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|resting_place = Edhi Village
|resting_place = Edhi Village
|resting_place_coordinates =
|resting_place_coordinates =
|nationality = [[Pakistani]] founder of [[edhi foundation]]
|nationality = [[Pakistani]]
|title = The Richest Poor Man
|sons = Faisal Edhi, Kutub Edhi
|company = Founder of [[Edhi Foundation]] [[1951]]
|ethnicity = [[Bantva Memon]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8440920/The-day-I-met-Abdul-Sattar-Edhi-a-living-saint.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=The day I met Abdul Sattar Edhi, a living saint | date=10 April 2011}}, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref><ref>http://leadershipforhighschool.wordpress.com/leader-profile/dr-abdul-sattar-edhi/, published April 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
|ethnicity = [[Bantva Memon]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8440920/The-day-I-met-Abdul-Sattar-Edhi-a-living-saint.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=The day I met Abdul Sattar Edhi, a living saint | date=10 April 2011}}, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref><ref>http://leadershipforhighschool.wordpress.com/leader-profile/dr-abdul-sattar-edhi/, published April 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
|education =
|education =
Line 24: Line 21:
|known_for = [[Social Work]]<br />[[Simple living|Simple lifestyle]]
|known_for = [[Social Work]]<br />[[Simple living|Simple lifestyle]]
|spouse = [[Bilquis Edhi]]
|spouse = [[Bilquis Edhi]]
|children =
|children = Faisal Edhi, Kutub Edhi
|parents =
|parents =
|mother = Ghurba Edhi
|mother = Ghurba Edhi
Line 32: Line 29:
|signature =
|signature =
|footnotes =
|footnotes =
|honorific prefix =
|honorific prefix = '''Angel of Mercy'''<ref>https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/07/08/pakistans-legendary-angel-of-mercy-abdul-edhi-dies-aged-88.html</ref>
}}
}}
'''Abdul Sattar Edhi''' (1 January 1928 – 8 July 2016), [[Nishan-e-Imtiaz]] Award (Order of Excellence) Award, ([[Memoni language|Memoni]], {{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|عبدالستار ایدھی}}}}) was a prominent [[Pakistani people|Pakistani]] [[philanthropist]], [[social activist]], [[Asceticism|ascetic]] and [[humanitarian]]. He was the founder and head of the [[Edhi Foundation]] in [[Pakistan]] and was known as '''Angel of Mercy'''. He was also considered a living legend before his death.<ref>https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/07/08/pakistans-legendary-angel-of-mercy-abdul-edhi-dies-aged-88.html</ref>
'''Abdul Sattar Edhi'''(1 January 1928 – 8 July 2016), [[Nishan-e-Imtiaz]] Award (Order of Excellence) Award, ([[Memoni language|Memoni]], {{lang-ur|{{Nastaliq|عبدالستار ایدھی}}}}) was a prominent [[Pakistani people|Pakistani]] [[philanthropist]], [[social activist]], [[Asceticism|ascetic]] and [[humanitarian]]. He was the founder and head of the [[Edhi Foundation]] in [[Pakistan]].


