Sindh madrissa tul Islam

When Muslims lost to the British in the freedom fight of 1857, they thought it’s time to focus on
the educational and economic condition rather than keep on battling the British Empire. Several
personalities rose to the prominence during that time for different reasons, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
was one of the personalities who wanted Muslims to focus on their education so that they can
achieve peacefully what they have lost to the British. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established his
National Mohammedan Association, the sole purpose of which was to cater the educational needs
of coming generations keep religious sanctity and Islamic identity intact.

Under this association, Aligarh Muslim University was founded which inspired other people to
establish such institutes in their areas.

Justice Ameer Ali, the secretary of Mohammaden Association, traveled to Sindh where he met
Hassan Ali Affendi (Great Grandfather of Asif Ali Zardari), a well-known personality of Sindh.

Justice Ameer Ali advised Hassan Ali Affandi to open a branch of National Mohammaden
Association in Karachi (Provincial capital of Sindh) as well. Hassan Ali Affandi acceded to his
request and in March 1882, a branch was opened in Sindh having Hassan Ali Affandi as the head.
In the very same year, Sindh Mohammaden Association announced to make an educational
institute in Sindh and was called “Sindh Madrassa Tul Islam”. This institute was a beautiful
amalgamation of the modern and religious education system. The fulfillment of this dream was
due to the untiring efforts of the leaders of Mohammaden Association and generous donations
from the People of Sindh and from the princely states of Khirpur, Hyderabad Deccan and from the
British Government. This institute was initially established in a small building and was, later on,
shifted to a large land which was vacant at that time. This place is called Qafila Sarae.

Sindh Madrassa Tul Islam is not just an educational institute rather it has a historical significance
because of the role it played during Pakistan movement. This institute produced some great leaders
who were leading Muslim Caravan in the freedom struggle. The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-E-
Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, studied here from 1877 to 1892. Apart from Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (r.a), some great people who got their education from Sindh Madrassa Tul
Islam included Sir Abdullah Haroon, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto,
Muhammad Ayub Khoro and the list goes on.

All of these personalities fought on different fronts for Muslim struggle during the freedom
movement which ultimately led to the formation of a separate homeland for the Muslims in the
form of Pakistan. The love of the founder of Pakistan for this institute was so much that he
nominated Sindh Madrassa Tul Islam as one of the three inheritors of his property along with
Aligarh Muslim University and Islamia College Peshawar in his will in Bombay in 1939. In 143,
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (r.a) visited his beloved institute and inaugurated a college
which is now known as Sindh Muslim Science College.

This institute truly inspired a generation which proved to be the backbone for the Muslim cause
and is still imparting education to many knowledge-thirsty students in the heart of Karachi.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Islamia College and Collegiate School Peshawar formerly known as the Darul-Uloom-e-Islamia
Sarhad is not just the name of an educational institution but it was a movement through education.
The establishment of this grand institution carries behind it a long history and it stands for a great
movement which ultimately transformed the whole of N.W.F.P and the adjoining tribal areas. The
movement is significant for imparting quality education, establishment of democratic institutions
and finally a struggle to achieve independence from alien rule.
Sahibzada Sahib belonged to that group of Indian statesmen who believed in achieving
independence through peaceful means using conciliatory approach for resolution of their problems
with the British rulers.
Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayum was deeply concerned about the prevailing state of affairs in
the province. The experimental schools run in the Khyber Agency in the first decade of 20th
Century which was established there as a result of mutual efforts of Sir Abdul Qayum and Sir
George Roos Kepple. It had given promising results and this inspired Sahibzada Sahib to start
thinking about the development of education on a grand scale. By the year 1909, the idea of a
College, in the Province, was taking its abstract form in the minds of Sir Abdul Qayum and Sir
George Roos Kepple which was further strengthened by their visit to Aligarh the same year.
At the time of its establishment, no one could visualize that during the course of its existence it
would bloom into a University which in turn would give birth to University of Engineering and
Technology, Agricultural University, Khyber Medical College and a nursery for other educational
institutions. However, it was the foresightedness of Nawab Abdul Qayum Khan, who envisaged a
separate University for this area. He had gradually been expanding the Darul-Uloom in a way to
evolve itself into a University in the end. He was so certain in his imagination that while responding
to the pinching remarks of the then governor he emphatically predicated in 1935 that Darul-Uloom
will certainly become a University when I may not be on earth and your Excellency may be in
Britain.
The sponsors of the Darul-Uloom made the occasion memorable by inviting Haji Sahib of
Turangzai, to lay the foundation stone of the mosque. The school started functioning in March
1913 with 25 students representing every important Phatan tribe on its rolls, which rose to nearly
two hundred after the first summer vacation. The College began its instructional activities, six
months later i.e on 1st October 1913. Within a short span of time it acquired the features of a public
school in the West alongwith the spirit of Islamic Tradition. The foresightedness of the founder
can be judged from the fact that the school was established before the College which aimed at
providing a firm base for the college education. The numbers of the School Hostels were gradually
increased to six which indicated the importance of residential character of an institution for all
round development of the personalities of its students. This policy was almost reversed after the
independence when the school was left with only two hostels, the number of day boys increased
and the ratio of boarders and day boys at one time stood as 1-10. In this manner the foundations
of the institution were shaken. The Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah visited the College in
1936 and was granted life honorary membership of the Khyber Union of the Islamia College. It
was this impression which led him to decide to write his will in 1939 to bequeath one third of his
property to the Darul-Uloom-e-Islamia Sarhad.