Legends-Ahmed E. H. Jaffer

(With special thanks to Memon.com)

The above name in fact represents a family tree and includes not only Ahmed, but his father Sir Ebrahim, his grandfather, Haroon, and his ureat grandfather, Jaffer. All of them were very well-known Kucchi Memons.

Jaffer started his business empire in 1861 in Pune, near Bombay, which was then one of the main cantonment of the British army. Jaffer was not only the leader of the Muslims, but he was a well-known philanthropist also.

Marriage ceremony of Mr. Nooruddin Hasan Faruqi and Miss. Maryam Jaffer at 4 Windsor Place, New Delhi, India on April 6, 1947.

Standing L to R: 1. Mohammad Ali Maniar, 2. Khwaja Hasan Nizami 3. Saeed Ahmad Siddiqui 4. Haroon E. H. Jaffer 5. Essa E. H. Jaffer 7. Mr. S. Ghani 8. Syed Azizul Hasan 9. Aziz Ahmad Siddiqui 10. Badruddin Hasan Faruqi 11. Mr. Mohammad Mustafa 12. Aziz Ahmad (Khalish) Siddiqui 13. Raza Habib Rizvi 14. Khalil Ahmad Siddiqui 15.Ahmad E. H. Jaffer 16. Rafiq Ahmad 17. Neena Ismail Jaffer 18.Ismail E. H. Jaffer 19.Mushtaq Ahmad 20.Habib Ahmad Rizvi

Sitting L to R: 1. Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar 2. I. I. Chundrigar 3. Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan 4. Quaid-e- Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah 5. Nooruddin Hasan Faruqi 6. Liaquat Ali Khan 7. Fatima Jinnah 8. Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan 9. Hussain Imam 10. Wahab A. Jaffer (in Hussain Imam's lap)

Ground L to R: 1. Shafa'at Habib Rizvi 2. Nusrat Rizvi 3. Kader A. Jaffer 4. Javed Siddiqui 5. Razzak Essa Jaffer 6. Saadat Rizvi 7. Rafat Habib 8. Mazhar Rizvi

Jaffer's son, Haroon, also kept the family tradition alive and was well known in the Bombay Presidency. Ebrahim was a noted Muslim leader and a leading businessman. He became member of the Bombay Le(,islative Assembly in 19 1 0 and in 1915. Up to 1930 he remained a member of the Council of State, New Delhi. In 1920, he was appointed to the Imperial Council of India which acted as Advisory Committee to the Viceroy of India. In 1914 he was awarded the title of 'Khan Bahadur' and in 1926, knighthood was conferred on him. Sir Ebrahim took active part in spreading education amongst the Muslims and he presided over the Bombay Muslim Education Conference which was attended by Sir Akbar Hydery, Sir Ghulam Husain Hidayatullah, Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed. His educational activities got the patronage of the British Governor of Bombay.

He established a big Hall ( Jaffer Hall) in Pune in the name of his grandfather. He was instrumental in getting two hours' break for the Muslims working in the Government departments to enable them to offer Juma prayers. He also managed to remove illegal possession by the Government of the Shahi Mosque of Ahmednaaar. He took up the cause of renovating the Mazar of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar in Rangoon. Though he was successful in getting the Mazar included in the list of historical monuments, the renovation work could not be completed during his life time. He died at an early age of 50.

Ahmed E. H. Jaffer was born in 1909. After matriculation, he joined Deccan College, Pune, for further education. He was a very ardent sport lover. He wanted to join Indian Civil Service but his father was against it or any other service so he joined the family business.

He was the chairman of the Reception Committee of All India Muslim Educational Conference held in 1940. This conference was presided over by the Chief Minister of Bengal Mouivi Faziul Haq and the inauguration ceremony was performed by the then Governor of Bombay.

Ahmed Jaffer was elected to the Indian Legislative Assembly while he was 24 years old. The defeated candidate, Hussain Bhai Laijee, filed a petition that under the Constitution of India, a person below the age of 25 could not be elected as a member of the Assembly. But very soon, in 1946, he again defeated the same opponent from the same constituency to become the youngest legislator.

The Quaid-e-Azam appointed him Deputy Whip of the Muslim League party in the Assembly. Coming over to Pakistan, he naturally remained a member of the Constituent Assembly and Parliament and remained as such till 1954 when Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the parliament.

Ahmed Jaffer is well-known as a member for putting the highest number of questions in the Parliament on various aspects, particularly about the problems faced by the Mohajirs.

For the rehabilitation of the refugees he became the Chairman of the Board of Refugees Rehabilitation, Sindh, and was instrumental in establishing the First Mohajir Colony in the Gizri area of Karachi.

Ahmed became a well-known industrialist having assumed the chairmanship of several public and private limited companies, including some of his own. He was designated Chief-de-Mission of the Pakistan Squad for the Rome Olympic Games. He remained associated with a number of foreign organisations such as Gulf Chamber, Pak-German Cultural Association, Pak-Kuwait Friendship Association, Foreign Affairs Council of Pakistan, Pakistan-Arab Cultural Society, Old and New Parliamentarians Association, National Playing Fields Association of Pakistan, English Speaking Union of Pakistan and many other such organisations.

He went as Pakistan's delegate to many countries. He was a well-known collector of stamps and was a keen sportsman playing squash, tennis, golf. He was good at horse riding, and swimming. He was also a member of the Karachi Aero Club, Karachi Boat Club, Karachi Gymkhana, Karachi Race Course, Rawalpindi Gymkhana and Lahore Gymkhana. He was also a member of prestigious clubs of England.

He received many awards such as Sitara-e-Pakistan and foreign awards from Spain, Brazil, Jordan and the Government of U. K. At the age of 8 1, he was invited to Islamabad to attend a meeting which was convened by the Government to discuss celebrating the Pakistan Golden Jubilee in a befitting manner. But he died there of a massive heart attack.

