Hakim Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri (1901–2015): A Centenarian Freedom Fighter and Unani Physician Who Served Humanity Without Fee

By Syed Amjad Hussain, New Age Islam 16 August 2025 Hakim Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri, born in Bihar in 1901, walked with Gandhi during the Dandi March and later became Kolkata’s beloved Unani physician. Treating over 100 patients daily without fee, he served for decades, earning the Padma Bhushan, and remained a symbol of compassion, patriotism, and selfless service. Main Points: 1. Born in 1901 in Kumrava, Bihar, Quadri joined Mahatma Gandhi in the Dandi March and was imprisoned with him in Cuttack during the Civil Disobedience Movement. 2. He settled in Kolkata in the 1930s, founding the Swadeshi Dawakhana and treating over 100 patients daily without charging a fee. 3. Quadri played a key role in establishing the Unani Medical College and Hospital in central Kolkata. 4. He treated India’s first President, Dr Rajendra Prasad, in 1942–43 for breathlessness. 5. Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2007, he remained active until his death in 2015 at the age of 114. ----- Introduction Kolkata has seen many remarkable lives, but few stories shine with the quiet brilliance of Hakim Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri. A man who not only walked beside Mahatma Gandhi during the salt-laden winds of the Dandi March, but also shared a prison cell with him in Cuttack, Quadri lived long enough to see India transform from a colonised land to a confident republic. And through all those years, he devoted himself to a cause that was just as noble as the fight for freedom, the service of humanity through medicine, without ever accepting a single fee. He passed away on 30 December 2015, three days after celebrating his 114th birthday, leaving behind a legacy that touched politics, medicine, faith, and human kindness. In his Ripon Street neighbourhood, they simply called him “Hakim Sahab”, the doctor who healed with both medicine and affection. From a Village in Bihar to the Heart of the Freedom Struggle Born on 25 December 1901 in Kumrava, a remote village in Bihar’s Nawada district, Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri came into the world when Kolkata was still the capital of British India, and Gandhi was yet to return from South Africa. His early life was simple, rooted in rural values and the traditions of his family. As the winds of political awakening swept through India, the young Quadri found his calling in the Civil Disobedience Movement. His commitment to the cause was so complete that he joined Gandhi in the legendary Dandi March of 1930, defying the British monopoly on salt. Soon after, he was imprisoned alongside Gandhi in Cuttack, forging a bond with the Mahatma that was to shape his ideals for the rest of his life. “My father was imprisoned with Gandhiji by the British in Cuttack. He would accompany him everywhere during the movement,” recalls his son, Manzar Sadique, General Secretary of All India Unani Tibbi Congress, West Bengal. The Hakim Who Refused to Put a Price on Healing In the mid-1930s, Quadri’s family shifted to Calcutta. By then, he had trained as a Unani physician, a healer of a tradition stretching back centuries. He set up the Swadeshi Dawakhana at Haji Mohammed Mohsin Square, a modest clinic where he would see more than 100 patients a day. Every morning began before sunrise, with Fajr prayers, followed by a walk to the clinic where people would already be waiting for him. The remarkable part? He never charged for consultations. Not once, in decades of medical practice. His work was seva (service) in the truest sense of the word. He also helped establish the Unani Medical College and Hospital on Abdul Halim Lane in central Kolkata, ensuring that this traditional system of medicine would have a proper institution to train future generations. Physician to the First President of India Hakim Saheb’s skills earned him respect at the very highest levels. In 1942–43, during the height of the Quit India Movement, he treated Dr. Rajendra Prasad in Gaya, Bihar for breathlessness. At the time, Prasad was already a towering national leader and would go on to become the first President of independent India. Yet, Quadri treated him as he did all his patients, with care, humility, and no expectation of reward. A Lifetime of Honours and Humility In 2007, when Quadri was already 106, the Government of India recognised his contributions by conferring on him the Padma Bhushan, one of the country’s highest civilian honours. The award was presented by President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a man who himself stood for the fusion of modernity with India’s traditional knowledge. Even in his last hears, Quadri remained active. At the age of 113, he travelled to Lucknow as the chief guest at a national Unani practitioners’ conference in November 2015, where he was warmly welcomed by then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Faith and the Journey to Phulwari Sharif Hakim Saheb’s service was not confined to medicine; it was steeped in his faith. For over nine decades, he undertook the annual journey to Khanqah-e-Mujeebiya, Phulwari Sharif in Patna for Eid-ul-Milad-un-Nabi celebrations, joining thousands of devotees to commemorate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad Mustafa Sallallahu Ta'aala Alayhi Wassallam. It was a journey he made well into his 100s, undeterred by age. The Last Farewell On 25 December 2015, Hakim Saheb turned 114. Just three days later, on a cold Monday night, he breathed his last at his Ripon Street home. The news travelled swiftly, not just through Kolkata, but across Bihar and the wider Unani medical fraternity. His funeral was attended by people from every walk of life, freedom fighters, students, fellow physicians, political leaders, and countless patients whose lives he had touched. For many, his passing marked the end of an era. A Legacy for All Time Hakim Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Quadri’s life is more than just the tale of a freedom fighter or a healer. It is a story of unwavering integrity, of a man who believed that the purpose of knowledge, whether political or medical, was to serve people without discrimination or greed. At a time when healthcare is often discussed in terms of profit margins, his example remains luminous: a doctor who counted his earnings not in rupees, but in blessings; a patriot who measured his success in the smiles of those he helped; and a believer who saw service to humanity as service to God. Even in death, Hakim Saheb continues to inspire, a living link between the salt-soaked shores of Dandi and the bustling streets of modern Kolkata, between the fight for a nation’s freedom and the fight to heal its people. ------ Syed Amjad Hussain is an author and Independent research scholar on Sufism and Islam. He is the author of 'Bihar Aur Sufivad', a bestselling research book based on the history of Sufism in Bihar. Note: This is the first-ever research article available about Syed Mohammad Sharfuddin Qadri on the Internet. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/hakim-sharfuddin-quadri-freedom-unani-humanity/d/136504 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism