Imtiaz Sooliman – An inside look at , the man behind The Gift of the Givers
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses Dr. Suleiman's motto, which describes him as a servant of human beings and a woman who gives him inspiration to stay in his work. He describes his behavior as a woman who gives him advice and guidance, and describes his behavior as a woman who gives him advice and guidance. The speaker also mentions Dr. Suleman's premonition and his actions during a mission, including canceling his leave due to a storm and returning to camp.
AI: Summary ©
Something really for South Africans to be proud of. Now, tell
me about when you were first introduced to Dr Suleiman. I met
Dr Suleiman many, many years ago, before in fact, he'd founded gift
to the givers. He was a member of the Islamic Medical Association,
and I saw this doctor giving a talk at a public function, and I
went there as a journalist, and what I noticed from the very
beginning was his enthusiasm, his vigorousness and his Never Say Die
attitude, and those are some of the characters and qualities I
think, that have kept him going for the past 20 or so years. Now,
we often hear Dr Suleyman on the radio. We see him on TV. We have
this idea of what he's like but, but we don't get to the experience
of seeing him in person like you did. Can you tell us about about
him? What motivates him to stay in gift of the givers and continue
doing this wonderful aid work? What motivates him is a sense of
being a servant of mankind. He's based
religiously, but in the sense that it's universal, he is a Sufi,
which is the one of the spiritual paths in the religion of Islam.
And it's a spiritual path that says that you have to help any
human being unconditionally, no matter where you might find them
in any part of the world. So this is basically his ethos. It doesn't
matter who you are, whether you're from Mars, whether you're from
Niger, Nigeria, whether you're from kailitha, his duty is to help
people. And he was given this inspiration by Sufi shechin
Istanbul, who, in 1992
was at a gathering, and he looked at mtrs, and he said, My son, you
are going to form an organization. It will be called gift of the
givers, and you will serve humanity for the rest of your
life. You will serve humanity, irrespective of religion, color or
creed. And just remember one thing, everything you do will be
done through you, and you must be grateful if you just get a kick up
your back. And that was basically the start of his organization.
That's incredible. Now,
how does he carry himself? What tell us about Dr Silverman when
he's when he's out in the field, when you've gone with him on a
mission, what's what's that like, his mind never stops. He never
he's got two telephones. They never stop going. I've been told
that by him, telephones never stop ringing. Well, I mean, I can
remember in on one mission, waking up at three o'clock in the middle
of the night, and Suleiman emtas Were still going for it. His
phones were going ballistic. In fact, I couldn't get back to sleep
after that. In fact, don't share a hotel room with him because you're
not going to
sleep. He doesn't sleep. He's on the go all the time. And the other
thing is, his optimism, no is just another opportunity to get a yes,
as far as he's concerned. And it's this persistence, this optimism
and his good manners as well, that opens doors where you can't,
cannot believe. In fact, now you write about Dr suleyman's
premonitions. Can you tell us about those? Yes, you know he
will. He will say, I've got a feeling that something big is
going to happen. And when he says that, his staff start canceling
their leave because they know that it's going to hit big time. And
there have been numerous times when he's been on holiday with his
family, 2004 with a tsunami. He was an on holiday in Cape Town,
and the tsunami hit, but within 48 hours, he had people on an
airplane flying towards the Far East. And this is what happens.
And in Pakistan, he got lost, and he said, No, no, I'm going to
follow my instincts. And he followed his instincts, and he got
back to camp. It was in a very dangerous part of the country, and
if you would have gone taken a wrong turning, it could have been
a wrong turning for the worse. So he sort of, it's amazing how he
uses his instincts. He says, prayer helps him Well, it
certainly helps the mission as well, yeah.