From time to time, I find myself in the presence of Kuwaiti figures who have left honourable marks on the history of this nation. Chance sometimes brings us together, and I count it a privilege to meet them. At other times, it is their conduct and biography that draws me to write, with some latitude, by way of acknowledgment and to cast light on the paths they have walked. Yesterday, I had the honour of receiving Dr. Rashid Al-Hamad, former Minister of Education and Higher Education, who graced us with his visit to Alothman Mosque in Al-Nuqra, to view the mosque following the restoration and rehabilitation works it has recently undergone. I can only say that his visit lent the place a particular warmth and joy. Before speaking of Dr. Al-Hamad, a saying of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib comes to mind: “A man is only where he places himself, so seek among people the highest.” These words might well have been written to describe the journey of Dr. Al-Hamad, who did not wait for distinction to come to him, but advanced toward it step by step, with full resolve and will. Dr. Al-Hamad is a rare character, one you seldom encounter in life, combining many of the finest human qualities, foremost among them wisdom and forbearance. His name needs no lengthy introduction to those who lived through the era of educational development in Kuwait. He is among the men who built their presence brick by brick, beginning in the classroom and rising to the highest and most distinguished of positions. He graduated in 1968 from the University of Alexandria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Geology, a choice of specialisation that sprang from an early awareness of the nature of Kuwait’s economy and the sources of its wealth, rather than from mere coincidence. Among the curiosities of that period is that his classmate on those very same university benches was none other than Dr. Ahmed Zewail, who went on to win the Nobel Prize and became one of the world’s foremost figures in chemistry, a fact that Dr. Rashid recalls with pride in numerous press interviews. He began his professional career in the field of education as a secondary school teacher of geology, then as a technical supervisor for the sciences, a stage of profound importance in the formation of any educational administrator, for it allows one to see the school from the inside rather than through an office window. During those years, he was committed to completing his academic qualifications, travelling to Britain where he earned his Master’s degree and then his Doctorate in Education in 1989 from the University of Southampton. His career then advanced steadily upward. He served as Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Planning and Development, then as Director of the Arab Centre for Educational Research for the Gulf States. He also chaired the board of the Environmental Protection Society for a number of years, a sign that his dedication to the nation was never confined to the walls of a school. His educational career was crowned by his appointment as Minister of Education and Higher Education. Dr. Rashid Al-Hamad was not merely an administrative official. He was also an author and an educator who left a clear imprint on the Arab educational library. Among his works is the well-known book “The Environment and Its Problems”, published in 1979 by the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters as part of the Alam Al-Marifah series, considered one of the earliest Arabic books to address environmental issues in a scientific and systematic manner. He also authored school references in science and geology for both the secondary and primary stages, in the firm belief that the book a teacher places in a student’s hands may leave a deeper mark than any position or title. Then came the diplomatic chapter, when he was appointed Kuwait’s Ambassador to Egypt, the country he had left as a young graduate forty years earlier, returning now bearing a diplomatic passport and something of an old and unforgettable affection. It was during that particular period that I first had the pleasure of meeting him, when we were brought together at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the Charitable Medical Complex in the city of Al-Qurna in Luxor Governorate, established in the name of the late Abdullah Abdullatif Al-Othman. Dr. Rashid represented Kuwait that day in every sense of the word, a diplomat combining the dignity of office with grace of character. I could not have imagined then that the years would bring us together once more in Al-Nuqra after all this time, yet the world remains small when it gathers those who leave a good mark upon it. Dr. Rashid Al-Hamad left Al-Othman Mosque as he had entered it, with his familiar composure and gentle smile, yet he left in our hearts a beautiful feeling that some men are not measured by the chairs they have occupied, but by the legacy they leave behind. In closing, we thank Dr. Rashid Al-Hamad for honouring us with this gracious visit, and we ask God to protect him, grant him long life, and preserve his health and wellbeing, to bless his journey, and to reward him on behalf of Kuwait, education, and knowledge with the finest of rewards.
Stay safe.