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HIGH POINT — There’s something magical about how Zaki Khalifa not only has built an international reputation and fortune in the rug business in High Point but has endeared himself to the community the Pakistani native has called home for 33 years.

He has become an icon of humility and good will.

Maybe it’s his meek manner or the humble smile that make him popular — even admired. Perhaps it is his extreme politeness.

The warmth in his voice? Or the fact that Khalifa has more rugs than anyone in High Point or anywhere nearby — 14,000.

Khalifa, 65, is affectionately called by his first name by most who know him. He has been a popular businessman in High Point since 1977 when he opened Zaki Oriental Rugs on North Main Street. He’s moved the business a couple times; it’s now in a huge building at 600 S. Main St.

The Asian American Development Center in New York recognized Khalifa last year by naming him one of the 50 most outstanding Asian Americans in Business. A native of Pakistan and now an American citizen, Khalifa was nominated for the award by the Pakistan Embassy in the United States.

When the award was presented before 600 people at the Hilton in New York, Khalifa said he felt humbled and honored. “I will always plan to carry out my mission to serve humanity anywhere in the world and to promote understanding between different people from around the world,” he said.

He has spoken to groups across the country, talking about cultures coming together.

He has been a faithful member and officer in the High Point Chamber of Commerce for many years, helping promote business and community events. Among his awards is High Point’s Distinguished Citizen of the Year.

Khalifa also has contributed to nonprofit organizations. He’s even given away three buildings:

• The High Point Chamber of Commerce Building, 1634 N. Main St., was Zaki Oriental Rugs’ location before Khalifa donated the $1.5 million building to the chamber in 2004. The building was remodeled and has a large meeting room for community organizations. It also has commercial space for rent, making it a revenue producer for the chamber. Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., recently relocated his High Point office to this building.
• High Point Community Against Violence recently received a building at 792 N. Main St. It also houses the America Works office, which is allied to the CAV’s objective of finding jobs for people in the community, especially former inmates.
• The Foster Children of North Carolina agency, based in Greensboro, was given the building adjoining the CAV building and will open a branch office there. A price for these two buildings hasn’t been established.

Khalifa’s huge heart outweighs the man himself. He’s always looking for ways to help others. And he’s unabashed about his Muslim faith in a culture composed mainly of Christians and Jews.
He advocates tolerance, acceptance and assimilation among people of different cultures. “Truth, good, care, love and service to others transcends all of the other things,” he said.

“I want this to be the place where dreams are made,” Khalifa said after donating the building to the chamber. “We must learn something new about our community, our country and the world everyday ... and we must do something to help someone in the community everyday ... Unless we do that, life really doesn’t become meaningful,” he said when the building was dedicated in 2006.

Khalifa said he had a good role model for philanthropy — the grandfather who raised him.

“For most of his life, he was one of the most successful attorneys in India,” Khalifa said. “He never accumulated any wealth because he gave it all away to orphanages, educational institutions and other worthwhile causes.”

His grandfather, Khalifa Shujauddin, was one of the leaders in helping India gain its independence from England in 1947. He later became the speaker of the legislature for the Punjab province in Pakistan.

The young Zaki Khalifa, educated in an American-run missionary college in Pakistan, where he was “exposed to people of different cultures,” chose not to follow his grandfather into politics or become a college professor, as did his two sisters. His background was in banking until he traded that experience for the rug business in America.

“I had a desire to live somewhere in the Western World where there was a different way of life than what I was accustomed to,” Khalifa said.

He arrived in New York on July 4, 1976, as the nation was celebrating its 200th anniversary.

“There were all of these ships in the harbor, and I thought they were there to welcome me,” he said with a smile.

He settled in High Point because a friend he met at his college — Carl Wheeless, an American missionary — had taken a position at what’s now High Point University . Wheeless died two years ago.
Khalifa’s early years in the o riental rug business were difficult, but he eventually built the reputation of his products and his business integrity. Zaki Oriental Rugs and the company owner now have an international reputation.

Ten years ago, a rug-buying trip led him to dine at the home of two friends in India. It was there that Khalifa met Rashida, who soon became his wife. “I proposed to her that same afternoon, and she accepted,” he said.

Khalifa usually makes four world treks a year to buy rugs, visiting Pakistan, India, China and Nepal.

The focus of his trip to Pakistan this fall won’t be rugs. The country has suffered from the worst floods in 80 years, and the United Nations estimates 20 million homes have been destroyed. About 1,600 people died in the floods.

Khalifa wants to connect with groups doing relief work to determine how he can help.

His philanthropic spirit is still alive. That big heart is at work.
Grandfather Shujauddin would be proud of his protégé.

Contact Bob Burchette at bburchette@triad.rr.com