Together with his wife, [[Bilquis Edhi]], he received the 1986 [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] for Public Service. He was also the recipient of the [[Lenin Peace Prize]] and the [[Balzan Prize]]. In 2006, [[Institute of Business Administration, Karachi|Institute of Business Administration]] [[Pakistan]] conferred an honoris causa degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate by the [[University of Bedfordshire]].<ref>http://dawn.com/2012/06/15/abdul-sattar-edhi-under-taliban-threat/, published 15 June 2012, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> In 1989 Edhi received the [[Nishan-e-Imtiaz]] from the [[Government of Pakistan]].<ref>[http://edhi.org/about-us/awards/national-awards], Edhi's National Awards on [[Edhi Foundation]] website, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> On 1 January 2014, Edhi was voted [[The Express Tribune|Person of the year 2013]] by the readers of ''[[The Express Tribune]]''.<ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/652947/tribune-person-of-the-year-2013-your-vote-your-hero/ Tribune person of the year 2013: Your vote, our hero], published 1 Jan 2014, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
Together with his wife, [[Bilquis Edhi]], he received the 1986 [[Ramon Magsaysay Award]] for Public Service. He was also the recipient of the [[Lenin Peace Prize]] and the [[Balzan Prize]]. In 2006, [[Institute of Business Administration, Karachi|Institute of Business Administration]] [[Pakistan]] conferred an honoris causa degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate by the [[University of Bedfordshire]].<ref>http://dawn.com/2012/06/15/abdul-sattar-edhi-under-taliban-threat/, published 15 June 2012, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> In 1989 Edhi received the [[Nishan-e-Imtiaz]] from the [[Government of Pakistan]].<ref>[http://edhi.org/about-us/awards/national-awards], Edhi's National Awards on [[Edhi Foundation]] website, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> On 1 January 2014, Edhi was voted [[The Express Tribune|Person of the year 2013]] by the readers of ''[[The Express Tribune]]''.<ref>[http://tribune.com.pk/story/652947/tribune-person-of-the-year-2013-your-vote-your-hero/ Tribune person of the year 2013: Your vote, our hero], published 1 Jan 2014, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
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Abdul Sattar Edhi ran the [[Edhi Foundation]] in [[Pakistan]] for the better part of six decades. The foundation owns and operates a large ambulance service, free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women’s shelters, food kitchens, and rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals all across the country.
Abdul Sattar Edhi ran the [[Edhi Foundation]] in [[Pakistan]] for the better part of six decades. The foundation owns and operates a large ambulance service, free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women’s shelters, food kitchens, and rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals all across the country.


To his death Edhi remained a simple and humble man. He owned two pairs of clothes, never took a salary from his organisation and lived in a small two bedroom apartment over his clinic in [[Karachi]]. He was recommended for a [[Nobel Peace prize]] by the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] with more than 30,000 signing a petition by Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of [[Malala Yousafzai]] for his nomination.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Campaign for Abdul Sattar Edhi to receive Nobel Peace Prize by Malala's dad|url = http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/campaign-abdul-sattar-edhi-receive-10727903|website = birminghammail|access-date = 2016-01-13}}, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> On 25 June 2013 Edhi's kidneys failed and it was announced that he will be on dialysis for the rest of his life, unless he finds a kidney donor.<ref>http://tribune.com.pk/story/568148/edhi-suffers-from-kidney-failure-to-stay-on-dialysis-rest-of-his-life/, The Express Tribune newspaper, published 25 June 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' called him 'a legendary charity worker known for his asceticism'.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/pakistan-charity-abdul-sattar-edhi-foundation-karachi?CMP=share_btn_tw 'They call him an infidel': Pakistan's humble founder of a charity empire, The Guardian newspaper [UK] published 1 April 2015, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> He was called the greatest living humanitarian in the world in a 2013 article in [[The Huffington Post]].<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/abdul-sattar-edhi_n_3223839.html, Abdul Sattar Edhi on Huffington Post, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
To his death Edhi remained a simple and humble man. He owned two pairs of clothes, never took a salary from his organisation and lived in a small two bedroom apartment over his clinic in [[Karachi]]. He was recommended for a [[Nobel Peace prize]] by the [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] with more than 30,000 signing a petition by Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of [[Malala Yousafzai]] for his nomination.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Campaign for Abdul Sattar Edhi to receive Nobel Peace Prize by Malala's dad|url = http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/campaign-abdul-sattar-edhi-receive-10727903|website = birminghammail|access-date = 2016-01-13}}, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> On 25 June 2013 Edhi's kidneys failed and it was announced that he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life, unless he found a kidney donor.<ref>http://tribune.com.pk/story/568148/edhi-suffers-from-kidney-failure-to-stay-on-dialysis-rest-of-his-life/, The Express Tribune newspaper, published 25 June 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' called him 'a legendary charity worker known for his asceticism'.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/pakistan-charity-abdul-sattar-edhi-foundation-karachi?CMP=share_btn_tw 'They call him an infidel': Pakistan's humble founder of a charity empire, The Guardian newspaper [UK] published 1 April 2015, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> He was called the greatest living humanitarian in the world in a 2013 article in [[The Huffington Post]].<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/abdul-sattar-edhi_n_3223839.html, Abdul Sattar Edhi on Huffington Post, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>


