He learned the Turkish language in addition to Arabic and initially worked in a public debt department,[1] heading the city's trade office in 1913.

[1] He gradually became the head of his entire family and gained considerable influence in the city; a common phrase that evolved in the area was "One cannot talk of Haifa without mentioning Rashid's name.

[5] The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Supreme Muslim Council, Haj Amin al-Husseini, requested that al-Haj Ibrahim help Arab youth groups to pray and guard the Al Aqsa Mosque and to secure the site from the Jewish gangs attacks[citation needed], but al-Haj Ibrahim preferred to focus on condemning the British Mandate decision to draft Zionist youth into the army.

[6] He joined the Istiqlal (Independence) Party—which promoted Arab nationalism and had counterparts in Syria and Iraq—along with Izzat Darwaza and Awni Abd al-Hadi when it was founded in 1932.

It was also speculated al-Haj Ibrahim quit because of the society's dominance by al-Husayni who was reportedly aiming to undermine the al-Istiqlal party because of its rising popularity.

[11] Starting in the late 1920s, al-Haj Ibrahim became the closest political associate of Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam,[12] a religious leader from Syria who led an uprising activities against the occupying British military and Jewish gangs in Palestine.

[13] In 1935, al-Qassam was killed by the occupying British forces in an assault near Jenin, an action that would provoke the 1936–39 Arab uprising in Palestine in which al-Haj Ibrahim was a chief activist.

According to Israeli historian Benny Morris, he believed that the Jews would establish a "giant" navy and air force and built atomic weapons with which to spread fear among the Arab people.

Nonetheless, from the beginning of hostilities in December 1947, al-Haj Ibrahim encouraged moderation and pursued a ceasefire between the Arab and Jewish paramilitary forces,[16] declaring the "Arabs were interested in quiet in Haifa..."[17] Opposition with al-Husayni's policies in the city mounted with al-Haj Ibrahim threatening to leave the city along with all of its senior politicians if al-Husayni continued to order attacks against Jewish forces there.