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Raised on Righteousness, Shaped for Greatness
In a righteous Kuwaiti home, a mosque-devoted father raised his children upon piety, and young Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait grew devout from his earliest years — until they called him “Al-Mulla.” This is the story of an upbringing that planted patience, endurance, and lofty ambition in a boy, before he carried them out into the world as a man.
A youth among us grows up shaped … by that to which his father had accustomed him.
Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Hamoud Al-Sumait — may God have mercy on him — was born on the tenth of Dhul-Hijjah 1366 AH, corresponding to the tenth of October 1947, in Kuwait, into a devout family that loved doing good. His father — may God have mercy on him — was a righteous man, devoted to the mosque, who raised his children upon that path. The piety and virtue of this family helped shape the character of the young Abdul Rahman from his earliest years, as the poet said:
A youth among us grows up shaped … by that to which his father had accustomed him.
He kept close to the mosque from his earliest childhood, until he was given the nickname “Al-Mulla” — a title reserved for the devout, Persian in origin, meaning “teacher,” which Kuwaitis of old used for the teachers of Quran schools. His son, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al-Sumait, describes his beginnings: “There is no doubt that beginnings play a great role in a person’s life… He was committed to prayer from an early age, even though he was not yet five — indeed, he would pray Fajr at the mosque!”
His wife, Umm Suhaib, describes his childhood: “As a child he was calm by nature — even at the time of weaning, his mother did not have to stay up with him as mothers usually do. He was serious in his studies, became religious at a young age, and would neither flatter nor compromise when it came to matters of faith.”
Among the most striking features of his upbringing was his passion for reading. Whenever he spotted a scrap of paper, a page of a newspaper, or a magazine lying in the street, he would rush to pick it up and read it as he walked — so absorbed that he often bumped into passersby. It was through this that his father discovered his talent and took care to provide him with books and magazines. He frequented the Hawally Public Library, entering as the first visitor and leaving as the last, and spent most of his money buying books — especially those arriving from Egypt. His reading was wide-ranging, covering the religious sciences, other religions, politics, and economics, opening his eyes to horizons unavailable to his peers.
What further tempered his young character, until it grew firm and strong, was his participation in the Scouts for nearly seven years. It left clear marks on his life — in his Islamic formation, his endurance of hardship, and his patience with a hard life — so that he emerged with a proactive, persevering character, able to face difficulties with fortitude and patience.
He then entered secondary school at Shuwaikh Secondary School in the early 1960s — a boarding school whose students returned to their families only on Thursdays and Fridays. It was a self-contained academic city, and many of its graduates went on to hold positions in the state, so much so that it became the nucleus upon which Kuwait University was founded in 1966. Despite its distance and the hardship of reaching it, his character — steeped in patience and endurance — would not let that hinder him from completing his journey.
Abdul Rahman's childhood was not mere play and idleness; it already carried within it the seed of a man who knew his destination early.
It is said that at the ages of ten and eleven he would act out — with all the spontaneity and innocence of children — the very figure he hoped to become as an adult: he would sit in a spot above the rooms and beneath the roof, set out vessels filled with salt and powder, put on a doctor’s garb, and declare, “I am a doctor, and these are the medicines!” The little boy did not know that this innocent game would one day become the destiny that led him to heal millions in the forests of Africa. Alongside this dream ran a rare loftiness of ambition; he would not settle for the middle rank, nor content himself with what his peers were content with, but carved his path with an iron will toward a goal far beyond what those around him could see.
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