Eminent businessman and philanthropist GhiasuddinBabukhan, who channelized Zakat to bring a silent educational and social revolution, passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Aug. 25 following prolonged illness.
GhiasuddinBabukhan co-founded Moghul Builders and Planners and Babukhan Properties, both of which built some landmark structures in the city.
Son of Khan Abdul Kareem Babukhan and brother of former AP minister BasheeruddinBabukhan, GhiyasuddinBabukhan left an indelible mark with his unique initiatives.
He along with some like-minded friends founded Hyderabad Zakat and Charitable Trust (HZCT), which opened doors for thousands of poor and orphaned Muslim boys and girls, paving the way for them to carve out promising futures.
With HZCT, he showed how Zakat can be channelized to bring a change in the community through education.
Committed to serve the community, Babukhan ensured that talented students belonging to poor families and orphans get all support to pursue higher education and realise their dreams.
With a firm belief in “empowerment through education and freedom through knowledge,” he and his friends formed a network of schools for poor, mostly in remote villages.
HZCT made a humble beginning in 1992 with total ‘zakat’ of just `11 lakh. During the last three decades, the Trust collected and disbursed a staggering `155 crore in Zakat, benefiting 16.40 lakh beneficiaries including poor students, orphans and widows in Telangana, AP, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
About 90% of the Zakat amount is spent towards providing education for the poor. In the last three decades the HZCT has spent a staggering `100 crore on education alone.
In 1996, he established Foundation for Economic and Education Development (FEED) to run the institutes established by HZCT. FEED set up the Hyderabad Institute of Excellence (HIE) in 2013 to hone the skills of meritorious students from poor and needy families to groom them as leaders with a strong sense of dignity, integrity, love for the country, and deep religious values.
Spread over 120 acres at Vikarabad, this residential school boasts of world-class amenities and state-of-the-art infrastructure, providing education from 6th to 12th Grade. About 50% of the students at HIE are on annual scholarship of `2 lakh each.
HIE also prepares students for various competitive exams like IIT-JEE Mains and Advanced, NEET, Birla Institute of Technology Science Aptitude Test (BITSAT), and entrance exams to Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) and the National Defence Academy.
The requirements of non-Muslims and critical needs of rural communities are taken care of through FEED and the GhiasuddinBabukhan Charitable Trust.
Babukhan was honoured with the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Award in 2014 by the Govt. of Telangana for his sustained commitment to minority upliftment through education and economic progress.
Extending his heartfelt condolences, Syed Sadatullah Husaini, President, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, said, “His remarkable contributions to society, especially through the Hyderabad Zakat & Charitable Trust, which transformed the lives of thousands, will be remembered for generations to come.”
“He was a true champion of education, a liberator of the marginalized, and a benefactor of the Muslim community—an embodiment of the noble spirit of zakat and compassion. Through his philanthropic initiatives, he played a pivotal role in the educational upliftment of the Ummah, poverty alleviation, relief work, and community development. I pray for his maghfirah. May Allah grant him eternal peace, elevate his status in Jannah, and grant strength and solace to his family and all those who carry forward his inspiring legacy,”he added.
AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and BRS-MLC K. Kavithaalso condoled the demise of Babukhan.
Namaz-e-Janaza was offered at Masjid-e-Baqi in Banjara Hills and the burial took place at the adjacent graveyard.