Lessons of experiences lead to birth of a humane bizman

The story is set in the 1970s. A young man had just left a small job to pursue his dreams. But destiny had other plans in store for the youth. Due to stomach pain, he was admitted to a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. At the hospital, he was unable to communicate properly with the doctors, as his Arabic was poor. The doctors suggested a surgery for his stomach pain and it was with great difficulty he convinced them to spare him from the surgery.  

The consultation fees during that time were Saudi Riyal (SR) 100 and expats were not getting proper medical care due to the high cost as well as language barriers. The labour class from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh suffered a lot due to this state of affairs.

The bitter experience at the hospital prompted the young man to start a clinic in Jeddah with a small amount taken as loan from his grandfather, who was working in Burma. 

Thus his journey to the fortune began from a hospital. What stood out in his clinic were two factors: the presence of expatriate doctors, who could converse in Hindi or Malayalam. These languages were helpful for most of the people, who belonged to the labour class.  He also slashed the consultation fee to SR15.

The young man’s initiative received overwhelming response at that time. So often, the clinic was heaving with patients. The number became more than 2,000 a day and they were treated by more than 40 doctors brought from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

There began the success story of K.T. Mohammed Rabeeh Rabeeullah, the founder of Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Group.

A philanthropist to the core, his charity efforts were initiated from his early days of establishing clinic. Along with starting a clinic, he, for the first time in the history of Jeddah, conducted a free medical camp.

Before becoming himself as an entrepreneur, he was working as an employee receiving a meagre amount of SR600 as salary. In remembrance of this, Rabeeullah provides huge discounts to labourers who receive salary less than SR600.

His charity activities span across countries, including Thailand, Middle East and his hometown in Kerala, India.  Rabeeullah adopted a village in his home State many years ago, triggered by the shock of knowing about a family suicide due to financial difficulties in that village. 

Around 300 families receive pension from him. Rabeeullah hasn’t seen them in person; indeed a rare deed in this era of media savvy charities. 

According to Rabeeullah, the Chairman and Managing Director of Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Group and the key executive of many other ventures, he is very media shy and usually avoids coming to the limelight as far as possible.

Meanwhile, Rabeeullah wants to do good to all, and remembers the Almighty in his words and action even after being conferred with great laurels like the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman and honorary doctorates.