9 July 2016
Following the news that Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founder of the Edhi Foundation, had passed away, Dr Shuja Shafi, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain paid the following tribute:
“Abdul Sattar Edhi was Pakistan’s, and perhaps the modern Muslim world’s greatest legends. Here was a man who with almost nothing was determined to created Pakistan’s largest welfare organisations. In a country ravaged by violence, ambulances bearing the Edhi name would be a source of comfort and hope as his organisation would seek to heal people regardless of background. Edhi ran charitable organisations for the best part of six decades, and thousands upon thousands have benefitted from his work. And despite all this, he was a humble man with hardly any possessions. He left this world with instructions that his eyes be donated to those who needed it. I join calls for Mr Edhi, may Allah be pleased with him, to be posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and other high honours be bestowed upon him around the world. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un, ‘Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.”