Legends- VETERAN MEMON LEADER - MR. A. SATTAR PAREKH ...By Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

VETERAN MEMON LEADER - MR. A. SATTAR PAREKH PASSES AWAY

By Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

Mr. A. Sattar Parekh a Veteran Memon social and political worker as well as writer expired on 9th March, 2011 at Karachi. Mr. Parekh was born on June 10, 1918 in a small village in Halar, India. From very early age his thinking was evolutionary and he always dreamt of undertaking activities considered unusual for the times. In fact he was a visionary right from his childhood and continued at the age of 93 years. He was sent to Bombay for education where he completed high school and later graduated in Law. Dreams of higher education in London were shattered due to father’s death and beginning of Second World War. Finding legal profession unsuitable to his idealism and having been forced by circumstances to become a businessman, he developed a personality which led businessmen to call him an idealist and the idealist condemning him as a businessman. In his school days he was very popular with the management, teachers and fellow students Muslim students, though in microscopic minority amongst about 2000 students. He was always chosen to lead the school in debating competitions, essay writing, editing school magazine, acting as a scout leader, and becoming head prefect of the school to maintain discipline in the school. His activities continued in college days also and he became Secretary of Bombay Students Union representating all the colleges of Bombay city and later on became General Secretary of Bombay Presidency Students Union and member of the working committee of All Indian Students Federation. In his capacity as a representative of the students of Bombay, he had the opportunity to meet some top politicians of India frequently and with some of them his relationship became personal. Political leaders of all persuasions were very keen and obliged me by accepting my invitations to lead and guide student’s conferences. Leaders like Moulvi Fazlul Haq, Subash Chandra Bose, Jai Prakash Narain from Bihar, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman from U.P. patronized him. When Sir Stafford Cripps visited India in his private capacity as a guest of Indian National Congress, he had an opportunity to be sort of a Personal Assistant to him for a period of about a week while Sir Stafford Cripps was in Bombay. He became the Mayor of Borough of Bombay and later was elected to the greater Bombay Municipal Corporation. Having contested and lost the first general election of Free India, a conspiracy forced him to migrate to Pakistan. Pioneered low cost housing and modern dairy industry continued his public activities in Pakistan but kept away from politics.

He has written 3 books in English. His first book was ‘Enterprising Philanthropists”. His 2nd book was ‘Glimpses of Life’s Journey’. It is in fact an auto biography in which he narrates his participation in Sataya Graha by Mr. Gandhi during 2nd world war, He narrates an impressive story. He writes that in 1941, Gandhi started his individual “Sataya Graha Movement” by selecting volunteers to court arrest by making anti-war and anti recruitment public speeches. The first man selected for this was an un-known person to most of Indians. He was a close associate and follower of Gandhi, namely Vinoba Bhave. After the arrest of Bhave, lists of hundreds of thousands of volunteers from various parts of India including their C.V. were sent to Gandhi who after careful scrutiny selected the names of the volunteers approved to court arrest after making anti-war speeches. Mr. Parekh’s name was selected very early in the movement. One of the rules was that the police had to be informed about the name of the volunteer, time, date, and place where the speech would be made for police to come prepared to arrest the speaker. The magistrate, it appears, was informed about Mr. Parekh’s background and while convicting him ordered that he should be put in “B Class” with all its facilities. For the first one month he was placed in Thana Jail which was a suburb on GIP railway line in Bombay. Later he was taken to Yarovda Jail in Poona.

The memories of Mr. A. Sattar Parekh are not only about his political career but also about happy family life. In 1960, he married. Shaukat Surraiya, a beautiful, cultured and highly respected lady who was a patron of Urdu literature, particularly poetry. Narrating a story of his married life, he used to say that People could not understand why did such a refined and literary lady decided to marry a Memon businessman. Mr. Parekh said “I could not thank Allah enough for His great favour to me. It was indeed a companionship for a period of thirty years during which house became a hub of literary and welfare activities.”

He and his wife used to have regular literary sittings in the drawing room of their large house in Karachi. The drawing room could accommodate more than fifty persons, about twenty on low sofa sets and about thirty on carpets. The literary personalities and Urdu poets like Mr. Aal-e-Raza, Jamiluddin Aali, Shan-ul-Haque Haqqi, Ifikhar Arif, Maulana Mahir-ul-Qadri, Tabish Dahalvi, Iqbal Azim, Bahzad Lakhnavi, Mahshar Badauni, Sahar Ansari, Iqbal Anari and many others were guests on various occasions. Generally Mr. Hashim Raza presided. Mr. Shabnam Roomani compared most of the functions.

Mr. Parekh was a Philanthropist as well. He established Shaukat Suraiya College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences in Karachi. Dr. Manzoor Ahmad motivated him to donate one crore rupees to start the college of Liberal Arts and Social Science as a constituent of Hamdard University with Hakim Muhammad Said as Chancellor.

In Pakistan worked as the Honorary General Secretary of Pakistan Memon Education & Welfare Society with Mr. Abdul Wahid Adamjee as the President of the Society and later on remained Vice President of the Society for almost two decades, he impressed upon his fellow members not to hoard funds, which were donated to society for the education of needy and poor students. He motivated the society to be more liberal with the students in helping them pursue their school and college activities.

After the death of his second wife he did not marry again. He had no children. He therefore shifted to a small Benglow in PECHS where he lived alone with two servants. At the time of death no one except the servants were in his home. Until the day previous to his death he was quite well and went out in his car with driver.

In Mr. Sattar Parekh the Memon community his lost a very veteran and valuable personality.

Legends-SIR HAJI ABDULLAH HAROON

Sir Haji Abdullah Ramon was born in 1872 at Karachi. He lost his father at an early age. He was brought-up and educated under the most trying circumstances by his great mother who was a pious and deeply religious lady. He deeply believed in the dignity of labour and himself started his career in business in 1896 on a very small scale and soon was to outshine all his contemporaries in the world of trade and commerce and came to be known as 'Sugar King'.

