اخبار السعودية – وطن نيوز
عاجل اخبار السعودية – اخبار اليوم السعودية
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-06-22 00:48:00
The medical profession is considered one of the highest and finest humanitarian professions as it aims to alleviate human pain and suffering. As for studying medicine, it requires patience, perseverance, and seriousness over a period of at least seven continuous years, followed by other years of training in well-known hospitals, and perhaps many more years for those who want to specialize in one of the many different medical branches, such as specialization in pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, heart, neurology, skin diseases, digestive system diseases, reproductive diseases, respiratory diseases, ear, nose and throat diseases, eye diseases, oral and dental medicine, or anatomy. And others. Because of the difficulty of studying medicine and its long years, we find that those who enroll in medical colleges are usually among the outstanding students and top students in secondary school, and have a long-term passion and passion for scientific subjects. I believe that specializing in pediatrics is considered one of the difficult specialties, as it requires dealing with infants and young people who lack the ability to reveal and express their pain and the areas of their pain, and this in turn requires that the treating physician have special talents and abilities in how to deal with them, sharpen their confidence, and dispel their fears, not to mention how to gain the trust of Their mothers and directing them to the correct methods and gradual paths of treatment for them. On the other hand, the specialty of pediatrics requires studying the psychological, mental and physical developments of the child’s development, and may include treating various diseases and disabilities of children, and providing all means of medical and health care whether they are newborns or in childhood until they reach adolescence. Note that the pediatrician may have to specialize in one or more fields related to the treatment of children, such as: pediatric allergy and immunology, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, pediatric oncology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric emergency medicine, neonatology, child abuse medicine, adolescent medicine, and others. Fortunately for Bahrain, education began early and many years before the rest of the neighboring countries (the first regular school for boys was opened in Muharraq in 1919 under the name “Al-Hidaya School.” Al-Khalifiyah,” and the first regular school for girls was also established in Muharraq in 1928 under the name “Khadija al-Kubra School,” both during the era of His greatness Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, may God have mercy on him, which lasted from 1869 to 1932), which allowed the graduation of early batches of high school students who continued their university studies abroad in various scientific and literary disciplines. It is also fortunate for Bahrain that its rulers have been interested since that early time in modern science and high-level specializations, which was evident in sending scholarships abroad to specialize in the most prestigious and famous citadels of science. Our evidence is that the first Bahraini educational mission was in 1928, and its destination was the American University of Beirut. It is also useful here to point out that Bahrain has paid similar or doubled attention to citizen health since the late nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when many other countries were devoid of hospitals and health centers, did not know medical care, and treated epidemics and serious diseases with traditional medicine and Sharia ruqyah. In 1889, Bahrain witnessed the establishment of the first health quarantine to limit the spread of infectious epidemics, and the opening of the first clinic in Manama in 1892. This was followed in 1903 by the opening of the first modern hospital in Bahrain and the entire Gulf region under the name “Mason Memorial Hospital”, then the opening of “Victoria Memorial Hospital” in 1906, leading to the inauguration of work at Salmaniya Hospital in 1957. There is no doubt that all of this paved the way for work and contribution. In the country’s health renaissance in front of the people of Bahrainis returning from their years of studying medicine abroad. The previous conversation leads us to shed light on the career of the late Bahraini doctor Ibrahim Yacoub Al-Saad, who is considered the first Bahraini doctor specializing in pediatrics, and the founder of the pediatrics department at Salmaniya Hospital, and a gentle, humble man with high morals and constant activity, who served his family and people for nearly four decades tirelessly, moving from one clinic to another, and from one position to another. “Ibrahim” was born. Yaqoub Muhammad Al-Saad, born in Fareej Al-Khater from the city of Muharraq in 1935, and was known to the men, women and children of his hometown as “Dakhtar Ibrahim”. Since his early years, he showed a strong passion for education and excellence in it, so he joined Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia School and studied all the levels available at that time at the hands of Bahraini and Arab teachers. Because of his excellence and diligence, he obtained a scholarship to Egypt in 1948, in order to obtain the Tawjihi certificate, which would then allow him to complete his university studies there. Colleague Yousef Salah Al-Din tells us, among what he wrote in the Bahraini newspaper Al-Watan (11/14/2018) about Bahrain entering the era of aviation, that Al-Saad traveled from Bahrain to Egypt with his fellow scholarship students on a four-engine seaplane, which took them off during the day from the airport. Bahrain Bahrain (operated in 1937), located at the time in the current location of the Omar Khayyam Hotel in the center of Manama towards Basra. They lived there in the “Shatt al-Arab Hotel,” where Al-Saad’s attention was caught by the presence of two taps for cold water and hot water, because he had never seen anything like them before. Then they flew the next day from Basra to Habbaniyah, and from the latter they went to a small airport near the Dead Sea, until the plane landed on the waters of the Nile near the Rawd al-Faraj area in Cairo. It seems that Al-Saad, for some reason, after studying in Cairo for a short period, preferred to complete his studies in Beirut instead of Cairo, so he traveled to Lebanon, where he obtained the International Baccalaureate degree from the International College (IC) in Beirut with distinction, which then allowed him to join the Faculty of Medicine at the American University, from which he graduated as a doctor in 1959, within the same class that included his colleague Dr. Rashid Ali Fleifel, who later specialized in the United States in the field of chest diseases. Note that Dr. Ali Muhammad Fakhro, the former Bahraini Minister of Health, was one