Tayabba Khanum

Tayabba Khanum is one of the pioneers of Maarif Education Society.  Inspired by her mother (Hameeda Begum) and her late spiritual guide (Maulvi Abdul Raheem RA), both of  whom are discussed below,  she has been working for the welfare of the local community in Mardan for over thirty years.  She is currently living in Pennsylvania, USA where she has a catering business, Nani’s Kitchen, named after her mother.  Proceeds from Nani’s Kitchen go towards supporting Maarif School. She also volunteers at Bawa Mohaiyaddeen Fellowship, a local community centre established in 1971 by the late Sri Lankan sufi saint M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.

Hameeda Begum

Hameeda Begum was a woman of great strength and character who was born into a wealthy noble family of Nawabs.  Her mother was a political activist and a member of the Muslim  League women’s wing.  After the creation of Pakistan, her husband decided to leave his entire inheritance in India and move to Pakistan with his wife and children.  They were penniless when they arrived in Mardan to make a fresh start in life.  Hameeda Begum became the sole breadwinner of the family, working in a local school canteen.  For thirty-five long years she worked around the clock, working full time at the canteen while raising her family of nine children.  In spite of her own circumstances, she was very generous and kind towards anyone who came to her for help.  Although money was scarce (her children hardly saw new clothes or had fine food), she never hesitated to donate to charity.  Love, compassion and service to others was the entire message of her life.  As a result of her kindness she came to be well known amongst the locals, who fondly called her “Khala Ji”(aunty).

The poverty and difficult conditions of the women and children in the local area distressed her greatly.  Some years before her death, she instructed her daughter Tayabba Khanum to open a school specifically for these poor children - a school that would enrich their lives and help break the cycle of injustice and desperate poverty.  She passed away in 2009 but her legacy lives on in the shape of Maarif School, bringing hope and light to the lives of numerous children who would otherwise have no future.

Maulvi Abdul Raheem (RA)

Maulvi Abdul Raheem (Rahmatullah alaih - May God’s blessing be on him) was born in the serene agricultural village of Dheri, approximately 15 miles north of Mardan in November 1909.  He was a scholar and a sufi of the Chishtia-Qadria-Owaisia order.  His wisdom, kind heartedness and generosity brought him many followers from different regions.  Although he was a Pathan (member of the Pushto speaking population of the North Western Frontier Province) himself, he was dissatisfied with the ignorant stance of many Pathans regarding women and education.  It was his great desire to restore to women their rightful place of dignity and power in society.  He believed that education was the only way to achieve this goal.  His life was devoted to this cause and to the uplifting of the oppressed and the poor in society.

Tauheda Anjum

Tauheda Anjum was the first Principal of Maarif School System.  A dynamic young woman, strongly committed to the cause of education, she sought to rejuvenate primary education through the Maarif Schools  She is currently a lecturer at Peshawar University, and working part time towards her Doctorate in Education.