[1][2] Rashid was born in 1926 in Hargeisa and was the eldest son of Sultan Abdillahi Deria.

[3] Rashid was active in independence and post-independence politics and accompanied his father Sultan Abdillahi Deria.

He served as an elected member of the Legislative Assembly for Hargeisa in 1959,[3][4] where he helped run the Ministries of Local Government, Social Services, Communications, and Works and National Resources along with three other elected members including Michael Mariano to allow said ministries to gain experience.

[3] That same year he would lead a delegation of the Somali National Assembly to Teheran and the 55th World Interparliamentary Conference.

[6] In October 1968 he led a delegation of the National Assembly on visits to Jordan and Syria, where he met the Syrian Minister of Information Dr. Habib Haddad.