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Memon (Gujarati: મેમણ; Sindhi: ميمڻ; Hindi: मेमन; Urdu: میمن) a minority social group primarily connected with the Indian sub-continent trace their roots largely to Sindh, Kutch and Kathiawar.^[1] They adhere to Hanafi Sunni Islam. Many Memon are businesspeople and entrepreneurs. They share a common tongue, which is a mixture of Sindhi and Kutchi. Many belong to the local and well-organized societies called "Jamat" (which literally means congregation), for the social welfare of their brethren. They have built vast business legacies and most Memons around the world belong to the middle-upper class. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Gujarati (ગુજરાતી GujÇŽrātÄ«; also known as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, and Guujaratee[3]) is an Indo-Aryan language descending from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. ... SindhÄ« (سنڌي, सिन्धी) is the language of the Sindh region of South Asia, which is now a province of Pakistan. ... Hindi (हिन्दी) is a language spoken mainly in North and Central India. ... Urdu ( , , trans. ... The Indian subcontinent is the peninsular region of larger South Asia in which the nations of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka as well as parts of Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and some disputed territory currently controlled by China are located. ... Sindh (SindhÄ«: سنڌ, UrdÅ«: سندھ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhis. ... Kutch (Kuchchh) District, State of Gujarat Kutch (also spelled Cutch, Kachh, Kachch and even Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... The Hanafi (Arabic حنفي) school is the oldest of the four schools of thought (Madhhabs) or jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam. ... Kachhi (also spelled, Cutchi or Kachchhi) is an Indo-Aryan Language spoken in the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat, with approximately 866,000 speakers. ...

Memon community may be divided into three main groups. Those who traced their ancestors from Kutch region are identified as Kutchi Memon and they speak Kutchi dialects. Those who traced their ancestry to Kathiawar are identified as simply Memon or Kathiawadi Memons or Hali Memons and they speak Memoni. Those Memon who remained in Sindh (their ancestor never migrated to neighboring regions such as Kutch and Kathiawar) are identified as Sindhi Memon and speak Sindhi language. Kutch (Kuchchh) District, State of Gujarat Kutch (also spelled Cutch, Kachh, Kachch and even Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. ... Transliteration of name of this community has not been standardized. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... Memoni ia an Indo-European language, of the Indo-Aryan family. ... Sindhi Memons (Urdu: میمن; Sindhi: ميمڻ) are an ethnic group residing in Sindh Province of Pakistan. ...

Many Memon, especially Kathiawadi Memon, further distinguished themselves into various sub-groups which generally refer to their ancestral villages or towns such as Bantva Memons, Jutpur Memons and Deeplai Memon. It is estimated that the number of Kathiawadi Memon, other than Kutchi and Sindhi Memon, worldwide are over one million.^[2] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Jetpur Navagadh is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

History

Sindhi origins

A number of theories have been proposed about the origins of the Memon community. These theories, although similar, differ in their details. This could be due to the fact that Memons have had to rely on oral history in order to determine their origins.^[1] Oral history is an account of something passed down by word of mouth from one generation to another. ...

According to Dadani, Memon community came into existence in 824 Hijri (1422 CE) when 700 families comprising of 6,178 persons belonging to the Lohana community of Sindh accepted Islam.^[3] The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar is the calendar used to date events in predominately Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Muslim holy days. ... Events January 10 - Battle of Nemecky Brod during the Hussite Wars. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

According to Anthovan, those Lohanas of Thhato, who had also converted to Islam and became Memons, were invited by Jarejho Roa Khanghar, ruler of Bhuj (1548-1584) to settle in Bhuj. It is from there that Katchi Memons migrated to Kathiawar and Gujarat. Surat in Gujarat was an important trading center during 1580 to 1680 and Memons made their bounty there. Later, the Memons reached Bombay.^[4] Diwan Bherumal M. Advani writes that all the Memons of Bombay, Gujarat and Kutch are Lohanas from Sindh. (A volume written by Mr. Anthovan, part 2, pages 52 and 53).^[4] Thatta or Thatto (Urdu: ٹھٹہ, Sindhi:ٺٽو) is a historic town of 22,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

Another theory states that Memons originated in 1422 CE from Thatta in Sindh. The converts were first called Momins or Mumins and the term, with the march of time, changed to Memons.^[5] The story related therein states that some 700 Lohana families, (inclusive, perhaps of some earlier covert and neo-Muslim converts) comprising of some 6178 individuals, accepted Islam at the hands of one Sayed Yusuffuddin Quadri R.A. and finding themselves banished by their erstwhile Hindu brothers were forced to migrate.^[1] This was also stated by Hussain Kassim Dada from his Presidential Chail at the first ever All India Memon Conference in Rajkot in the year 1931. Thatta or Thatto (Urdu: ٹھٹہ, Sindhi:ٺٽو) is a historic town of 22,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. ...