Edhi died at the age of 88 in Karachi on 8 July 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/pakistan-humanitarian-abdul-sattar-edhi-dies-160708184523940.html|title=Pakistan's humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi dies|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1138006/pakistan-mourns-abdul-sattar-edhis-death/|title=Pakistan mourns Abdul Sattar Edhi's death - The Express Tribune|date=2016-07-08|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-08}}</ref>
Edhi died in Karachi on 8 July 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/07/pakistan-humanitarian-abdul-sattar-edhi-dies-160708184523940.html|title=Pakistan's humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi dies|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2016-07-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1138006/pakistan-mourns-abdul-sattar-edhis-death/|title=Pakistan mourns Abdul Sattar Edhi's death - The Express Tribune|date=2016-07-08|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-08}}</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
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| date = 12 November 2006
| date = 12 November 2006
| url = http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/local1.htm
| url = http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/local1.htm
| accessdate = 24 March 2016}} {{wayback|url=http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/local1.htm |date=20090104225524 |df=y }}, Honorary Doctorate Degree by IBA awarded to Abdul Sattar Edhi, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> When he was eleven, his mother became paralysed from a stroke and she later died when Edhi was 19. His personal experiences and care for his mother during her illness, caused him to develop a system of services for old, mentally ill and challenged people. The [[partition of India]] led Edhi and his family to migrate to Pakistan in 1947. He then shifted to Karachi to work in a market at a wholesale shop. His mother would give him 1 paisa for his daily eat and another to give to a beggar. He initially started as a peddler, later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in [[Karachi]]. After a few years, he established a free dispensary with the help from his community. He later established a welfare trust, "Edhi Trust".<ref>http://www.islamicity.com/comments/wapCommentspopup.asp?ref=28350, 'From a humanitarian to a nation', an article on Abdul Sattar Edhi, published 12 July 2004, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
| accessdate = 24 March 2016}} {{wayback|url=http://www.dawn.com/2006/11/12/local1.htm |date=20090104225524 |df=y }}, Honorary Doctorate Degree by IBA awarded to Abdul Sattar Edhi, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref> When he was eleven, his mother became paralysed from a stroke and she died when Edhi was 19. His personal experiences and care for his mother during her illness, caused him to develop a system of services for old, mentally ill and challenged people. The [[partition of India]] led Edhi and his family to migrate to Pakistan in 1947. He then shifted to Karachi to work in a market at a wholesale shop. His mother would give him 1 paisa for his meals and another to give to a beggar. He initially started as a peddler, and later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in [[Karachi]]. After a few years, he established a free dispensary with help from his community. Additionally, he established a welfare trust, named the "Edhi Trust".<ref>http://www.islamicity.com/comments/wapCommentspopup.asp?ref=28350, 'From a humanitarian to a nation', an article on Abdul Sattar Edhi, published 12 July 2004, Retrieved 24 March 2016</ref>
Abdul Sattar Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary.<ref name="Richard Covington">{{cite book|title=What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time|publisher=Sterling Publishing|isbn=978-1402758348|pages=309–323|url=http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=1uYC-XU3A-YC&pg=PA309|author=Richard Covington|editor=David Elliot Cohen|accessdate=24 March 2016|chapter=What One Person Can Do|date=2 September 2008}}</ref> The couple had four children, two daughters and two sons. Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarters in [[Karachi]] and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies.
Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary.<ref name="Richard Covington">{{cite book|title=What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time|publisher=Sterling Publishing|isbn=978-1402758348|pages=309–323|url=http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=1uYC-XU3A-YC&pg=PA309|author=Richard Covington|editor=David Elliot Cohen|accessdate=24 March 2016|chapter=What One Person Can Do|date=2 September 2008}}</ref> The couple had four children, two daughters and two sons. Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarters in [[Karachi]] and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies.


