Abdul Sattar Edhi: ‘The greatest thing Islam teaches is humanity’

Simple, Charitable Living

Edhi lived simply; he slept on a traditional bed covered by a thin mattress, in a room behind his office. He slept only a few hours, ate roti and chai, and spent most of his day on call, available to anyone in need at any time. His manner was straightforward, at times even brusque, as he had no patience for unimportant things; and anything that kept him from caring for someone, tending to someone’s problem or ailment, was unimportant.

To really know Edhi, you had to visit his centers and meet the people he cared for. I spent a day riding in an Edhi ambulance to several centers, meeting the young boy who had run away because he was being beaten and who found refuge and an education; the man with HIV/AIDS who found treatment and a safe haven; the widow abandoned by her family who found shelter and learned a skill; the elderly woman neglected by her children who found solace and dignity. Edhi is captured in each of these stories, and thousands of others like them.

One thing was for certain – there was no one else like him.