Hakim Said

Hakeem Muhammad Saeed (Urdu: حکیم محمد سعید‎; 9 January 1920 – 17 October 1998) was a Pakistani medical researcher, scholar, philanthropist. He also served as governor of Sindh Province from 1993 until 1994. Saeed was one of Pakistan's most prominent medical researchers in the field of Eastern medicines. He established the Hamdard Foundation in 1948, prior to his settlement in West Pakistan. In a few years time, the herbal medical products of the Hamdard Foundation became household names in Pakistan. Hakeem Muhammad Saeed authored and compiled about 200 books in medicine, philosophy, science, health, religion, natural medicine, literary, social and travelogues. In 1981, Saeed became one of the founding member of the World Cultural Council, a non-profit international organization, based in Mexico.[4] On 17 October 1998, Hakeem Saeed was assassinated by a group of unknown assailants while he was on his way to attend a medical experiment at the Hamdard Laboratories in Karachi. His killing prompted Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif to impose direct federal rule over the Sindh province.[5]

Hakeem Muhammad Saeed

NI, SI
20th Governor of Sindh
In office
19 July 1993 – 23 January 1994
PresidentFarooq Leghari
Prime MinisterBenazir Bhutto
Preceded byMahmoud Haroon
Succeeded byMahmoud Haroon
President of the Hamdard Foundation
In office
23 October 1969 – 17 October 1998
Serving with Sadia Rashid
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded bySadia Rashid (daughter)
In office
14 August 1948 – 17 October 1998
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byAhsan Qadir Shafiq
Vice-Chancellor of Hamdard University
In office
14 August 1948 – 17 October 1998
ChancellorMahmoud Haroon
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byNasim Ahmad Khan
Personal details
Born
Hakeem Muhammed Saeed

(1920-01-09)9 January 1920[1]
New Delhi, British India
Died17 October 1998(1998-10-17) (aged 78)[1]
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Resting placeMadinat-Al-Hikmah, Karachi
CitizenshipBritish subject (1920–1948)
Pakistani (1948–1998)
NationalityPakistani
Political partyIndependent
Spouse(s)
Naimat Begum
​
​
(m. 1945; death 1981)​
ChildrenSadia Rashid (daughter)
Alma materUniversity of Delhi
Ankara University
OccupationPhilanthropist, scholar, physician
ProfessionMedical researcher
National AwardsNishan-e-Imtiaz Award[2] in (2002)
Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award in 1966[3]
Websitehakim-said.com.pk

Early life and career

Hakeem Muhammad Said was born in Delhi, British Indian Empire in 1920 to an educated and religious Urdu-speaking class family.[1] His ancestors came from Kashgar (now Kashi, Xinjiang, China) to the Indian subcontinent, in the reign of the Mughal emperor, Shah Alam. They first stayed at Peshawar for about eighteen years, then moved to Multan and lastly settled down at Delhi.[6]

His forefathers and family had been associated with the herbal medicine business and had established the Hamdard Waqf Laboratories in India before 1947, which today has emerged as one of the largest manufacturers of Unani medicines in the world.[1] Saeed attended the local school where he learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu, English and studied the Quran.[1] At age 18, Hakeem went on to attend the University of Delhi in 1938. There, Saeed obtained a B.Pharmacy degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in medicinal chemistry in 1942.[1] After his undergraduate education, Saeed joined Hamdard Waqf Laboratories as a junior researcher and participated in herbal quality control while formulating medicines.[1] In 1945, Saeed attended the post-graduate course and obtained a master's degree in pharmacy from the same institution. Before 1947, Hakeem Saeed was also involved in the Pakistan Movement activities.[3] After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Saeed left his hometown with his wife and only daughter.[1] The family settled in Karachi, Sindh Province of West Pakistan.[1] He established Hamdard Laboratories and served as its first director until his death in 1998.[1] In 1952, Saeed travelled to Turkey where he attended the Ankara University and was awarded a PhD degree in Pharmacy, then returned to Pakistan to devote his life to medicine research.[1]

