Watch: Pioneering Emirati journalist who has chronicled UAE’s oral history
Dubbed as walking encyclopedia of UAE’s history, he has authored umpteen articles, books
Dubai: Do you know Ali Bin Mohammad Bin Ali Al-Mahmoud founded the UAE’s first school in Sharjah, Al Taimiyyah Al Mahmoudia School in 1907 before it assumed the status as the first formal educational institute under his son in 1935? Do you know Rashid Bin Ghilaita Al Qamzi lived for 125 years in Al Ain and credited the secret of his longevity to camel milk?
Do you know Abu Dhabi was once known for its fresh water wells dug up by women? Or that once there was a fire that gutted 200 homes in Deira? What about the fact that there was a time leprosy was so common that a quarantine cluster had to be set up in Dubai? Or that a woman in Ras Al Khaimah had to walk over 20km, sometimes carrying more than 30kg of dates on her head, to sell her wares at Al Maireed Market?
Well, there is one person who can take pride in chronicling these and other stories of the “sons and daughters” of the UAE before the formation of the Union: Pioneering journalist Abdullah Abdulrahman.
Credited as the first Emirati journalist to compile an oral history of the UAE, Abdulrahman is also known for a series of newspaper articles written under the title “The Nation’s Encyclopedia”, earning him the reputation as a walking encyclopedia of the country’s history.
Documenting history, heritage
“I view the task of documenting the history and heritage of the UAE as an enormous cultural responsibility,” he said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News on the occasion of the 53rd Eid Al Etihad celebrating the formation of the Union.
Sitting in his personal library full of history books and documents, he narrated the story of his eventful life which he has dedicated to share the stories of others.
Born in Ras Al Khaimah in 1957, Abulrahman had a passion for reading, writing and listening to radio programmes, often reviewing them from a young age.
The turning point in his life came when he found the address of a journalism institute in Cairo, Egypt, when he was in elementary school.
“A friend of mine and I wrote a letter to them and they sent us very interesting books on journalism which changed my life,” he recalled.
He said he continued to pursue distance education with the institute for a couple of years and moved to Abu Dhabi to look for a job in a newspaper in 1974.
From nursing to reporting
Though the first job that he landed was that of a nurse due to his education from the Scientific Institute established by Saudi Arabia and further training from the Ministry of Health, his heart longed to get into the field of journalism.
“Then, I got an opportunity to join for part time work at the Ministry of Information’s public library. Fortunately for me, the office of the first newspaper in the UAE, Al Ittihad, was in the same building. I managed to meet the first editor Khalid Mohammed Ahmed and eventually secured a part time job as a calligrapher in the offset printing of readers’ pages.”
Apart from his calligraphy work, Abdulrahman also wrote letters as a reader. His writing skills in citizen journalism soon earned him a transfer to the position of a reporter following which he quit his nursing career.
“Journalism was in its infancy in the UAE. But, there were many famous journalists from the Arab world and I learned a lot from them.”
In 1980, the company also sent him to England to learn English. “During that time, I used to send articles from the London office of our paper located in the office of The Times.”
On his return, Abdulrahman wrote about the people, places and events across the UAE for several years. He also had the opportunity to visit various countries to cover events and official visits of the leaders and ministers.
Covering the siege of Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, in 1979 and the Iran-Iraq war (first Gulf War) remain the most adventurous assignments that he has ever undertaken, he said.
Voice of the people
Though he has written about a variety of topics and events, Abdulrahman has always been passionate about the preservation of Emirati national heritage through articles and books.
He is the author of several books in Arabic, including a series of five books titled “The Emirates through the Memories of Its Sons and Daughters,” which compiled his interviews with hundreds of men and women from across the UAE over five years.
“Four of the five books in the series have been published and the fifth one is on its way,” he said.
Titled “Between Sips of Coffee” the first volume of the English edition of this series paints a picture of the early days of the UAE through the memories of its narrators, aged between 60 and 100-plus at the time they were interviewed.
“The interviews were conducted in the late 1980s and were first serialised in Al Ittihad, where I served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief, as a weekly feature titled ‘Fenjan Qahwa or Cup of Coffee’, as it symbolically represented the hospitality in our culture and I always had Arabic coffee with all the people I interviewed. It received an award from the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation and several other recognitions,” he said.
Khaled Al-Masri, who edited and translated it from Arabic, writes in the book: “Although a number of the men and women here held important positions in their communities, many of their voices might never have been heard in the present day if it had not been for Mr. Abdullah Abdulrahman’s efforts.”
In the 1990s, Abdulrahman penned another series of articles for Al Ittihad under the column “The Nation’s Encyclopedia,” in which he documented the history and culture of dozens of villages, towns, and regions in the UAE.
In the book capturing the memories of places, he used old and new photos, including aerial shots taken from helicopters.
In 1999, Abdulrahman took up the position as the head of local news for Sharjah-based Al Khaleej newspaper.
Contributions and achievements
He has contributed articles on the history of the UAE to multiple publications. Abdulrahman has worked as a consultant for a number of media and cultural research organisations. He has also been involved in various research and documentation projects for the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi where he worked in the last stint of his career.
Abdulrahman’s television programmes and print publications have received many awards and accolades in recognition of the important role they have played in the documentation of the history, heritage, and culture of the UAE.
In 2012, he received the prestigious Arab Journalism Award from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
He was instrumental in founding the UAE Journalists Association and is a member of the Emirates Writers Union, Arab Writers Union, GCC Society for History and Archaeology and several Arab and international journalist associations.
He is continuing his journey of documenting the past of his great nation with the support of his first son Mohammed. “Though born with visual impairment, Mohammed has shown a keen interest in history and heritage from a young age. He has been helping me with my works and has written his own books despite his physical challenges,” he said.
“The stories of those who lived here before the oil boom by our own people capture the essence of Emirati heritage—divers, traders, farmers, Bedouins, and others who shaped the nation. These accounts offer lessons from the past to guide the present and future, ensuring the nation remains rooted amidst rapid globalisation. I will continue to share our history as my way of giving back to my country,” he added.