The Jamat Khana As A Source Of Cohesiveness In The Ismaili Community In Kenya

Abstract

This study concentrates on and examines the role of the institution of the jamat khana as a major source of cohesiveness in the Ismaili community in Kenya. The Ismailis first settled in the country at the end of the 19th century, and established the jamat khana as the foremost communal institution. This institution has hitherto been an unexplored area of enquiry, and it is maintained and demonstrated through purposive intervi ws and a randomized survey that the close-knit nature of the community is primarily due to the jamat khana , This is so because the jamat khana acts as a central focus for ssential religious as well as ess ntial social functions. Owing to a lack of indepth studies on any of the varied aspects of the Ismaili community in Kenya, and because of a marked scarcity of historical documents on the subject, the conolusions reached in this study depend extensively on the survey that was carried out. Reference has been made to several sociological studies which diseuse different ways of aChieving cohesiveness among people in any given society. The soundness of same of these bypotheses has been verified in this study. The major findings do indicate that the cohesion of the Ismaili community springs from "the fund ntal belief in an ever living imam pressed and realized in a practical form in the jamat khana, through the observance of regular ceremonies and the consequent interaotion between individuals Inspite of the observation made that the level of individual commitment differed conciderably and consequently, determmed variance in indiVidual peroeptions ardattitudes, the Ismail! oommunity as a whole is distinctive :ih.maVing a very strong degree of cohesiveness which derives primarily from the jamat khana.