Book Review: Mohammed Alsubeaei: A Journey of Poverty and Wealth

I have always wondered why there are so few biographies about great Saudi men and women available in English, so I can only welcome the release of “Mohammed Alsubeaei: A Journey of Poverty and Wealth” co-written by Huda Alsubeaei, the second eldest daughter of Sheikh Mohammed’s ten children and Gene W. Heck.
Huda’s love, pride and respect for her father are the reason not only for the book itself but also for the way it was written. She wanted first and foremost, a biography that would meet her father’s approval. Therefore, much of the book focuses on Mohammed Alsubeaei’s staunch piety and beautiful character that are so much part of his remarkable success.
Born in 1915 in the town of Unayzah in the Najd, Alsubeaei lost his father when he was only 11 years old. This event changed his life as he felt morally obliged to support his mother and younger brother Abdullah despite his very young age. In those days, poverty was widely spread in the Arabian Peninsula and the inhabitants of Najd would often travel to the Hejaz, Syria or India to find work. He decided to move to Makkah and work for his uncle Nasser. At that time, merchants from all over the Islamic world gathered in the holy city. Alsubeaei still remembers the first journey of his life:
“…the trip was tedious, the road long, and the water scarce. We reached a well called Al-Atimah, near Al-Dawadimi, whose water was muddy, but we drank it anyway, because we could find no other.”
Alsubeaei’s first job was carrying water to his uncle’s home as well as doing some odd jobs in his shop, and he was working up to 16 hours a day. After 16 months, Alsubeaei thought it was time to look for a more lucrative work. He was unusually mature for his age and was clearly aware that he needed more money to take proper care of his mother and brother. He was also extremely ambitious. Although he was upset at having to quit his school studies, far from feeling frustrated and bitter, he decided to be successful in his work, instead.
During the next four years, he worked in the building industry as a guard, a clerk and an inspector before returning to Makkah where he became a street peddler until he met fortuitously, his first business partner, Sulaiman Bin Ghunaym.
This first commercial venture marks the beginning of his successful business career. The shop in Al-Judriah specialized in thawbs and cotton goods. However, over time, money-changing developed as a separate business and this eventually became Alsubeaei’s main profession. Alsubeaei and his brother established in 1938, the Mohammed and Abdullah Ibrahim Alsubeaei Company for Money-Changing and Trade.
Alsubeaei has some interesting anecdotes about transporting gold, silver and currencies in those days: “If a car carrying gold or silver broke down, the driver would leave it in the care of his assistant and go to Riyadh or Jeddah seeking spare parts to repair it. When he returned, he would find it just as he had left it”.
And whenever the Alsubeaei brothers sent gold by plane, they would take the gold, silver as well as bags of money, bury them in the sand and sleep on them. Early, next morning, they would send this precious cargo with one of the passengers.
Sulaiman Abdulaziz Al-Rajhi, a fellow Islamic banker and a friend 60 years, says that, “a quality contributing greatly to his success, has been his ability to engender trust among everyone with whom he deals” while Dr. Al-Zamil praises his dedication to charitable activities which is not surprising. Alsubeaei is known for his compassion (hanan) and his favorite motto is: “May I be able to extend blessings to others as God has blessed me.”
Alsubeaei established the Mohammed and Abdullah Alsubeaei Charitable Foundation and he is also a member of the King Abdulaziz and Associates Foundation for Sponsoring the Gifted. Furthermore, he is a founding member of both the Charitable Organization for Caring for Orphans and the Charitable Organization for Caring for the Disabled and many others. However, known for his modesty, he says: “I prefer not to talk about our charitable works except from the standpoint of encouraging others to do the same”.
Alsubeaei ranks amongst the pioneers who have built the economy of modern Saudi Arabia. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Muqayrin who closely worked with Alsubeaei in the establishment of Bank Albilad rightly says that, “Mohammed Alsubeaei is the product of an age wherein honor transcended profit motive and was the prevailing leitmotif, since it issued from the pure hearts of those who also sought for others, what they wanted for themselves. Deeming him to be the prototype of a pioneering age, he cites his generation as one that produced an economic model that has economically transformed Saudi Arabia and thus is one that merits careful contemplation now.”
Full of ambitions, Alsubeaei, in his quest for success, always kept in his mind the following maxim: “There is no difficulty if one beseeches God to facilitate matters, “in testimony to the assertion of the Almighty: “For those who fear God, He prepares a way, and He provides for him in a way he cannot imagine.”
God came to his aid when he met Sulaiman bin Ghunaym, a merchant from Makkah who was searching for an honest person to take over his work during a six months absence. When Sulaiman bin Ghunaym returned, he was so impressed by Alsubeaei’s honesty and dedication that he decided to leave his partner in Makkah and move to Riyadh to look after his business.
Success came in the form of a contract they signed with the Ministry of Finance to provide it with cloaks and other items. At the same time, they also began remitting the salaries of the Ministry of Education throughout the Kingdom.
We are reminded in the epilogue that this biography is but a brief account of a great man and the full story would take volumes. I just wish Huda Alsubeaei had done just that and written more about her father. This story of an 11-year-old boy who began his professional life as a water carrier and ended up as the founder of Bank Albilad, one of the largest Islamic banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is indeed fascinating. However, at the end of the book, we are still yearning for more anecdotes and details about Mohammad Alsubeaei’s exceptional life.