Scholarship

Following his settlement in Pakistan, Saeed began practicing medicine and continued to research in Eastern medicine.[3] Having established the Hamdard Laboratories in 1948, Saeed was one of the driving forces in Pakistan for engaging in the research in medical biology and medicine. In 1953, after his doctorate degree, Saeed joined the Sindh University as the associate professor of pharmacy and taught courses in organic chemistry. In 1963, Saeed resigned from his position because of differences with the Federal government. In 1964, Saeed came into public limelight when he gave rogue criticism to Lieutenant-General Wajid Ali Khan Burki, then-Surgeon General (Pakistan) of Army Medical Corps who was a high-profile officer leading the then Ministry of Health under the government of Field Marshal Ayub Khan.[3] Saeed criticized the General, saying, "General [Wajid] Burki used to say that Eastern medicine and homeopathy were quackery".[3] Saeed began to write articles, organized conferences and lobbied hard for the Eastern medicine and Ayub Khan had to pass a law legalizing Eastern medicine, due to a fear of his government losing credibility among the people.[3]

In 1985, Hakeem Mohammed Saeed founded Hamdard University, where he served as its first Vice-Chancellor and as a professor.[3]

The crowning activity of his life is the establishment of Madinat-al-Hikmah campus in Karachi. It comprises Hamdard University with such institutes as Hamdard College of Medicine and Dentistry, Hamdard Al-Majeed College of Eastern Medicine, Hafiz Muhammad Ilyas Institute of Herbal Sciences, Hamdard Institute of Education & Social Sciences, Hamdard Institute of Management Sciences, Hamdard Institute of Information Technology, Hamdard School of Law, Faculty of Engineering Science & Technology, Hamdard Public School and Hamdard Village School. Bait-al-Hikmah (the Library) is also a constituent part of Madinat-al-Hikmah. This is one of the biggest and best-stocked libraries of Pakistan.

Saeed wrote, edited or compiled over 200 books and journals in Urdu and English on Islam, Education, Pakistan, Science, Medicine and Health. Besides writing travelogues of countries he visited, he also wrote books especially for youth and children. He also edited some journals such as Hamdard Islamicus, Hamdard Medicus, Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society "Historicus", Hamdard Sehat and Hamdard Naunehal. For several years he was also the editor of Payami, the Urdu edition of UNESCO'S journal Courier. Saeed participated in various international conferences on medicine, science, education and culture and travelled widely to many countries of the world. While in Pakistan, he organized numerous international and national conferences on topics of prime importance.[7] Saeed created two widely attended national forums: Hamdard Shura (for leaders of public opinion) and Naunehal Assembly (for children). He held offices and memberships in dozens of national and international organizations related to education and healthcare. He launched two journals, Hamdard Medicus and Hamdard Islamicus. Hamdard-e-Sehat, which was already being published under his editorship since 1940, also appeared from Karachi in 1948. He launched a magazine for young readers, Hamdard Naunehal and established a separate division, Naunehal Adab, for producing quality books for children.

Saeed was an exponent of Eastern medicine who had treated patients from all over the world including Pakistan, Europe, Africa and the Middle East by the time of his death in October 1998. He helped get alternative medicine recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). After a fifty-year career as a practitioner of Greco-Arab medicine, he was posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan in 2002.[8]

  1. Religion, Islamic Studies, Islamic Law, Education and Literature (in English)
  2. Nuristan (Radio speeches on Quran-e-Hakim & our lives) (Published in 1987)
  3. The Employer And the Employee: Islamic Concept (Published in 1972)
  4. Islamic Concept of State (Published in 1983)
  5. Essays on Islam (Four Volumes) (Published between 1992-1998)
  6. Voice of Morality (Published in 1985)
  7. Man—The World—Peace
  8. Main Currents of Contemporary Thought In Pakistan (2 Volumes), History & Biography (in English) (Published in 1973)
  9. Al-Biruni: His Time, Life And Works, Co-author: Dr. Ansar Zahid Khan (Published in 1981)
  10. Personalities Noble (Published in 1983)
  11. Road To Pakistan, Co-authors: Dr. Moin-ul-Haq, Prof. Sharif-ul-Mujahid, Dr. Ansar Zahid Khan (Published in 1990)

