Edhi Sb and my Juststart project!
By: Adnan Tariq
Tags: Edhi, Philanthropy, Humanity, Pakistan, Society

Philanthropy means love for humanity. Whenever a person comes across the word “humanity”, there is only one personality that pops up into mind: Abdul Sattar Edhi. There were a lot of factors that groomed him to be the way he was and had become. The major role was played by his father and mother who taught their children to live a life of simplicity. Although they were not deprived of anything, still they preferred simplicity over luxurious lifestyle. This is an important practice as well as they key to survive in today’s era. The standard of living has become so advanced that people find themselves in complex about the material possessions that they don’t have. I have preferred a simple lifestyle personally. This does not mean that I have intentionally deprived myself of the things that are important to live in this society. Its just that the element of luxury is not there. People have become extravagant which is something that must be changes. Edhi developed the habit of saving money when he secretly found out that his mother used to save the money. Saving is very important because it helps you out in hard times and you don’t have to ask anyone for financial help in time of need. His mother used to scold him if he didn’t spend the half money in helping out a needy person. Basically she wanted to develop the love for humanity in him and most importantly she wanted him to find out that which ones in the society are actually deserving and which ones are not. This was because she never wanted Edhi to be unjust. The way he was brought up gave him a vision that social injustice prevailed in the society and if he had the ability to help out the people then he must consider it to be his responsibility. Edhi was taught to take small steps in doing whatever he wanted to do. His father made him realize that no labor is insult. The livelihood earned on the basis of hard work is the best and encouraged in Islam. Another important factor Edhi was taught to was to think without limitations. Confining ideas stunt the potential. Edhi used to contemplate about the world and the issues related to it. Whenever he used to tell about it to his friends then they used to laugh it off. But Edhi was visionary. He learnt that dowry was misunderstood in Islam. Holy Prophet PBUH symbolized work and prayer in daughters dowry. Dowry is symbolic. His mother also mentioned the same thing at the time of her daughter’s wedding that the simplicity in wedding and less dowry does not mean that they do not love their daughter. The progressive and liberal attitude of parents towards their children can encourage them to achieve their natural potential. The children must be taught that they can begin with small but should not think small. Last but not the least takeaway from the biography of Edhi is that “The strength of the words lie in implementation otherwise they are all meaningless”. This implies that ideas must be transformed into actions(Amal) otherwise you would not contribute anything towards the society.

My Just start project is based upon one the important takeaways from Edhi’s biography. This is saving. I usually find it very hard to save money because I usually spend a lot and after spending the money, i sit back and realize that I have spent a lot. Now I have decided to split the money into two parts. Fifty percent goes to my savings and the remaining fifty percent is what I keep for spending. This keeps me aware of the spending limits. I have been thinking about adopting this strategy even before the Amal session. But with this juststart activity, I have already taken the initial step. I hope I stick to my plan and I will definitely help me out in saving money at the end of the month.