Sulaiman was born in Candung, Agam on 10 December 1871 to Muhammad Rasul, a local religion teacher, and Siti Buliah.

[6] In 1921, he participated in establishing Ittihad Ulama Sumatera (Union of Sumatran Clerics), a kaum tua organization led by Muhammad Saad Mungka.

[7] In 1928, he transformed his surau into madrasa in order to compete with kaum muda (modernist) schools like Sumatera Thawalib.

Together with other kaum tua clerics like Muhammad Jamil Jaho, Abbas Qadhi, and Abdul Wahid Saleh, Sulaiman ar-Rasuli founded Persatuan Madrasah Tarbiyah Islamiyah (Union of Islamic Education School) on 5 May 1928.

[13] Owing to his experience as a qadi in Candung,[6] he was appointed as the Head of Mahkamah Syariah (Sharia Court) in Central Sumatra on 17 January 1947.

[19] Two of his books about Ash'ari creed, Jawāhir al-Kalāmiyyah and Aqwāl al-Marḍiyah, are still regularly taught in MTI Candung.

[21][22] On the other hand, he criticized other Sufi master who he considered had violated the Sunni creed and jurisprudence, such as in his conflict with Haji Jalaluddin of PPTI.

[26] He wrote several books and articles regarding fiqh, ʿaqīdah, taṣawwuf, tafsīr, sīrah, and Minangkabau adat.