Dr. Abdelrahman Alsumait … The man who weights a nation:

There are many roles models in the field of Da’awa and relief work, the first of which is the best of the mankind our beloved prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and then his companions, may Allah be pleased with them, who filled the world with justice and light. But, talking about role models of the present time, we in the Shabab 4 Peace organization have been more affected by “The servant of the poor people of Africa”, Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait, the Kuwaiti may Allah have mercy on him.

Who is Dr. Abdelrahman Al-Sumait?

Al-Sumait was a pioneer of the pioneering work of Da’awa and relief work in Africa and those who send a spirit of vigor and hard work and perseverance, he is a man who carved his name on the wall of eternity and the wall of history, a prominent figure. There is no doubt that those who want to write the history of Da’awa and relief work in Africa must be stopped by the personality of Dr. Abdul-Rahman Al-Sumait, may Allah have mercy on him as a pioneer who walked on thorns, rocked the pavement, paved the way in the jungles of Africa and hit the finest parables in the face of challenges, this is because he spent nearly thirty years of age in the jungles of Africa, helping the poor, building schools, hospitals and universities and digging wells. Throughout his life in Africa or Kuwait, he did not know a recreational place, but his time was mostly for the poor, and he was the one who was the various television channels rushing to win interviews with him.

His childhood:

Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait is the third son in his family. Since his childhood, he was calm, glorious and distinguished in his study and quite person and maintained his prayers, especially Fajur prayer.
The people of the neighborhood gave him the title of “Mutawa”. Since the age of five he was in a permanent imagination and conceived it in the forests of Africa, He also had a stick that he puts next to him like the kind of sticks that is used to hunt snakes. Since middle and high school, he has been a member of the school scouting team for seven years. His training in the Boy Scouts had an important role in his life in teaching him a life of self-reliance, and patience that helped him in his missionary journey in Africa. At the time, he was writing an article in a weekly newspaper about Scout.

Al-Sumait’s heart was connected to charity work from a young age, He recounted that when he was in high school, he and his friends collected money and bought a car to transport the expatriate workers who were waiting for public transport in the heated sun of Kuwait’s and without a fee.

His Education:

Al-Sumait loved reading from a young age and was so passionate about it that his father threatened him more than once that he would not take him to the market because if he saw a newspaper lying on the ground he ran to pick it up and read it while walking. 

Al-Sumait graduated from high school in 1963 and applied for enrollment to study medicine in Egypt and the United States of America and he was accepted in both countries, when he heard from some students that studying medicine at Baghdad University in Iraq is very difficult, he changed his destination to Baghdad, and when he was asked why he had changed direction to Baghdad, he said: “I heard that it is difficult to study and I accept the challenge.”

His work:

After Dr. Al-Sumait completed his years of specialization at the University of Miguel, he worked in the following jobs:

• He went to London, the capital of the United Kingdom and worked as a specialist doctor at the Queen’s College Hospital in London in 1979 and 1980.
• He worked as a gastroenterologist at Al-Sabah Hospital in Kuwait between 1980 and 1983.
• Since 1983, he has devoted his life for charity work and established the Direct Aid Society as Secretary General and Chairman of the Board of Directors until 2008.
• He then served as Director of the Charity Research and Studies Center in Kuwait.

His Da’wa and relief work in Africa:

After Al-Sumait and his wife returned to Kuwait from his study trip in England and Canada, his virtuous wife (Um Suhaib) suggested that they leave the life of luxury in Kuwait and go to East Asia to work in the field of Da’awa and spreading Islam. Dr. Al-Sumait was convinced that he went to the Kuwaiti Ministry of Islamic Affairs to help him achieve his goal, but the bureaucracy of governments almost killed his enthusiasm had it not that he met with the wife of the king of Kuwait at that time – King Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah -, may Allah have mercy on him. The wife donated some money to Dr. Al-Sumait to build a mosque in her name in Africa. He then travelled to the country of Malawi to build the mosque, but discovered that the situation there needs more than one mosque, because the Imams of mosques themselves can’t read the chapter of Al-Fatiha correctly not to mention the common Muslims and found that most Africans know of Islam only myths and they are vulnerable to Christianization, especially their children.

