Hameed Al Husseinie College - Colombo

The college began as a school, the Al Madrasathul Khairiyyathul Islamiah. Founded by Marhoom Sidde Lebbe Image, Marhoom Wapichi Marikkar Image and Ahmed Urabi Pasha, Marhoom Ahmed Orabi Pasha Image, at the school's opening ceremony on 15 November 1884, Ahmed Orabi made a speech on the importance of the new school to Sri Lanka's Muslim community.[1][2] The Muslim community was not willing to enter into the modern education system introduced in the 19th century, for several reasons. One was that most of the schools were established and controlled by the Christian missionaries. The traditional and conservative Muslims had the fear that English education may lead their children to Christianity, as they witnessed in Sinhalese and Tamil communities.[3] Hence, Siddi Lebbe wanted to establish separate schools for Muslims as did the Buddhist and Hindu revivalists. His dream was realised in November 1884 with the establishment of the first Muslim English school in this country - 'AL Madurasathul Khairiyyatul Islamiah' in Colombo.In 1901 Noordeen Hadjiar, trustee of the Grand Mosque, built a new building for the school using his own funds as a monument to the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Abdul Hamid II, the Ottoman Sultan, and renamed the school Al Madrasathul Hameediah. In the same year a farewell ceremony was held for Orabi at the school premises to mark his departure from Ceylon to Egypt. In 1921, the school was again renamed as Hameediah Boys' English School.During this same period, The Ceylon Moslem Educational Society Ltd. was founded in 1919 with the objective of looking after the educational needs of the Muslim community. The first school founded by the society was in Hulftsdrop Street and was called Akbar School. Later the members of the society bought the property at 45 Husseiniya Street (then called Kuruwe Street) and the school was shifted there in 1919 and named Husseinie Boys’ English School.In 1961 the school was amalgamated with the nearby Husseinie Boys' English School under the new name Hameed Al Husseinie Maha Vidyalaya by Badiudin Mahmud, the Minister of Education. On 29 August 1972, government ministers Pieter Keuneman and Badiudin Mahmud visited the school and unveiled a new five-storey building block and a three-storey science section. These buildings were completed in 1982 and the then Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa visited the school and declared it open on 3 June 1982 by the invitation of then Minister of Education Ranil Wickremasinghe.The school was officially granted college status in 1991, and was renamed Hameed Al Husseinie College. It was elevated to a National School on July 26, 1996.To remark the school 125th years, A stamp ( Rs. 5/=) was released 30 July 2009 at the College Premises.