Language

Memons speak a non-written dialect called Memoni, a mixture of Sindhi and Kutchi which belongs to the Indic (North-Western Zone) family of languages.^{[citation needed]} While the Sindhi and Kutchi languages are spoken by both Muslims and non-Muslims, Memoni refers exclusively to the vernacular of the Kathiawadi Memons who are Sunni (Hanafi) Muslims that migrated from Sindh to the neighbouring regions of Kutch and Kathiawar in Gujarat several centuries ago^{[citation needed]}. In stress, intonation, and everyday speech, Memoni is very similar to Sindhi, but it borrows vocabulary extensively from Gujarati, Hindustani and lately English. Like most languages of the Indian subcontinent the sentence structure of Memoni generally follows subject -> object -> verb order. ^[6] This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ... The Kutchi language originates from Kutch, India. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... The Hanafi (Arabic حنفي) school is the oldest of the four schools of thought (Madhhabs) or jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam. ... Kutch (Kuchchh) District, State of Gujarat Kutch (also spelled Cutch, Kachh, Kachch and even Kachchh) is a district of Gujarat state in western India. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... This article is for the Indian state. ... Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī; also known as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, and Guujaratee[3]) is an Indo-Aryan language descending from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. ... The word Hindustani is an adjective used to denote a connection to India, or, more precisely, the historical region that encompasses Northern India, Pakistan, and nearby areas. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... In linguistics, a sentence is a unit of language, characterized in most languages by the presence of a finite verb. ... In linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV) is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and verb of a sentence appear (usually) in that order. ...

Social structure

Role of the Jamaat

The following are some common well organized societies or welfare associations called Jamaat (Gujarati script: જમાત ) of the Kathiawadi Memons community which is generally reference to their ancestral village or town in Kathiawar, Gujarat, India The Gujarati script (ગુજરાતી લિપિ GujarātÄ« Lipi), which like all NāgarÄ« writing systems is strictly speaking an abugida rather than an alphabet, is used to write the Gujarati and Kutchi languages. ...

A Jamaat generally means a congregation of people of the same community who come together to celebrate various functions in order to preserve their culture and language in this increasingly globalized world.

• Bantva; Bagasra; Kutiyana; Dhoraji; Jetpur; Vanthli; Gondal; Upleta; Mangrol; Veraval; Okhai; Surati; Junagarh Keshod; Ranava; Porbandar; Halai Jamnagar; Morvi Rajkot; Manavadar; Balagam; Sardargarh; Nasserpuria; Vasavad; Bhavnagar;Kodinar

There are also Memons called Tharadi Memon mainly located in North Gujarat. Main Jamaat Himmatnagar, Idar etc.. There are Memons coming from various towns in Gujarat, like Lalpuria Memons, Upleta Memons and Sardargarh Memons who have their own Jamaats. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... History Kutiyana is a small town in Kathiawar a former district of State of Gujarat (Gujarati: ગુજરાત ) in India. ... , // Dhoraji is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the state of Gujarat, India. ... Jetpur Navagadh is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Gondal is a town about 40 km south of the city of Rajkot in the Rajkot District of Gujarat. ... Upleta is a city and a municipality in Rajkot district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Mangrol is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... , Veraval (Gujarati:વેરવળ,Hindi:वेरावल) is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Okha port is a census town in Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Junagadh is a city, and also a district, in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Keshod is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Porbandar   is a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. ... , Jamnagar is a city and a municipal corporation in Jamnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Morvi (also, Morbi) is a town in Rajkot district, Gujarat state, India. ... , Rajkot   (2005 pop. ... Junagadh is one of the modern districts of Saurastra, Gujarat. ... , Bhavnagar (Gujarati: , Hindi: , ) is a city in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Kodinar is a city and a municipality in Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. ... Himatnagar is a city in Gujarat state of western India. ... Idar is a town in the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat, India, located about 20 km north of Himatnagar and 25 km from Gujarats border with Rajasthan. ...