The beginning of the Al-Sumait was difficult as usual in every new work in which the challenges, difficulties and closed doors, he was roaming among people and collected in the first three months only a thousand dollars. At first, he was disappointed but he did not give up, rather he changed his strategy. He turned from addressing the rich and wealthy people to address the middle class, especially the sector of women who stood beside him, especially his virtuous wife (Umm Suhaib), who donated all her inheritance for the benefit of Da’awa and relief work in Africa. One of the secrets of Al-Sumait’s success is his wife’s support for him and this was one of the interactions of success and magical mixes where collective success and where integration took place.

Al-Sumait went to Africa, building schools, mosques and hospitals and sponsoring orphans and teachers. When Al-Sumait left the life of luxury in Kuwait and went to Africa, he knew very well that he would face great dangers. His physical body thickened by diseases of blood pressure, diabetes and strokes, and his weapon which settled his battles for the sake of Allah and the vulnerable and the poors were verses from Quran that settled in his heart, and because he was a man of high vigor and sublime goals facilitated odds and was preaching the importance of education and began working out of his philosophy, which says:

“Education is a gift from Allah just as we have given oxygen to breathe, money to spend and food to eat. So the education which a divine right for every Muslim or non-Muslim everywhere, especially in Africa”

He had what he wanted, so he toured the African countries and built schools and attracted the students and the best teachers. If Sheikh Babiker Badri, may Allah have mercy on him, was the pioneer of education in Sudan, Dr. Al-Sumait, may Allah have mercy on him, was the pioneer of education in all of Africa.

Al-Sumait, may Allah have mercy on him, throughout his journey in Africa, spread the religion of Allah and did not spare no effort to do so, and once waded swamp in Madagascar for four hours to reach a city of the tribes of Antimor called Makkah. Some tribes whose origins were Islamic returned to Islam by the help of Allah, then his efforts and those of his ambitious team. These tribes were Muslim, but they forgot Islam because of the lack of Muslim preachers, such as: the tribe of Ghabra in northern Kenya and the Buran tribe in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya and the Antimor tribes and some of the Scalava tribes in Madagascar and the Varmba tribe in southern Zimbabwe.

Al-Sumait (may Allah have mercy on him) was a rare model, he was characterized by an unimaginable determination and a rare patience. When they asked him when he will quit traveling in Africa for the sake of Allah, he said: (I will throw the stick of travel when you guaranteed me paradise, and as long as no one can guarantee paradise for me there is no escape from working until death comes).

Al-Sumait, may Allah have mercy on him, was a unique educator who raised his children to love charity work and he took them with him to Africa during their school holidays and encouraged them to do so. He even once took his 13-year-old granddaughter with him to Africa to call for the path of Allah as a prize for he excellence in her studies.

His achievements:

Al-Sumait has devoted his life to preaching for Islam and charity work in Africa during thirty years.
This long struggle has yielded great results and great achievements. The following are some of the achievements of his organization – Direct Aid Society – as of October 2018:

– 11 million Africans entered Islam. 

• 2,410 wells were drilled in several African villages. 
•  283 schools were built. 
•  5 full-time universities were built. 
•  21,385 orphans were sponsored. 
•  More than 5000 projects under development. 
•  More than 30 million Islamic publications were distributed. 
•  90 hospitals were built. – Sponsorship of about 2000 teachers. 
•  10 Islamic radio stations were established. 
•  Three dams were built to provide water. 
•  550,000 tons of goods were distributed to people in need. 
•  Up to date, 150 million Kuwaiti dinars ($ 494 million) have been spent on goods and medicines for poor Africans.

