This article has been prepared with the help of the following books:-

1. Khoja Qawn ni Tawarikh (Gujarati) by A.D. Kaba.
2. The History of Khojas by Jaffer Rahimtola.
3. Memoirs of Mulla Qadir Husain.

It is interesting to note that most of these works were compiled during the second half of 19th century which is regarded as the period of Khoja Awakening.

It is regretted, that for want for space and shortness of the time, the history of Khoja Shia Isnaashari Community and K.S.I. Jamaat, Bombay is presented in this website in the briefest way possible from whatever books and matter available. Hence it is possible that some facts or details are over sighted.

It is essential that before we go into the details of the history of Khoja Shia Isnaashari Community, just to establish linkage, some facts about Shiaism (i.e. Islam original), Isnaashari faith should be given and thereafter we shall discuss about the establishment of the religion of Ismailis and Khojas.

There are different narrations in respect of the history of Khoja community which shall be discussed in detail hereinafter.

It is a historic fact that no sooner the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) departed from this world than the vested interest of man, gained hold on matters secular as well as spiritual and started additions and subtraction and thus adultrated the original teachings of Islam.

The Holy Prophet, before this departure, had declared: "I leave behind me amidst you two weighty things, the book of Allah (s.w.t.) (the Holy Quran) and My Ahlulbait..." (Tafsir kabir, Tafsir Durre Mansur).

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a) further announced: "The likeness of my Ahlulbait (a.s.) is that of the Ark of Noah. Whosoever gets into it, is saved and whosoever turns away from it, is drowned and lost."



Shia Isnaashari School

People neglected the Ahlul Bait and began following their own ways and yet called their own innovated schools as Islam. Therefore those who faithfully followed the original teachings of the Holy Quran and remained faithfully attached to the course prescribed by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) called themselves from the others who had discarded the Divinely set up guides, the Ahlulbait. Thus those who followed Hazrat Ali (a.s.) just to distinguish the Islam-original which they faithfully followed and identified it as 'Shiaism'.

Thus 'Shiaism' stands for the Islam-original and the Shia Isnaashari School is the Quranic Islam of the Holy Prophet and the rest are the newly started sects and sub-sects deviating from the original course.

The Shia Isnaasharis have their origin right from the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) because basically they are followers of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) and his holy descendants (Ahlulbait) (a.s.). Accordingly, the link of the Holy religious guides (Imams) of the Shia Isnaasharis immediately after the prophet (s.a.w.a.) begins with their first Imam Hazrat Ali (a.s.) followed by the grandsons of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), Imam Hasan (a.s.) Imam Husain (a.s.) and thereafter the Holy descendants of Imam Husian (a.s.) upto 12th Imam Hazrat Mohammed Mahdi (a.t.f.s.).

There are numerous Quranic narrations and traditions of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) (reported both by shia and non-shia sources) in support of the Shia Isnaasharis also known as 'Jafaris' because their fiqah commandments as stipulated by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.), were compiled and elaborated by the 6th Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s.) whose greatness has been unanimously acknowledged by all the other main Islamic groups namely Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Imam Malik and Imam Shafai.



Ismailis

The followers of Janab Burhanuddin known as 'Dawoodi Bohras' as well as the followers of Karim Sultan Mohammed Shah, known as 'Ismailis' (Nizaris or Imamis all of them are not Isnaasharis, but are yet called 'Shais'', because even according to the faith of Dawoodis and the Nizaris, Hazrat Ali ibne Abi Talib (a.s.) is their first caliph and Imam appointed by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) during his life time, as per Divine revelation to succeed the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) as the leader of the faithful.

The division of faith, between Isnaasharis Shias (twelvers) and Ismailis, occurred after the death of 6th Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s.) in 148 A.H. (765 A.D.). Janab Ismail was the eldest son of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (a.s.) but he died before his father in 145 A.H. (762 A.D.). A group around him had hoped that, being the eldest son, he would be the successor of Imam as-Sadiq (a.s.). The followers of Janab Ismail, whose conception of 'Imam' was different from that of Isnaashari Shias, came to be called as Ismailis' or 'Seveners' (Sabaiyyah), because they declared that Ismail was the seventh Imam, and that with the number seven, a cycle had now been completed heralding a new beginning and a fresh doctrine. Whereas the 'Isnaasharis' Shias believe that Imam Musa al-Kazim (a.s.) the third son of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq as the legitimate successor or Imam.

