Maryam Bukhathamin (Ras al-Khaimah)
Muhammad Ali Muhammad Abu Laila Al Ali is considered one of the first generation men in the field of education who led the transformation of popular homes into schools to accommodate the high demand for education.
He was distinguished by his wit and intelligence since his early youth, and he became the focus of confidence and interest of Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the former ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, may God have mercy on him, at the time, so he assigned him several tasks and functions before and after the establishment of the Union.
About his beginnings, he says: “I was born in Fereej Al Ali in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in 1948, and I joined the study seats in the forties of the last century in a popular house that had been converted into a (school) and its educational director at the time was Mahmoud al-Jaafrawi – a Palestinian national – and I studied at the hands of a teacher Issa Hamad Al-Nuaimi and the teacher Sultan bin Humaid Matar Al-Suwaidi assigned to teach students, the subject of mathematics and the basics of the English language, Islamic education and the Arabic language, and then moved in the fifties of the last century to the regular schools in 1955, with the opening of the Qasimia School, and committees were formed to equalize our previous studies, and I studied in it from the class She was studying intermediate and secondary school, and finished high school in the academic year 1972-1973 until she graduated from it. At the time, Sheikh Saqr was conducting follow-up and field visits to check on the education system, and he sent observers undercover to ensure the students ’commitment to education.
Abu Laila said: “At that time, the guardian would hand over his son to the teacher and he was completely confident that he would come out from under his hand a man and an educated student, so they used to tell the teacher a famous saying:“ Do not hand over to me but his eye ”, by which they mean that the teacher has the right to discipline the student and hit him for what is in his best interest. And utility ».
He continued: “After that, I worked as a cashier of accounts in the Public Accounts Department in Ras Al Khaimah, under the mandate of the Ruler, Sheikh Saqr, may God have mercy on him, in the morning period and an official in the public library in the evening. I was also responsible for the Palestine Support Committee, and my duties at that time were to collect fees for the benefit of The Fund for the Bank of Organizations Supporting the Palestinian Cause, which was located in an office in the Ras Al Khaimah Fish Market.
turning point
Regarding his duties after the establishment of the state, he says: “I moved during that period to work in the Ministry of Housing with the position of Secretary of the Ministry’s Undersecretary Ahmed Jassem Al-Abdouli at the time, after which I got a three-year study leave to join the Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology at Ain Shams University, in which I graduated in the academic year. 1976 – 1977 Then I obtained a higher diploma in the field of (law and jurisprudence), to return two years later to the Ministry of Housing, whose minister moved to become Minister of Education, so that I was appointed directly as Director of the Ras Al Khaimah Educational Zone on the tenth of July 1980, and that period was a turning point in my practical life”.
Abu Layla remained in that position for twenty years until his retirement in May 2000, so that the late Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad Al Qasimi would honor him after he issued a decree naming him responsible for his office in Khuzam Palace, in appreciation of his constant efforts in the delivery of education to all neighborhoods and regions of Ras Al Khaimah, Including the remote and mountainous ones, he instructed at the time to rent a number of popular homes and convert them into regular schools in which large numbers of people of the homeland enroll, stressing that the support of Sheikh Saqr bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, may God have mercy on him, was the source of their diligence and perseverance to provide the best. He added that the late person used to transfer every complaint received from parents to the school district, and he used to place trust in the principals and the educational teachers. So everyone was striving to prove his efficiency and good relationship with parents, and he, may God have mercy on him, visited schools constantly.
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