AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Having already assumed the role of Imam of the Ismailis in 1957 at a young age, the tragic death of his father in a car accident in 1960 saw him thrust into another new world – that of the thoroughbred industry, an empire assiduously built up by his grandfather and his father.
“The idea of entering into an activity that was in no way central to the Ismaili Imamat, an activity in which no member of my family – neither my brother nor my sister nor I – had any understanding, in itself raised a major question mark,” he told the author in his typical humble and understated manner.
“Would I have the time, and the capacity, to learn something about an activity with which I was totally unfamiliar? When the leader of a family endeavour disappears, the next generation does not necessarily carry on.
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(Thanks to Mansoor Sharif)