Hakim Mohammed Said – born on January 9th 1920 in Delhi, was a Pakistani medical researcher, scholar, educationist and philanthropist who also served as Governor of Sindh between July 9th 1993 – January 23rd 1994.
At age 18, Hakim 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, followed by master’s degree in pharmacy from the same institution.
After his undergraduate education, Said joined Hamdard Waqf Laboratories as a junior researcher and participated in herbal quality control while formulating medicines.
He established the Hamdard Foundation in 1948, prior to his settlement in West Pakistan. Soon, the herbal medical products of the Hamdard Foundation became household name in Pakistan.
Hakim Said in 1981, became one of the founding member of the World Cultural Council, a non-profit international organization, based in Mexico
Hakim Muhammad Said authored and compiled about 200 books in medicine, philosophy, science, health, religion, natural medicine, literary, social, and travelogues.
He founded ‘Madina-tul-Hikmat’ (city of wisdom) on the outskirts of Karachi – a vast area comprising of several educational institutions including Hamdard University, Hamdard Public School, Hamdard Village School (for local village children).
In addition to it, Hakim Said also founded children’s magazine titled ‘Hamdard Naunehal’. It emphasizes on children’s education and comprises of various dedicated sections such as titbits, moral and mystery stories, cartoons and informative snippets etc.
Hakim Said played a leading role in the process of alternate medicine’s recognition and acknowledgement by World Health Organization (WHO).
Literary contributions:
Throughout his prolific career, Hakim Said wrote several books in varying domains such as Islam, Medicine and history of medicine such as;
- The Employer And the Employee: Islamic Concept (Published in 1972)
- Islamic Concept of State (Published in 1983)
- Essays on Islam (Four Volumes) (Published between 1992-1998)
- Voice of Morality (Published in 1985)
- Al-Biruni’s Book on Pharmacist And Material to Medica (Published in 1973)
- Cardiovascular Diseases: Greco-Arab Concepts (Published in 1983)
- Oral Health (Published in 1994)
- Medicinal Herbal (2 volumes) Published in 1996 Background of Unani, Arabic & Islamic Medicine & Pharmacy (Published in 1997)
- Ethics For Medics (Published in 1997)
Hakim Said was assassinated by unknown assailants on 17 October 1998 in Karachi, Aram Bagh.
Government of Pakistan, in recognition of Hakim Said’s services to the nation conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz Award to him in 2002.
His other awards include Certificate of Merit from the Institute of History of Science and Technology, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey 1981, Islamic Medicine Prize, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences, Kuwait, 1982
