Aga Khan IV

Prince Shāh Karim al-Husayni, known by the religious title Mawlana Hazar Imam within Ismaili Muslim circles and as Aga Khan IV elsewhere, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism, a denomination of Isma'ilism within Shia Islam. He has held this position of imam since 11 July 1957, when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III. Aga Khan claims to be a direct lineal descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, considered the first Imam in Shia Islam, and Ali's wife Fatima az-Zahra, Muhammad's daughter from his first marriage.