Book & Author
Hakim Muhammed Said: A Tabeeb-Scholar-Visionary Par Excellence
By Dr. Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
Billions of people have come and gone in the world, but very few have touched hearts and minds of masses by their great work in the areas of medicine, philanthropy, social work, and education; Hakim Mohammed Said Sahib (9 January 1920, Delhi – 17 October 1998, Karachi), like his elder brother Hakim Abdul Hameed Sahib (1908 - 1999) founder of Hamdard, belonged to this rare and unique group of people who spent their entire lives serving humanity.
Hakim Said Sahib’s contributions transformed the young nation of Pakistan into a dynamic country. His intellectual work took many forms; literary gatherings known as Sham-e-Hamdard held at various national and international venues; Radio talks (Qur’an e Hakim aur Hamari Zindagi), writings as essays, articles, stories, and books, spread over hundreds of thousands of pages.
He wrote for all groups of people - children, boys, girls, adults, and elderly. Hakim Sahib authored, co-authored, compiled and edited over 200 books and journals, in English and Urdu, covering a wide spectrum of topics: Islam, Education, Pakistan, Science, Medicine and Health, Travels, Children Literature, and Tibb-e-Unani (Greco-Arab medicine). Hakim Sahib also served as the editor of journals like Hamdard Islamicus, Hamdard Medicus, Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society Historicus, Hamdard Sehat and Hamdard Naunehal (Children’s magazine). Some of his most popular books include:
Religion, Islamic Studies, Islamic Law, Education and Literature
Nuristan (Radio speeches on Qur’an-e-Hakim & our lives:1987)
The Employer and the Employee: Islamic Concept (1972)
Islamic Concept of State (Published in 1983)
Essays on Islam (Four Volumes)
Voice of Morality (1985)
Man—The World—Peace
Main Currents of Contemporary Thought in Pakistan (2 Volumes)
Al-Biruni: His Time, Life and Works (1981)
Diseases of Liver: Greco-Arab Concepts (1982)
Cardiovascular Diseases: Greco-Arab Concepts (1983)
Hamdard Pharmacopoeia of Eastern Medicine (1969)
Oral Health (1994)
Medicine in China (1965)
Pharmacy and Medicine Thru the Ages (1969)
Traditional Greco-Arab and Modern Western Medicine: Conflict and Symbiosis (1975)
Pakistan Encyclopedia Planta Medica (2 Volumes, 1986)
Medicinal Herbal (2 volumes, 1997)
Ethics For Medics (1997)
Love and Peace (1990)
The Greatest Man (Published in 1991)
A Primer of Health for Children of the World (1993)
Hakim Said Sahib was one of a kind, full of compassion, vision, and intellect. He received his BEMS from the Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbi College, Delhi (1940), and Doctorate in Pharmacy from Ankara University, Turkey (1952). Hakim Sahib was an institution builder (Hamdard Waqf, Karachi and Dhaka, Hamdard Laboratories, Karachi and Dhaka, Hamdard University campus (Madianat-al-Hikmah) for the service and growth of society. People like him are becoming extinct in society. Reflecting on the simple life Hakim Sahib lived, Prof. Manzooruddin Ahmad, former Vice Chancellor of Karachi University, observed, “He was a 'darwesh', an ascetic. He slept on the ground, rising at 4 a.m. to say his prayers and study the Holy Qur'an. He had few personal possessions and used all his funds for altruistic works.”
Reflecting on the unique personality of Hakim Sahib, Mukhtar Zaman observes: “Hakim Mohammed Said was one of those rare personalities who are born in centuries. He talked less about the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah but followed more the advice given by him: "Work, work and more work", the Quaid had said, and Hakim Said did so every day meticulously. The Quaid laid the foundation of an independent state. The Hakim took the earliest opportunity to leave his revered brother, prosperous home, near and dear ones in Delhi and migrated to this country. He came almost empty-handed and built a fortune. The Quaid made a fervent appeal for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan. Hakim Mohammed Said did not waste his time at all and devoted every moment of his life to heal the sick and to make Pakistan's tomorrow better than today. He tried to improve the education and social system and laid the foundation of Madinat al-Hikmah. Truly, he was a man of action not of words. His life and work are brilliant and inspiring examples that must be followed by the present and future generations” (Hakim Mohammed Said, From Hamdard Delhi to Hamdard Pakistan, Shaheed Hakim Mohammed Said: Remembered, Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan, 1999).
Hakim Said migrated to Pakistan in January 1948 along with his wife and their only child Sadia Begum who was only two years old. It was the time when the nascent state of Pakistan had not yet recovered from the pangs of its birth and the establishment of government institutions had not been fully started. In such challenging circumstances it was a major challenge for Hakim Said to set up a Dawakhanah almost single handedly, with no moral or material support from anyone as he was not willing to ask for any favors from anyone and compromise on his principles. With Hakim Sahib’s dedicated work, from its humble beginnings, the fledgling enterprise called "Hamdard" (Sympathizer) grew into a giant organization and attained international recognition. And, Hakim Mohammed Said became an icon of Tibb-e-Unani, a scholar, and a man of integrity.
