They call him infidel: Pakistan's humble founder of a charity empire

[jarves]

he is not labelled kafi/traitor any of it.... bogus report...

plus united is contrast to akhand (~grand) ......

Akhand doesn't meant grand,it means undivisible.

 

[Diggy]

We dont believe in what the article says that his wife says....

how do you come to that conclusion , there hasn't been a statement from edhi foundation that she was misquoted. And mullahs are very much capable of doing that , they do that all the time atleast in my country. Whoever tries to present a better or liberal side of islam to the world is declared as a kafir by them because thinking is not in tandem with theirs. Once a mullah had famously called shabana azmi as a nachnewali on a live TV debate in my country.

Isn't hafiz saeed using his charity works to lure helpless people into terrorist orz , aren't the madrassahs doing that? he is basically using edhi'ji ideas to increase his base.

 

[syedali73]

We dont believe in what the article says that his wife says....

How do we know that even she said that? How do we know that her words were not twisted or she was not tricked into saying something she did not mean to say? Bilqis Edhi is a simpleton just like her pious husband.

 

[Dubious]

how do you come to that conclusion , there hasn't been a statement from edhi foundation that she was misquoted.

As I said before: They dont complain they are not a people who are worried about image...

And mullahs are very much capable of doing that , they do that all the time atleast in my country.

They are capable but they also know that for that man (Edhi) alone sooo many Pakistani would lynch you before he even needs to open his mouth!

Whoever tries to present a better or liberal side of islam to the world is declared as a kafir by them because their thinking is not in tandem with theirs. Once a mullah had famously called shabana azmi as a nachnewali on a live TV debate in my country.

Mullahs saying anything is equal to any typical human being muttering under their breath....the problem with us is we take it to the tv and take it seriously....Very few in Pakistan take them seriously except the top few idiots who have many followers....Hafiz isnt the top few.....Him saying such things...instead of the foundation, he needs to come clean and show he didnt say so or he might be lynched without warning...

Isn't hafiz saeed using his charity works to lure helpless people into terrorist orz , aren't the madrassahs doing that? he is basically using edhi'ji ideas to increase his base.

1stly we dont have another Edhi...we have many other charities no one even dares to call themselves Edhi or equal to him....

2ndly, he may be I dont know him personally so cant be bothered to waste my energy to type about him!

Bilqis Edhi is a simpleton just like her pious husband.

Yup that is true ....I still remember I read some place that on his wedding day he went off to rescue someone and was in blood....his new bride didnt complain dont know why she would start now...

 

[insight-out]

This story by Jon Boone is actually quite snide. The message is that Edhi is a saint in an ocean of crazy barbarians, who do not appreciate good for what it is.

While Edhi, like any public personality has his detractors, critics and rivals, he is in fact revered by the vast majority of people.

But saying that would paint a relatively positive picture of the Pakistani nation, which is not what this story is about. Rather it is about a nation of wretched people with a good guy as the exception.

 

[IrbiS]

My words are the least I can do for that great man. Here's what I know about him


He wears shoes and clothes of the dead people never buying new and even his cap belonged to someone else. In early 80s, a pashtun in Meetha Darr, Karachi died leaving 2 bundles of malyshia ( Neither the country nor the armed group but very low-quality type of cloth, that's what we refer it to but I don't know it's any other name, help @Akheilos @Pomegranate ) enough for usually 10-14 suits, He used it for more than 20 years using one dress for two years. He's mostly dirty and sweaty because takes shower only once in a week, stating that water being too precious to misuse for daily bath.

Mr. Edhi was born in Bantwa Village of KathiaWar, Gujrat.It was his mother's second marriage, she already had kids from her 1st husband. He mostly saw her worried and in pain. After moving to Karachi, he started a cloth shop. One day he went to buy clothes for his shop to the market, when he witnessed his life changing incident. A man was stabbed, fell and people surrounded him watching as the poor fella struggled for every bit for his life, but sadly no one for help.

