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Mohataram Alhaaj Ebrahim Ahmed Bawany was born in 1926 in Rangoon, Burma. He was a Memon industrialist and philanthropist of Pakistan.^[1] His last name, Bawany, originates from the name of a family elder who was known for his honesty and hard work in Jetpur, India.

Contents 1 Pre-Pakistan History 2 Post-Pakistan history 3 Aisha Bawany Waqf 4 Muslim News International 5 Death 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Pre-Pakistan History

At the time of Bawany's birth, his family had already established many businesses in Burma and had become one of the leading importers of hosiery, textile and other various items. In 1931 the family established a hosiery mill known as Ahmed Violin Hosiery Works Limited. At the time, Violin Hosiery was considered the largest hosiery mill in Asia with over 400 circular machines. Subsequently, they established a textile and blanket factory with a very large printing and finishing plant. These factories are still in existence, but have been nationalised by the Burmese government.

During the Second World War Bawany migrated from Rangoon to Bombay, India and completed his education. In India, he sponsored and organized a joint venture with the leading businessmen of Kathiawar who owned a company known as Kathiawar Industries Ltd. The company manufactured cement, leather goods, salt, ghee and margarine in the state of Junagadh.

[edit] Post-Pakistan history

Immediately after the inception of Pakistan in 1947 Bawany, with his brothers and uncle Latif Bawany (popularly know as Kaka Lateef), migrated to Karachi, Sindh. By 1948, they started imported machinery and established Bawany Violin Textile Mills in Karachi. They also purchased Talhar Sugar Mills from the Pakistan Industiral Development Corporation (PIDC) and within a short period of time, the Bawany's became one of the leading industrial groups in the country.

During the lifetime of Kaka Lateef, Bawany preferred to remain in the background and under the guidance of his uncle, however, gradually his character started to take shape. Eventually, he became one of the well-known Memons in the Muslim world. During the period between 1954 and 1957 he was elected President of the Pakistan Chamber of Commerce which, later amalgamated with three other business organisations to become Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

While Bawany was director of many companies, he rarely accepted any high positions at any business organizations. His first important assignment was founding and developing of Aisha Bawany Academy on Shahra-e-Faisal, where two high school buildings were set up, one for boys and girls. After six years a college was also set up on the campus. 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 receiving an education at 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 started in East Pakistan and the efforts of Kaka Lateef and Ebrahim played a key role in the establishment of Pakistan Memon Federation. Ebrahim worked on his dream; to establish a residential school approximately 80 miles away from Karachi. Having been impressed by the character-building public schools of the West, he wanted to establish a residential school of the same pattern. Bawany purchased a plot of land along the bank of Indus River, however lack of support from his associates and the community forced him to abandon the project. The school would have provided educational and residential facilities for up to 300 students.

[edit] Aisha Bawany Waqf

The Aisha Bawany Waqf was one of Bawany's most glorious achievement. Established in 1962, its activities spread across the entire Muslim and Christian world. The Waqf provided aids, grants and scholarships. It is also known for publishing many religious books. Ebrahim did not believe in publication of traditional books, for he felt that to attract the modern, Muslims and non-Muslims, 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 people towards the study of Islam. During the past three decades the Aisha Bawany Waqf has published a total of 51 titles in the 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.

Some of the books published by the Waqf became well-known, one of which is titled, The Bible, The Quran and Science by Maurice Bucaille. The Waqf also reprinted more than a dozen editions of its English translation and distributed free copies of it worldwide. Another notable publication by the Waqf 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 Congress and printed more than 100,000 copies to distribute free of cost in the Western World. A third significant publication by the Waqf is Jesus, A Prophet of Islam, by Muhammad Ataur Rahim.

[edit] Muslim News International

Bawany also started a monthly magazine company known as Muslim News International. He started the with the aim of providing news and views of the Muslim nations and peoples to the world. The printing and publishing of the magazine occurred in Karachi, Pakistan, however occasionally the government created problems for Bawany. Ultimately, difficulties increased to such an extent that 'Muslim News International' ceased publication.

[edit] Death

Disappointed with the Memon community, Bawany started to distance himself from it and spent more of his time, money and energy towards the Muslim millat in order to spread Islamic teachings. He made this his life mission, spending less time outside of Pakistan in connection with his mission. He was called a Mujahid because he actually went to the front lines of areas where Muslims were fighting with other countries such as Kashmir, the Philippines and Palestine. He collected large amounts from the Arab sheikhs to purchase arms and ammunitions required by the Muslim rebels, it was on such a mission that he went to Kuala Lumpur, where he passed away from a heart attack his hotel room. His body was eventually flown back to Karachi to buried in the family graveyard.

[edit] See also

• Memon

[edit] References