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“My religion is humanitarianism, which is the
basis of every religion in the world.”
World will never forget the embodiment of selflessness, and symbol of love for
humanity, none other than Abdul Sattar Edhi. He was much more than a social
worker, humanitarian, or a philanthropist. He was the hope for homeless, poor,
needy, and orphans of Pakistan. He gained immense love and respect from his
countrymen due to his selflessness and passion to serve humanity first!
Early Life of Abdul Sattar Edhi
Before migrating to Pakistan, his family used to live in Bantva (India) and Edhi
was born there. Abdul Sattar Edhi never liked the school and formal studies. He
once said, “My mother cultivated the seed of social work in me when she used to
give me two pennies, one for myself and the other for someone in need”. After
leaving the school at the age of 13, he started selling the pencils, pens,
matchboxes etc. in the Bantva bazaar and in the evenings, he used to read the
newspapers of that time like Bombay samachar and Sandes magazine to educate
himself. The vague idea of revolution got apparent after reading the Muslim
Gujarat gazette. He learned the concept of capitalist and oppressed from the
epic history of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA). At that time, his immature ceaseless
thoughts became revolutionary and decided to bring a revolution. He used to read
the reflecting biographies of immortal tycoons. Abuzar Ghafafari had fascinated
him until his death.
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Start of Voluntary Work
Abdul Sattar Edhi initiated his voluntary work of welfare in 1951 by opening a
small clinic for underprivileged masses. At that time, he had no resources to
enhance the setup. He worked day in day out with zeal and zest to make a center
of humanitarian excellence for the needy and rejected ones. By the time, he was
able to get support from his elder brother. Initially, his involvement made Edhi
very relaxed. But, when the volunteer work gained a lot of appreciations from
renowned people, his brother accompanied by a slovenly clique started a
conspiracy to get rid of the Edhi. Many times, his elder brother hampered him
and became heavy-handed and physical. To cop up the situation, Edhi took the
issue to the court and after some hearings, Edhi got cleared from the
convictions. Then, Edhi fired his brother from trustees and decided not to
involve any external personal in the trustees’ panel.
He believes in going out of the way to any extreme to help the one in need. He
once said:
“So, many years later there were many who still complained and questioned,
‘Why must you pick up Christians and Hindus in your ambulance?’ And I was
saying, ‘Because the ambulance is more Muslim than you’.”
This shows his dedication and love for humanity. He believes that the most
applaud able virtue by a Muslim is there dealing with other human beings. He
said:
“Empty words and long praises do not impress God. Show Him your faith by your
deeds.”
He truly lived up to his words.
Establishment of Edhi Foundation
After that incident, Edhi laid the foundation of “Edhi Foundation” by announcing
his first family the only trustees of the organization. After a very creepy
start, but with the Edhi’s sincerity of the purpose, Edhi Foundation has now
acquired 7000 workers and more than 250 centers across the country. Mission
started with a small dispensary to help the maximum needy has shaped to be the
largest social welfare system in any Asian country. Not only dispensaries, Edhi
foundation has established the maternity homes, mental asylums, homes for
physical handicapped, orphanages, adoption centers, mortuaries, shelters for
runaway children, care centers for battered and divorced women and soup
kitchens. Edhi ambulance service is also a very impressive achievement in the
cap of foundation. The foundation owns hundreds of ambulances working across the
nation. It is on record that more than four thousand emergency calls are
received in a day and the reach time is approximately ten minutes.
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“My mission and vision is to serve the humanity regardless of the color,
caste, creed, religion, nationality and political affiliation. My only aim is to
provide the free of cost services like medicines, food and education to the
oppressed people. Why oppressed always suffer from the dilemma of poverty? Poor
man should have equal rights like any other rich and to me; serving poor is just
like praying. All the human beings are equal and should be treated with
equality, love and respect”.
Edhi had accomplished the goal with the sincerity of purpose, dedication of
perseverance and a notion of truthfulness. Edhi led the team by his examples. He
tried to provide the synergistic environment to the team and resolved their
issues with empathic communication. He lived the whole life in providing the
comfort and console to the anguished souls.
He was vainly against the prevalent belief system of serving a particular group
of helpless people. That’s why he preached the message of “Humanity over
religion, sect, nationality and color” until his death. Most of the time, he
had to face severe reluctance from the absurd ones due to his nationalist
humanitarian slogans.
“I was made criminal, by the Law, not because of what I had done, but because of
what I stood for”. (Nelson Madiba Mandela)
However, all those hardships had waved off due to his untiring substance and
extremely committed team. Edhi had given his team very subsistence pays and
never allowed himself to take public exchequer. He detained Edhi foundation from
any governmental support or other support except public.
Edhi’s Stance on Reward and Acknowledgement
Abdul Sattar Edhi had never ever looked for appreciation or award throughout his
life for his commendable services for the mankind. Once, an organization in
Karachi wished to reward him with the appreciation award for his services. He
replied, “I don’t want my two hours to be wasted for some meaningless award”.
Although he was so against of the awards but in-spite of his reluctance, he had
been rewarded with many prestigious awards. His accomplishments include Ramon
Magsaysay award for public service (1986), Lenin peace award, Peace prize award
from USSR, Hamdard award, Guinness book of world, International Balzan prize for
humanity, Peace award (Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi), Gandhi peace award, UNESCO
peace award and many other. He had also awarded with honorary doctorate degree
from institute of business administration (IBA).
I may not be alive to see the society full of misfit rebels-round pigs in square
holes, changing the lives by following the humanitarian approach. I may not be
able to see a tolerant society where all sects live under the same roof and
share the food. But, I am sure the teachings of Dr. Abdul Sattar Edhi will
enlighten us in making this divided nation, a united nation.
I am a mirror to the blind,
I am a hope to the downtrodden,
I am a father to the orphans,
I am a brother to the battered and divorced woman,
I am a God to the mortuaries,
I am a bastard to the prevalent system believers,
I am an angle to the issueless parents,
I am a protector to the widows,
Those who don't know me:
I am Abdul Sattar EDHI and
Humanity is my religion.
References:
• https://www.szabist.edu.pk/Publications/Books/LeadershipBK-CP-09.pdf
• https://www.pakistanadoption.com/publications/achildoftheirchoosing.pdf
View Original Article Written by Rizwan Tahir:
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