he was born in the village of qaradh - arouk - hujaryyah - taiz governorate, yemen. he was the third son of four sons. at the beginning of his life, he worked in sewing clothes and selling what he made. his mother died when he was in his early adolescence. he left his village, qaradh, heading towards aden city. he immigrated to france where he stayed for almost ten years. then he returned to aden to start his own business which was a small grocery store in the district of mualla, aden. the business grew extensively after he moved to taiz forced out by the communist party that confiscated his entire business and assets in aden. during the 1970s he opened the first private sector factory in the country followed by other foreign expansion to the gcc and u.k in the late 70's. the 80's witnessed the expansion to south east asia which witnessed the group's venture into the palm oil industry.