MEMON COMMUNITY

Memons are a Muslim ethnic group originating from Indian subcontinent. Traditionally, the Memons have been a mercantile community. But, as the years have passed, they have increasingly diversified in to various other professions.

Memons are known for their involvement in philanthropy. A number of mosques, orphanages, sanatoria, educational institutions, dispensaries, hospitals, musafirkhanas, societies, etc. have been built by munificent Memons at various times and in different places.

Due to various reasons, the members of the Memon community have migrated to and settled in different parts of the world. But, a major chunk of Memons still reside in India and Pakistan. Wherever they go, if there is a substantial Memon population, they form themselves into Jamats. These Jamats are elected bodies and look after the welfare of the community.

Today, a major chunk of the Memon Community is based out of India and Pakistan; apart from significant communities in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Middle East, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, Mauritius, Singapore Burma and Australia.

Memoni is the language that Memons speak. The Memons of different regions have slightly different styles of speaking this language, thanks to local influences and years of isolation from each other. However, these dialects remain mutually intelligible. Memoni is believed to have originated as a dialect of Sindhi. It is mutually intelligible with Kutchi with borrowed vocabulary from Gujarati, Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu) and lately English. Memoni as a language does not have its own script. However, in the past, there have been attempts to write Memoni using Gujrati and Urdu scripts. Off late, with the increasing popularity of computers and communication mediums such as emails, messages, etc. Memoni has increasingly started being written in the Roman Script too.

Across the world, Memons are no longer mere businessmen or industrialists, they are now among the most enlightened and progressive communities in the world.