Young Sattar was changed all the sudden when the thought spurred in his mind that there are only 3 types of people in the world:

1. Killers
2. Spectators
3. and Helpers

He decided that he's neither gonna be a killer not a spectator, but a helper. He quit his business and bought an ambulance writing his name and phone number on it. He started helping people being the sole member of his ' Organization ' . That great men started sleeping with his phone next to him and reached whenever, wherever required and also put a box in front of his place where started putting there extra change.

One morning, as he went to Masjid for Fajar Prayer, there was an infant child who somebody left on the doorsteps of Masjid. Imam of Masjid had declared the kid illegal or ' Na-jayazz ' and ordered killing the kid. As people were about to kill the kid, Young Sattar got in their way with stone in his hand and took the child with him brought him up to be an important man in a big bank. This was the started children homes when he saw sleeping kids with dogs, maternity homes for poor women, old people homes, food centers and mental care centers. And the world witnessed as he rose to greatness with the blind but just trust of very people from everywhere.

Edhi foundation holds the Guinness Book record for "largest volunteer ambulance organization" since 1997.
Till 2003, he had rescued 8,000 dead bodies from sewers and other places, provided for and brought up 16,000 kids and helped thousands of poor or homeless girls get married. It's 2015 now and you are to calculate. Even robbers, killers and other terrorists stopped firing during fighting with Law Enforcement or fighting each other when he arrived, because they knew he will be the only one to pick their dead bodies when time comes.



@levina @jamahir @Nihonjin1051 @Víðarr That's the man world doesn't know of

Even in Pakistan a cheap sofa covered with brown plastic is not most people’s idea of throw-restraint-to-the-wind luxury.

But Abdul Sattar Edhi, a legendary charity worker known for his asceticism, is still getting used to the two-seater that recently replaced the hard bench he sat on for decades in the corner of his office.

“I didn’t ask for it, it was given to me by my daughter,” he says. “I like simplicity, but I didn’t get angry with her.”

The dowdy piece of furniture does nothing to undermine the uncompromising frugality of the office of a man proud to own just two sets of salwar kameez, an everyday outfit in Pakistan.

The tiny room is accessed directly off an alley in a Karachi slum and has space for only a few desks for the handful of people who manage a sprawling, countrywide charity empire of more than 1,200 ambulances, hundreds of medical centres, graveyards and an adoption service for abandoned children.


Established in 1957 when Edhi took it upon himself to set up a tent hospital to look after the victims of a flu outbreak, it went on to become Pakistan’s most impressive social enterprise.

Its minivan ambulances are a common sight across Pakistan, particularly in the aftermath of all-too-frequent terrorist bombings.

Anyone can walk in off the street and pay their respects to one of the country’s most recognizable personalities, the frail old man with a long beard and cap who many Pakistanis argue should have received a Nobel prize years ago for his work.

Emergency callers can end up speaking to Edhi himself if he happens to pick up the phone. He rarely strays far, given that his bed occupies an even more humble back room behind his office.

And yet not everyone likes and respects this saintly figure, who reckons he is about 90 years old.

In October last year eight men barged into the Edhi headquarters and smashed their way into a bank of strongboxes just a few feet away from where Edhi himself was dozing in his hospital-style bed.

One of the robbers kept a gun trained on a social worker, even though the frail man was no threat, as they proceeded to steal valuables held as a service for people unable or unwilling to use a bank account.

The more than £400,000 of cash was swiftly replaced by donations that poured in from a horrified public, although Edhi turned down a large gift from a man he dismissed as a “capitalist” and “big robber”.

The theft was a shocking moment for an organisation that is facing growing competition from Pakistan’s militant, religious right.

In January Hafiz Saeed, a cleric wanted by India for his alleged masterminding of the 2011 terrorist attack on Mumbai, announced his Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) was establishing a bridgehead in Karachi for the first time with a fleet of 15 ambulances.

FIF is the charity wing of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the parent body of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba, regarded by some experts as one of south Asia’s most dangerous terrorist groups.

