Haji Ahmad bin Haji Awang, or better known as Haji Ahmad Rabat was born in 1885 at Kampung Gajah Mati, Pendang, Kedah. He received his early education on the Koran from his own father who was a devout Muslim. In 1902, he went to Mecca with both his parents to perform the Hajj and to further his religious education. He stayed for eight years. Among the subjects he had learnt were Usuluddin, Fiqah, Tafsir, Hadith, Tasauf and Arabic. Because of his intelligence and proficiency, he was sent to Rabat for his further studies. Thus the reason for the nickname, Haji Ahmad Rabar.

He returned in 1909, with the intention of disseminating whatever he had learnt through a "Pondok" (hut) religious school he had helped to open. This school, the Chegar "Pondok" School was opened as a joint effort between him and some ulamas of like mind. The first batch of students to study in this school number 225. He also made it mandatory for the people of Padang Pusing to send their sons, who had yet to reach puberty, to be sent to his school for their religious education. Not long after that Tunku Abdul Rahman dedicated a piece of land for him to open a school in which all expenses and teaching aids were either already taken cared of or available free of charge. The new school was registered in 1940 and was called the Ahmadiah Alwataniah Arabic School, of Kampung Chegar.

Among the teachers chosen to help him in the school were Haji Manan, Lebai Harun and Haji Ahmad. All three were his former students. When the school was established, Haji Ahmad was no longer a member of its teaching staff, instead he only acted as an adviser and would only take over the teaching of a class should the teacher concerned had problems which could not be solved. He also acted as a school inspector, who would go around checking on 'suraus' (a small building used for prayers) and religious schools around Padang Pusing. In 1920 he proposed a set of 'laws' which contained 20 clauses with the aim of preserving the security and the unity of the community according to the tenets of Islam.

Haji Ahmad was also a capable astronomer, who could explain things connected to moon, stars and other heavenly bodies. He also helped in determining the start of the fasting month and the Id. He had also proposed for the construction of a road linking Kampung Titi Akar to Pendang as there was no proper road between the two places at that time. With the cooperation of those concerned, a road was finally built and it was called the Sungai tiang Road. This same road was rebuilt by the government in 1954. The existence of the Sungai Tiang road brought a lot of progress and development along the road itself. Among the were the construction a few schools and mosques, such as Padang Pusing Primary School, Kampung Chegar Primary School, Pendang Primary School, Sawa Mosque and Chegar Mosque.

Haji Ahmad Rabat died in 1962 at the age of 74. His "Pondok" school administration was taken over by his son, Haji Sulaiman. However, after his demise, his school was no longer the centre of education as academic performance in modern schools became more desirable.