Keeping the best traditions of Prophet Mohammad (A.S.) who said, “To seek knowledge and learning is obligatory for all Muslim men and women” his daughter Fatima (S.A.) and his twelve successors (A.S.) the first of whom Hazrat Ali (A.S.) said, “Let no child remain uneducated while I hold the reigns of power”, as such the idea of starting a degree college at Lucknow was approved by the leaders of the Shia Community in the year 1915.

A delegation met the Lieutenant Governor of the then United Provinces of Agra and Avadh to seek permission for the establishment of the College. The plan could not materialize immediately at that time due to the restrictions imposed by the State Government in view of the proposed unitary teaching-cum-residential University at Lucknow with Canning College as the nucleus. Thus Shia College started as a school in 1919. The classes were temporarily arranged in the premises of Asifi Imambara (Bara Imambara and Roomi Darwaza). The college rose to the status of an Intermediate College in 1922, teaching subjects in Humanities and Social Sciences.

The same year (1922), foundation was laid to construct a building for the College on the land provided by “Karbala of King Nasiruddin Haider of Oudh” on Sitapur Road. Land was also donated to the College on Faizabad Road. With generous donations pouring in from the masses of Shia community, the major shares naturally being from Nawabs, Taluqedars and other well wishers a spacious building for the college came into being and the classes were shifted to it in 1923. Teaching of Natural Sciences at Intermediate level was introduced in 1932 with well equipped Laboratories.

When in 1947, the University of Lucknow decided to permit the teaching of Science out side the premises of Canning College, Shia College was one of the first three Colleges of Lucknow to be found suitable for the purpose. The same year teaching started in the College for students pursuing courses for the degree of Bachelor of Science.

The permission to start classes in courses leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts of the University of Lucknow was granted to the College in 1960, for which an old building (now completely reconsructed) was purchased by the College on Victoria Street. The recognition to start classes for Bachelor of Laws was granted to the College in 1970 and for Bachelor of Commerce in 1972. Teaching for the courses leading to P.G. Diploma and other certificates in Computer Applications was started in 1987. Computer Science as a subject at B.Sc. level was introduced in 1989.

Computer Applications as a subject was introduced for B.A. Students (boys & girls) in 2001 and is being run successfully at Victoria Street Campus. A Job Oriented Course leading to Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications (P.G.D.C.A.) has been recognised by Lucknow University from the session 2004-05. The course is professional in nature and very useful in the current age of Information Technology.

The College has now risen to Post-Graduate level and M.A. Classes in Urdu and Sociology have been started from 1995 and 1996 respectively. M.Com (Applied Economics) Classes were started from the academic session 2005-06, M.Sc. (Zoology) and M.Com (Pure Commerce) classes have been started from the session 2006-07, Master of Journalism & Mass Communication (M.J.M.C.) are running successfully from the session-2007-08. M.Sc./M.A. (Statistics) classes have also been started from the session - 2008-09.

A highly professional management course Bachelor of Business Administration (International Business) i.e. B.B.A. (I.B.) was started from the session 2005-06.

Prosposals for seeking permission to start M.Sc. (Botany) and Bachelor of Computer Applications (B.C.A.) courses have also been sent to the Government.

With the expansion of teaching faculties, the College constructed new faculty blocks to add more class rooms in 1967 and a large library building in 1972 at Sitapur Road Campus. The enormous job of renovation and reconstruction of the Victoria Street Campus of the College was started under the dynamic leadership of Maulana S.M.H.Tahir Jarwali, the then Hony. Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the College in 1980 with nominal grants from the U.G.C. and the State Government, the major share being arranged by the College Trust itself. A new block of class rooms has been constructed with special grant from Rizvi Builders of Bombay. In addition to this, construction of a new building named “HAZRAT ALI(A.S.) BLOCK” having three halls and four class-rooms was completed at Sitapur Road Campus in 2001-02.

A new block named HAZRAT ABBAS(A.S.) BLOCK having 3 most modern class rooms, Departmental Library, Staff Room & Offices for BBA (I.B.) at ground floor & two Laboratories with latest equipments for research work, Physiology Lab having modern Apparatuses, Departmental Library & two Staff rooms for Post Graduate Deptt. of Zoology at First floor was constructed in the year 2005-06.

The construction of a new Basket-Ball Court of International standard and a new block consisting of three big class rooms named HASNAIN(A.S.) BLOCK was completed in the year 2006. Recent Constructions of the College include - Hazrat Abu Talib(A.S.) Block - meant for Admission and Examination purposes having seating capacity of 700 students and a double storeyed Imam Jafar-e- Sadiq(A.S.) Block measuring about 19000 Sq.Ft. consisting of a big examination hall and 5 big class rooms.

With a view to provide education for girls from economically backward areas of old Lucknow, B.A. classes for girls were started in 1982, at Victoria Street Campus. For girls, LL.B classes from 1995; B.Com. Classes from 1996 and B.Sc. (Biology) Classes from 2002 have also been started at Victoria Street Campus.

Established with lofty ideals, Shia College has grown from a School to a Post-Graduate College within about eight decades enrolling about 10,000 students per academic session with about 200 teachers and about the same number of non-teaching staff. God willing the College shall continue to grow to greater heights to serve the nation and humanity in a still better way.