ONE MAN = ONE NATION = Dr. Abdul Rahman al-Sumait al Kuwaiti

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “He who relieves the hardship of a believer in this world, Allah will relieve his hardship on the Day of Judgment; he who makes easy what is difficult, Allah will make it easy for him in the world and the Hereafter; he who conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in the world and the Hereafter; Allah helps the servant so long as he helps his brother; ......[Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Number 6518]

Ibn Umar reported: Two men came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, which of the people are most beloved to Allah? And which deeds are most beloved to Allah?” The Messenger of Allah said, “The people most beloved to Allah are those who are most beneficial to the people; and the most beloved deed to Allah is to make a Muslim happy, or remove one of his troubles, or to forgive his debt, or to satiate his hunger, or to walk with his brother regarding a need; ......(cont.) ; and whoever walks with his brother regarding a need until he secures it for him, then Allah the Exalted will make his footing firm across the bridge on the day when the footings are shaken.”

[Source: Mu’jam Al-Awsat At-Tabarani 6192]

See the funeral prayer of the Shaykh in Kuwait : https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1380636502164527

Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sumait, who helped thousands of Africans understand and embrace Islam, constructed 5,700 mosques and four universities in Africa,  passed away on Thursday. He was 66. He was awarded the King Faisal International Prize in 1996 in recognition of his Islamic and humanitarian services.

Announcing Al-Sumait’s demise, his son Suhaib said  his father would be buried in Selaikhat cemetery at 8.30 a.m. on Friday.Condolence messages poured in from all over the world through the social media and news websites, expressing shock and sorrow over his death. “Al-Sumait’s death is a big loss for the Arab and Islamic Ummah,” said Mohammed Badahdah,assistant secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

“We can find only a few individuals like Al-Sumait  among the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world,” Badahdah said, and urged Muslims to spend more of their time, money and energy in humanitarian activities. He said Muslims in the past had made a lot of efforts to spread of the message among people in the East and West, overcoming a lot of difficulties.

“We should follow the good example of our  forefathers and exert all possible efforts to spread the message of this great religion. We should not show any negligence in informing expatriate workers  about the teachings of our religion. Our students who pursue their higher studies in foreign countries should also keep this mission in their minds,” he said.

Badahdah described Al-Sumait as an encyclopedia on Africa as the late scholar had conducted detailed studies on the continent’s political, social and economic matters and published several books. “Arab media has ignored this great man and did not give much publicity for his humanitarian activities in Africa. He is a model of a good Muslim who applied Islam to spread goodness, love and harmony in the  world,” said Mahmoud, an Egyptian commentator. “It is quite unfortunate that people like  Al-Sumait is not well-known in society. He was a great personality. As a result of his activities millions of Africans embraced Islam. He had sponsored 15,000 orphans and constructed 9,500 artesian wells in Africa. His history should be written in golden letters,” said another close associate of Al-Sumait.

Born in Kuwait in 1947, Al-Sumait studied medicine in Baghdad University, obtained a diploma in tropical medicine from Liverpool University, and specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology in Montreal General Hospital in Canada. He conducted research on hepatic malignancies in King’s College, London. He worked briefly as a consultant gastroenterologist at Sabah Hospital in Kuwait before dedicating his full-time to humanitarian activities. As a young student, Al-Sumait witnessed a scene outside his school that sparked his interest in helping the less fortunate, and this changed his life forever. He observed poor workers waiting for their means of transportation in the heat on a daily basis. He purchased a car with the support of some friends and drove these workers for free.

His interest in Africa was ignited when he felt  and saw that the continent was being neglected. Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and  Angola, among many other nations in the area that were suffering from famine, hunger and disease, were the focus of Al-Sumait’s operations. The Africa Muslims Agency, where he had served as chairman from 1981 to 2008,operates in more than 40 countries,providing various social, educational, health and humanitarian services

May Allah bless him and elevate his ranks to al Firdaus. Aameen.  

His online profile : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Rahman_Al-Sumait