He had a range of business interests in the UAE and India (in Tamil Nadu) including maritime shipping, real estate, insurance etc.

[2][3] Abdur Rahman was the Vice-Chairperson of Emirates Trading Agency (commonly known as ETA Star) and Ascon Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate from 1973 to 2015.

[5][6][7] Abdur Rahman pursued a number of philanthropic endeavours, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organisations and concentrating on the upliftment of economically weaker sections through the Seethakathi Trust & Zakaat Fund Foundation.

B. S. Abdur Rahman was born in Kilakarai, Tamil Nadu, India, in a middle-class Marakkar family, the son of Bhukari Aalim.

He started his business in Sri Lanka with his elder brother Abdul Kader prominently called Thaika Vapa in Tamil Nadu.

He was at the time staying at rent-free accommodation with traders from Kilakarai but he had to fetch tea for them from a nearby hotel, clean the rooms and perform other menial tasks.

"[8] He began visiting Belgium, then as now, a centre of the gem trade, the USA, and South America and set up business in Penang, Malaysia, Madras (now Chennai), Kolkata (then Calcutta), and then in Hong Kong.

BSA Rahman is credited as a production facilitator in MGR Pictures' Ulagam Sutrum Valiban for a film shoot in Hong Kong.

Originally a civil construction contractor, ETA-Ascon expanded into trading, elevator and electrical installations, real estate, mechanical engineering, building maintenance, car dealerships, and, most recently, shipping and aviation.

Abdur Rahman felt that education is the key that opens the solutions to the socio-economic problems of society.