The Ismailis

Farhad Daftary is head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications and Associate Director at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. An authority in Ismaili studies, his publications include A Short History of the Ismailis(1998), The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Ismailis (1994), and Ismaili Literature (2004). Dr Daftary's books have been translated into Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu and numerous European languages.Zulfikar Hirji is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at York University, Toronto. He is the editor of Muslim Plurality and Pluralism (2008), the author of Moving Subjects, Shifting Paradigms: Multi-sited Ethnography and Indian Ocean Communities (forthcoming), and has articles in journals including 'Anthropology of the Middle East', 'Sociologus', and books including Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies (2005), Modern Ismaili Communities (2008).

The Ismailis are a geographically, linguistically and ethnically diverse Shi'a Muslim community - the second largest in the world. Scattered in more than twenty countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America, they are currently led by their 49th Imam, His Highness the Aga Khan.