Trailblazer By Sinazo Mkoko
O
ne of the greatest writers of all time, Leo Tolstoy once said: “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.”
This has been the case with the Founder of the Gift of the Givers, Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, who gave up his career as a medical doctor to start a non-profit organisation which has, over the years, brought a ray of hope to millions of people across the world irrespective of race, religion, culture, class and geography.
Called to serve humanity “Whatever you do, is done through you and not by you.”
32 | Public Sector Leaders | March 2023
Hailing from the “city of expertise”, Potchefstroom, in the North West, Dr Sooliman says forming the organisation wasn’t his idea. He shares that it all started in August 1991 when he first met his spiritual teacher in Istanbul, Turkey at a place of spirituality and he liked what he saw there - the harmony between races, religions, nationalities, colours, cultures and classes at a Muslim place - a place of spirituality. The following year, Dr Sooliman was in the same place again. At 10 pm on that Thursday night, after a prayer session, his spiritual teacher looked into his eyes and said; “My son, I’m not asking you, I’m instructing you to form an organisation, the name of the organisation will be ‘Waqful Waqifin’, translated into ‘Gift of the Givers’. “You will serve all people of all races, of all religions, of all colours, of all classes, of all political affiliations and of any geographical location. You will serve them unconditionally, you will expect nothing in return, not even a thank you, this is an instruction for you,
