Islamic Studies

Dr. Hassan Hathout [May Allah Have Mercy on Him]

by Suhaib Webb
April 25, 2009
4 min read

Hassan Hathout, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FRCSE, FACS, is a multi-cultural physician, ethicist, and poet. He grew up in surroundings where love of God and country, and call of duty, were pivotal. With much talent, learning, discipline, and meditation, he was able to combine a highly successful career in academic medicine, ethics, and theology.

Dr. Hassan Hathout received his extensive postgraduate training in Britain at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. There, he earned the triple degrees of: Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Doctorate of Philosophy in the field of Reproductive Genetics. Subsequent affiliations included Fellowship of the American College of Surgeons, International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and World Health Organization committee for medical ethics. Together with being a medical school Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology, he was an active member of the WHO committee on ethics of human reproduction, and a close affiliate to the Vatican.

Concomitantly, he was co-founder of the International Organization of Medical Sciences, designed with the primary goal of dissemination of God-guided medical ethics. Over the years, this organization has proven to be a valuable source of information for religious and secular communities on rapidly advancing, ethically controversial fields such as abortion, alternative medicine, genetic engineering, transplantation, and stem-cell research.

Hassan Hathout is a man of God, and a scholar of monotheism including Christianity and Judaism. For him, the concept of religion can be summarized in one word, and that is: LOVE. He was the keynote speaker at the first Christian-Muslim celebration at the White House in 1999. Additionally, he is the co-founder of the Interfaith Council of Southern California, and an invited speaker in many religious and interfaith locations locally and nationwide, including the Wilshire Temple, the Crystal Cathedral, and the United Methodist Church of Pasadena. Dr Hassan Hathout is the recipient of many awards from interfaith and humanitarian communities including the Jewish Christian Muslim Olive Branch award for his efforts in making peace and harmony between people of different faiths, and the Initiatives of Change Life Changer award. He is author of numerous medical, ethical, and religious manuscripts, chapters, and books including: The Spirit of the Red Cross in the Teachings of Islam, The Humane Physician, Islamic Perspectives on Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reading the Muslim Mind, Thus Shall I Stand before God, and Audible Silence.

In addition to being a scientist and ethicist, he is a bicultural and bilingual poet, speaker, thinker, and writer. Among his most beautiful poems are: The Migration, In the Hands of the Prophet, and Jesus, the Son of Man. Currently, he resides in Pasadena, California, with his wife of more than fifty-six years, Salonas, a retired pathologist. His daughter, Eba, is a Professor of Pediatrics at Loma Linda University Medical School in Southern California. He is grandfather to Sarrah and Hassaan Shahawy.

Dr. Hathout passed away today. We ask Allah to forgive him and bless his family.

As-salamu `alaykum,

Dr. Hassan Hathout, a pillar of the Muslim community in Southern California for several decades, passed away in the afternoon of Saturday, April 25. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji`un. We belong to Allah and to Him we return. His passing is a profound loss for our community. May Allah accept him into Jannat al-Firdaws, and may Allah grant his family patience during this time.

Here is the information for his funeral services and burial. Please make every effort to attend and to bring family and friends as well. Please forward this to all of your lists.

Funeral Prayers
Sunday, April 26
1:00 PM
Islamic Center of Southern California
434 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 382-9000

Burial
Monday, April 27
3:00 PM
Rose Hills Cemetery
3888 Workman Mill Rd
Whittier, CA 90601
(562) 699-0921

Condolences to the Hathout Family
Monday, April 27
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Islamic Center of Southern California
434 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 382-9000

www.virtualmosque.com

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About the author

Suhaib Webb

Suhaib Webb is a contemporary American-Muslim educator, activist, and lecturer. His work bridges classical and contemporary Islamic thought, addressing issues of cultural, social and political relevance to Muslims in the West. After converting to Islam in 1992, Webb left his career in the music industry to pursue his passion in education. He earned a Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Central Oklahoma and received intensive private training in the Islamic Sciences under a renowned Muslim Scholar of Senegalese descent. Webb was hired as the Imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, where he gave khutbas (sermons), taught religious classes, and provided counselling to families and young people; he also served as an Imam and resident scholar in communities across the U.S.

