Ali to Karim – Act V: Modern / Contemporary Era (1817 – 2007…)
Meanwhile in Persia, the Qajar monarch grants the title of Aga Khan to Imam Hasan Ali Shah. Act V narrates the eventful life of Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah and pays glorious homage to Mawlana Hazar Imam including a film clip from Shah Karim’s Takht Nashini and a tribute to what will surely be his legacy: the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
Related Programmes
A group of actors discover a world of books from which they share events of Ismaili history such as at Ghadir-e-Khum where Prophet Muhammad makes a pivotal statement about Hazrat Ali. This Act also depicts the Legend of the 7 Sleepers as it foretells the Cycle of Concealment.
Imam al-Mahdi and his son al-Qaim emerge from their refuge in Salamiyya to lead an advance into Mahdia, a strategic naval base on the Mediterranean Sea, from where Imam al-Muizz ultimately builds Cairo and the great Fatimid Empire.
After a dispute over the succession of Imamat at the Fatimid court in Cairo, the renowned fidai Hasan Sabbah establishes a network of castles in Iran, notably Alamut and Lamasar, that serve the Nizari lineage of Imams.
A phoenix rises from the ashes – grace follows persecution; Imam Shams al-din Muhammad miraculously survives the destruction of Alamut at the hands of the Mongols. The Imams eventually move to Anjudan in Southern Iran where they become Sufi masters; emissaries spread the Ismaili faith to the Indian sub-continent.
