The Shia branch of Islam traces its routes to the Middle East. From here, Islam quickly spread to southern Asia, and today, the Shia Muslims or Ismailis can be found in different parts of the world.
They are better known as Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims and they are led by an Imam. The community traces the line of Imamat in hereditary succession from Ali, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad. Over the Ismaili’s 1400-year history, the members of this religion have greatly adhered to their Shia values. Among their guiding ethics is the commitment to search for knowledge in order to better oneself and society.
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Indians – some of whom were Ismailis – started settling in East Africa from around 1850. Later, as more Indians were contracted to help with the building of the East African Railway, the Asian community grew significantly.
In 1899, the 48th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili Religion (Aga Khan III) visited East Africa. Up until then, he had been advancing Muslim agendas and spearheading the protection of Muslim rights in India. In his report on East Africa, he noted that the Ismailis needed a set of community rules.
During the period of the railway construction, some Indian workers set up homes and shops within the growing towns by the railway line, and when the project was completed in 1901, some returned to Mombasa where they started small businesses and schools for their children. Interestingly, in the years that followed, a pattern had started to form. The education of African children was entrusted to the missionaries whereas the education of European, Arab and Asian children were left to the initiatives and resources of the separate communities. The Mombasa-based Indians resorted to setting up schools for their little ones. The schools set up by Shia Muslims were within mosques, offered traditional religious instruction and only admitted boys.
When the Aga Khan visited again in 1905, he issued the first Ismaili Constitution – The Rules of Shia Imamia Councils of the Continent of Africa. The constitution proved to the Ismaili community that they were capable of providing themselves with stability in the midst of a progressing world. The Ismailis continually invested in the establishment of schools and the first Ismaili school was set up as a result of a large financial contribution by Indian philanthropist Suleman Verjee who gave Rs 100,000 toward the construction of the school. The remainder of the project was funded by the Aga Khan. In 1918, The Ismaili Boys’ Primary School opened its doors to the Ismaili boys of Mombasa. The following year, a sister school – The Ismaili Girls’ Primary School – was set up in Nairobi.
By the early 1920s, the Asian community had achieved their long-time goal of receiving grants-in-aid from the colonial government but still put together finances for institutional developments as a community.
The Aga Khan continued to pay for the expenditure of Ismaili schools that needed financial aid but by the forties, the Ismailis had become more affluent. Around this time, the administrations of the two schools were orchestrating a merge. In June 1945 another construction began in Kizingo in Mombasa. The new building would include more classes and would be large enough to accommodate as many students as possible. In 1951 the merge was completed and the new school – the Aga Khan Primary School – was named in honour of the Imam.