He entered politics in 1913 and was elected a Member of the Karachi Municipal Corporation. In 1917, he joined the Indian National Congress, and began taking part in the Independence Movement. In 1919, he became President. Khilafat Committee of Sindh.

Sir Haroon was an elected Member of the Bombay Legislative Council from 1924 to 1926. He was also a Member Central Legislative Assembly and was re-elected twice in 1930 and 1934. He was a member of various Committees of the House.

Sir Haroon was disenchanted with the policies of the Congress and joined the Muslim League and remained its staunchest ally till his death. He was asked by the All India Muslim League body to revive and reorganise the provincial branch of the League in Sindh in April lQ14

In 1938 Sir Abdullah Haroon was elected President, Sindh Provincial Muslim League. He was among those personalities who spoke and endorsed the 'Pakistan Resolution' at the historic 27th Session of the Muslim League at Lahore on March 23, 1940.

At the Madras Session of the All India Muslim League, held in April 1941, Sir Abdullah Haroon was appointed Member of the Committee to workout on a five years plan for the educational, economic, social and political advancement of the Muslims.

Sir Abdullah Haroon was not only a great statesman but also one of the leading philanthropist of his time. He contributed to many charitable institutions. Sindh Provincial Muslim League was entirely dependent upon his contributions. He founded the 'Islamiya Orphanage for Boys', which incorporated a school in 1923 and made endowments for its maintenance and established the 'Cutchi Memon Madrasa-e-Binat for Girls' in memory of his great mother. He built 'Muslim Gymkhana' and playground at personal expense in Karachi and also built numerous mosques at various places in Karachi and Sindh. He contributed immensely toward the improvement of the Muslim lot in economic, educational, social and political fields.

Sir Abdullah Ramon died on April 27, 1942 at Karachi.

Legends-Abdul Aziz Al-Memony

Among the scholars of international repute, Allama Abdul Aziz Al-Memony's name ranks foremost. This world famous religious scholar, whom even the Arabs called "Ustad" (teacher) has not received due recognition from his own community or country. But he has been adequately recognised by the Arab world. It may be due to the fact that the Allama had complete command of Arabic language, Grammar and Usage and most of his work is in Arabic, which has endeared him more to the Arab world than his own countrymen and community. His mastery of the Arabic language stunned even the Arab scholars who sought his guidance in the subject. His books, written in Arabic, have been included in the curriculum of various Arab Universities including the famous Jamia Al Azhar of Egypt.

At the age of 12, the Allama went to Delhi from his birth place Rajkot, in Kathiawar and became a pupil of the noted scholar and interpreter of Qur'an and hadith, Mian Nazeer Hussain Dehlavi. He also studied under the guidance of Deputy Nazeer Ahmed. For higher studies he went to Amroha and Rampur and learned ancient philosophy and logic from Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Makki of Madrassa Aliya, Rampur passing his Munshi Fazil with distinction from Punjab University. He was selected for lectureship in Arabic and Persian at Edward Mission College, Peshwar. Later on, he was appointed Professor of Arabic at Oriental College, Lahore, and was an associate of Allama lqbal. Allama Memony was made Dean of Arabic and Persian Department. He authored simple translations of Arabic text books for which he received Maulvi Fazil. In 1925, he was appointed Reader of Arabic at Aligarh Muslim University - the first non-European to be appointed to this post. Here he wrote about 30 thought-provoking books which were all printed in Egypt and Syria. These books are highly rated in Arabic literature.

In 1928, the Allama received Fellowship from Arabic Academy of Damascus and subsequently the Egyptian Academy also offered him Fellowship, both of which were the highest honour for the experts of Arabic researchers and scholars.

At the insistence of Mr. Mumtaz Hassan, the Allama accepted the honorary Directorship of Central Institution of Islamic Research when Arabic Department was established in Karachi University. And at the request of the Vice Chancellor, Professor A.B.A. Haleem, he became the Head of the Arabic Department. He also offered his services to the Arabic Department of Punjab University for two years and later on, he was made the Head of Arabic Department in Oriental College.

Due to his old age, he could not continue as a full time professor and offered his service as Professor Emeritus at Karachi University and Sindh University. The Egyptian, Saudi

Among the scholars of international repute, Allama Abdul Aziz Al-Memony's name ranks foremost. This world famous religious scholar, whom even the Arabs called "Ustad" (teacher) has not received due recognition from his own community or country. But he has been adequately recognised by the Arab world. It may be due to the fact that the Allama had complete command of Arabic language, Grammar and Usage and most of his work is in Arabic, which has endeared him more to the Arab world than his own countrymen and community. His mastery of the Arabic language stunned even the Arab scholars who sought his guidance in the subject. His books, written in Arabic, have been included in the curriculum of various Arab Universities including the famous Jamia Al Azhar of Egypt.

At the age of 12, the Allama went to Delhi from his birth place Rajkot, in Kathiawar and became a pupil of the noted scholar and interpreter of Qur'an and hadith, Mian Nazeer Hussain Dehlavi. He also studied under the guidance of Deputy Nazeer Ahmed. For higher studies he went to Amroha and Rampur and learned ancient philosophy and logic from Maulana Muhammad Tayyab Makki of Madrassa Aliya, Rampur passing his Munshi Fazil with distinction from Punjab University. He was selected for lectureship in Arabic and Persian at Edward Mission College, Peshwar. Later on, he was appointed Professor of Arabic at Oriental College, Lahore, and was an associate of Allama lqbal. Allama Memony was made Dean of Arabic and Persian Department. He authored simple translations of Arabic text books for which he received Maulvi Fazil. In 1925, he was appointed Reader of Arabic at Aligarh Muslim University - the first non-European to be appointed to this post. Here he wrote about 30 thought-provoking books which were all printed in Egypt and Syria. These books are highly rated in Arabic literature.

In 1928, the Allama received Fellowship from Arabic Academy of Damascus and subsequently the Egyptian Academy also offered him Fellowship, both of which were the highest honour for the experts of Arabic researchers and scholars.