==Charity work==
==Charity work==
He was born in 1928, his family and mother had low-income and modest resources in the city of [[Bantva]] in what is now [[Gujarat]], western [[British India]]. Edhi's first interaction with human suffering occurred at the age of eleven, when his mother was physically paralysed and later suffered from mental illness. Edhi spent his waking hours caring for her, and her worsening health and eventual death left a lasting impact on his life. In 1947, at the age of 19, Mr. Edhi's family was forced to flee their hometown and relocate to [[Karachi]]. Finding himself in a new city without any resources, Edhi resolved to dedicate his life to aiding the poor, and over the last sixty years, he has single handedly changed the face of welfare in Pakistan. Edhi founded the Edhi Foundation, with an initial sum of a mere five thousand rupees. Regarded as a guardian for the poor, Edhi began receiving numerous donations, which allowed him to expand his services. To this day, the Edhi Foundation continues to grow in both size and service, and is currently the largest welfare organisation in [[Pakistan]]. Since its inception, the [[Edhi Foundation]] has rescued over 20,000 abandoned [[infants]], rehabilitated over 50,000 [[orphans]] and has trained over 40,000 [[nurses]]. It also runs over three hundred and thirty welfare centres in rural and urban Pakistan which operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped.
He was born in 1928, his family and mother had low-income and modest resources in the city of [[Bantva]] in what is now [[Gujarat]], western [[British India]]. Edhi's first interaction with human suffering occurred at the age of eleven, when his mother was physically paralysed and later suffered from mental illness. Edhi spent his waking hours caring for her, and her worsening health and eventual death left a lasting impact on his life. In 1947, at the age of 19, Mr. Edhi's family was forced to flee their hometown and relocate to [[Karachi]]. Finding himself in a new city without any resources, Edhi resolved to dedicate his life to aiding the poor, and over the last sixty years, he has single handedly changed the face of welfare in Pakistan. Edhi founded the Edhi Foundation, with an initial sum of a mere five thousand rupees. Regarded as a guardian for the poor, Edhi began receiving numerous donations, which allowed him to expand his services. To this day, the Edhi Foundation continues to grow in both size and service, and is currently the largest welfare organisation in [[Pakistan]]. Since its inception, the [[Edhi Foundation]] has rescued over 20,000 abandoned [[infants]], rehabilitated over 50,000 [[orphans]] and has trained over 40,000 [[nurses]]. It also runs more than 330 welfare centres in rural and urban Pakistan which operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped.