Because of Al-Sumait’s great efforts in the field of Da’wa for that path of Allah in the jungles of Africa and for his charitable efforts, he has been respected by all and received a number of honors, awards and certificates of appreciation from many Islamic and governmental institutions, among these awards were the King Faisal International Prize for the Service of Islam and Muslims in 1996, and the value of 750 thousand riyals, which was donated to be the nucleus of the educational endowment of the sons of Africa. When Dr. Al-Sumait had many diseases, he was over 60 years old and was supposed to go to rest after thirty years of bitter struggle. But he began a new journey is the journey of documentation for the years of Da’wa and relief work in Africa and he established the Center for Studies of Charity work, and the results of the documentation phase was the following books:

•  For Beck Africa. 
•  A tear on Africa. 
•  A trip of good in Africa (a letter to my son). 
•  Arabs and Muslims in Madagascar. 
•  Features of Christianization – Scientific study. 
•  Crisis management for employees of Islamic organizations. 
•  Guide to the management of relief centers. 
•  Safety and evacuation in conflict zones. 
•  Buran tribes – one of the tribes of Kenya. 
•  Mujikanda – a group of Kenyan tribes. 
•  Dinka, the largest tribe in South Sudan.

Recording his Biography: 

Due to the importance of Al-Sumait, may Allah have mercy on him. Many television channels have recorded interviews with him about his da’wa in Africa. His great works were written in several books, among them are:

1. “My beloved brother Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait, flashes of his biography and his advocacy for Islam”:
   This book was written by Al-Sumait’s younger sister, Nouriya Hamoud Al-Sumait, and printed by the Direct Aid Society issued in 2014.It was decided to pump the book’s profits and revenues into the proceeds of education in the African continent.
   The reason for writing the book is the disease of Dr. Al-Sumait that made him not to be able to leave bed. 

As the field work became out of reach and his physical strength deteriorated, his sister Nouriya asked him to write down his experience and opinions after years of experience and the experience he carries and devote himself to the research center established by Al-Sumait already years ago. Being the love of Dr. Al-Sumait and his passion to help the poor in Africa hindered him from writing his biography about his journey in Africa; she made it her personal effort to collect the material of the book and its attachments and pictures and supervise and to print a tribute to the spirit of her deceased brother.

• “A man from the time of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him”:

This book is an academic research and a thesis for a master’s degree in Islamic sciences written and researched and documented by Dr. Rasmia Shamso from the Ouzai College in Beirut. Among the master’s courses was writing research in various Islamic subjects and talking about Islamic personalities. The book was published by Dar Al-asma’a in Damascus in 2012.

• “Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait: The Legend of Relief Work”:

This book is a documentary book detailing the biography of Dr/ Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait, the book talked about the life story of Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait since he was a child until after his death, in the book additions from the historian Abdul Aziz Al-Owaid full of stories and facts from printed and oral sources.

His Death:

Al-Sumait continued to work in the field of Da’wa and relief work in Africa after he grew old and the movement of his feet became difficult. He also suffered three strokes and had diabetes and foot and back pain. His health deteriorated in his late years and he began to suffer from impaired kidney function. Dr. Al-Sumait died on Thursday, August 15, 2013 after a long struggle with the disease, because he did not care about himself, but all his thinking was about the needy people in Africa, he gave them a lot and provided to Africa what countries with their budgets could not provide. 

Such a biography as of Al-Sumait is worth to be taught in Muslim schools for students perhaps that such a biography which is rich with great work would stimulate the youth of Da’wa at this time and they are the wilderness on the path to walk on. The story of Dr. Al-Sumait, may Allah be pleased with him, is story of challenge and intelligence, patience and ambition, the story of diligent construction that creates from the dust and dispersed materials palace majestic, Joyful sight, firm corners. Al-Sumait, who was taking more than a dozen medications to fight many diseases, had become a pioneer in the path of Allah and relief work in Africa. By the loss of “The servant of the poor of African”, we have lost a great man. He has become a pioneer of Da’wa and relief work in Africa and is a torch and free-roaring Muslim youth today to follow in his footsteps. By the loss of “The servant of the poor Africans”, we have lost a great man as he truly weighted a nation.