Memons today

Memons migrated from Sindh to Kutch, and latter to Kathiawar (Kathiawad) and other part of Gujarat. Memons spread throughout the Indian Ocean basin in the 19th century, but most Memons lived in Kathiawar, prior to the Partition of India. Many later settled in Pakistan. Today, they are scattered throughout India and Pakistan, with significant communities in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE, South Africa, and Burma. Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ... This article is for the Indian state. ... This article is under construction. ... UAE redirects here; for other uses of that term, see UAE (disambiguation) The United Arab Emirates is an oil-rich country situated in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. ...

Memons are known for their involvement in business and philanthropy, with Memons having played a major part in the building of Pakistani industry, an increasing number of Memons are turning to professional occupations.^[7] Philanthropy is the act of donating money, goods, time, or effort to support a charitable cause, usually over an extended period of time and in regard to a defined objective. ...

Owing to their tradition of management and attention to detail, Memons are a prosperous community. You will usually find them owning convenience stores, gas stations, Subway sandwich stores, dollar stores, dry cleaners, etc. They have built vast business legacies and a high percentage of Memons around the world belong to the upper-middle class ^[8]

Memoni is falling into disuse and the younger generation is unlikely to learn it as their mother tongue for various reasons:

1. Non-existence of language learning tools, especially disappearance of Gujarati in Pakistan
2. Many second generation parents do not know their mother tongue themselves.
3. Memoni is going out of fashion among younger generations. ^{[citation needed]}

Gujarati (ગુજરાતી Gujǎrātī; also known as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, and Guujaratee[3]) is an Indo-Aryan language descending from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. ...

Religious beliefs and customs

Religious practices

Memons follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. Up till now, the Memons have not produced many Top Islamic scholars their own, they generally rely on others for their spiritual guidance. This however, is changing now, and great scholars such as Allama Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri, and many others are emerging. The Hanafi (Arabic حنفي) school is the oldest of the four schools of thought (Madhhabs) or jurisprudence (Fiqh) within Sunni Islam. ... Sunni Muslims are the largest denomination of Islam. ... Islamic scholars are Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who work in one or more fields of Islamic studies. ...

Marriage customs

Memons usually marry within their own social affiliation (Jamat) (endogamy), depending on circumstances a group (Jamat) may be as small as few hundred families and as large as few thousand families. For example Kutchi Memon define their jamat to be entire group having very few sub-groups whereas Kathiawadi Memons are branched into few dozens sub-groups. For Kathiawadi Memon a group, by and large, usually shares their ancestor village in Kathiawad as a reference point. Marriage between close relatives especially first cousins is discouraged but such reunion is possible where a group is too small. Marriage outside the social group (e.g. marrying a Surti) is now quite common and accepted by most Memons, although some community elders may still discourage it. Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a social group. ... Transliteration of name of this community has not been standardized. ... Kathiawar in between Gulf of Kutch and Gulf of Khambat. ...

Social leaders and best workers around the world

Throughout the world, the Memon community, alongside other Indian cultural communities, has contributed significantly to social services, despite very little or no recognition from any WORLD standard institution like UN, and without any help from any government. Below is a list of Memon contributors to Indian/Pakistani society (this excludes contributions from Memons living outside of India and Pakistan; their contributions should be added to this list in future):