However, one of those sevener, or Ismaili, groups conquered Egypt ad became the Fatimid dynasty. In 487 A.H. (1094 A.D.) a coup detat took place in Fatimid. The leader of the armies, Badr al-Jamali had married his daughter to al-Musta'li, the younger son of Fatimid Caliph. When the moment came for succession, Badr al-Jamali's son Nizar put him in prison, when he died, and made al-Musta'li Caliph and Imam instead. This caused a schism between the Egyptians Ismailis, who followed al-Musta'li and the Eastern Ismailis, who remained loyal to Nizar.

A Persian dai'i or propagandist, named Hasan as-Sabbah became the leader of the Nizaris and erected his own organization.

In 524 A.H. (1130) the Nizaris assassinated al-Amir, the son of al-Musta'li and the belief developed among his followers that al-Amir had a son named at-Tayyib who had gone into hiding on the death of his father. Thus some of the Musta'li Ismailis believe that a descendant of at-Tayyib subsists somewhere in secret and fulfils the functions of Imam. Others believe that, as with the Ghaybat of the Hidden Imam of the Isnaasharis (twelvers), this concealment is supernatural and the function is still held by at-Tayyib himself in the invisible world, and that he will show himself again at the end of time.

In 567 A.H. (1171 A.D.), Salahuddin Ayyubi conquered Egypt and put an end to the Fatimids altogether. The Ismailis then took refuge in Yemen, where the chief of the Ismailis, after the death of al-Amir, was a woman, as-Sayyidah Hurra. Thereafter Hasan Ala Dhikrishis-Salaam claimed that he was the Imam. According to other accounts, he claimed to be the Hujjah. His followers made him into a descendant of Nizar for those who believed that physical descent was an essential condition of the Ismaili Imamate.

Despite the sharp decline of the fortunes of the Ismailis in Syria and Persia, another great expansion of Ismailism was yet to come in.

According to 'The consize Encyclopedia of Islam' and certain other historians Hasan-ala-Dhikrishis-salaam sent a Nizari missionary to Sindh named Nur-al-din also called as Nur Sategeer in the year 575 A.H. (1179 A.D.) (some put the date 640 A.H. 1242 A.D.). The most successful of the Nizari leaders in Sindh was Pir Sadruddin also known as Hindu name Sahdev who converted a Hindu cast called Lohanas to Ismailian and gave them the name of 'Khojas' in 15th century.

According to Mulla Qadar Sahab the religion of the Khojas was established about 500 years ago. Its founders were Peer Sadruddin and Sahdev Joshi. (He is of the opinion that Sadruddin and Sahdev Joshi were two different persons).

The creed of this religion beleive in re-incarnation of God, to nine incarnations of Vishnu, the Hindu god, they have added Hazrat Ali (a.s.) as the tenth incarnation.



Meaning and Origin of Khojas

There are different interpretation amongst the historians about the meaning of the origin of the word 'Khoja'. Nevertheless, it is certain that the name 'Khoja' is the phonetic corruption of the Persian word 'Khawaja' (meaning - master, teacher, respected, well-to-do person) that was given by the person Ismaili missionary Pir Sadruddin to his Hindu Indian converts to Islam in the 14th century.

According to some Historians these Hindu Indians belonged to the Kshatriya cast and at the time of their conversion followed a particular path of Hinduism, namely Shakti marg. (Khoja Vratant, Khoja Qaum ni Tawarikh by A.D. Kaba).

According to some narrators, the sect (Khojas) was also spread in a Hindu form as the satpanth (true path). The Hindu society was further divided into Lohana community and after some time they were known as thakkar, which is a phonetic corruption of an Indian title: Thakor (Lord, Master).

The latter word come close in meaning to the Persian word 'Khwaja' that was applied by Pir Sadruddin to these newly converted Hindus in the 14th century. (Khoja Qawm ni Tawarikh).

It is important to note that the basic characteristics of the Khoja Community whose members retained their caste ideas inherited from Hindu ancestors for a long time due to the necessity of posing as Hindus. However, this caste identity has no relationship with Islam. A Khoja is a Khoja changes his religion he still remains a Khoja. (The shorter Encyclopedia of Islam).

From the beginning of their conversion to shiism the Khojas were prosecuted by the non-Shia Muslim rulers of Gujarat. As a result many Khojas were advised to live in Taqiyya.

In course of time, there were established three varieties of Khojas organised under three different Jamaats:
   1. The Nizari Ismaili followers of the Agha Khan
   2. The Isnaashari (Twelver) Khojas
   3. The Sunni Khojas.