year ahead of them in graduating from the same college and university, before continuing his studies in the United States and specializing in cardiology. There is no doubt that Al-Saad benefited greatly from his 11-year stay and study in Beirut, which at that time was one of the most beautiful and elegant cities, and a civilizational and cultural window full of wonders, trends, and ideas. However, what is credited to him is that he focused most of his attention on the goal of achievement for which he came. He did not get involved in politics, nor was he attracted by the conflicting political currents. He distanced himself from them and their bright slogans, so he was not tainted by them as many students and graduates of the American University of Beirut were. Al-Saad returned to Bahrain in 1959, eager to work, after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in medicine, but he was sent abroad again to specialize, so he traveled to the United States of America, where he joined He spent three years at the University of New York and California, where he spent three years and obtained a specialty degree in pediatrics. From the United States, he went to the United Kingdom to train in British universities and hospitals. He spent a training period at the Universities of London and Sheffield, which ended in 1961. After that, the man returned to Bahrain at the end of 1961, eager to serve his family and people. He joined the Health Department, which was at that time under the management of the British doctor Richard Snow, and he was assigned to work as a pediatrician in the city of Muharraq, which welcomed its distinguished son, and its people cooperated with him. And they loved him, so he returned their love with love. At that time, there were no hospitals or health centers in Muharraq for children and maternity; Therefore, the house of the sanctuary of His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, may God have mercy on him, was chosen as a temporary place for delivery and treatment of sick children. Al-Saad practiced his profession through this house, which the people called “The House of Dakhter Ibrahim.” Later, our doctor moved to work at the Muharraq Health Center in northern Muharraq (the location of the Social Care Center currently), and this was before the decision to transfer him to work at Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, a decision that was met with dissatisfaction and protest by the people of Muharraq, who demanded that Al-Saad remain among them, but to no avail. The same thing happened when he was transferred to work in Budaiya, where its residents loved him and wrote petitions to the Ministry of Health, refusing to replace him with another doctor. Breaking the rule of doctors sitting in Salmaniya Hospital, Al-Saad founded the Department of Pediatrics and headed it, and at the same time he worked as a consultant for pediatric diseases at the Ministry of Health. In this context, the Bahraini newspaper “Al-Watan” (10/20/2018) published an article by one of its writers, in which he described Dr. Al-Saad’s style of work, and he said the following: Al-Saad broke the rule of doctors sitting in their rooms to examine the patient during his work at Salmaniya Hospital, by taking his table and chair to the hall opposite his room, and addressing the parents of sick children directly, and pledging not to leave the hospital without examining every child and dispensing the necessary medicine for him, while always being keen to begin by examining children who come with their mothers, so that they will not be late in returning to follow up on the affairs of their homes. Promotions continued for our doctor, and he became General Director of Technical Affairs at the Ministry Health, as Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Health, and Assistant Undersecretary for Primary Health and Public Health at the Ministry during the time of its former Minister, Jawad Salem Al-Arrayedh. By virtue of his position, he attended many medical conferences inside and outside the Gulf region. While our friend was practicing medicine in Salmaniya, he received many offers from neighboring countries to benefit from his knowledge and experience, so he went with them to the Emir of the country, Sheikh Isa bin Salman, to seek his opinion, but the Emir asked him about his position on those offers, and he was not happy. However, he replied, saying that he voluntarily accepted the matter, and that serving his country and its people was a priority. He hoped to order the provision of all modern medicines related to the treatment of children from their sources in Western countries, so the Emir, may God have mercy on him, responded immediately to his request and as quickly as possible. The positions did not rob him of serving Bahrainis, and unlike other doctors, his high administrative positions did not rob him of the honor of serving his Bahraini citizens. He was always up to their good expectations of him, as he made many medical, advisory, and social contributions, and engaged in many volunteer activities, through: the Center Bahrain International Movement, Dar Al-Hekma, the Friendship Society for the Blind, the Cancer Society, the Family Planning Society, the Bahrain Diabetes Society, the Anti-Smoking Society, the Bahraini Red Crescent Society, the Bahraini Medical Society, the Bahraini Graduates Club, and others, according to what was published by the Bahraini newspaper “Al-Bilad” (2/8/2022). In a testimony about his qualities and virtues, my friend Ismail Al-Bin Muhammad, who knew him closely by virtue of his work in the Bahraini Ministry of Health as Director of International Relations, told me: And their trips together to represent Bahrain in Gulf, Arab and international conferences related to health, showed that Al-Saad was a generous, content and humble man, who did not beg for positions, did not like the limelight, and refrained from gossip and sterile debate on political and ideological issues. In addition, Al-Bin Muhammad said, to the effect that our friend was educated, an avid reader of the Arabic and English languages (especially in the fields of history and literature), and a fluent orator in Arabic, and he often corrected others for their grammatical and verbal errors. Because of these qualities and his seniority in his medical specialty, he was loved and always surrounded by appreciation and respect by his Arab and foreign counterparts. As for the advice he used to address his friends in times of their worries, it was: “Life is short, so don’t make it shorter.” On Tuesday, August 26, 2008, Dr. Ibrahim Yaqoub Al-Saad bid farewell to this world at the age of 73, leaving behind three sons (Yasser, Qusay, and Ahmed) and one daughter (Badour). He was buried, may God have mercy on him, after praying for him in Muharraq cemetery, bringing the curtain down on the life of a doctor whom people loved for his simplicity. And his great humanitarian services, and his noble qualities and virtues.
