مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - ACTIVITIES OF SHIA NİZARİ IMAM AGA KHAN THE THIRTH DURING THE WORLD WAR I.

Abstract :

After the outbreak of the WWI, Muhammed Shah III (Aga Khan), who was the forty-eighth Imam of the Shia Ismaili sect, requested from the British government that he be assigned a duty in any area of need. The British administration, considering his influence particularly over Shia Muslims, assigned Aga Khan to mitigate the effects of the holy war [jihad] which had been proclamied by the Ottoman Government. Aga Khan served to this objective by issuing various declarations during the WWI. Altough there were discussions from time to time among British officers concerning the activities of Aga Khan beyond his authority, his views were taken into consideration by many British authorities including the King of England until the end of the war. Referring the his own writing Aga Khan argued that Ottoman State’s caliphate authurity should continue and he didn’t favor Arab caliphate claims. Neverthless he had really important function to hinder of Turkish Panislamic propaganda.