At the insistence of Mr. Mumtaz Hassan, the Allama accepted the honorary Directorship of Central Institution of Islamic Research when Arabic Department was established in Karachi University. And at the request of the Vice Chancellor, Professor A.B.A. Haleem, he became the Head of the Arabic Department. He also offered his services to the Arabic Department of Punjab University for two years and later on, he was made the Head of Arabic Department in Oriental College.

Due to his old age, he could not continue as a full time professor and offered his service as Professor Emeritus at Karachi University and Sindh University. The Egyptian, Saudi Arabian and Iranian universities tried their best to acquire the services of the Allama which he thankfully declined. The trend set up by the Allama continues in the family. His son, Muhammad Umar Memon, is also a professor.

The Allama was a man of principles and never compromised on them. He always believed in simple living and whatever he saved, he spent on research. He had a very valuable collection of rare books. Once, during discussion with a highly acclaimed scholar of Islam, the Allama was informed that the scholar was writing a book entitled "Downfall of Islam" at which the Allama was infuriated and replied that there has never been any down fall of Islam in the past and never would be in future. Downfall comes in the lives of people and not Islam, which had remained glorious throughout history.

When Allama went for Haj in 1957, he was treated as a royal guest and was given a royal accord by the Saudi government. Throughout Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Tunis, Turkey and France for research work he was respected.

The Allama donated Rs. 300,000/- each to Nadwatui Islam (Voice of Islam) and Aligarh Muslim University , He also gave significant donations to Darul Uloom, Binori Town.

Karachi and donated thousands of priceless books on different research works to various universities.

The Arabic poets of various countries have written poems in honour of Allama Memony. He was also honoured with the degree of doctorate and awarded medals by various Arab countries. The Government of Pakistan conferred upon him the Pride of Performance.

The special feature about the Allama was his memory, particularly about books. He could easily tell anyone as to which rare book was available in which library and even on which shelf. He spoke Arabic like a native speaker and his speeches in Arabic were well recognised.

The Allama, due to his mastery of the Arabic language, was nominated on the Committee of Arab scholars to finalise the latest version of the Arabic Dictionary Al-Lisanul Arab.
Courtesy :Memon.com

Legends-Seth Ahmad Dawood

Seth Ahmad Dawood was one of the top businessmen and industrialists of Pakistan. He had played such an important role as a Memon that his services can not be excluded from Memon history.

He was the Pakistani Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dawood Group, the CEO of Dawood Cotton Mills Ltd, the CEO of the Central InsuranceCompany, and the owner of Dawood Hercules Chemicals Limited. He was one of the wealthiest people in Pakistan, and is considered to have been a great philanthropist and  respected entrepreneur .

Born in 1905, he used to work like an active young man, attending his office from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m regularly untill the last few years of his age when he had felt ill . He was the founder of Dawood Foundation through which he had established Dawood Engineering College in Karachi. In the early days some of the subjects taught in this College were not being taught in any other university/college anywhere in Pakistan. Even after nationalisation of this College he provides casual financial aid to the institution. The Foundation runs schools and other charitable institutions.

He and his son Hussain are founder trustees of Al-Shifa Eye Hospital to which his Foundation has contributed more than Rs. 15 million. He is the main founder of United Memon Jamaat and had always been keen to bring all the Memons on one platform. Unfortunately, during , the Bhutto regime, he was kept under house arrest for several months for just being an outspoken industrialist. He left Pakistan for a couple of years during which period he did exploratory work in USA in the field of oil exploration. He is a very daring industrialist with a foresight. In East Pakistan, due to labour unrest nobody was prepared to buy the PIDC Project Karnaphuli Paper and Chemical Mill, but Ahmed Dawood dared and continued to run it profitably till the emergence of Bangladesh. His main mission that every able bodied man in Pakistan should be provided with a bicycle to make him mobile has not yet been fulfiled.

The Dawood family started from humble origins when Ahmed Dawood began trading in pre-partition India and was eventually joined by his brothers.Just before Independence, Mr Ahmad Dawood had established a trading house dealing in commodities, textiles, jute and yarn, with branches in manycities and towns in pre-partition India. With Adamjees and Valikas, Dawoods played thepioneering role in late forties and early fifties to create a business culture in what wasthen West Pakistan .At partition the family opted to move to Pakistan, where the new nation created ample openings and opportunities for business and industry.It is said that he was commanded by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to migrate to Pakistan and set up an industry.

The family  made the transition from business to industry, first establishing Dawood Cotton Mills Limited in 1952. The industry expanded rapidly.

With the realisation that the only way to maintain continuous growth and enhance reputation was to expand internationally, the first international office was established in Manchester, England, operating under the title 'Dawood (England) Limited'. Simultaneously, senior members of the family, in a bid to ensure that the education of all successive generations be given the utmost importance, sent their children to England to pursue their studies.

As such, nearly the entire second generation has graduated with university degrees from England, from where they proceeded to the United States to study business at graduate level. The family can boast of having graduates of the best universities like Oxford, Manchester, London School of Economics, Strathclyde, McGill, University of Western Ontario, Harvard, Northwestern and Columbia. The family has more MBA:s than any other family in Pakistan. The Dawoods decided to expand further. In 1959. the family purchased Burewala Textile Mills, a cotton textile mill with its own ginning factory, and in 1969 established Dilon, which manufactured nylon and synthetic yam. Their last textile venture was Lawrencepur Woollen Mills.

The strategy of diversification was marked by the setting up of Dawood Hercules Chemicals (Urea fertiliser), followed by Transpak (baby food, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other consumer goods), Dawood Yamaha (Motorcycles), Dawlance (refrigerators and microwaves), Descon Engineering (construction), and Meiji Biscuits.

