KARACHI: Rafiq Habib, a well known business leader and former chairman of the House of Habib, has passed away in Dubai at the age of 88. His death marks the end of an era for Pakistan’s corporate and educational community.
Born in 1937, Rafiq Habib dedicated his life to building businesses and creating opportunities for people across Pakistan. Under his guidance, the House of Habib grew into one of the country’s most influential business groups.
Today, it employs more than 15,000 people and operates in a wide range of sectors including banking, finance, manufacturing, automotive, and energy.
He was the former head of the House of Habib conglomerate, Habib University’s chancellor, and a member of Stile company’s board of directors. He was also the chairman of the Habib University Foundation.
“With profound sorrow, Habib University mourns the passing of its founding chancellor, Rafiq M. Habib (1937-2025), and honours his enduring legacy,” Habib University said in a post on Instagram.
Beyond business, Rafiq Habib also made a lasting mark in education. He was the founding chancellor of Habib University, an institution known for promoting creativity, innovation, and critical thinking among young Pakistanis.
His vision was to give the country’s youth access to quality education that would help them compete globally while also staying rooted in local culture and values.
Colleagues and peers often described him as a man of integrity and foresight. He believed in blending tradition with modern progress, which shaped both the House of Habib and his philanthropic efforts.
Through his leadership, countless professionals and entrepreneurs found inspiration. His passing is not only a loss for the business world but also for Pakistan’s academic and social development.
Rafiq Habib’s legacy will continue to live on through the institutions he built, the lives he impacted, and the values he upheld throughout his career. According to Habib University’s website, Rafiq was a trustee of “several welfare projects”, including education, healthcare, relief and rehabilitation.
Rafiq actively participated in social welfare programmes and had been part of “several welfare institutions covering a wide range of social activities, education being the prime focus, where the family runs its own schools and supports other schools presently imparting high quality primary education to over 8,000 children”, Stiles noted.
Rafiq had a “wide business experience” in the insurance and banking industry, and promoted many companies, including Indus Motor Company Limited.
“He is a Rotarian, an effective major donor, supports Polio Plus programme and actively promotes street schools, home schools, etc,” Stiles added.
The businessman remained as a consultant for Habib Bank AG Zurich, which has Habib Metropolitan Bank as its subsidiary in Pakistan.
He also served for several years on the Board of Directors of Philips Electrical Company of Pakistan Ltd and was the first chairman on Standard Chartered Bank’s advisory board in the country.
Wasif Rizvi, the president of Habib University, termed Rafiq a “towering figure of vision, humility, and steadfast service, whose leadership and generosity laid the very foundations” of the varsity.
“Rafiq sahib was the visionary in the legendary Habib family to imagine a world-class institution of higher learning being founded in Karachi,” Rizvi wrote in a statement.
“His generosity was never about recognition, it was an act of devotion to knowledge, to service, and to the belief that education is the noblest inheritance one can give to society.”
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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