Medicine & History of Medicine
  1. Al-Biruni's Book on Pharmacist And Material to Medica (Published in 1973)
  2. Diseases of Liver: Greco-Arab Concepts (Published in 1982)
  3. Cardiovascular Diseases: Greco-Arab Concepts (Published in 1983)
  4. Hamdard Pharmacopoeia of Eastern Medicine (Published in 1969)
  5. Oral Health (Published in 1994)
  6. Medicine In China (Published in 1965 Hakeem Mohammad saeed
  7. Pharmacy and Medicine Thru The Ages (Published in 1969)
  8. Traditional Greco-Arab And Modern Western Medicine: Conflict and Symbiosis (Published in 1975)
  9. Pakistan Encyclopedia Planta Medica (2 Volumes), Co-authors: Dr. Viqar Uddin Ahmed & Dr. Atta-Ur-Rahman (Published in 1986)
  10. Medicinal Herbal (2 volumes) Published in 1996 Background of Unani, Arabic & Islamic Medicine & Pharmacy (Published in 1997)
  11. Ethics For Medics (Published in 1997)

Children's Literature
  1. Love and Peace (Published in 1990)
  2. Dostan (4 parts) Published in 1991
  3. Let Us Talk Health (Published in 1989)
  4. Peace Primer, Co-author F.A. Anvery (Published in 1991)
  5. The Best of Goodness (Published in 1991)
  6. The Greatest Man (Published in 1991)
  7. A Primer of Health for Children of the World (Published in 1993)
  8. A World without Polio –Children's thematic Poster Competition (Published in 1996)

Personal life

In 1945, he married his cousin Naimat Begum in Delhi. They had one daughter, Sadia Rashid.[9]

Death and investigation

Said was murdered on 17 October 1998 in Karachi, Aram Bagh. His murderers were caught by DIG Farooq Amin Qureshi, CCPO Karachi at that time. Qureshi was highly appreciated and is one of the most renowned police officers of Pakistan to this day. Several persons were arrested and subsequently sentenced to death[5] by an anti-terrorism court. On 26 April 2014, The Supreme Court upheld the verdict of Sindh High Court (SHC) regarding acquittal of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) workers in Hakeem Saeed murder case.

In 2001, an anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had acquitted all nine people accused of murdering famous philanthropist and physician Hakeem Saeed in 1998. The verdict was challenged by the then provincial government. MQM workers, Mohammed Amirullah, Mohammed Shakir alias Shakir Langra and Abu Imran Pasha, were among those acquitted by the court. [10]

Legacy, awards and recognition
  • Kuwait Prize for Tibb-i-Islami (Eastern medicine) in 1983[3]
  • Sitara-i-Imtiaz Award by the President of Pakistan in 1966[3]
  • Nishan-i-Imtiaz Award by the President of Pakistan in 2002[2]
  • Many prominent personalities of Lahore gathered at the Hamdard Center on his death anniversary in 2011, to pay tributes to him. Hakeem Saeed was portrayed as someone who had a multi-dimensional personality, a patriot of the highest order, and who is a role model for the youth as he set worthwhile examples of hard work, honesty and love for humanity.[11]

References
  1. Saad Hasan (17 October 2011). "13th death anniversary: Hakim Mohammed Said, the man of morals and medicine". The Express Tribune (newspaper). Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  2. Death anniversary of Hakim Said observed in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2015 The Nation (newspaper), Published 17 October 2015, Retrieved 24 August 2019
  3. 'Tribute: Hakim Mohammad Said: Serving humanity' Dawn (newspaper), Published 16 October 2011, Retrieved 24 August 2019
  4. "Hakim Said listed as a founder of World Cultural Council". World Cultural Council, Mexico website. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  5. "BBC News – South Asia – Nine MQM members sentenced to death". BBC News, Published 4 June 1999, Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  6. Muhammad Humayun Zafar (30 June 2019). "والد کی شہادت کے بعد ایک روز کیلئے بھی ہمدرد بند نہیں ہوا" (in Urdu). Daily Jang. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  7. Hakim MOhammed Said– Shakhsiyat aur Fun by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Fikr-o-Nazar, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, Vol. 36, No. 1, 1999, pp. 5–14
  8. Hakim Muhammad Saeed– Hayat wa Khidmat by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Aina-e-Tib 2000, Ajmal Khan Tibbia College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, pp. 18 – 27
  9. Ahmed, Idrees (1 October 2018). "حکیم محمد سعید کی سچی کہانی". Mazameen.com. Mazameen. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  10. Supreme Court acquits MQM workers in Hakeem Saeed assassination case Samaa TV News website, Published 26 April 2014, Retrieved 24 August 2019
  11. Tributes paid to Hakim Said on his death anniversary in 2011 The Nation (newspaper), Published 3 November 2011, Retrieved 24 August 2019
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