A move into the financial sector was the next step. It was put into effect with the establishment of Central Insurance Company (in-house insurance), BRR Capital Modaraba (leasing under the Islamic mode of financing), BRR Second Modaraba (working capital finance), and Equity International Modarba (venture capital funding as a joint venture with IFC and Robert Flemings). [All three Modarabas have since been merged into one, namely BRR International Modarabal. Other concerns include Orient Insurance Company, and the latest, Dawood Leasing Company Limited, a joint venture among the four brothers and other renowned financial institutions of Pakistan. Prior to the establishment of Bangladesh, the Dawood family also owned and managed Karnaphuli Paper Mills Limited and Karnaphuli Rayon and Chemicals Limited, which utilized bamboo as raw material for all their products. Karnaphuli Jute Mills Ltd was established in East Pakistan.

With the nationalisation fervour in the early seventies when Mr. Zutfiqar Ali Bhutto took over the reins of Pakistan, Dawood Petroleum Limited and Central Life were taken over by the State.

Finally, when this industrial empire was divided among the brothers, Seth Ahmad Dawood, Mr. Suleman Dawood, Mr. Siddiq Dawood and late Mr. Ali Mohammad Dawood, the industrial ventures, mentioned earlier, were amicably distributed and are being owned and managed by each one of the brothers or descendants.

 Dawoods played a leading role in the public welfare. Dawood Foundation was set up in1961 with a capital of Rs25 million. Dawood Engineering College was set up in sixtieswhich was later nationalized. It is still a leading institution of technical education. Mr Dawood Ahmad passed away on January 2, 2002 at the age of 97.

Legends-Ebrahim Bawani

The Bawani family is one of the renowned families of Jetpur. The Adamjees are also one of the main branches of the Bawani family. Both, Ahmed Ebrahim Bawani, father of Ebrahim, and Adamjee Haji Dawood were pioneers of industrialisation of Burma. Ahmed Bawani Violin Hosiery Works established near Rangoon in 1930 was the largest hosiery mill in Asia.

Ebrahim was born in 1926 in Rangoon. During the Second World War he migrated from Rangoon to Bombay and completed his education. With the creation of Pakistan, Ebrahim, with his brothers and uncle Lateef Bawani, migrated to Karachi. In 1948, they imported machinery and established Bawani Violin Textile Mills in Karachi. After that they purchased Talhar Sugar Mills from PIDC and within a short period of time, the Bawanis became one of the leading industrial groups of the country.

During the life time of Uncle Lateef, popularly known as 'Kaka Lateef', Ebrahim preferred to remain in the background and under the able guidance of the Kaka, gradually his character started to take shape. Eventually, he became one of the well-known Memons in the Muslim world. During the period 1954 to 1957 he was elected President of the then Pakistan Chamber of Commerce which, later on, amalgamated with three other business organisations to become Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Ebrahim was director of many companies but with rare excepfion he never accepted high position in any business Organisation. His first important assignment was founding and developing of Ayesha Bawani Academy on Shahrae Faisal, where two high schools for boys and girls were set up, and after six years a college was also set up in the same building. All these institutions, which cost the family several million rupees became renowned for their high standard of education. At the time of nationalisation in 1972 about 3,200 students were getting education in this Academy. In 1962, Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, former Speaker of the Parliament, performed the opening ceremony of a similar Academy in Dacca. Some more schools were also started in East Pakistan due to the efforts of Kaka Bawani and Ebrahim played a key role in the establishment of Pakistan Memon Federation. Ebrahim worked on his dream child: establishment of a residential school some 80 miles away from Karachi. Having been impressed by the characterbuilding public schools of the Western world, he wanted to establish a residential school on the same pattern. A plot of land on the bank of River Indus was also acquired. The construction of the school then should have cost Rs. 2 million while the annual recurring expenses were estimated to be about Rs. 300,000. The school would have provided educational and residential facilities to 300 students. However, according to Mr. Ebrahim, his associates from the community did not support him as much as was expected.

Ebrahim became disappointed and gave up the idea for lack of co-operation. Disillusioned with the Memon community, he became more aloof from it and devoted his entire spare time, money and energy for the service of the whole Muslim millat and for the propagation of Islamic teaching. He made this his life mission. He remained mostly out of Pakistan in connection with his mission.

Ayesha Bawani Wakf was the most glorious achievement of Ebrahim Bawani which was established in 1962 by the Bawani family. Its activities spread in the entire Muslim and Christian world. It is providing aid, grants and scholarships. It is also known as a publishing Organisation of many religious books. Ebrahim did not believe in publication of traditional books and short cuts to heaven. He felt that to attract the modern, intellectual Muslims and non-Muslims towards Islam, it was necessary to converse with them in their own language and at their own intellectual level. He therefore, published books which would attract such persons towards serious study of Islam. Some of the books which became well-known include The Bible, The Quran and The Science by a French writer. The Wakf has reprinted more than a dozen editions of its English translation and distributed free copies world wide. One more important publication is The Gospel of Barnabas. Only two copies of the original Gospel remained in the world and the Wakf discovered one of these copies in the library of American Congress and printed more than 100,000 copies to distribute free of cost in the Western World. The third book is Jesus, A Prophet of Islam, by Muhammad Ataur Rahim.

During the last three decades Ayesha Bawani Wakf has published a total of 51 titles in English, Urdu, Gujrati and Sindhi languages. Nearly all books have seen more than one edition and some of them were published ten and twelve times. Hundreds of thousands of these books have been distributed free all over the world.

'Muslim News International' was one more example of the campaign carried on by this mujahid. He started this monthly magazine with the aim of providing news and views of the Muslim nations and peoples to the world.

The printing and publishing of the magazine was shifted to Karachi. The Government of Pakistan occasionally created problems which Ebrahim Bawani courageously faced, refusing co-operation. Ultimately, difficulties increased to such an extent that 'Muslim News International' ceased publication.

