The Unani Healer Who Made Traditional Wisdom Serve the People: The Story of Hakim Syed Khaleefathullah

In 1938, in the city of Chennai, Syed Khaleefathullah was born into a tradition of healing that stretched back centuries. He studied Unani medicine in the traditional way—learning the properties of herbs, the balance of the humours, and the careful art of restoring health through nature’s pharmacy—and began practising in his hometown. What started as a local clinic grew into a lifetime of quiet advocacy for a system of medicine that was both ancient and urgently relevant.

In 1985 he founded the Niamath Science Academy, an organisation dedicated to promoting and preserving Unani medicine, named in memory of the renowned physician Hakim Syed Niamathullah. Through the Academy and his own practice he worked to keep the knowledge alive, training others and making cost-effective herbal treatments available to ordinary people. He often remarked that while modern technical advances were valuable, they were not always affordable; traditional systems like Unani held great promise for the many who needed care that was both effective and within reach.

His expertise earned him national responsibilities. He served as Honorary Physician to the President of India from 1987 to 1991, as President of the Central Council of Indian Medicine for more than a decade, and in key roles with the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine and the Unani Pharmacopoeia Committee. He taught at the Government Unani Medical College in Chennai, published books on the system, and represented Unani medicine at international conferences across the world.

In 2014 the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Shri for his contributions to medicine. The Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science and later instituted a gold medal in his name for the best outgoing student in Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery. He was also honoured with titles such as Baba-e-Tibb and Hakim-e-Millath. Two of his sons followed him into Unani practice. Hakim Syed Khaleefathullah passed away on 6 June 2023.

One afternoon, after seeing patients and speaking with young practitioners, someone asked him, “Hakim Sahib, in an age of modern hospitals and advanced machines, why do you still place such faith in Unani?”

He answered with the gentle conviction of a man who had spent a lifetime measuring both herbs and human need.

“The body has its own wisdom, and nature has provided the remedies,” he said. “When treatment is effective, affordable and rooted in care for the whole person, it reaches those who need it most. Unani is not against modern science; it walks alongside it. If we keep the knowledge alive and place it in the service of the poor, then the tradition remains a living gift.”

And so the Unani physician from Chennai who founded an academy, advised the nation’s highest office, guided national councils, and treated countless patients with the quiet tools of traditional medicine is remembered as a guardian of an ancient system—one who ensured that its healing power continued to serve the people of his time and those yet to come.