Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III � a distinguished Muslim Leader

By: Khwaja Hussain Bux

�Our Social Customs, our daily work, our constant efforts must be turned up must be brought into line with the highest form of possible civilization. At its greatest period, Islam was at the head of science, was at the head of knowledge, was in advanced line of political, philosophical and literary thought.�
H.R.H Prince Aga Khan III

His Royal Highness Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III (1877-1957) was a man of many parts and in his long life played diverse roles in numerous public fields. He was the first President of the All India Muslim League (1906 to 1913), founder President of All India Muslim Conference, Patron of the London Muslim League, Head of the 1906 Muslim Deputation to the Viceroy of India, President of the All India Muhammadan Education Conference, one of the makers and subsequently first Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University, Head of the British Indian Delegation to the Round Table Conference, Delegate to the Disarmament Conference, Chief Indian Delegate to the League of Nations (now the UNO) and later its President and many other achievements. In the struggle for independence of the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent, he was seen to be in the forefront. To the Muslims of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent he had always been a beacon of light, a source of inspiration and a provider of moral and material support.

Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan III was born on November 02, 1877 at Karachi.

Through his intimate knowledge of Eastern as well as Western Cultures, he was uniquely placed to play significant role in the international affairs of his time and his long public career had many dimensions. Sir Aga Khan soon realized that the main cause of political backwardness of the Muslims was due to their neglect of education and to spread education among Muslims became from now on, the most important part of his life�s mission. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had started the great Aligarh Movement, and in it, the Aga Khan believed, laid the salvation of the future of Muslims. In 1902 at the age of twenty five, the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, appointed him as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council and Sir Aga Khan thus became the youngest member of the council. He was asked to preside over the Muhammadan Educational Conference being held in Delhi in 1902. In his Presidential address he pointed out that the clearest way by which the decay of political power of the Muslims of India could be halted by laying the foundation of a great central Muslim University at Aligarh. That, he said, would be a befitting tribute to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the father of Muslim Educational renaissance. In 1911, the Aga Khan took upon himself the task of collecting funds to start university. He set out for the fund collection campaign saying, �As a mendicant I am now going to beg from house to house and from street to street for the children of Indian Muslims. He donated money in cash for scholarship to the deserving students for foreign studies, which the trustees named �Aga Khan Foreign Scholarship�. The committee that was constituted in 1911 for collecting funds for the University had the Aga Khan as its chairman. The committee headed by him and with Mawlana Shaukat Ali as his secretary, visited many cities of India and collected Rs.3 million for the University.

It had always been a matter of great distress to Sir Aga Khan that after their early glorious advancement, the Muslims forgot the message of the Quran and the noble teachings of the Prophet (PBUH). �The Muslims stuck to their rites and ceremonies to their prayers and fasts forgetting the other half of their faith. Thus, during the last three centuries, the West gained an advance and the nations of Islam, inspite of their humble prayers, their kindness and gentleness towards the poor were faced with constant deterioration of one form or the other and the Muslim world went down, whereas at its greatest period, Islam was at the head of science, was at the head of knowledge, was in the advanced line of politics, philosophical and literary thought�. Let us not forget that in the struggle for existence, only those will survive who can control the forces of nature to the greatest extent.� These words of Sir Aga Khan addressed to the world of Islam reflect the soul of half a century�s crystallized wisdom.

Sir Aga Khan lived a full life of 80 years and contributed his best for the betterment of the Indian Muslims and the humanity at large. No other leader of Muslim India exercised as much influence as the late Aga Khan did on the international affairs of his time. His activities and interest covered a wide field including social welfare, education, health, politics and religion and in every field he has left deep impressions. The great change which came about in the outlook of the Muslims of India and the great strides which they made in the realm of education and economic progress were mainly due to the magnificent efforts of Sir Aga Khan. Whenever the Muslim nations in the sub-continent were faced with a crisis, it was Sir Aga Khan who pulled them out of the rut and averted the crisis. When in 1928, Muslim India came to the divided into two opposing camps, the Muslim League and the Muslim Conference, it was the personality and influence of Sir Aga Khan which once again evolved feeling of unity and a sentiment of common national will among the Muslims.
It was mainly through his efforts that Sindh was made a separate province in undivided India. This province ultimately became the mainstay of Pakistan and its Capital Karachi was turned into the Federal Capital of the new Muslim state Pakistan. The N.W.F.P Province also owed its elevation to the state of a Governor�s Province to the relentless efforts of Sir Aga Khan.

Sir Aga Khan was the first Muslim Political leader to stress that the Indian Muslims were not a community but a nation. �You can call the Sunnis and the Shias a community� he had remarked in early 1929, �but it is not right to address the whole world of Islam in India as a community. Muslims of India are a nation.�

At the Round Table Conference in London in 1931, which paved the way for independence of the sub-continent, Sir Aga Khan was the acknowledged leader of the Muslim delegation. With his remarkable tact and powerful personality he kept the Muslim team solidly together. The Muslims, who had entered the political arena as a divided and disorganized group, became a powerful influence in the country�s affairs under his wise leadership.

Sir Aga Khan played a pivotal role in making Pakistan Movement a success by inculcating political awareness among the Muslims of the sub-continent. As regards Pakistan Sir Aga Khan exhorted, �The future of Pakistan is bright.� At the advent of Pakistan he had identified this new Islamic state �A rising star of Islam, a mighty infant, the greatest child of Islam.� He pinned great hopes on Pakistan and prayed to God Almighty that it might be the destiny of this country to bring about the spiritual and intellectual unity of Muslims. In a message to the people of Pakistan in August 1947, Sir Aga Khan said, �We must with all out energy, heart and soul, with faith in Islam and trust in God, work for the present and future glory of Pakistan and give help to the unfortunate Muslims who still suffer under foreign domination.� It was with these words that he greeted the birth of Pakistan.

Sir Aga Khan was the representative for India in the Disarmament Conference as well as in two League of Nations and in 1937 he was unanimously elected as the Chairman of League of Nations (now United Nations Organisation UNO). It was due to his special efforts that the membership of the League of Nations was accorded to Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt. Due to Sir Aga Khan�s Services to many a Muslim land, countries like Turkey, Iran, Syria and Indonesia awarded him innumerable high titles in gratitude.

Sir Aga Khan looked upon Pakistan as powerful instrument forging world Muslim solidarity. This great Muslim Leader of international caliber was born on November 2, 1877 at Karachi and breathed his last at Geneva on July 11, 1957. He was laid to eternal rest at Aswan in Egypt. We can pay real tribute to the memory of this extraordinary personality of the Muslim World by making Pakistan stronger and prosperous. He had invoked the young nation at that time to forge closer unity in their ranks and eschew internal violence. Let us follow his ideals, acquire education and the knowledge of science and convert Pakistan into a fortress of Islam and a real Islamic Welfare State free from ignorance, free from poverty, hunger and disease.