Edhi Foundation runs the world's largest ambulance service and operates free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women's shelters, and rehab centres for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1221986.stm |title=Pakistan's saviour of the desperate |publisher=BBC News |date=15 March 2001 |accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref> It has run relief operations in [[Africa]], [[Middle East]], the [[Caucasus region]], eastern [[Europe]] and United States where it provided aid following the [[New Orleans]] hurricane of 2005. In November 2011, Edhi was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Pakistani Prime Minister [[Yousaf Raza Gillani]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/298911/gilani-nominates-abdul-sattar-edhi-for-nobel-peace-prize/ |title=Gilani Nominates Abdul Sattar Edhi for Nobel Peace Prize |publisher=The Express Tribune |date=28 November 2011 |accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> Abdul Sattar Edhi suffered renal failure as announced on 26 June 2013 at [[SIUT]] and needed a kidney donation<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/125199-abdul-sattar-edhi-needs-kidney-donation.html |title=Abdul Sattar Edhi needs kidney donation |deadurl=no |accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> but this did not happen before his death. His son Faisal Edhi, wife Bilquis Edhi and daughters managed the daily operations of the organization during his ill health.
The Edhi Foundation runs the world's largest ambulance service and operates free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women's shelters, and rehab centres for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1221986.stm |title=Pakistan's saviour of the desperate |publisher=BBC News |date=15 March 2001 |accessdate=24 March 2016}}</ref> It has run relief operations in [[Africa]], [[Middle East]], the [[Caucasus region]], eastern [[Europe]] and United States where it provided aid following the [[New Orleans]] hurricane of 2005. In November 2011, Edhi was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Pakistani Prime Minister [[Yousaf Raza Gillani]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/298911/gilani-nominates-abdul-sattar-edhi-for-nobel-peace-prize/ |title=Gilani Nominates Abdul Sattar Edhi for Nobel Peace Prize |publisher=The Express Tribune |date=28 November 2011 |accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> Abdul Sattar Edhi suffered renal failure as announced on 26 June 2013 at [[SIUT]] and needed a kidney donation<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/109-world-top-news/125199-abdul-sattar-edhi-needs-kidney-donation.html |title=Abdul Sattar Edhi needs kidney donation |deadurl=no |accessdate=25 March 2016}}</ref> but this did not happen before his death. His son Faisal Edhi, wife Bilquis Edhi and daughters managed the daily operations of the organization during his ill health.


==Travel issues==
==Travel issues==
Line 79: Line 76:


== Death ==
== Death ==
Edhi died on 8 July 2016 due to kidney failure at age 88. He was on the ventilator in his last six hours. He will be buried in Edhi Village. He told in his will that his eyes should be given to 2 people.<ref name="tr">{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1137773/abdul-sattar-edhi-put-ventilator-condition-deteriorates-faisal-edhi/|title=Abdul Sattar Edhi passes away|newspaper=Tribune.com.pk|date=8 July 2016|accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref>
Edhi died on 8 July 2016 at age 88 due to kidney failure. He was placed on a ventilator for the last six hours of his life. He will be buried in Edhi Village. His last wishes included the request that his organs were to be donated but due to his ill health, only his corneas were suitable.<ref name="tr">{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1137773/abdul-sattar-edhi-put-ventilator-condition-deteriorates-faisal-edhi/|title=Abdul Sattar Edhi passes away|newspaper=Tribune.com.pk|date=8 July 2016|accessdate=8 July 2016}}</ref>


==Honors and awards==
==Honors and awards==

Revision as of 21:55, 8 July 2016

Abdul Sattar Edhi
Born
Abdul Sattar Edhi

(1928-01-01)1 January 1928
Bantva, Bantva Manavadar, Western India States Agency, British Raj (Present day Bantva, Gujarat, India)
Died8 July 2016(2016-07-08) (aged 88)
Karachi, Pakistan
Cause of deathKidney Failure
Resting placeEdhi Village
NationalityPakistani
Known forSocial Work
Simple lifestyle
SpouseBilquis Edhi
ChildrenFaisal Edhi, Kutub Edhi
Parents
  • Abdul Shakoor Edhi (father)
  • Ghurba Edhi (mother)
Awards1988 Lenin Peace Prize
Nishan-e-Imtiaz in 1989[1]
Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize in 2010[2]
WebsiteEidhi Official Site

Abdul Sattar Edhi(1 January 1928 – 8 July 2016), Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award (Order of Excellence) Award, (Memoni, Template:Lang-ur) was a prominent Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, ascetic and humanitarian. He was the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan.

Together with his wife, Bilquis Edhi, he received the 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. He was also the recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and the Balzan Prize. In 2006, Institute of Business Administration Pakistan conferred an honoris causa degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate by the University of Bedfordshire.[5] In 1989 Edhi received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz from the Government of Pakistan.[6] On 1 January 2014, Edhi was voted Person of the year 2013 by the readers of The Express Tribune.[7]

Abdul Sattar Edhi ran the Edhi Foundation in Pakistan for the better part of six decades. The foundation owns and operates a large ambulance service, free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women’s shelters, food kitchens, and rehabilitation centers for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals all across the country.

