Prepared and compiled by MALIK MERCHANT
Barakah’s news coverage of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, and his family, along with essential readings on the Ismaili Imamat, began in 2021. We are starting a new page for 2026 to keep you informed about ongoing updates. While we will mention news events on this page, we will often direct you to dedicated pages for more details, such as Mawlana Hazar Imam’s visits to Jamats around the world and events that span multiple days and cannot be covered comprehensively in brief without compromising essential details. We invite you to explore our coverage from 2021 to 2025 by clicking the following links, helping you stay connected to our shared history regarding the Imam of the Time.
They all contain anchor links for readers to zero in on a specific news item.
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JANUARY 1 – December 31, 2026, NEWS COVERAGE — ANCHOR LINKS
Chronological Sequence
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January 1-2, 2026: His Highness the Aga Khan to undertake official visit to the United Kingdom in February 2026
In a Talika Mubarak read in Jamatkhanas worldwide on January 1 and 2, 2026, Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, announced he will undertake an official visit to the United Kingdom from February 1 to 5, 2026, during which he will meet with the Jamat residing in the UK and Ireland. He also said that he is planning a separate visit to Germany where he will have the opportunity to meet with his Jamat residing in Germany and in other European countries under the jurisdiction of the Ismaili Council for the UK.
To focus his attention on the Jamat of the UK and Ireland, Hazar Imam does not wish members of the Jamat from other countries to travel to the UK during his visit.
In the Talika Mubarak, Hazar Imam also sent his global Jamat good wishes for a very happy New Year: “I pray that 2026 brings happiness, peace, good health, and the fulfilment of all your good wishes,” he said.
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Within days of becoming the 50th Imam upon his father Mawlana Shah Karim’s death on February 4, 2025, His Majesty King Charles III granted the title of His Highness to Mawlana Hazar Imam. His Majesty’s website notes that “the tradition of the title being accorded by the Monarch to the Ismaili Imams dates back to the first Aga Khan. To mark the accession of Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan as the fiftieth hereditary Imam of the Shi’a Ismaili Muslim community, and in accordance with long-standing tradition, it has pleased The King to grant the new Aga Khan the title ‘His Highness’.”
The background details regarding the granting of the title of His Highness to Mawlana Hazar Imam and his immediate 4 predecessors, from Aga Khan I to Aga Khan IV, can be read under the story titled The King is pleased to grant the new Aga Khan the title “His Highness”.
Date posted: January 2, 2026.
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