At exactly 2:02pm Kenyan time today, Prince Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan V, the 50th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, made his way inside the Ismaili Community Centre in Lisbon.
He has walked the ornate grounds of the 18,000sqm complex before in his role as a member of the executive committee for several of the Aga Khan Development Network agencies and affiliated organisations.
But the short walk from the parking lot to the hall may as well have been his longest due to its significance.
Flanked by his two children, Princes Irfan and Sinan Aga Khan, Prince Rahim was here to lead the 15 million Ismaili Muslims, and a larger global audience, in the funeral service of his father, His Highness Prince Karim al-Hussaini Aga Khan IV.
