| WRMEA Archives 2006-2010 - 2009 July |
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2009, page 72
In Memoriam
Dr. Hassan Hathout (1924-2009)
By Pat McDonnell Twair
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THE MUSLIM community of Southern California lost one of its pillars April 25 with the death of Dr. Hassan Hathout, a hero of the 1948 siege of Ramle (see the Washingon Report’s May/June 2008 Nakba issue, pp. 26-27), a world-respected medical ethicist, and a poet/writer in both Arabic and English.
For the past two decades, he was a leader of the Islamic Center of Southern California along with his physician brother, Dr. Maher Hathout. During the first Iraq war in 1991, Dr. Hassan Hathout was a co-founder of the Interfaith Council of Southern California. In 1998, he delivered a sermon during the first celebration of Eid al-Fitr in the White House.
Born Dec. 23, 1924 in Cairo, the son of a teacher completed medical school at the University of Cairo in 1948, then volunteered to serve in the Red Crescent Society in a hospital near Ramle and later in a hospital at the Ramallah Friends School. He returned to Cairo to earn a diploma in obstetrics and gynecology. On April 28, 1951 he married Salonas Hasan Ismail, a gynecological pathologist.
The couple then moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, where Dr. Hathout received three degrees: Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons; Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology; and Doctorate in the field of Reproductive Genetics. His later affiliations included the World Health Organization committee for medical ethics and Fellowship of American College of Surgeons.
The husband-wife medical team moved in 1966 to Kuwait, where he was a co-founder in 1973 of the Kuwait University Medical School. After retiring from the Kuwait University Medical School in 1988, the couple retired in Pasadena, CA. Dr. Hathout continued to lecture at Loma Linda University and the Islamic Center of Southern California. A prolific writer, his books include Reading the Muslim Mind.
More than 1,000 people turned out on a Monday afternoon for his burial April 27, and even more were on hand that evening for a memorial in the Islamic Center. Stated his brother, Dr. Maher Hathout: “He was the only person I saw in my life who never hated, and he relentlessly represented Islam in his behavior and writing.”
Dr. Hathout’s death precludes solving a mystery. During the chaotic tumult of the fall of Ramle, was he the presiding doctor at the birth of a baby who today is Prof. Mahmood Ibrahim of Cal Poly University, Pomona. When he was introduced to Professor Ibrahim in 2008, Dr. Hathout said that in all probability, he did bring him into the world—there weren’t many other doctors caring for pregnant Palestinian refugees at that traumatic time.
Dr. Hassan Hathout was a man of humility who seemed unaware of the inspiration he gave to others. In early 2008 when this writer interviewed him for the Washington Report, he was visibly moved when I told him I wanted to meet him after a young man stated in public Dr. Hathout was the most remarkable teacher he ever had.
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Salonas, daughter, Dr. Eba Hathout Shahawi, granddaughter, Sarrah Shahawi, and grandson, Hassan Shahawi.
Pat McDonnell Twair is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.
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