He was called a Mujahid because he actually went on the front lines of areas where Muslims were fighting for their independence, such as Kashmir, Philippines, and Palestine. He collected large amounts from the Arab Sheikhs to purchase arms and ammunitions required by the Muslim freedom fighters, it was on such a mission that he went to Kuala Lumpur, where he breathed his last in his hotel room. His body was brought to Karachi for burial.

Ghulam Muhammad Adamjee Fecto

Late Mr. Ghulam Muhammad A. Fecto, the Founder and Chairman of FECTO Group of Industries was born in 1926 at Jetpur in the Indian state of Gujarat, into a respectable Sunni Hanafi Memon family. In Mumbai he started business from a small shoe store. The shop is still there with the same name of Coronation Footwear at Grand Road. He migrated from Mumbai to Dhaka in former East Pakistan and started a trading business dealing in electrical goods and home appliances, Radios and TVs, Wire & Cable and Automobiles. Shortly afterwards, the business entered into a joint venture with Japan to manufacture Toshiba radio sets. The company was a pioneer in setting up technical collaboration with Japan.

The business soon expanded and industrial activities commenced in the western wing of Pakistan. In fact, the Group's pace of development was so fast that it soon flowered into two Sugar Mills, a Tractor Plant, Cement Plant, two Paper Sac Units and Particle Board Mills.



From 1970 onwards, the Fecto group has diversified its activities from trading to industrial production. This started with the acquisition of Adamjee (now FECTO) Sugar Mills Limited in early 1975, followed by the establishment of Baba Farid Sugar Mills Limited in 1978.

Bolstered by its initial successes, the group ventured into progressive manufacturing of agricultural tractors and farm equipment including agricultural implements of various types.

Another major milestone in the Group’s forward march was the establishment of a most modern and pollution-free cement plant with 2000 tons per day capacity. This also made way for the launching of such allied industries as two Paper Sack Units that are located not too far from the cement plant.

The Group manages two public-listed and Two private companies besides having substantial stakes in many other projects.


The dynamic Mr. Fecto has enjoyed a very distinguished career. He is the visionary as well as the architect of the FECTO Group. It is because of his inspiring leadership and ground-breaking efforts that the Fecto Group today enjoys a leading position among Pakistan's front-line industrial groups and has established every banks, financing agencies, business and investment circles and the people at large.

Ever since the establishment of the group's first sugar mill, the FECTO name has become a symbol of Faith and an identity for the Group management's respected business practices both nationally and internationally.


He also served as the President of All Pakistan Memon Federation.  Soon after being elected as the President of APMF, At the inaugaration of his  tractor company by President General Mohammad Ziaul Haq, in Lahore  he announced a donation of Rs. 5 million on behalf of the Fecto Group to establish a polytechnic institute and an institute for the invalid and mentally retarded children.


He died on Friday, April 20, 2007, at Karachi.

Legends--Hussain Ebrahim Jamal

Hussain Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry (H.E.J.R.I.C)

When we start naming the famous and prominent personalities of memon community one can not forget the names of Hussain Ebrahim Jamal and his brother Abdul Latif Ebrahim Jamal.Both brothers have contributed extensively for the education in Pakistan and of the community in particular.

At the tender age of 14 he was sent to Africa where he joined his uncle's business in 1928.There he started his business of cashew nuts and very quickly gained expertise in it.After some years he returned to Bombay where his business flourished to such an extent that in a very short span of time he acquired the status of one of the leading exporter and importer.His fame as the dealer of cashew nuts spread far and wide and people started calling him King Of Cashew nuts .He was only 30 years old then. He also entered business of jute bags and became very close to Sir Adamjee haji Dawood. 

At a very young age he had earned fame and credibility  in public.His social activities were now spreading in Bombay, Baroda, Okha and Calcutta. He was a member of the Provincial Muslim League Working Committee in Bombay, a member of the Managing Committee of Memon Chamber of Commerce, Bombay. He was also made Justice of Peace by the Governor of Bombay in recognition of his extraordinary services.Justices of the peace were appointed or elected from the citizens who were respected and had a say in the society, and did not usually required to have a formal legal education in order to qualify for the office.

Hussain Ebrahim Jamal always wanted to have higher education but was unable to fulfill the dream and he always felt sad about not completing his education and for that reason he took keen interest in educational activities throughout his life.

He was an active member of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society and took keen interest in Dwarka Boarding House and Baroda Boarding House. He extended financial aid to many institutions including religious institutions.After his migration to Pakistan he continued working for the spread of education and donated open heartedly to many institutions.He also started schools in Nayababad and Khadda with large donations.He also served as President of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society.

During the influx of refugees from Okha Port to Karachi, his services and donations were notable. He migrated to Pakistan and started his relief activities with the establishment of Memon Relief Committee for providing assistance to the refugees reaching Khokhrapar and other points from India.In all rehabilitation and welfare services he donated generously. To mark his generous donations a portion of Memon Colony in Federal 'B'Area is named as Hussainabad.


 He played active part in the establishment of All Pakistan Memon Federation. During his life time he desired to donate an amount of Rs.5 million to start a polytechnic for which a lot of spade work was done but the same amount perhaps was diverted, after his death, for financing HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry at the University of Karachi.

He was a kind-hearted gentleman of upright character. A foundation, named Hussain Foundation, was established by his family members in his memory. He served as President of All Pakistan Memon Educational and Welfare Society. He died in London in 1972.

Legends- Abdul Sattar Edhi

Abdul Sattar Edhi was born in Bantva in 1925.He along with his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947.

When Edhi was at the tender age of eleven, his mother became paralyzed. Young Abdul Sattar devoted himself for looking after all her needs; cleaning, bathing, changing clothes and feeding. This proved to be a loosing battle against the disease, and her helplessness increased over the years.He was jobless and penniless young man.His mother needed bedpan and pots but they were expensive and he could not manage to buy.Her persistent woeful condition left a lasting impression on young Edhi.

He kept thinking about other poor men.He had an idea that if he begged for used pots and pans from well to do families, he could stock them for poor families' use. His idea worked and he soon collected pots, pans, wheel chairs and crutches etc. and he stocked them in a go down space someone had allowed him to use.

