By MALIK MERCHANT 
(Publisher-Editor, Simerg, Barakah and Simergphotos)

In a special message that was read out on Friday September 20, 2019, in Jamatkhanas across Canada, Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, has announced that the Nikah ceremony of Prince Hussain and Ms. Elizabeth Hoag, will take place on September 29, 2019, in Geneva, Switzerland. Elizabeth adopted the name Fareen upon embracing Islam when she got engaged to the Prince last December. Fareen is a Persian name for girls that means “blessed”, “fortunate”, “great”, or “glorious”.

The last Nikah in the Imam’s family took place just over six years ago in 2013 when Prince Hussain’s older brother, Prince Rahim, got married to Princess Salwa, also in Geneva. Prince Rahim and Princess Salwa have two sons, Prince Irfan and Prince Sinaan. Irfan means “wisdom”, or more correctly, Wisdom with a capital W. It refers to all that is good and true of thoughts and deed. Sinan is an Arabic name for boys meaning spearhead. It is derived from the root word S-N-N which is used in the Qur’an. Sinan is pronounced [(SI)mple] + [(NA)p + (N)ew] with emphasis on the second syllable. In Ismaili history, the name Sinan is associated with the revered personality of Rashid al-din Sinan, one of the greatest and most valiant of the Syrian Isma’ili da’is of the thirteenth century.

Prince Hussain, like his sister Princess Zahra and brothers Prince Rahim and Prince Aly Muhammad, is well known for his work with the Aga Khan Development Network and the Ismaili Imamat. Prince Hussain works with Mawlana Hazar Imam concentrating on cultural and environmental issues as well as Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management by the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat.

Both the Prince and Ms. Hoag attended the 2019 Aga Khan Award for Architecture ceremony that took place on September 13 in Kazan, Tatarstan.

Unknown to many is Prince Hussain’s deep passion and love for animals that started during his childhood. In Lisbon, Portugal, during the Diamond Jubilee Festivities in 2018, the Prince’s exhibition of sea animal photos attracted a lot of attention. Earlier this year, Prince Hussain’s magnificent photographs were displayed at a special exhibition held at Nairobi’s Town Jamatkhana. The Prince and his fiancée were present at the inauguration of the exhibition.

Prince Hussain is also the founder of Focused on Nature, an organization which aims to help projects related to species conservation and slow habitat loss. His beautiful photo book “Diving Into Wildlife” can be purchased on Simerg. We have limited copies of signed and unsigned copies of the book.

Ms. Fareen Hoag holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counselling, specializing in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Social Anxiety.

Mawlana Hazar Imam’s heart warming message read out on Friday concluded by saying that the news of the marrriage has brought great joy to his family, and that he is sure that the Jamat would also rejoice on this happy news with him. The message also mentioned that the world Jamat would be represented at the Nikah by the Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders International Forum.

We are particularly happy at this special moment in the life of Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family, and offer our heartfelt congratulations to our beloved Prince Hussain and Ms. Fareen Hoag on the official announcement of their Nikah on September 29, 2019. We look forward to publishing photos of the wedding.

Before departing this page please take a moment to visit Barakah’s Table of Contents for links to more than 170 pieces dedicated to Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family.

Date posted: September 21, 2019.

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