Introduced by ABDULMALIK MERCHANT
Publisher-Editor, Simerg, Barakah and Simergphotos

Ismaili leaders and Late Alwaez Jehangir Merchant (right) look on as Prince Aly Khan signs the Visitor’s Book in the Ismaili Council Chambers during his visit to Lourenço Marques in 1957. Photo: Jehangir Merchant Family Collection.

I was a young boy of seven years old when one very early morning, as I was preparing for school, there was a gentle knock on our 2nd floor apartment door in Lourenço Marques (LM),  now Maputo, Mozambique. My father opened the door to Mukhisaheb’s son, a boy of my age. He had walked about a mile to deliver a message for my parents – we didn’t have a phone –  that Prince Aly Khan (June 13, 1911 – May 12, 1960) had passed away in a motor car accident and that Mukhisaheb and the leadership had convened a meeting in Jamatkhana later that morning. He asked that we should turn on the radio. Yes, indeed the news was on it. There was deep sadness in our faces and hearts. My parents, as teachers, had had the great privilege of meeting Prince Aly Khan during his visit to LM in 1957, a few months before Mawlana Shah Karim became the 49th Imam on July 11, 1957. Continue Reading