Then an epidemic of influenza broke out in Karachi , so Edhi got some medicines and began distributing them to the needy people while sitting on the steps of a mosque . He became famous by this action. He was worried about his personal income so he started selling pins, needles, thread spools etc. in a tray wearing a tray on his neck.

He earned just enough for his and his mother's basic needs. While he was struggling, he noted that it was pretty hard task to carry ill persons to the hospitals. He shifted some injured persons in taxis and rickshaws to the hospitals without asking for their relatives' permission and thus saved their lives .People were very happy and some people donated generously to him

He bought a volks wagon micro bus in junk condition .He spent many days and nights and converted this junk into a running vehicle himself.

He now had his first ambulance in his hands. Now Abdul Sattar Edhi was a house hold name in the field of ambulances .In those days Karachi had only one service St.John's Ambulance Service with one or two vehicles, operated by a Christian charity. Edhi's ambulance was always there and he didn't ask any questions or claimed any charges. People liked this attitude and began donating more and more, so Edhi bought another vehicle and another and another and so on to become the largest ambulance service in the world. The go down he used to stock his ware was offered for rent and he took the chance to get it for his own setup. He began a clinic with very minimum drugs and medicines and got a doctor on a nominal salary. The clinic was under way.There was full crowding of poor people.Edhi wore very simple grey cloth dress and he did not have time to shave .His beard grew and people began calling him Maulana .This name is still his identity.

Edhi was a loner. In He married Bilquis at the age of forty plus. Biquis was a nurse in his clinic. They have four children, two boys and two girls.


One incident in his life gives insight to his mentality. A building known as Bismillah Manzil(Karachi) collapsed during the night. Many people died in this accident. Edhi rescued one orphan boy and raised him in his own home.The boy grew up with his children.As the boy grew up Edhi wedded this boy to his eldest daughter Kubra. This couple had three children but there were some problems between them and Edhi's son in law divorced Kubra. Kubra took over ladies section of Edhi to forget about the scar of her pains. She was in charge of mentally retarded women.One day one ill lady grabbed Kubra's 4 year old son Bilal and poured hot water over him which killed. Abdul Sattar Edhi at the time was at rescue work at a railway accident,He was informed of the death of his grand son but Edhi refused to leave the rescue work and did not return for two more days. The woman who committed this horrible act was brought to Edhi but Edhi forgave that lady and kept her in his shelter for a long time till she ran away.

At present Edhi operates more than 600 ambulances, mental asylums, maternity homes, schools dairy farm for milk for the patients, a faculty for hydrotherapy, elaborate kitchen, staff buses etc. His total staff including drivers, numbers around ten thousand. His fifty kilometer scheme provides ambulances at every road in Pakistan after fifty kilometers

saving lives of many road accident victims

now edhi is 85 years old but he is active as ever.He regularly visits his centers around Karachi and also visits his centers in Pakistan and abroad.

His son Kutub takes care of USA operation, Faisal Edhi is incharge of Karachi operations but Edhi is hard to please, he insists on doing every thing himself.

Operating 32 different services, all for poor people work he doesn't claim any religious or community label. He says he serves only humanity.Some incidents in Edhi's life are eye openers .People like are the pride of the humanity let aside the community

Legends-M A Rangoonwala

Mr. M. A. Rangoonwala was a philanthropist, a social worker,an industrialist and a prominent business personality of South Asia and Europe.He was born on May 20th 1924 in Rangoon to parents who taught him to follow the footsteps of great people. On his birth his father sent a cable from Rangoon (Burma) to Moulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar requesting him to send his blessings and permit his son to be named Muhammad Ali to which Moulana Saheb immediately replied in affirmation.

Legends--Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood

Jetpur is a small town presently in India. In the latter half of eighteenth century a boy was born to Hanifa bai and Haji Dawood, parents named this boy ADAM. Though not much is known about his early age but it is learnt through some people, Adam was sent to Calcutta as was custom at the time
Adam was in his early teens and Calcutta was a big city. The boy from the small town was confident enough to face hardships of a big city. After spending a few days there, he noticed that most of the businessmen in Calcutta were illiterate and they hardly knew a few words of English. They had to hire persons who knew English for correspondence. But in doing so, their business secrets were leaked and they lost money. Young Adam who was ever wondering in business areas had keenly noticed this situation and took it as a bright chance. He was educated enough to write a few short lines in English. The young man offered the businessmen to handle their correspondence at very nominal charge. The boy handled his work very nicely and easily. As most of this work was done in the evening, some well-wisher told Adam that he should do some work in the spare time. He suggested the business of collecting empty jute bags. Adam did not waste any time and started this business.


He used to go to the streets of Calcutta and started collecting empty jute bags. He used to collect two or three bags and ran to the market to sell these bags at a very small profit. After some time he established his credit in the market and was offered some advance. Now he was able to collect 10 or 15 empty bags at one go. This burden was too much for him so he managed to buy or borrow a bicycle in junk condition. He repaired the bicycle and started his daily rounds on it. His business grew and in a little time he became a whole sale dealer.
He not only collected bags himself but also bought from other street vendors. All this business started sitting on a footpath. He already has gained enough experience to contact banks and machinery suppliers through correspondence. He tried contacting them and got some favorable replies. He knew that the demand of jute bags was increasing many folds, so he decided to establish a jute factory in Dhaka (presently Bangladesh Capital). It was in those days when the word Jee was added to his name (a word showing respect). This was perhaps how the Adamjee Jute Mills was established. This mill soon grew up to be the largest jute mill in the whole world.
Now Adamjee was a wealthy and an important person of business community. An incident of this period is worth mentioning which shows the honest nature of this great man. A Hindu Marvari, who was financially in trouble, contacted Adamjee for help. Adamjee offered him loan to support his business. The Marvari refused, and offered to sell a stone quarry that was running at loss. The deal was finalized then and there.

