Sindh Madressatul Islam University is a chartered University, duly recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan. It is one of the oldest institutions in South Asia. The Founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, studied at this institution for about four and a half years from 1887-92. "Sindh Madressatul Islam was founded on 1st September 1885 by a group of enlightened Muslims of Sindh, led by Khan Bahadur Hassanally Effendi, as the first modern Muslim educational institution of Sindh, whose doors were open to everyone irrespective of their religious affiliations. After end of the Mughul era in the subcontinent and annexation of Sindh by the British by the middle of nineteenth century, the Muslims in Sindh were not ready to accept the new system of education. This closed doors of social, economic and political development on them. This took its toll and by early 1880s the majority Muslim community in Sindh had degenerated to an abysmally low economic, social and political standing. It may be interesting to note that when the University of Bombay conducted the matriculation examination in Sindh for the first time in 1870, not a single Muslim student passed it, though Muslims constituted seventy-five percent of Sindh's population. Around this time an internal reformation movement amongst Muslims of India began. Three greatest proponents of this movement were Sir Syed Ahmed Khan of Aligarh in the North, Justice Syed Amir Ali of Calcutta in the East and Hassanally Effendi in the South-West. They employed education as tool for bringing social reformation. Hassanally Effendi took up the cause of establishment of Sindh Madressatul Islam, to which both Sir Syed and Justice Amir Ali extended fullest support including financial assistance."