Started work on AJAX with a different approach, this is WIP but edit contact currently uses it. with this approach your dont have to touch the js or modal template just the ajax

js/js_contact_edit.js

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+$(document).on('click', '.edit-contact-btn', function(e) {
+    e.preventDefault();
+    var contactId = $(this).data('contact-id');
+    $('#editContactContent').html('Loading...'); // optional loading text
+    $.get('ajax_edit_contact.php', { contact_id: contactId }, function(response) {
+        $('#editContactContent').html(response);
+        $('#editContactModal').modal('show');
+    }).fail(function() {
+        alert('Error loading contact details.');
+    });
+});