To his death Edhi remained a simple and humble man. He owned two pairs of clothes, never took a salary from his organisation and lived in a small two bedroom apartment over his clinic in Karachi. He was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Prime Minister of Pakistan with more than 30,000 signing a petition by Ziauddin Yousafzai, the father of Malala Yousafzai for his nomination.[8] On 25 June 2013 Edhi's kidneys failed and it was announced that he would be on dialysis for the rest of his life, unless he found a kidney donor.[9] The Guardian called him 'a legendary charity worker known for his asceticism'.[10] He was called the greatest living humanitarian in the world in a 2013 article in The Huffington Post.[11]

Edhi died in Karachi on 8 July 2016.[12][13]

Early life

Edhi was born in 1928 in Bantva in the Gujarat, British India.[14] When he was eleven, his mother became paralysed from a stroke and she died when Edhi was 19. His personal experiences and care for his mother during her illness, caused him to develop a system of services for old, mentally ill and challenged people. The partition of India led Edhi and his family to migrate to Pakistan in 1947. He then shifted to Karachi to work in a market at a wholesale shop. His mother would give him 1 paisa for his meals and another to give to a beggar. He initially started as a peddler, and later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in Karachi. After a few years, he established a free dispensary with help from his community. Additionally, he established a welfare trust, named the "Edhi Trust".[15]

Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary.[16] The couple had four children, two daughters and two sons. Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarters in Karachi and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies.

Charity work

He was born in 1928, his family and mother had low-income and modest resources in the city of Bantva in what is now Gujarat, western British India. Edhi's first interaction with human suffering occurred at the age of eleven, when his mother was physically paralysed and later suffered from mental illness. Edhi spent his waking hours caring for her, and her worsening health and eventual death left a lasting impact on his life. In 1947, at the age of 19, Mr. Edhi's family was forced to flee their hometown and relocate to Karachi. Finding himself in a new city without any resources, Edhi resolved to dedicate his life to aiding the poor, and over the last sixty years, he has single handedly changed the face of welfare in Pakistan. Edhi founded the Edhi Foundation, with an initial sum of a mere five thousand rupees. Regarded as a guardian for the poor, Edhi began receiving numerous donations, which allowed him to expand his services. To this day, the Edhi Foundation continues to grow in both size and service, and is currently the largest welfare organisation in Pakistan. Since its inception, the Edhi Foundation has rescued over 20,000 abandoned infants, rehabilitated over 50,000 orphans and has trained over 40,000 nurses. It also runs more than 330 welfare centres in rural and urban Pakistan which operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped.

The Edhi Foundation runs the world's largest ambulance service and operates free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women's shelters, and rehab centres for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals.[17] It has run relief operations in Africa, Middle East, the Caucasus region, eastern Europe and United States where it provided aid following the New Orleans hurricane of 2005. In November 2011, Edhi was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.[18] Abdul Sattar Edhi suffered renal failure as announced on 26 June 2013 at SIUT and needed a kidney donation[19] but this did not happen before his death. His son Faisal Edhi, wife Bilquis Edhi and daughters managed the daily operations of the organization during his ill health.

Travel issues

In the early 1980s he was arrested by Israeli troops while entering Lebanon. In 2006, he was detained in Toronto, Canada, for 16 hours. In January 2008, US immigration officials interrogated Edhi at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for over eight hours, and seized his passport and other documents. When asked about the frequent detention Edhi said "The only explanation I can think of is my beard and my dress."[20]

Death

Edhi died on 8 July 2016 at age 88 due to kidney failure. He was placed on a ventilator for the last six hours of his life. He will be buried in Edhi Village. His last wishes included the request that his organs were to be donated but due to his ill health, only his corneas were suitable.[21]

Honors and awards

International awards

National awards

See also

  • Edhi Foundation
  • Half of Two Paisas: The Extraordinary Mission of Abdul Sattar Edhi and Bilquis Edhi[27]

