The Real Mohafiz: Man, who wanted to serve the humanity

Man, who left his promising job and luxury lifestyle, started his own company with one clear goal “Serve Humanity, Save lives”

In a country like Pakistan, where numerous challenges and a lack of basic facilities prevail, everyone is in a constant struggle; yet, there are still a few who work for the welfare of others. Despite facing many obstacles, they have only one aim in mind: “to serve humanity. ” Fahd Khan is one of those individuals.

My first interaction with Fahd occurred during my initial team meeting while I was working at Mohafiz. When I joined Mohafiz back in 2023, everyone spoke of one person, “Fahd Bhai. ” Bhai is an Urdu word for brother, which is important to mention because everyone regarded him at work as an elder brother rather than a CEO. I couldn’t meet him on my first day since he was on a business trip, but from everything I heard, my curiosity piqued. During my first team meeting, I saw a man in his early forties with a charismatic personality enter the room, and everyone stood from their seats out of respect. It was him. Such an inspiring, charismatic, well-read, and well-spoken person, at that moment, I understood why everyone talked about him all the time.

During my time at Mohafiz, I had the privilege of working with him and learning many things from him, not just about work but also about life. If I had to summarize Fahd’s life based on what I learned, it would be: “serving God by serving humanity”. This is the principle that led to the birth of Mohafiz.

In Pakistan, there is not a single emergency service that will respond to all emergencies like 911 and 999 in developed countries like the USA and the UK. After the tragic militant attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, more than 144 children lost their lives.

With a heavy heart, he mentioned, “I was sitting in a hotel room lobby. I heard the news that terrorists had gone into a school building in Peshawar in Pakistan and they started killing children indiscriminately for about a good some time until there were over 140 school children dead. And as a father, I just couldn’t understand it. I couldn’t understand how we live in a country where there is no response system”.

Fahd Khan during an interview

Fahd Khan while signing MOU with Rescue 1122 Punjab

online interview with Fahd Khan

Pakistan has been facing terrorism and insurgency for a long time. Hundreds of people have lost their lives, and thousands have been affected. The lack of a proper emergency response service makes it even more challenging to save lives and assist those in need. This led to the birth of Mohafiz—to save lives, help people, and make Pakistan safer for future generations.

When I asked Fahd about what was the initial idea that led to the birth of Mohafiz? What gap was he trying to fill? His response was simple and clear. “You know, you don’t really have a private 999 or a private 911 solution anywhere on the planet. And you want to do it for the masses. So you’ve got to be that well prepared. You’ve got to really map out every first responder. We had more than 735 emergency help lines, and they were all like, you know, not talking to one another, and people, if they were in a different part of the city, didn’t know who exactly to call and what to do in case of an emergency”.

Before starting, Mohafiz Fahd was in a different line of business. He was a salesperson in the military industry and had also worked with various multinational agencies. In a society like Pakistan, when you are doing well in life and suddenly decide to switch professions to work for the people, you face a lot of criticism and backlash. Coming from a military background and a privileged family, Fahd always had a sense of responsibility to do something for Pakistan, for the masses, and to make a difference.

He said “You know, with the way that you’re raised up, where the military families are the last remnants of colonial rule in Pakistan, right? And when you look at that colonial rule, what you see is a lot of privilege. There’s a difference between you and the masses and, and that’s how you’re raised. And somehow that’s always, always, you know, pressured very heavily on my head that I’ve been raised with a lot of privilege and that I owe a lot more than the average Pakistani because I’ve been a beneficiary of a system in a country where nobody is equal”.

I asked him about the name Mohafiz, why he named his organization Mohafiz? Out of everything, why Mohafiz? He replied, “Mohafiz is the Urdu word for the English word guardian. And it’s somebody who protects. It’s somebody who guards. It’s somebody who’s more akin to being a guardian angel than anything else, right? And that’s where the name came from. And so, we’ve been doing that”.
Over the years, Mohafiz has saved more than 15,000 lives and handled over 55,000 emergencies across Pakistan. The initial plan is to continue operating in Pakistan and serving the masses. However, shortly, the goal is to assist people globally whenever and wherever the need arises.

He said, “Especially an idea like Mohafiz, where you’re going out to save lives in a country like Pakistan. It just sort of brings out a completely evangelical sort of spirit to it. And that works. I hope that we keep on working in the same way to a place where 240 million people initially and then, you know, wherever humanity is suffering, Mohafiz has a role to play in alleviating that and reducing the risk that surrounds people from living in a world which is full of harsh realities”.