Across the Threshold of Modernity : The Shi’a Imami (Nizari) Ismailis and British Foreign- and Colonial Policy In the period 1839 to 1969

Abstract

From the totality of the material examined in this thesis, it may be concluded that the Ismaili Muslims constitute a modern, socio-economically successful temporal and religious movement. They are without a doubt a movement with Islamic origins and an Islamic self-image. Nevertheless this image is contested by many voices from within mainstream Islam.