Remembering Hakim Sahib, prominent lawyer S M Zafar observes: “Hakim Mohammed Said was a hundred percent Pakistani product, and he can only be understood in the context of present Pakistan…May I quote from a note in his diary which he made on 23rd April 1972. Hakim Said was in Washington where he had gone for a major surgery. In addition, he was perturbed on the tragic incident of East Pakistan and the surrender of Pakistani Armed Forces in Dacca. In that mood he expressed his agony to his host, Muhammad Shoaib, former Foreign Minister of Government of Pakistan and later sums up his feelings and conclusions in the diary in following terms: ‘I consulted Shoaib Sahib, as to what should I do at a time when Pakistan has lost all prestige and honor? Shoaib told me (that) self-help is the answer. I totally agree with him. That is what I shall do when I go back to Pakistan.’ He believed in using the goodness of the country to correct its wrongs primarily through self-help.”
On the role of teachers envisioned by Hakim Sahib, S M Zafar states: “We should raise the social status of teachers. They should command the respect not only of the students but also the whole community. We should urge the students to respect the teachers while the teachers should learn to love their students. When respect and love coexist between the teachers and the students then only creative education can take place. He called creative education an appropriate revolutionary approach towards the concept of teaching.”
Referring to Hakim Sahib’s vision about leadership traits and importance of the leader’s character, S M Zafar states that he was dismayed at the lack of moral integrity in the nation in general and in the elite in particular. He insisted on character building and went on a missionary campaign by holding seminars and producing written material under a program called the Force of Character Awaz-e-Akhlaq. He said: “… if our electorates keep on selecting their leaders blindly and follow their own selfish ends they would get only criminals, mediocres, religiously bigoted, biradari ridden and looters etc. in the cherished institution of our parliament.”
Hakim Said Sahib had great love for children. During his entire career he worked zealously for children’s education, nurturing (tarbiyat) and health. He used various channels to promote children’s intellectual development: Naunehal Assembly (a national meeting allowing children to speak on different topics), International Children’s Conference (a children’s event supported by UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO). Hamdard Naunehal (Children’s monthly magazine), Naunehal Adab (a division responsible for publication of children’s books), Naunehal Book Club (an association that prompted book reading habit in children), and Hamdard Public School (providing free education to children of rural areas around Madina al-Hikmah).
Prominent scholar professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, in his article “The Rediscovery and Revival of Islamic Medicine: A Tribute to Hakim Mohammed Said,” writes: “I first met the late Hakim Sahib, that eminent scholar, administrator, physician and servant of Islam, in 1959 during my first journey to Pakistan. Since I had studied Islamic science and was deeply devoted to its revival at all levels and in its various branches including especially medicine, we instantly became friends and met numerous times in his homeland, in my own country Iran, in Europe and during the past two decades in America. Not only was I a close observer of all his activities, but I also participated in many ways in several of his projects ranging from writing on Islamic science to celebrating the anniversary of al-Biruni. As a humble scholar of Islam, I also remained fully aware of the singular role that he played in the revival of the tradition of Islamic medicine which followed as a mighty river from the teachings of the early Muslim masters, especially Ibn Sina, into many tributaries one of which came to be known in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent strangely as Unani medicine…After the composition of the Qanun fi'l-tibb by Ibn Sina, Islamic medicine proliferated into several branches extending to the Arab world and later to Ottoman Turkey and elsewhere but one of its major centers remained Persia. And it was from there that this medical tradition spread into the Indian world to a large extent through the migration of important physicians from such cities as Isfahan and Shiraz to the Subcontinent…it is not too difficult to rediscover and revive Islamic medicine, a process which in Iran at least began with the help of Hakim Sahib himself, for it was with his help and presence that we held the first , conference on traditional medicine organized in modern times in that country in Shiraz in 1976” (Shaheed Hakim Mohammed Said: Remembered, Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan, 1999).
Hakim Mohammed Said met a tragic end on October 17, 1998, when he was cruelly gunned down by anti-humanity forces in Karachi. He was 78 years old and at the peak of his career. On his tragic demise, S M Zafar said: “There is a Chinese saying that a thinker who is courageous and treats death lightly may meet a violent death. Hakim Said's life and death epitomize this statement. He lived courageously…he spoke-out his thoughts clearly and forcefully, treated death not lightly that when he got all the indications that his would-be assassins are after him, he went about his normal life; and finally, he did become an easy target to a violent ending: thus Shaheed-i-Pakistan, Hakim Mohammed Said met his Creator as a courageous thinker who treated death lightly.”
Remembering Hakim Sahib, his daughter Sadia Rashid recalls: “My father's life was creative; it was like a symbol of symphony of prayer, work, love of people and love of country. This symphony was played through the many roles he assumed: friend, writer, bibliophile, innovator, physician, industrialist, traveler, sportsman, visionary, and realist…In all his affairs, throughout his life, he never compromised on principles and always acted honestly. This gave him the moral courage to speak out against dishonesty and corruption. He had enmity with none. He neither wished harm nor gave trouble to anybody. He always did good to others. Even those who tried to harm him in any way and created obstacles for him, directly or indirectly, he requited them with good. He never complained. My Abbajan is a Shaheed. He used to say that those who serve others become immortal. He certainly became immortal” (Shaheed Hakim Mohammed Said Remembered, Hamdard Foundation, Pakistan, 1999).
Indeed, Hakim Muhammed Said Sahib was a man of action and vision, his great humanitarian work, and the institutions he built for public service, have made him immortal; present, and future generations will continue to reap the benefits of his great vision and emulate his actions for serving humanity!
(Dr Ahmed S. Khan --- dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org --- is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar-2017-2022).
