Madam Sadia Rashid
Chancellor & President, Hamdard Foundation Pakistan

If you are a student and reading this Prospectus, chances are you are trying to make up your mind which university to join, or have just chosen Hamdard. Rather than telling you that Hamdard University is a good choice, I would much rather simply give you some facts and then let you draw your own conclusions. Fact Nos. 1 to 5 are: The Founder-Chancellor of Hamdard University was Hakim Mohammed Said. Leaving behind in India the running concern of Hamdard Dawakhana, to be continued by his elder brother, he came to Pakistan in 1948, with his wife, little daughter, and a modicum of worldly goods. He walked the streets of Karachi, looking for work. Eventually, he rented two rooms in the old part of town, and, with some furniture hired for 12 rupees a month, started Hamdard in Pakistan. Having been raised in an atmosphere of philanthropy, he saw all patients all his life without charging any fees, selling only his herbal medicines.

Facts Nos 6 to 9 are: As Allah cares for those who care for others, these humble beginnings led in a few years to the establishment of Hamdard Laboratories, well-equipped, modern factories to manufacture their herbal medicines, and a self-owned, multi-storeyed office block. In a word: Success. But at the height of his success, Hakim Mohammed Said transformed Hamdard Laboratories into a Waqf, the profits of which all go to serve mankind. This service is in many fields: from charity to widows, orphans, and other needy, to the fields of health, education, and nation-building. And that’s where your prospective University comes in.
 
Hakim Mohammed Said set up Hamdard University – indeed, the whole of Madinat al-Hikmah – to give form to the vision he had of a well-balanced education, encompassing the best of the traditional and the modern, having good teachers and excellent equipment. I leave it to you to judge from the facts I have given, and some others which you may know, whether an institution which a man like him founded and fostered – and which his legacy continues to run would be worthy or not.

If you answer in the affirmative: Welcome! I wish you happy learning, success in the years ahead, and God’s blessings.