Introduced by RASHIDA TEJANI

My beloved daughter, Farah, sadly passed away on December 17, 2025, at the age of 57. As a creative writer and storyteller, she contributed several pieces to Simerg and its sister website Barakah, one of which elicited a response from Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, then Prince Rahim.

Farah’s arduous personal journey over the past 27 years was intertwined in 2025 with the profound events of the Ismaili Imamat — the passing of Mawlana Shah Karim and the succession of Mawlana Shah Rahim Hazar Imam — both of which are central to the community’s modern history.

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For Farah, the most significant shock in her life was the loss of our beloved 49th Imam, Mawlana Shah Karim, on February 4, 2025. I vividly recall breaking the news of his passing over the phone. It tore her heart, and I can’t express the shock she felt or the depth of her grief until the announcement the following day that Prince Rahim was the new Mawlana Hazar Imam of the Ismailis. As the new Imam took over the reins and marked his Takht-nishini a week later, her emotions began to settle, and she penned a tribute to Mawlana Shah Karim while reflecting on the eternal rope of Imamat, whose new holder was Mawlana Hazar Imam.

This tribute — the piece below — was Farah’s last story, shaped by the tragic event of the 49th Imam’s passing and the succession of the 50th Imam. With the piece, she scanned several photos of Mawlana Shah Karim from Gary Otte’s pictorial biography, “Depth of Field: The Aga Khan Beyond the Lens,” and, in two images, she wrote her own touching reflections on the late Imam. I am gratified that the editor of Barakah is publishing this piece by her before 2025 ends. It is a fitting conclusion to her series of articles published on this inspiring platform.

For me, as for any other parent, the death of my beloved daughter has been the most hurtful episode in my life. I ask you to join me in praying for the eternal peace of my daughter, and for my courage and fortitude to bear her loss. I also invite you to read Simerg’s tribute to Farah published on December 19.

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Reflections on Mawlana Shah Karim and Mawlana Hazar Imam

By FARAH TEJANI

As I begin this piece, I humbly say to my 50th Imam, Mawlana Hazar Imam Shah Rahim al Hussaini: I hold fast to the Rope of Imamat and offer my devotion and allegiance to you.

The moment I learned that my Mawlana Shah Karim, His Late Highness Aga Khan IV, had passed away, my heart was pierced with profound grief and a sense of tragic loss. I remember my mom calling me on the phone and saying with a sense of urgency, “Farah, I have some very tragic news.” I immediately called out the name of one family member after another, to which she would sob and say, “No! Way Worse!” 

She did not want to torture me anymore; she just wanted to somehow prepare me. But there was no way to prepare for this. “WHO?!?” I demanded. She blurted out, “Mawla Bapa!” The news struck me with awe, like a thunderclap, shattering the peace of my world. Mawlana Shah Karim’s face of Pure Nurani Light filled the inside of my eyelids. I responded “NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” 

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I saw his face again. And then I saw pictures of him from my copy of “Depth of Field: The Aga Khan Beyond the Lens”: The one of him working intently at his desk at his residence. Then, the black-and-white photo of him competing in downhill skiing in preparation for the Olympics, to represent Iran. Then, the iconic one of him greeting to his Jamat, with a big smile and waving lovingly for all His Beloved Spiritual Children to see. Then, focusing on a view from the Great Wall of China. Then giving a mulaqat to his spiritual children in Bartang, Tajikistan, amidst the Pamir mountains under blue skies. Then, standing in front of the entire House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament, humbly, after giving a powerful speech and being met with a unanimous standing ovation. These pictures and moments connect him with us, his community, and his Imamat at different times. There are countless faces of him at so many ages, and there are so many meaningful expressions of hope, discipline, determination, celebration, deep thought, peaceful divinity, and inner joy. So many expressions.

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My heart could not take it. I felt lonely in my studio apartment, and tears filled my eyes as I envisioned him, with his gentle, loving, tender hands that had touched and blessed millions of people all over the world. The world at large was grieving the loss of one of the most significant humanitarians on this globe today, who put the needs of the impoverished, economically downtrodden and educationally unfortunate at the forefront. As the Founder and Chair of the Aga Khan Development Network, the Aga Khan University, the University of Central Asia, Aga Khan Hospitals, and hundreds of Aga Khan Schools, their impact was felt across the globe.

