ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the reunion of the Ismailis of Badakhshan with their Imam and with their global Ismaili community from which it had been completely cut off since the 1930s. Briefly, it may be called the period of the re-emergence of religious authority. However this is a period in which traditional religious authority again has been challenged. The challenge this time comes not from the state but from the institutional religious and secular authorities. Religious discourses are now open to people with both religious and non-religious backgrounds. In some cases leaders with no religious knowledge make decisions on religious issues.