The spilt in the Khoja Community occurred in the first half of 19th century. This period has been accurately described as the beginning of "Khoja Awakening" which bore fruits in the second half of this century. By that time Bombay had become the 'Point of Conversion' for many Khojas who had migrated from Kutch to Kathiawar to take advantage of the commercial growth of this city.

In 1829, a rich merchant - Habib Ibrahim refused to pay the religious tax known as Dasond (the tenth) to the administrators of the Jamaat Khana (prayer-hall and the meeting place for the Nizari Ismailis). Moreover, the dissenting groups, because of its long contact with Sunni Mullas, was inclined towards the Sunni school of thought in its religious practices.

In 1830 all those families were outcaste from the Jamaat Khana, and although the representative of the Ismaili Imam, Hasan Ali Shah Mahallati (the first Nizari leader to have been granted the title of 'Agha Khan' by the Qajar Monarch, Fath Ali Shah), who was in Iran at this time, had contemplated to file a civil case against this group. (Kaba, Khoja ni Tawarikh).

Hasan Ali Shah Mohallati was also the first Nizari Imam to make Bombay the permanent seat of the Immate in 1259 A.H. (1843 A.D.). (Encyclopedia of Islam).

The period between 1845 and 1861 marked a socio-religious turmoil in the Khoja Community. In 1850 four members of the Habib Ibrahim's group were killed by the followers of Agha Khan in Mahim Jamaat Khana following which nineteen followers of Agha Khan were arrested. Four of them were sentenced to death.



Isnaashari Movement

On October 20, 1861, Agha Khan circulated a general announcement declaring the Khojas to be the 'Shi' ites' and hence their marriages and funeral rites were to be performed in accordance with the Shia School of Islamic law. Moreover, he required his followers to put their signatures under the announcement, declaring their shi'it affiliation. Some 1,700 Khojas (i.e. the majority put their signatures on that document. However Habib Ibrahim and his group refused to do so.

Undoubtedly, the Ismaili leadership, under the Agha Khan was an important factor in this awareness of the authentic Shi'ism among the Khojas. After all, they had introduced the Isnaashari Shi'ite religious practices in the Jamaat Khana. In addition the presence of other Shi'ite from Northern India and their continuous encouragement to the Khojas resulted in the spread of Isnaashari Shiism among the Khojas.

Before this period, as evidenced by the 1847 court case, the Khojas had no knowledge about their Shi'ism, nor did they know the difference between the Shi'i and the Sunni Schools of Thoughts. The Shia Mullas had prepared the community for this declaration of allegiance. The Agha Khan and his son Ali Shah, led the community in their prayers and commemorative gatherings to mourn the martyrs of Karbala regularly. These and other Iranian religious practices were certainly based on the Isnaashari School of thought. Consequently, in the strict sense of Islamic religious practices, Isnaashari Shi'ism provided with the devotional piety that gradually took root among the Khojas under the Agha Khans.



Founders of K.S.I. Community

In 1862, an Isnaashari Aaalim - Mulla Qadir Husian son of Nahif, opened a Madressa in the Khoja area of Bombay. His ceaseless efforts brought about in the Khojas a mental revolution. By his preaching's he removed the false beliefs and replaced them by sound foundations of true basic ideology. After sometime Mulla Qadar Sahab was sent again to Bombay to teach 'Isnaashari Shi'ism' in 1872.

Nevertheless, some Khojas were still part of the larger community under the leadership of the Agha Khan. On realising this influence of the 'Isnaashari Shi' among their followers, the Ismaili leaders started to impose restrictions on them. At any rate, this dissenting group of the Khojas had made up their minds. They met Mulla Qadar Sahab and swore on Quran that if any one of their group is outcasted every other member following this Path would join that person. Two prominent persons provided the moral as well as financial support for this new group, namely Haji Dewji Jamal and Haji Khalfan Ratansi.

In the meantime Haji Ratansi's daughter died. The larger Ismaili community required the abandoning of the Isnaashari faith as pre-condition for Haji Ratansi to attend his daughters funeral but he refused to give in and his daughter had to be buried in the Iranian cemetery. What helped the 'Smaller Jamaat' as it came to be known) was the support of many non-Khoja Isnaashari Shi'ites in Bombay.

The success of the Khojas in Bombay to form their own group of the Isnaashari Shi'its spread throughout the Khoja world at that time. Everywhere a new Jamaat was formed and the movement of spreading the Isnaashari teachings was symbolized by the construction of Islamic mosques instead of 'Jamaat Khanas' and the performance of regular salat as practised by all other Shias.

