Shia Islam in Kenya

Shi'a Islam in Kenya is represented primarily by a number of sects, who are largely the descendants of or influenced by Muslim traders from the Middle East and India who came to the East African coast for the either as indentured laborers or for the purposes of trade.

The mainstream Shia IthnaAsheri sect is composed of Khojas who are of Indian descent and indigenous Kenyans. The Shia Ismaili sect is represented by Dawoodi Bohra, Mustaali Ismaili denomination and Khoja Ismailis, a Nizari Ismaili denomination both of Indian descent.

Most of the Shia of Indian origin arrived in East Africa in the 19th century, primarily to landing in Zanzibar and Lamu. initially as traders, later branching into hardware and glass, and then into real estate and construction businesses. Today they are a vibrant part of the Kenyan economy in telecoms, information technology, manufacturing industry, logistics, import and export.

Khoja Shia IthnaAsheris number some two thousand (Mombasa & Nairobi) and the indigenous Shia are thirty thousand (Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru & Lamu) most prominent amongst them is Shaykh Abdillahi Nassir, a Kenyan convert from Sunni to Shia Islam based in Mombasa and Seyyid Aidarus Alwy of Lamu.

The Khoja Ismailia Community has a very small number and Dawoodi Bohra number some 6,500–8,000 in Kenya overall, with some 2,500 in Nairobi and under 3,000 in Mombasa. There are also some 200 members of a breakaway faction, the Progressive Dawoodi Bohra, in Nairobi.[1]