Edhi was deeply affected by the death of his mother when he was 19. He never finished school but later said that the world of suffering became his tutor.





He noticed that many Pakistanis lacked medicine, education, and other essentials, and he made it his life's mission to help others. In 1951, he established the Edhi Foundation, which is funded solely by private donations.





By the time of his death on July 8th 2016, Edhi was registered as a parent or guardian of nearly 20,000 children.





It was announced that the State Bank of Pakistan would issue a commemorative coin of 50 rupee (38p) in memory of Edhi as a small token of appreciation for his selfless services for the country.







What is the Edhi Foundation? The Edhi Foundation is currently the largest welfare organisation in Pakistan. Since its inception, it has rescued more than 20,000 abandoned babies, rehabilitated some 50,000 orphans and has trained more than 40,000 nurses.

It also runs the world’s largest ambulance service (operating 1,500 vehicles) and Edhi ambulances are welcomed as friendly neighbours throughout Pakistan.





In 2005 the Foundation donated $100,000 to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States.



Despite the vast sums of money that passed through his foundation, Edhi lived modestly with his family in a two-room apartment adjacent to the headquarters of his foundation.

His work earned him numerous awards at home and abroad, including the Gandhi Peace Award, the 2007 Unesco Madanjeet Singh Prize, the 2011 London Peace Award, the 2008 Seoul Peace Award and the Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Service.





Known in public as Maulana Edhi - a respectful title for a religious scholar, usually an elderly person with a beard - he supported and promoted working opportunities for women. Out of the 2,000 paid workers of his Edhi Foundation, around 500 are women.

A Muslim by birth, Edhi said in 2009 that he had “never been a very religious person”. When asked why he helped people of all creeds, casts and religions he replied: “Because my ambulance is more Muslim than you.”

Criticism of Edhi's works Edhi saw charity as a central tenet of Islam and lived humbly with his wife, Bilquis, in the same building as his organisation's offices.

But unlike Mother Teresa who he was often compared to, Edhi had to surmount many obstacles including regular death threats.

His ambulances were attacked as were volunteers who worked for his foundation.



In October 2013, Islamists occupied one of his Karachi facilities and stole £400,000 (it was quickly replaced with a flood of donations), and the baby cradles he and Bilquis set up to accept unwanted babies were criticised as encouraging out-of-wedlock births.

"They call him an infidel, saying that he does not say his prayers," Bilquis told the Guardian.

"What we are doing should be done by the government and should be appreciated, but instead we are blamed."





