role in the international affairs of his time.
Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III was a social reformer whose concerns included the alleviation of rural poverty and the uplift of women in society. An advocate of modern education, he became an ardent supporter of male and female educational advancement in India and East Africa. A keen connoisseur of culture, he advocated a truly multicultural education, blending the best and highest of Western and Eastern literary classics. He was a champion of amity between nations and people.
In 1902, at the age of 25, he was appointed as member of the Imperial Legislative Council by Viceroy Lord Curzon, for his contribution towards education, thus, becoming the youngest member of the council. The Aga Khan III, like many other great Muslim leaders, realised that the main cause of Muslim backwardness was their negligence towards education. He had established network of educational institutions throughout the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.
Even in small villages and far flung areas of the sub-continent established schools. In 1905 he had opened a school in Gwadar, which in those days was a small village of fishermen. Health was also one of the subjects which received his attention and he had opened health institutions like Maternity Homes, Dispensaries etc, in the sub-continent, Africa and other countries wherever he had influence.
When Sir Syed Ahmad Khan started the great Aligarh Movement, the Aga Khan III believed that in it, lay the salvation of the future of Muslims. In 1911, the Aga Khan took upon himself the task of collecting funds to establish the Aligarh University. A year earlier in reply to an address of welcome by the trustees of the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College (M.A.O), he said that he would undertake the responsibility to "build a mighty university worthy of Islam in India." He increased the annual grant that he had been giving to the college for the last many years and promised to contribute a substantial amount to the university funds. He donated money in cash for scholarships to the most deserving students for foreign studies, which the trustees named the "Aga Khan Foreign Scholarship".
The Aga Khan III's fervent desire to help people could also be seen during his mantle of Imamat, when the proceeds from all his Jubilees were used for social welfare and development institutions were further developed in Asia and Africa. In the sub-continent these institutions were established for the relief of humanity. The era gave birth to the Diamond Jubilee schools in 1946. Diamond Jubilee Schools for girls, now commonly known as DJ schools, were established throughout the remote Northern Areas of what is now Pakistan. In addition, scholarship programmes, established at the time of the Golden Jubilee to give assistance to needy students, were progressively expanded. At a time when school conditions and teaching methods in the north of Pakistan used to be as harsh as its mountains and educating the female an unknown phenomenon, establishment of DJ schools focusing on female education was a real breakthrough.
Moving back into history, and taking a glance at the freedom movement for Indian Muslims, it was seen that the Aga Khan III laid the foundation of a separate nationhood for the Indian Muslims as early as 1906. He had led a deputation of Muslims to the Viceroy and demanded separate electorates for the Muslims. His penetrating genius had discovered that the Muslims of India were not a mere community but a nation and he worked hard to unite them into an effective organisation for the protection of their rights.
It was mainly due to his efforts that the All India Muslim League came into existence in 1906. He was voted permanent president of the Muslim League and occupied this post for seven years from 1906 to 1913. The main objective for the formation of the Muslim League was to safeguard and advance the rights and welfare of the Muslim community and to convey their needs and problems to the government. The Muslims had realised that it was important for them to have a platform to voice their demands; their meeting with the Viceroy at Simla had already proved productive and fruitful. Another reason for the formation of the Muslim League was to prevent the rise of any kind of hostility among the Muslims towards other communities.
Sir Aga Khan played a pivotal role in making the Pakistan Movement a success by inculcating political awareness among the Muslims of the sub-continent. He strived hard for cultural renaissance, social regeneration and political rehabilitation of the Muslims.
The Aga Khan III was also chosen as the President of the All Parties Muslim Conference held in 1928-29. In 1930-33, he went as Chairman of the Muslim delegation to the Round Table Conferences. There, the Aga Khan III performed his duty remarkably well, and with his suavity of manners and tact, and general attitude of helpfulness, kept the Muslim team solidly together, which was an invisible contrast to the many discordant voices.
In 1932, he suggested a pact of minorities, which facilitated the announcement of the Communal Award. He was nominated to represent India at the League of Nations in 1932, where he continued to work until the outbreak of the World War II. He was an excellent statesman and was elected President of the League of Nations in July 1937. He was the only Asian to have been appointed to this high office. During the World War II, Aga Khan was forced to live in Switzerland and was unable to actively participate in the affairs of the Muslims of India.
Pakistan's creation owes a great deal to the hard work of Aga Khan. After the creation of Pakistan, Aga Khan remained a friend and a well-wisher of Pakistan. Aga Khan fell ill in 1954 during his visit to Dhaka and from then on struggling with ill health, passed away on 11 July 1957, in Switzerland and was buried in Aswan, Egypt.