The idea of establishing the Institute began in Kuwait in 1957, through the formation of a charitable association under the name “Board of Trustees of the Arab Institute,” with honorary presidency by the late Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and membership of a select group of benevolent people from Kuwait and the Arab world.
The purpose of its establishment was to embrace the children of martyrs, orphans, and the needy, and to provide them with an integrated educational environment.
The Founding Committee of the Council as approved in Kuwait in 1957:
- Nisf Al-Yousef Al-Nisf – President
- Abdul Aziz Hussein – Vice President
- Hajj Yousef Al-Fulaij – Treasurer
- Zuhair Al-Karmi – Secretary
- Khaled Al-Adsani – Member
- Yaqoub Al-Hamad – Member
- Saeed Buraik – Member
- (Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, the Mayor of Jerusalem Ruhi Al-Khatib, the Chief Judge Abdullah Ghoshah, and the Custodians of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque)
Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah delivers a speech at the opening of the Arab Institute in Jerusalem (The visit of the Ruler of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, to Jerusalem in 1966)