From 2004-2010, Suhaib Webb studied at the world’s preeminent Islamic institution of learning, Al-Azhar University, in the College of Shari`ah. During this time, after several years of studying the Arabic Language and the Islamic legal tradition, he also served as the head of the English Translation Department at Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah.

Outside of his studies at Al-Azhar, Suhaib Webb completed the memorization of the Quran in the city of Makkah, Saudi Arabia. He has been granted numerous traditional teaching licenses (ijazat), adhering to centuries-old Islamic scholarly practice of ensuring the highest standards of scholarship. Webb was named one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in 2010.

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  • May Allah forgive his sins and grant him Jannah.

    In article it's not mentioned he co-founded the Islamic Center of Southern California with his brother Dr. Maher Hathout.

    Reply

  • Bismillah
    Assalaamualekum
    Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon….
    May Allah swt have mercy on him and grant him a place in Jannatul Firdaus Aameen
    May Allah swt grant patience and forebearance to his family , bless them and unite them all in Jannah Aameen

    Reply

  • Bismillah
    Assalaamualekum
    Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon….
    May Allah swt have mercy on him and grant him a place in Jannatul Firdaus Aameen
    May Allah swt grant patience and forebearance to his family , bless them and unite them all in Jannah Aameen

    Reply

  • Bismillah

    Spring Showers
    Spring Showers are on the grass
    Which is green on every Jumah in mass
    By the MPAC that is not crass
    The seeds are not yet green alas
    But the Dr. did show a light pass
    All the curses, all the wrongings amass
    By the Bay on each impasse
    On the Berkley
    grounds in every class
    Thru the Oranges in the county minbar made of glass
    Do I surely remember his words that were not in any subclass
    Haloed is the name is Pasedena's eyeglass.
    When Spring showers fall on the grass
    But the seeds are now green into brass
    In San Jose
    In Mestiza
    In Farsi
    In Pashto
    In Arabi
    In English
    In Alcatraz
    Or the sealion
    Carried by a pelican
    In the countless villas
    In the Pacific Ocean water
    In the Venice Beach twilight
    Where the hourglass
    of Dr. Hathout ends?
    in San Diego's bluegrass
    But the seeds planted by his teaching bypass.
    Into a new reality on this Calfornia sassafras
    When every tear today falls sad in morass
    Spring Showers do come today on the grass

    Condolences to family of Dr. Hathout

    Reply

  • May Allah bless him and his family. He will truly be missed, but not forgotten.

    Assalam Alakium
    KG

    Reply

  • He was one of the jewels of the Islamic Ummah. May Allah swt forgive him and place his soul among the righteous in the Hereafter. My prayers are with him and may Heaven awaits him. Alfatihah – from a Malaysian Muslim

    Reply

  • May ALLAH have mercy on him…may he rest in peace with angels & who deserve to be in heaven…may u protect him God :'(…I will never forget u GRANDPA….i will never forget ur best smile that shines with all love…..

    UBFORGETABLE MAN…..REST IN PEACE GRAND PA….!

    Reply

  • To DR. HASSAN HATHOUT we must say goodbye..:'(
    he wouldn't want to hear us cry…

    A sweeter MAN we've met
    In our hearts we'll never forget!

    The angels came to take his home,
    Now we are left on earth to roam.

    His time was long, yet seemed too short
    To memories now we must resort.

    For everyone he had a smile…=)
    And he loved to sit and talk awhile.

    Now in our hearts DR. HASSAN HATHOUT still
    lives on and will always be…
    Until our time on earth is gone…

    Then once again we'll join our
    friend..Dr. Hassan Hathout
    Together in time that will never end!

    R.I.P GRAND FATHER ((( DR. HASSAN HATHOUT)))

    Reply

  • oh allah, please send him to Jenna. i think he is the lovliest man ever lived 🙂
    i am very sad but glad that he died at such an old age. at least he didnt die when he was 30.

    Reply

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