Updated 10 July 2013

The book “The Endangered Species: An Account of the Journey of Faith by the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Community” written by Hassan Ali M Jaffer 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.

Recently highlighted and picked up by the Organisation of Diaspora Initiative – International (ODI – Int.) based out of India, the institution has written a book review.  In the review Jamaal M Moosa writes  “It is a valuable contribution to social anthropology where an insider, with unprecedented access to the inner workings of a community, is able to unravel the unique ability of a minuscule community to project itself onto the global stage. Certainly, this book will be of interest to students of ethnic and diaspora studies for its insights into how a dispersed and scattered community has been able to overcome the drawbacks of its translocation to different parts of the world and, nevertheless, become prosperous while, on the other hand, has been able to retain intact its core identity and community structure despite many internal and external changes and challenges.”

Read full review

Purchase the book at www.wfshop.org