When MV Kunhu Mohamed looks at the vastness of the Arabian Sea, memories flood back, of a young man standing on the deck of a wooden dhow named Khwaja Moideen, chasing a dream across the waves. “I still remember the sound of the wind hitting the sail,” he said. “It took us forty days to reach next to Dibba Al Baya in Oman. We didn’t have an engine, only faith in the wind and in Allah.”
It was 1967, and Kunhu Mohamed was just 22 years old when he left his hometown of Vadakkekad in Trisshur. He had no passport, no money, and no certainty about what lay ahead. The journey was long and rough. “We would adjust the sail according to the direction of the wind,” he recalled. “Sometimes the sea was calm, sometimes angry. But hope kept us going.”
When the dhow finally anchored far off the Omani coast, he jumped into the sea. “I had only a lungi and a shirt. Both were soaked. I had to wring them dry with my hands and wear them again,” he said, smiling faintly at the memory.
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From Dibba Al Baya, the men were taken by van to the Oman–UAE border, then walked for hours to Khorfakkan. “We had no idea where we were heading, just that this was the land of opportunity,” he said. There, he spotted a truck carrying watermelons. “I paid and climbed on. That’s how I reached Sharjah,” he recalled.
When he arrived, the UAE was still taking shape. There were no paved roads, only sand tracks connecting Deira to Rolla in Sharjah. “People back home used to say there’s nothing on the land here, but gold underneath it. Everyone believed this desert hid treasures,” he said.
As soon as he landed in Sharjah, he stayed with a friend who worked at a local grocery run by an Emirati. “The owner’s door was always open for people in need. That generosity, it still defines Emiratis today,” he said with admiration.
Growing through jobs
His first job was as an assistant to a plumber, an African man named Mugeni. He earned 5 Qatar Dubai Rial a day but soon realised he couldn’t continue. “My hands always sweat. I couldn’t grip the tools. After a week, he told me to take a few days off, I didn’t realise then, it meant I was fired,” he laughs. “But the employer paid me for twenty days, 100 qatar Dubai Rial. That was my first salary in the trucial states.”
Kunhu Mohamed tried other jobs from weaving fishing baskets, milking cows, and cleaning utensils. “I never said no to any work. I believed that as long as I stayed sincere, Allah would open another door,” he said.
His dedication didn’t go unnoticed. “When I was cleaning utensils, I saw my employer’s car dirty. I washed it, polished it and burned bukhoor (incense) inside. He was impressed and increased my salary by 100 Qatar Dubai Riyal. But, I was given the duty to wash the car,” he said. “That taught me something, when you go beyond what’s expected, people remember you.”
Soon after, he began taking care of the family’s garden, mixing cow dung and wood ash as manure. “The flowers bloomed beautifully,” he said. “That was the first time I felt proud of my work.”
A turning point came when a friend introduced him to Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, then Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. “I became a driver in the Sheikh’s household. I knew how to drive, but when I saw the Mercedes, I was scared,” he said. “I put it in reverse slowly, and that’s how I learned.”
Kunhu Mohamed worked with the Sheikh’s family for four years. “They treated me with respect. I learned from them the value of trust and responsibility,” he said. During that time, he began selling vegetables from the Sheikh’s farm at the local market. “My accounts were always correct, so I was allowed to trade more. That’s how my business started — small, honest, and steady.”
Running his own business
In 1972, he officially registered his company — Jaleel Traders, which later became Jaleel Holdings. With the Sheikh’s encouragement, he bought his first vehicle for transporting goods. “He helped me when I didn’t have the money. That trust, I never forgot,” he said.
Jaleel Holdings grew from a modest foodstuff trading shop in Al Ras, Dubai, into a major group dealing in fresh produce and FMCG distribution across retail, hotel, and restaurant sectors. Today, it employs more than 1,700 people.
“When I started in Al Ras, there were only thirteen traders, two Indians, a few Lebanese Palestinian, and some Iranians. Dubai was different then. Everyone knew everyone,” he said.
He recalls earning 200 Qatar Dubai Rial while paying his own driver 350 Qatar Dubai Riyal. “I always set aside part of my salary for social work,” he said. “That habit stayed with me, no matter how much or how little I had.”
As the business grew, he expanded to the fish market, then Hamriya, and later to Awir. Along the way, he faced both triumph and loss. “I lost money in Hamriya market once. I had to sell my properties back home to rebuild,” he said. “But failure never scared me. It only reminded me how far I had come.”
Kunhu Mohamed built more than just a company, he built a culture. “My message to those who come to Dubai is simple — build trust,” he said. “Treat your employees like family. I ask about each one’s wellbeing. If I can’t talk to them directly, I check with HR.”
He follows one rule with conviction — never delay a worker’s salary. “The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, ‘Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries.’ That is what I have lived by,” he said.
At 79, Kunhu Mohamed still comes to the office daily. “Not to work,” he smiled, “but to meet my people. Talking to them makes me happy.”
He divides his time between Dubai and India, spending two months in each place. His days begin with yoga, and his evenings often end with quiet reflection. “When I look at the skyline today, I remember the old dirt road between Deira and Rolla. It reminds me how far this country, and all of us have come.”
He has three sons, Sameer, Dr Zakir, and Abdul Gafoor, two full time in the business and all three on the board. Dr Zakir is a consultant surgeon and regional medical director of NMC healthcare.
His company is named after his younger brother, Jaleel, whom he calls his good luck. “He was a blessing to me and our family,” he said.
Through it all, his humility remains untouched. “When I came here, I had nothing, only faith,” he said, his voice trailing into memory. “I never thought I would reach this stage. It is Allah who made me what I am.”
He pauses, looking once more toward the sea, the same one he crossed nearly six decades ago.
“Whenever I see the Arabian Sea, I remember the day I dived into it with just one pair of clothes. Everything after that… was destiny.”
SM Ayaz Zakir
SM Ayaz Zakir is a Senior Correspondent with a flair for extraordinary stories. His playground? Every corner of the UAE. He often ventures into remote corners of the country to capture compelling news and human interest stories.
www.khaleejtimes.com (Article Sourced Website)
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