Mahomedali Habib born on 15th May
1904 in Bombay, the third son of Habib Ismail was endowed with exceptional
qualities of leadership and tremendous vision and foresight. He was destined to
play the most important role in establishing the \"House of Habib\".
He founded \"Habib Bank Ltd.\" in August 1941 (with the full support
of his brothers particularly Dawood Habib). Habib Bank, the flagship of the
House of Habib formalized the Habib Group\'s Merchant Banking activities (since
1841).
To pay a tribute to the memory of
his much-loved father, Mahomedali Habib named the Bank after him. Habib Bank
soon became the largest and the most important Bank of Pakistan.
Mahomedali Habib, in an amazingly
short period of time, created a family business empire covering banking,
insurance, shipping and many other industries. The Group companies were market
leaders in everything they did and employed more than 7,000 people.
Mahomedali Habib was not only
Advisor to Quaid-e-Azam, but was also one of the leading figures of the
Pakistan movement. Of the numerous meritorious services of Mahomedali Habib to
the nation, he is best remembered for the Blank Cheque that he presented to the
Quaid-e-Azam to meet the newly established state\'s financial obligations in the
wake of partition, when Pakistan\'s Treasury was empty. The Indian Government
had willfully not transferred the funds of Pakistan from the Exchequer of
undivided India, which had created a crisis situation averted by the timely
assistance from Mahomedali Habib. The loan thus given, in hundreds of millions
of rupees to the Government of Pakistan was interest-free.
He was an Architect, Builder,
Patriot, Philanthropist, Champion of the poor, a devout Muslim and a true
believer in God. He compiled a translation of Holy Quran with footnotes and
other religious literatures, which he published under his pen-name M.H. Shakir.
His deep concern for the welfare of the poor led him to establish more than 20
Benevolent Trusts for Education, Medical relief, Hospitals, Housing for the
poor, Orphanages, Mosques, food, clothing etc. and even Burial Grounds.
Mahomedali Habib was a family
man, a loving husband and a very caring father. He had the ability to make
every member of the Habib family feel special and created time for everyone. A
remarkable motivator of people, he was very successful in training the young
generation of Habibs to accept the challenges of the future and commanded a
level of loyalty and respect that has become a hallmark. A keen sportsman, his
motto was \"work hard, pray hard, and play hard\".
Mahomedali Habib, a legend of a
man, died peacefully on 30th March 1959, at the age of 55 years.
Courtesy: House of Habib
To commemorate the Birth Anniversary of Philanthropist of Pakistan Mahomedali Habib, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs. 2/-denomination on May 15, 2000.
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