Sewa Haji (1851-1897)

Today, 117 years have passed and we still remember this great man.

 

Sewa Haji, born in 1851 in Zanzibar, Tanzania. He was a wealthy business man, who had business caravans in Bagamoyo and Zanzibar, but was also known to be God fearing and  a philanthropist.

He donated a three storey building in Bagamoyo in 1892 to be used as a school. The school was the first mixed race school in Tanganyika during the German colonial era. Later on, he developed a hospital, donated many wells and land in Bagamoyo during the cholera outbreak, and a home for the lepers. He built the biggest hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam that was named Sewa Haji Hospital, later on during the british rule, the name was changed to Princess Margaret Hospital, now Muhimbili Hospital. He donated property and land to the poor, without regards to race or religion. He passed away in February 1897 in Zanzibar at the age of 46. 

In Tanzania he is greatly remembered, in the new rebuilt Muhimbili Hospital, a ward is named in his honor. His school (now Mwambao Primary School) and hospital(now Bagamoyo District Hospital) still stand in Bagamoyo. The land he donated in Mombasa,Kenya is still being used as a cemetary. 

May Allah grant him a high place in Jannah. He was a muslim not only by name, but also by his actions, for he understood the true meaning of serving mankind. 


source: Bagamoyo