Although the Khoja Shia Isnaashari Jamaat Bombay was officially registered in 1899 a group of Khojas in Bombay had been practising the true faith since atleast over one and half century. From an independent documentary evidence, it is evident from the 'Times of India' Bombay dated 19th July 1884, in which it has been stated that, 'In or about 1849 Khojas (other than Ismailis, i.e. Isnaasharis and Sunnis declined to acknowledge the supremacy of Agha Khan and were practising their respective faiths. The Bombay Jamaat is, therefore, considered as 'parent jamaat;. However the Khoja Shia Isnaashari Jamaat, Bombay was established in 1319 A.H.

In this movement, the disciples of Mulla Qadar Sahab played a major role. Mulla Abdulla Saleh Sachedina went to Zanzibar where his lectures had enormous influence over the Khojas of that place.

Another prominent student of Mulla Qadir Husain, namely Haji Ghulam Ali Haji Ismail (Haji Naji) began to preach the Isnaashari faith and launched his monthly journal 'Rahe Najat' (path of Salvation) which is now one of the most widely read Shi'ite religious monthly in Gujarati language, whose first number was published in Zilqad of 1310 A.H. (1892 A.D.). The invaluable service that was rendered by Haji Naji was the most critical time in the History of the Khoja Shia Isnaashari Community in India and elsewhere.

However, Mulla Qadir Husain's madresa provided the necessary liason with the Isnaashari Shi'ism among those who cherished this Muslim identity, but there was dearth of good preachers who could communicate with devout Khojas. Some of his well known pupils, besides Haji Naji and Devji Jamal, Noor Mohammed Meghji, Khalfan Ratansi, Alidin Ghulam Husain and Allarakhia Valji.

Shahid Killu Khatau Nagarpurwala a young man of 26 years from Kutch was another well known pupil of Mulla Sahab. Killu after acquiring basic Islamic knowledge from Mulla Sahab's book 'Chiragh-e-Hidayat' then directly from Mulla Sahab himself. And then he started preaching himself by going all alone to individuals in different localities which ultimately led to his martyrdom in 1295 A.H. (1878 A.D.)



First Namaz-e-Juma

In 1307 Hijri (1881 A.D.) another well known Aalim Ayatullah Shaikh Abul Qasim Najafi came to Bombay from Najaf. Khoja Isnaasharis who were associating themselves with other Isnaasharis started coming to him for religious dialogues and discussions. He commenced Namaz-e-Juma, which was so far never offered by Shias in Bombay, on Friday 26th Jamaadiul Aakhar 1315 Hijri at Shustri Imambara, Bhendi Bazaar, in which Khojas who were ostensibly in the other Jamaat and had formed secret organisation also participated.



Graveyard (Arambagh)

One of the problems that confound that Isnaashari Khojas was the question of the burial of their dead. However, at the request of Ayatullah Abul Qasim Najafi, Haji Abul Husain, an Iranian merchant, got a plot of land alloted for graveyard which was named 'Arambagh'. In Rabi-ul-Akhar in 1317 A.H. (1899 A.D.) the foundation ceremony of the Masjid was performed on the said land by Shaikh Abul Qasim and the Masjid was ready in the month of Rajab 1317 Hijri.

Moreover, the secret organisers of Khoja Shia Isnaasharis who were about 50 in number resigned from their opponent's Jamaat and formed a new Jamaat and prepared it's constitution and advertised it in the Bombay Samachar. The utmost importance was to construct a Masjid. By the end of 1316 A.H. they decided to create a Trust. This trust purchased a building for rs.49,000/- ----- and an adjacent godown for Rs.9,000/- in Samuel Street, Dongri (presently known as Hazrat Abbas (a.s.) street) for building Masjid.

When the opponents first came to know that a Masjid was being constructed, they were greatly agitated and tried to stop the construction of the Masjid. They filed a Petition with about 2000 signatories to the police commissioner. Haji Abdullahbhai Haji Mawaji as the first Hon. Secretary of K.S.I. Jame Commissioner of Police, gave convincing reply. As a result the construction of Masjid could not be stopped.

When the opponents were thus frustrated they killed Hirjibhai Allarakhia and laaljibhoy Sajan and injured Abdallahbhai Laljee and Kasambhai Nanji Miyani. The foundation of the Masjid was thus strengthened with the blood of Martyrs.

May Almighty Allah guide all of us towards the path of Salvation and grant that we all become truly god-fearing Muslims. Ameen!