Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rajhi was born in 1348 Hijri/ 1929 in the city of Al-Bakiriya, one of the governorates of Qassim region in Saudi Arabia, where he grew up in a poor family and in harsh financial conditions, he was the third amongst his siblings, Saleh, Abdullah, and Muhammad.
Entrepreneurship:
Sheikh Sulaiman was passionate about work and trade through which he sought his life successes, and from his beginning and childhood he was determined, bold, and strong willed about learning, and benefiting from the experiences of others, in addition to his insistence on uniqueness, excellence and non-imitation in his works.
Sheikh Sulaiman began his trade work 1358 Hijri/1939 And then moved from one job to another to look for suitable opportunities, in 1365 Hijri/1945 he worked with his brother Saleh until 1376 Hijri/1956, and throughout this period the Sheikh had a diverse Exchange and trade until he was able to have capital of his own money with which he could be independent with his banking and commercial business, and then the Brothers moved to work together in partnership from 1377 Hijri/1957 until 1390 Hijri /1970.
In 1972, Sheikh Sulaiman established the Sulaiman Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Rajhi Foundation and began to expand, opening a number of branches in Jeddah and others. This banking expansion was also accompanied by an expansion in the real estate field, where the Sheikh was able to achieve many successes with gaining a good reputation among customers and traders from inside and outside the Kingdom.
Out of his keenness on halal earnings, which develops money and makes him blessed and his constant eagerness to innovate and innovate while maintaining the legitimacy of the work and its full adherence to Islamic law was to seek the establishment of an Islamic banking system that deals in accordance with Islamic guidelines and teachings, so Sheikh Sulaiman provided He asked the officials of the British Central Bank for a license to open a consulting services office, but the request was initially rejected, and after a personal interview between officials of the British Central Bank with Sheikh Sulaiman who convinced them of his point of view, the application was approved and was opened in 1402 H / 1981.
Sheikh Sulaiman believed in the idea of integration and partnership between sectors in order to bring about development and its continuation, so the idea of investing in a number of sectors and establishing a number of institutions of quality and professionalism inside and outside the country, these sectors are:
- The financial and real estate sector.
Agriculture and food sector.
- Industry
- Education and technology sector.
Organizational philanthropy:
At the beginning of the sheikh’s life, the charitable work for him and his brothers generally turned to a specific type of assistance to the needy, where the distribution of handouts and aid to the deserving was carried out through the sheikh himself or his representatives, and after the state organized institutions and associations for charity work, the special assistance of Sheikh Tamer became Through this system, the sheikh’s role was limited to monitoring and supervising.
Later, with the expansion of the works and after consulting the scholars, religion and opinion, the Sheikh decided to establish a special body to carry out charitable and religious work, the beginning was nearly two decades ago and after going through a number of stages was the birth of the Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi Charitable Foundation, under the license of the Ministry of Affairs Social No. 10 on 19/6/1421 H. Charitable and non-profit organizations such as the Sulaiman al-Rajhi Waqf foundation and Sulaiman Al-Rajhi University followed.
To learn more about the life of Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rajhi, see the book “Sulaiman Al-Rajhi A System of Life” and “Sheikh Sulaiman al-Rajhi – His Story with endowments”.