• Salman Jangda, Investment Banker, Philanthropist, Hollywood Producer
• Sattar Edhi and Bilqis Hajiyani
• Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood, Adamjee business empire, Provided assistance in creating Pakistan
• Ghulam Muhammad A. Fecto, prominet industrialist, founder and chairman of Fecto Group of Industries, philanthropist, and former president All Pakistan Memon Federation
• Sattar Masota councillor and ground level worker
• Sattar teli visionary person in memon community
• Sir Iqbal sacrani award for social services from Queen family
• Saleem Abdullah Brigadior from PAK Army serving in Karachi
• Aqeel Karim dhehdi prominet business man tycoon of community
• Altaf Adam, ESQ., Notable Attorney, Houston, U.S.A.
• M.A.Rangoonwala Prsident international chamber leader of MEMON
• Haji Razzak ARY chairman ARY group and WMO
• Sattar DADA from Botswana (WMO)
• Zubair Sattar motiwlia President KCCI
• Hussain Dawood, Dynamic Businessman, Scion of Great Dawood business group, Pakistan
• Rahim JANOO chairman RECP
• Mohsin Dada, Chairman ISDLAF+, U.S.A.
• Majed Aziz Stylish prsident of KCCI
• Amin Chamadia prominent social worker
• Ahmed Chinnoy award winner of Govt Pakistan
• A.Rashid Ahmed Godil prominet social worker of community co ordinator and ex-Nazim Of gulshan
• Dr.Amin surwa award winner of govt
• Aboo tayoob from South Africa
• Majid vakil award winner from govt in Africa
• Faruq sodagar darvesh prominet business man from INDIA
• Hussain Kasim Dada, Great Businessman and Philanthropist, India and Pakistan
• Bilal Memon for his work in business, film, and dance

Ghulam Muhammad Adamjee Fecto Mr. ... The FECTO Group of Industries is one of the most respected business groups in Pakistan. ...

Social contribution from the Memon community

The Memon community can be proud of the social work it has done. Many countries across the globe have seen this through the many Memon humanitarian ground workers. Examples such as the Calcutta, Kashmir, Turkey and Quetta earthquakes. Gujrat, Karachi and Bosnia are just a few recognised achievements of Memon humanitarian work.

Memons help people in need purely on a humanitarian ground upholding the moto social work will better our society. A few examples of they're work;

• Larkana college of commerce established by Late Abdul Fatah Memon (1920-2002), former MLA Sindh Assaebly (1952), Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and Somalia (1963) in early fifties.
• The Jama Masjid of Durban built by the Memons, is the largest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere.
• Abdullah Haroon established Hajiyani Hanifabai Girls School in Karachi in 1914, which was the first girl's school in Sindh for Muslim girls.^[9]
• Hajiyani Khadija, although an illiterate widow, was the founder of Raunaq-eIslam chain of girls schools, colleges and industrial homes under the banner of the Pakistan Memon Women's Educational society.^[10]

"Salik Papatia" complied Gujarati Reader Sahitay Sindhu for the Gujarati students of secondary schools in the early sixties, and got it published at his own expense.^[11]

• Kenya Mombasa, where the Memon community after emigrating just 50 years ago, built 200 mosques and madrasas (religious schools).

See also

• Memons in South Africa
• Memons in Sri Lanka

• Kutchi Memon
• Sindhi Memon
• Memoni dialect
• Lohana
• Deeplai memon
• World Memon Organization (WMO)

Memons in South Africa form a prosperous subgroup in that countrys Indian community, and are largely descended from traders who immigrated to that country early in the twentieth century. ... In late 1900 certain Memon merchants mainly from Kutiyana, Porbandar and Upleta travelled to Ceylon present day Sri Lanka for trading . ... Transliteration of name of this community has not been standardized. ... Sindhi Memons (Urdu: میمن; Sindhi: ميمڻ) are an ethnic group residing in Sindh Province of Pakistan. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Memoni. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Memons are an ethnic (linguistic) group, Sunni Musllim, that originated from lower Sindh near the Indus delta region. ...

Notes

External links

• Memon.com
• Memon World
• [6] Memon Association of Canada
• World Memon 1st Convention 2001 Dubai
• Memon Po!nt by Ghaffar Variend
• Memon personalities and their achievements
• memon from dhoraji
• Description of the Memon language from Ethnologue.com
• An examination of Memon business in Pakistan
• The World Memon Organisation (“the WMO”)
• The World Memon Organisation ("the WMO") Pakistan Chapter
• Dhoraji Association
• First meeting of Memons in Dubai
• Memoni Language by Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala
• Definition of Memons
• Lohana-Conversion to Memons
• Memoni Language Preservation Project by Siddique Katiya
• Memon Association of Sri Lanka
• MemonAid Sri Lanka
• Bantva, Junagadh, Vanthli Dhoraji Kutiyana Upleta Jetpur - Saurashtra (formally Kathiawar) Gujarat India: WikiMapia Google Maps Satellite Imagery
• 'The Memons - Important Muslim minority of Sri Lanka' - Hameed Karim Bhoja - DN Wed May 31, 2006