Sindh Madressatul Islam to mark its 138th Foundation Day today

Sindh Madressatul Islam to mark
its 138th Foundation Day today

By Anwar Abro

Sindh Madressatul Islam completed its 137 years today, September 1st and entered in the year of 138. Established on 1st September 1885 by Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi and his friends in Karachi city during the British era, SMI was considered the first modern Muslim educational institution of this part of the subcontinent. SMIU is going to organise a simple ceremony today, Thursday, 1st September at 11:00 am at its auditorium to mark its 138th Foundation Day.

• The main objective of SMI’s establishment was to impart education of latest subjects in English, Urdu, Sindhi and Gujrati languages that fulfill needs of the new world that was emerged from the industrial revolution came in Europe. As this region was being ruled by British, then it was necessary for indigenous people to compete with other nations of the world through modern education and accept challenges brought by colonial system for them.
  Later on, this great institute produced central leadership of Pakistan Movement including Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Sir Abdullah Haroon, Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto, Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Mohammad Ayub Khuhro, Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi, Raes Ghulam Mohammad Bhurgri and others.

On the front of education and literature Allama I.I. Kazi, Allama Ali Khan Abro, Dr. Umar Bin Mohammad Daudpoto, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Mohammad Ibrahim Joho, Shamsherul Hydri and others were produced. In journalism Kazi Abdul Majeed Abid, Kazi Mohammad Akbar and others were produced.

Likewise, great cricketer Hanif Mohammad and experts of other fields had remained alumni of this institute.
These all prominent personalities brought basic changes in the society through their vision and practice in terms of approach towards education, social change, ethics, cultural values and creation of modern literature related to the common people.

As a result, modern thinking started to get roots in the rigid society of the land and people moved forward to change and challenge the social taboos. Therefore, contribution of Sindh Madressatul Islam in the field of education in Sindh is fundamental and qualitative, that must be appreciated today.
SMI was established as a secondary school for boys and was affiliated with the Bombay University, as at that time Sindh was part of Bombay Presidency. Then on June 21, 1943 SMI was upgraded to the level of college and Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had inaugurated it.

In 1990 a door of education for girls was opened by adding primary section to it and ten years ago, the SMI received university status on February 16, 2012.

Presently, SMIU runs ten academic departments along with SMIU Model School. Even today, it has not compromised on its quality education and highly qualified faculty members are fulfilling their teaching responsibilities with dedication.
The Vice Chancellor of SMIU Dr. Mujeeb Sahrai in his comment given on the occasion of the Foundation Day has said that SMIU possesses rich history, hence its role in the field of modern education must be lauded.

Whatsoever progress we are seeing in education sector in Sindh today, is due to Sindh Madressatul Islam’s tireless efforts.

It educated the people, it transformed the society into enlightened one and it inspired every generation of the country to get education that is the only way to move forward individually and collectively.