Unlike Edhi, Saeed uses the platform of his fast-growing charitable works to call for jihad against India and to create a parallel state that makes a point of being first on the scene when disasters strike.


Edhi says he is not worried, pointing out he has a 60-year head start on Saeed: “If he wants to become Edhi in two years, how is that possible?”


But he is hurt at his treatment by some of the country’s mullahs, who are jealous of his fundraising power and suspicious of his lack of sectarian or ethnic bias in attending to the people who turn to him for help.

“They call him an infidel saying that he does not say his prayers,” says his wife Bilquis, who, with her children, helps run the foundation. “What we are doing should be done by the government and should be appreciated, but instead we are blamed.”

As well as hardline Islamist groups, the foundation has lost out to the strong-arm tactics of what Edhi calls an “ethnic organisation”, a reference to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the dominant political party in the ethnically divided port city.

“There is more hostility towards us from the religious and political groups,” his wife complains. “Our strong cupboards used to be full – nobody would steal from us.”

But Edhi says he is unfussed by aggressive political parties or the mullahs’ claim that he is an atheist who will not be allowed into heaven.

“I will not go to paradise where these type of people go,” he smiles. “I will go to heaven where the poor and miserable people live.”

'They call him an infidel': Pakistan's humble founder of a charity empire | World news | The Guardian

Its a surprise that i dint know a lot about this man , considering the great work he has done. And i agree its a shame that he wasn't given a nobel prize and instead malala was chosen , if anyone in pakistan ever deserved a nobel prize then it must be Abdul sattar edhi (noble prize for me became a joke when they gave one to obama , now its like a filmfare award ) . Some further info about his work and foundation.

> Edhi foundation estb in 1951

>Headquarters in karachi (was started from there in a single room)

>Provides 24/7 emergency assistance across the country, shelter for the destitute , free hospitals & medical
care , national & international relief efforts , blood & drug bank , drug rehabilitation.

>The foundation now has around 300 centers across the nation in big cities , towns & rural areas.

>In Karachi alone, the Edhi Foundation runs 8 hospitals providing free medical care, eye hospitals, diabetic centres, surgical units, a 4- bed cancer hospital and mobile dispensaries. In addition to these the Foundation also manages two blood banks in Karachi.

>There are 15 " Apna Ghar" ["Our Home"] homes for the destitute children, runaways, and psychotics.

And now snakes like Hafiz Saeed are using the ideas & works of this great man to manipulate , brainwash and lure poor & helpless people into joining terrorist groups. It is for people of pakistan to decide now who they want to follow or what they want for themselves.

I started reading as a proud man and then got tempted when deliberately Hafiz Saeed was put in the article. I'm not advocating or defending him for the rift India got with him, in fact I don't wanna talk about him when discussing Edhi. If someone said that Edhi is infidel because he doesn't offer his prayers, then where the heck hafiz came into the article he wasn't mentioned saying that and apart from the problems, it's undeniable fact that FIF Does help people even if You and I don't admit it, and the way you highlighted the parts discussing hafiz, it drifted the article from its true point.....Edhi. Why west uses even our good things to point out What They Think is Bad and you someone supported it being India's issue too. It would be a good article if it showed the what a saint he is, discuss your favorite man anywhere but not with our saint. And even he got no guts to say anything against Edhi.

Deserves every bit of respect one can give . He has done so much for this country , so much for the poor.Look at his clothes,so much for a house . Simplicity at it's best.

Wow,it certainly has grown.

So true.
@Georgeclark , @levina , @Pomegranate , @Armstrong , @IrbiS , @Akheilos , @DESERT FIGHTER , @Color_Less_Sky , @utraash .


So sad.They caught the thieves,thankfully.Some greedy people who used to work for him.


He shouldn't pay any such attention to these so called Mullahs'. Who are they to judge anyone.

Sad truth.Why can't the government help him or something.

