Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi

 

The death of Sheikh Saeed Bin Abdullah Al-Daajani has left a great void in the Kingdom’s charity and Dawa work. He was a great icon in the field of philanthropy in Jeddah.



For more than 60 years, Sheikh Al-Daajani spent his time and effort as well as his health and wealth to set up, finance and manage Qur’an memorization schools, and to help insolvent prisoners settle their debts and get them out of prison. A number of other philanthropists joined hands with him in supporting these poor people who were forced to remain behind bars due to their inability to settle their debts.



Sheikh Al-Daajani was also in the forefront of initiatives to support  youths too poor to get married by establishing a society for the same. Al-Daajani was the chairman of the society called the Organization to Assist Youths for Marriage and Family Counseling. The Emir of Makkah has served as the honorary chairman of the society since the time of the late former Emir Prince Majed Bin Abdul Aziz. The society has helped thousands of young Saudi men and women get married. Hassan Abbas Sharbatly was also among the forefront of philanthropists who stood by Al-Daajani to support the society.  



Sheikh Al-Daajani was born in Baljurshi in Baha region. At an early age, he moved to Jeddah where he met Muhammad Al-Marzouqi, who advised him to study Islamic Shariah and helped him to secure an education. He also benefited from Sheikh Muhammad Naseef and his library, which contained several invaluable books.



Sheikh Al-Daajani entered into a commercial partnership with Abdullah Baashan and opened a grocery store in Al-Khaskia, which was the main commercial center in Jeddah in those days. But later after entrusting the management of the shop to his brother, he decided to continued his studies of Islamic Shariah during  which time he was the disciple of Sheikh Muhammad Bin Saeed, Sheikh Saleh Al-Falasteeni, Sheikh Hassan Arab, Sheikh Abdullah Aflah Al-Zubaidy, Allama Abdullah Al-Homairy, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Dahlawi and several other great scholars who came to Saudi Arabia from various parts of the Islamic world. They were all guests of Sheikh Al-Daajani. Thus he was able to learn the Arabic language, grammar and structure as well as the fundamentals of the Islamic subjects of tawheed (monotheism), fiqh (jurisprudence) and Hadith (the Tradition of the Prophet).  



This prompted the late Grand Mufti and eminent Saudi scholar Sheikh Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz to appoint Sheikh Al-Daajani  as president of the branch of the Propagation and Guidance in Jeddah. Ibn Baz also asked him to manage the affairs of the office of the Islamic University in Jeddah, of which Ibn Baz was the president.



After authorizing his brother to run his business,  Sheikh Al-Daajani moved to the villages located between Makkah and Madinah to teach people Qur’an and the religious principles in clear and simple language. He behaved in a humble manner and was patient with the difficulties and harshness of life expecting no reward except that from God. He was keen to teach the youths and enable them to emerge from the clutches of illiteracy and  darkness into the light of knowledge. He used to encourage parents to send their children to school even if it was outside their village. During those days, there were only a few schools.



Sheikh Al-Daajani was instrumental in forming groups of people to memorize the Holy Qur’an in those villages, and this was with the support of benevolent people especially Hassan Sharbatly and his teacher Muhammad Bin Laden who had great trust in him and extended cooperation to him whether it was in Jeddah or in the villages.  



Sheikh Al-Daajani played an active role in setting up a committee to assist insolvent prisoners. Sheikh Omar Badahdah and other philanthropists joined hands with him in this regard. They met with each other to discuss and study individual cases of prisoners who were unable to settle their debts, and they gave priority to prisoners who had been put behind bars for their inability to pay small amounts of money. They also gave preference to those prisoners who had families and children so as to enable them to return home and support them.



These philanthropists used to contact the people to whom these prisoners had financial obligations. They also negotiated with them to provide full or partial concession in repayment of debts. Sheikh Al-Daajani had an attractive manner when approaching these lenders with a request to grant such concessions, explaining to them that he was seeking the pleasure of God. The efforts of these philanthropists were crowned with success and  they were able to secure the release of a large number of prisoners. Sheikh Al-Daajani and his benevolent friends were very active in Ramadan in encouraging philanthropists to increase their donations and charity work, and in persuading lenders to give a concession to debtors so that a large number of prisoners could be released and be able to spend their Eid Al-Fitr festival with their families and children.



Sheikh Al-Daajani served as khateeb at the mosque adjacent to the royal palace in Al-Hamra district in Jeddah. During those days, King Faisal was among those who came to perform prayer at the mosque, which was open from the side of the street and was not closed on the side of the royal palace. People used to come from far away to listen to the Friday sermon and join in prayers together with King Faisal.



I knew Sheikh Al-Daajani for more than 50 years. I found him to be a great person with noble qualities and a good heart. He was a generous man and was very gentle in his behavior with both elders and youngsters. He never made abusive remarks. He was the champion of good character and he never had a harsh and intolerant attitude. He was polite, considerate and tolerant, and was never seen in a state of anger. If Sheikh Al-Daajani ever found himself dealing with an angry person, he used to pacify him with a fresh smile. He enforced the slogan of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Haia) without showing vice to anyone.



Sheikh Al-Daajani was among the few people who have won the hearts of people and their love and appreciation, and these virtues will remain forever. May Allah show him mercy and accommodate him in His Paradise.

 

– Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at algham@hotmail.com