We recently lost a person who personified philanthropy in Pakistan: Abdul Sattar Edhi. As a humble effort to help in continuing his cause by informing the youth about the cause itself, this article is dedicated to Mr. Edhi.
Philanthropy
We recently lost a person who personified philanthropy in Pakistan: Abdul Sattar Edhi. As a humble effort to help in continuing his cause by informing the youth about the cause itself, this article is dedicated to Mr. Edhi.
The concept of philanthropy is often confused with charity; however, it is much more than that. As the etymology of the word indicates, it literally means ‘the love for humanity’. A combination of two Greek words - philos (love) and anthropos (human being) - philanthropy also shares its partial etymology with the words ‘philosophy’ (philo = love, sophia = wisdom) and ‘anthropology’ (anthropos = human, logia = study).
According to the Platonic Academy, the word Philantrhopia meant ‘a state of well-educated habits stemming from love of humanity, a state of being productive or beneficial to humans.’ By extension, it also included a political system or law that was beneficial for people, like the law of Athens was labeled as philanthropic and so was the system of democracy.
The word, however preexisted Plato and his Academy. It was first introduced in fifth century B.C. by the Greek playwright Aeschylus. He used the word to describe a character of his play, Prometheus, as humanity loving, one who gave mankind the gifts of fire and optimism.
After the fall of Classical Greek civilisation, the idea of philanthropy along with many others seeped into the Roman civilisation and the word was translated into humanitus in Latin. This is how liberal studies came to be known as Humanities. The use of the Greek word continued as well. The very concept of philanthropy was adopted in Christianity after the fall of Roman civilisation, and was translated in light of religious theology. English adopted the word “philanthropy” through Late Latin philanthropia.
The modern idea of philanthropic organisations has also been there since ancient times. The Platonic Academy itself had been supported by an endowment for around 900 years. Furthermore, the Islamic idea of waqf (an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational or charitable cause in form of money or property) is also a form of a philanthropic institution, which according to Encyclopedia Britannica has existed since seventh century A.D. Similarly, the Medieval Christian Church also managed trusts for humanitarian as well as religious causes. Later on, following the Renaissance, private foundations were formed that donated gifts to support arts, education, scientific research, social service and environmental programmes.
In modern times, due to the increasing amount of philanthropic activities by affluent celebrities like Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie, we have been led to believe that philanthropy is just something to do with spending money for the welfare of mankind. This is not the case. You can be a philanthropist without having any money to spare. You could take up the responsibility to educate a child; you could save the leftover food and feed the hungry; or you could simply help a visually challenged person cross the road. All of these instances count as philanthropic. It, of course, goes without saying that spending money for a humanitarian cause is also a form of philanthropy.
Mr. Edhi’s soothing presence will certainly be missed. But the philo for anthropos (love for humanity) will continue, and it is fortunate that he set up an example for us to follow. One Edhi has gone but there are many in the making. You might be one of them.
Good luck!
