The World Federation is pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of ‘The Endangered Species’, written by Murabbi Hassan bhai Jaffer.‘The Endangered Species’ is an account of the journey of faith by the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Community, and has been published by Mulla Asghar Memorial Library and Islamic Resource Centre in Toronto. 

 

Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheris, (KSI) are spread over five continents and number just under 125,000. Despite being a miniscule percentage of the 200 million Shia Ithna-Asheris worldwide, their perceived influence and fame belies their numbers - hence the title, The Endangered Species. The author, Hassan A M Jaffer, deftly delves into a narrative based on the characteristic migratory patterns of the Khojas, hailing from Kutch and Kathiawad, who ventured towards the then unknown continent of Africa during the 19th century and beyond to the West in the past 4 decades.

 

The book illustrates how, upon their arrival in Africa, beginning the late 19th Century, the Khojas coped with the daunting prospects on a vast unexplored tract of land within the milieu of African and Arab cultures. Through the prism of real life Khoja experiences, the book highlights the challenges of these pioneers who were subjected to German, British, French Italian, Belgian and Portuguese colonial rules, and yet against all odds managed to emerge with their identities virtually intact. The book also illustrates how in the wake of the partition of the sub-continent, (led by a Khoja – Mohamed Ali Jinnah) how the Indian and Pakistani Khojas developed under different influences and cultures.

 

New features of the 2nd Edition: