Our History
The KSIMC of Birmingham is a religious organisation set-up by the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Community. Most Khoja’s originally come from the states of Gujarat and Kutch in India. During the turn of the 20th century a group of Khoja’s migrated from India to Africa to identify business opportunities, and made Africa their home. From the 1950’s and onwards, other groups of members from this community began migrating to the West for education purposes and to seek salvation from conflict and instability, as in the case of the Ugandan exodus in 1972.
Birmingham was one of the places the Khoja community chose to settle in, with the first group arriving in 1968. The initial settling period was difficult, as people had been uprooted from their homes, some in an unjust manner, and in that time of need, the importance of community and family really shone through. In the absence of a mosque or social centre, this first group started conducting majalis (religious gatherings) at each other’s houses.
By 1973, the population of Khoja’s in Birmingham had grown considerably, making individual houses no longer big enough to accommodate this rapid growth. At that time, a house on Chesterton Road was rented to serve as a centre. This was the first real community centre in Birmingham which was used for about two years. The growth of this community did not stop, however, increasing exponentially through the years that in 1975, a property was purchased on Forest Road. This detached house was used such that the upstairs were for ladies’ gatherings and the downstairs for gents’ gatherings. A madrasah was also set up on Sundays and weekdays to ensure the teachings of Islam, the Holy Prophet (SAW) and his Ahlul-Bayt (AS) was passed onto the future generations.
This community has always kept economic progress at the front of their mind, and ensured a continued investment in their community’s education in-order to obtain a better quality of life. It was in 1977 that the search began for the ideal piece of land to construct a multi-purpose centre with the hopes of meeting the needs of our growing community; whether it is nurturing our fledglings in Madrassah; navigating our youth through career seminars; hosting majalis to further the teachings of the Ahlul Bayt; keeping us fit through sport; sharing in our days of great happiness like marriages and births or consoling us in our darkest hours when we lose love ones. This saw the commencement of construction work at the current Clifton Road site in 1980. The Imambargah was officially opened in 1981 and thereafter, the Masjid in 1982. Within five years the centre was extended to open a Nursery for toddlers and younger children. In October 1996, work began on the Sayyeda Zainab Building, which is currently adjacent to the mosque, opened in 1998 and used for the Saturday and Sunday Madaris, and secular tuition classes under the name of ME School of Excellence.
Organisational Structure
Strategic Plan
The Roadmap Team was set up to undertake an assessment of the needs of our Community, research the current opportunities and challenges, and come up with recommendations of how the KSIMC of Birmingham should operate in order to best serve the needs of the Community and the wider society.
The report contains some practical recommendations along with 12 ‘Areas of Focus’ for KSIMC of Birmingham to operate under. Click here to read this report.