Adamjee Jute Mill Bangladesh

Adamjee went to the quarry next day and announced, though the ownership has changed but no body would be sacked out, everyone would work as usual.
Fortunately, workers discovered gold nuggets from the mine the same day. It was a gold mine. As Adamjee was informed about this discovery, he went to the Marvari, told him everything and offered him to return the mine.
The marvari also shown honesty and refused to take it back, saying that it was Adamjee’s luck. He told that he could not mine even stones and just as the ownership was changed gold was mined. This mine provided gold for many years. The whole matter is recorded in British Archives.
Accumulating significant wealth, Adamjee went on to establish schools, colleges and hospitals in various parts of India and Burma. A philanthropist to the core, Adamjee never refused to support a deserving cause. In 1933, realizing the overriding need for education in his own ethnic Gujarati Memon community, he established the Memon Education & Welfare Society (MEWS) to support the financially deprived students. His charitable activities were greatly appreciated by Muslims in India and they demanded that he be officially recognized for it. Finally on 9th June 1938 Lord Bradbourne Governor of Bengal, On Order of British Empire (OBE), conferred the title of Knight Commander of Indian Empire (KCIE) to Adamjee. Thereafter he was known as Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood.

Adamjee Science College Karachi

Adamjee Cantonment College, Dhaka Cantonment

When Pakistan was established there were no funds available to support the newly independent country. Extremely worried Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah asked the newly appointed Finance Minister Ghulam Mohomad to search down Adamjee. Amidst migration and transition chaos, Ghulam Mohomed searched hectically to appraise Adamjee of Quaid's message. Finally, a few days later, at the Palace Hotel in Karachi, the gentlemen were able to discuss the issues. Adamjee then spoke to his banker M.A. Habib and then turned to Ghulam Mohomed and said "your problem is solved". Singlehandedly Adamjee had financed the new nation by arranging a bridge finance secured on his personal assets. This has come to be known as the "blank cheque offer" which Sir Adamjee is remembered for today.

Adamjee died on 27th January 1948 but he is still alive in every Pakistanis heart. On Adamjee's death, The Quaid mentioned in his address to the nation: "that if I had a dozen men like Adamjee, Pakistan would have been achieved earlier. It is truly a national loss to Pakistan".

Sir Adamjee's family continued with the legacy of charities, and established educational institutions like Adamjee High School in Dhaka, Adamjee Science College, Sir Adamjee Institute of Technology ,The Adamjee Academic Center and Lady Mariam Adamjee girls School in Karachi
To pay respect and recognition to Sir Adamjee, governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan named various streets and neighborhoods in Dhaka, Karachi, Peshawar and Rawalpindi after him. In year 2000, Government of Pakistan initiated and issued postage stamps with image of Sir Adamjee.
A Shrewd businessman , a great philanthropist , an unmatched politician people like Sir Adamjee are Pride of every nation and community


CHRONOLOGY OF LIFE ACHIEVEMENTS OF SIR ADAMJEE HAJI DAWOOD

1880 Born at Jaitpur, Kathiawar (India) on Wednesday,30th June, 1880.
1895 Joined M/s. Salehmohammed Gnaziani & Co. at Rangoon (Burma) at the age of 15.
1896 Joined the family Business at Rangoon (Burma) at the age of 16.
1898 Got married with Mariam Bai at the age of 18.
1901 Established his own business & expanded the business and became one of the largest Exporter of Rice and Matches. One of the largest Importer of Jute & Jute goods in Burma.
1904 Opened a branch office at Calcutta (India).
1916 Establish a Rice Mill at Rangoon (Burma).
1918 He gave the financial help to Jamia Tibbia, Dehli (India).
1919 His mother Hanifa Bai died.
1920 Appointed as Member of Advisory Committee of Central Bank of India (Burma Branch).
1923 Established a Largest Match Factory in Asia at Rangoon (Burma).
1924 His father Haji Dawood died at Calcutta (India).
1925 Founded Burma-India Chamber of Commerce at Rangoon (Burma).
1925 Founded Burma-Muslim Chamber of Commerce at Rangoon (Burma).
1925 Appointed as Director, Rangoon Electric Tramways, Rangoon (Burma).
1925 Elected as President of “Rangoon Memon Jamat”, Rangoon (Burma).
1928 Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood met Quaid-e-Azam Mohd. Ali Jinnah first time at Dehli.
1928 Establised a Jute Mill at Calcutta (India).
1932 Settled Permanently at Calcutta (India).
1933 Fouded the Memon Educatioal & Welfare Society on 29th May, 1933 at Calcutta (India).
1934 Memon Relief Society carried out relief operation under the guidance of Sir Adamjee for Bihar Earthquake victims.
1935 Carried out Relief operation for Quetta Earthquake victims.
1938 The British Government Awarded the Knighthood title “ SIR” in recognition of his services to Humanitarian causes as well as to Business & Industry on 21st June, 1938 on Birthday of King George VI.
1941 Established “Adamjee Muslim High School” at Jatpur (India).
1943 Founded “Muslim Educational Society” in Calcutta (India).
1944 Federation of Muslim Chamber of Commerce & Industry was founded. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah Proposed the name of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood as its first President on 9-7-1944.
1947 Establish Muslim Commercial Bank in Calcutta (India) on the introduction of Quaid-e-Azam on 9-7-1947.
1947 Establish adamjee Boarding House at Karachi.
1947 Founder Member of Orient Airways Sponsored by Quaid-e-Azam.
1948 Came to Karachi on the call of Quaid-e-Azam Mohd. Ali Jinnah for the establishment of the State Bank of Pkistan on 25-01-1948 from Calcutta (India).
1948 He had Heart Attack while attending the meeting in connection with the establishment of State Bank of Pakistan on26-1-1948.
1949 He died on Tuesday, 27-01-1948 at 10: 30 PM at Karachi, Pakistan.