References

  1. ^ http://edhi.org/about-us/awards/national-awards, Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award info, Retrieved 23 March 2016
  2. ^ https://www.alislam.org/peaceprize/, Prize Winners of The Ahmadiyya Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace
  3. ^ "The day I met Abdul Sattar Edhi, a living saint". The Daily Telegraph. London. 10 April 2011., Retrieved 24 March 2016
  4. ^ http://leadershipforhighschool.wordpress.com/leader-profile/dr-abdul-sattar-edhi/, published April 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  5. ^ http://dawn.com/2012/06/15/abdul-sattar-edhi-under-taliban-threat/, published 15 June 2012, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  6. ^ [1], Edhi's National Awards on Edhi Foundation website, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  7. ^ Tribune person of the year 2013: Your vote, our hero, published 1 Jan 2014, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  8. ^ "Campaign for Abdul Sattar Edhi to receive Nobel Peace Prize by Malala's dad". birminghammail. Retrieved 13 January 2016., Retrieved 24 March 2016
  9. ^ http://tribune.com.pk/story/568148/edhi-suffers-from-kidney-failure-to-stay-on-dialysis-rest-of-his-life/, The Express Tribune newspaper, published 25 June 2013, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  10. ^ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/01/pakistan-charity-abdul-sattar-edhi-foundation-karachi?CMP=share_btn_tw 'They call him an infidel': Pakistan's humble founder of a charity empire, The Guardian newspaper [UK] published 1 April 2015, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  11. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/abdul-sattar-edhi_n_3223839.html, Abdul Sattar Edhi on Huffington Post, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  12. ^ "Pakistan's humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi dies". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Pakistan mourns Abdul Sattar Edhi's death - The Express Tribune". 8 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  14. ^ Ala, Mustard; T.A.N.S. (12 November 2006). "awards doctorate degree to Abdul Sattar Edhi". DAWN Internet Edition. Retrieved 24 March 2016. Archived 2009-01-04 at the Wayback Machine, Honorary Doctorate Degree by IBA awarded to Abdul Sattar Edhi, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  15. ^ http://www.islamicity.com/comments/wapCommentspopup.asp?ref=28350, 'From a humanitarian to a nation', an article on Abdul Sattar Edhi, published 12 July 2004, Retrieved 24 March 2016
  16. ^ Richard Covington (2 September 2008). "What One Person Can Do". In David Elliot Cohen (ed.). What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time. Sterling Publishing. pp. 309–323. ISBN 978-1402758348. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Pakistan's saviour of the desperate". BBC News. 15 March 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  18. ^ "Gilani Nominates Abdul Sattar Edhi for Nobel Peace Prize". The Express Tribune. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  19. ^ "Abdul Sattar Edhi needs kidney donation". Retrieved 25 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Khan, M Ilyas (29 January 2008). "Pakistan aid worker stuck in US". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Abdul Sattar Edhi passes away". Tribune.com.pk. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
  22. ^ {{cite web from Phiippines: Citation for Abdul Sattar Edhi and Bilqis Bano Edhi | work = | publisher = Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation | date = 31 August 1986 | url = http://www.rmaf.org.ph/Awardees/Citation/CitationEdhiAbd.htm | doi = | accessdate = 25 March 2016}}
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Awards". Edhi Profile and Awards on Edhi Foundation website. 8 August 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  24. ^ "UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize – Laureates". UNESCO., Retrieved 25 March 2016
  25. ^ "UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence (2009)" (PDF). UNESCO. 2009., Retrieved 25 March 2016
  26. ^ "Awards". The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
  27. ^ Lorenza Raponi – Michele Zanzucchi (2013). Half of Two Paisas: The Extraordinary Mission of Abdul Sattar Edhi and Bilquis Edhi. Translated from Italian by Lorraine Buckley. Oxford University Press, Pakistan. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-19-906852-4.
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