Minority, Marginality and Modernity

Abstract

Ismailis are a minority community within the larger world of Sunni and Shia Muslims and were persecuted by conservative Muslim religious and political leaders. They were marginalised in the social, cultural and political arena and were forced to dissimulate their faith in order to avoid adversarial confrontation by hostile forces. Scholars and writers in the Muslim world avoided any objective and candid discussions of the community fearing that they might encounter severe reprisal by their own dogmatic and biased leaders. In Afghanistan, the Hazara Ismailis experienced discrimination, marginalisation and repression because of their ethnicity and religious beliefs. They endured years of political, social, cultural and economic deprivation. However, their situation improved after the downfall of the Taliban rule in late 2001. Although Ismailis, for the most part, were treated as footnotes in most historical literature, they became the main topic of historical and development literature after their spiritual leader, His Highness the Aga Khan iv and present Imam of the Ismailis worldwide, got involved in the reconstruction of Afghanistan’s war-torn infrastructures. Parallel to this endeavour, the Aga Khan also abolished the hereditary system of leadership in the Ismaili community, established modern institutions and appointed a new generation of leaders to guide the community.