Thanks

 

[Diggy]

I started reading as a proud man and then got tempted when deliberately Hafiz Saeed was put in the article. I'm not advocating or defending him for the rift India got with him, in fact I don't wanna talk about him when discussing Edhi. If someone said that Edhi is infidel because he doesn't offer his prayers, then where the heck hafiz came into the article he wasn't mentioned saying that and apart from the problems, it's undeniable fact that FIF Does help people even if You and I don't admit it, and the way you highlighted the parts discussing hafiz, it drifted the article from its true point.....Edhi. Why west uses even our good things to point out What They Think is Bad and you someone supported it being India's issue too. It would be a good article if it showed the what a saint he is, discuss your favorite man anywhere but not with our saint. And even he got no guts to say anything against Edhi.

when i read that article i dint knew who he was and i was interested in reading this article because of the hafiz saeed part. but after reading the article i did some google search on edhi foundation and was happy to know to about his work and i started of by saying this man deserved a noble prize. Saeed for long time has been using charity work to lure innocent men into his jihad trap , thats how he got kasab. Drawing a comparison between saeed and edhi is like showing the difference between good and evil , it was not intended to disrespect him or his work. Why do you guys don't want to discuss saeed , you behave as if he doesn't exist , isn't he your national , isn't he running madrassahs which promote terror , guys like him are the ones behind attacks that took place in peshawar which killed 150 innocent children , or he is ok for you because he kills indians ?

 

[IrbiS]

when i read that article i dint knew who he was and i was interested in reading this article because of the hafiz saeed part. but after reading the article i did some google search on edhi foundation and was happy to know to about his work and i started of by saying this man deserved a noble prize. Saeed for long time has been using charity work to lure innocent men into his jihad trap , thats how he got kasab. Drawing a comparison between saeed and edhi is like showing the difference between good and evil , it was not intended to disrespect him or his work. Why do you guys don't want to discuss saeed , you behave as if he doesn't exist , isn't he your national , isn't he running madrassahs which promote terror , guys like him are the ones behind attacks that took place in peshawar which killed 150 innocent children , or he is ok for you because he kills indians ?

See you wouldn't even have known him if it wasn't for hafiz. As I said and you said that your first motive of reading the article was hafiz, of which there's no need in that article. If I'm discussing Mother Teresa, should I drag in Babari Masjid or Gujrat? NO it's bad of me to use her for pointing to something she isn't remotely connected. So how come he be dragged? All I'm saying is see good for good and hafiz should be discussed on appropriate thread not here

 

[Jaanbaz]

Mullahs hate Edhi because he is non Sectarian, he does everything himself, he doesn't eat like a pig and put on 200kgs . He doesn't incite hatred but spreads love. Men like Edhi are only born once in a century. He doesn't live for himself but for others.

 

[livingdead]

he is a simple man.. but should stay away from commenting on politics or religion... its better he remains neutral so that his organization gets help from all.

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

Nobody call him 'Infidel' this is bogus report. Edhi receives donations from Canada and rest of the world. Who cares about random person making such accusation.

 

[niaz]

Adul Sattar Edhi is genuinely kind & passionate human being. He serves people in need without worrying about age, ethnicity or religion. If he were a Catholic, he would have been made a Saint. If he were a UK citizen, he would have been knighted for his services to the poor and the needy.

His wife Bilquis Edhi is also doing admirable work. I hope there are more like him in every country. Edhi Foundation is the only charity that I and my friends support in Pakistan with whatever is within our means.

 

[syedali73]

Mullahs hate Edhi because he is non Sectarian, he does everything himself, he doesn't eat like a pig and put on 200kgs . He doesn't incite hatred but spreads love. Men like Edhi are only born once in a century. He doesn't live for himself but for others.

Can you give me one reference where Mullahs have expressed their hatred towards Mr. Edhi?

 

[Indus Falcon]

Don't believe everything the mudea (media) shoves down your throat!!

 

[Musafir117]

Old news remind me another old news.

May Allah protect him from Evils.
@Patriots &Gazi @batmannow @Horseman @Zarvan @tank Man