I will never forget my travels to East African Aga Khan Schools in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Tanzania in 1992, with 26 other Ismaili youth. We were all armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in one of the areas of service, such as English, Education, Science, Algebra, or any of the other core subjects. I distinctly remember the Aga Khan, my spiritual father, encouraging me to question, take time, offer our service in an area not as fortunate, and study the Aga Khan Schools and Institutions to see what it is all really about. His words of wisdom and encouragement continue to inspire and motivate me to this day. I even went to Mawlana Sultan Mahomed Shah’s burial site in Aswan, and along with 26 others, we were graciously permitted to enter the Mausoleum and see the long-stem red rose that Begum Aga Khan, Om Habiba (Mata Salamat), arranged to have placed daily on her late husband’s coffin.

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I was also fortunate enough to work at the Aga Khan University and the Institute for Educational Development in Karachi, Pakistan, thanks to a cousin who sent me a detailed day-to-day itinerary for the entire month of 1997. I was grateful to have received a few job offers, but my true heart’s desire was to serve in one of the Aga Khan Schools in East Africa, where I was born and had already visited in 1992. Nevertheless, I will never forget the sense of awe, absolute inspiration, and wonder I felt when I first saw the beautiful pink marble university with students going from here to there with so much pride in holding their textbooks and knapsacks. The Aga Khan University was poetically beautiful and architecturally designed, and even had courtyards that were non-discriminatory, with benches where you would see less fortunate people sleeping. With gardeners who would give their time to keep up the meticulous landscaping, I was always thinking about my Mawlana Shah Karim.

February 4th, 2025, will always be a sombre day for everyone around the world. For 67 years, Mawlana Shah Karim devoted his life to health, education, rural development, economic growth, institution-building, and enhancing the quality of life. Due to his spiritual and material guidance, Ismailis are settled in the countries in which we live. At the same time, he has shown deep concern for his Jamats, who are poverty-stricken, and has been asking his institutions, for as long as I can remember, to assist them in overcoming their plight.

The resting place for Mawlana Shah Karim was in Aswan, in the same mausoleum as his grandfather, Shah Sultan Mohammed Shah, Aga Khan III. Mourners and especially his family were grief-stricken but poised and gracious under the circumstances.

We are so blessed and fortunate to have the Rope of Imamat to hold on to for over 1,400 years of unbroken Hereditary Imamat. The auspicious occasion of the Takht-nishini (ceremonial installation) on February 11, when the Oath of Allegiance (Baya’h) was given to the 50th Imam, Mawlana Shah Rahim, took place at the Diwan of the Ismaili Imamat in Lisbon. At this moment, our community stood united, filled with joy and anticipation for our new Present Living Imam’s guidance and love despite the grief of losing our Beloved Shah Karim. 

The momentous ceremony moved many to tears of joy and hope, especially the first Farman made by Mawlana Shah Rahim, when he also reflected on his father’s Imamat. The significance and meaning of his poignant, solemn, sensitive, timely, authoritative words were so powerful, endearing and comforting. The Farman was detailed and covered subjects like pluralism, diversity, world peace and order, climate control, taking care of the less fortunate, volunteerism and his solemn vow and commitment to the protection and security of his global Ismaili Jamat. Every youth in the community should seek to read the Farman, as official printed copies are now available.

Ismailis truly are very blessed. The Divine and Sublime beauty of it all is that I feel Shah Karim’s eternal ever-lasting presence in his son, Mawlana Shah Rahim. Shah Karim always promised us that he would never leave us: “Always remember…I am always with you,” he would often tell us, whether he was physically around us. Throughout the Takht-nishini ceremony, I felt his genuine promise come true. I felt this through the same Nur vested in the Rope of Imamat from the time of Hazrat Ali (A.S.) I hear his words echoing in my head. And now they are Mawlana Rahim’s words. He even went on to say, “If  you have any worries and concerns, then turn to your Imam.” These are powerful soothing words full of comfort and inspiration.

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Glory Be to Allah, and All Praise Goes to Allah, the Lord of All Worlds. Mashallah. Ya Hazar Imam, Oh Mawlana Shah Rahim, bless us with your Wisdom, your Experience, your Nurani Deedar, your Holy Blessed Guidance, Spiritually and Materially and your Divine and Physical Protection from any ill fate or disposition. Ameen.

I feel secure in the knowledge that our faith will be practiced and interpreted as it should be by the Nass that Shah Karim conferred to Him as Imam-of-the-Time, and by the Nur that he is carrying with him from the very moment of Shah Karim’s passing.

With no doubt in my mind, heart and soul, I have complete faith in Mawlana Shah Rahim, and I feel so Physically and Divinely protected by our beloved 50th Imam just as I did by his father, Mawlana Shah Karim Aga Khan IV. 

Date posted: December 31, 2025.

A version of this post appears on Simerg’s sister website Barakah, which is dedicated to His Highness the Aga Khan.

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