The cardiologist who rose from government wards in Warangal to the royal chambers of Riyadh
NEW DELHI — The world of medicine lost one of its quiet titans last week. Dr Mohammad Iqbal Sanai, the Hyderabadi cardiologist who rose from government wards in Warangal to the royal chambers of Riyadh, passed away in Hyderabad on May 14. He was 95.
Dr Sanai’s life traced an arc few physicians ever walk. After earning his MBBS in 1955 and completing his MRCP in Cardiology from the University of Edinburgh in 1960, he returned to serve at Warangal and later at Hyderabad’s Osmania Hospital. In 1965, he moved to Jeddah, a decision that would place him at the crossroads of medicine, diplomacy, and history.
Physician to a King
By the early 1970s, Dr Sanai was attending to Crown Prince Khaled ibn Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. When he ascended the throne, Dr Sanai was appointed full-time personal physician to King Khaled ibn Abdul Aziz in 1978, a position of immense trust he held until the monarch died in 1982. His care was marked by discretion, precision, and deep compassion, qualities that made him indispensable not only to the royal family but to Saudi Arabia’s most prominent business houses. The Bin Mahfouz, Binladin, Bugshan, Sharbatly, Ali Reza, Zainal and Gabel families all sought his counsel.
In 1976, the Kingdom granted him Saudi citizenship, a rare honour that reflected his service to the nation’s health and its leadership.
Colleagues remember Dr Sanai for marrying clinical brilliance with bedside grace. He belonged to a generation that saw medicine as a vocation, not just a profession. Despite access to the most powerful corridors in the Gulf, he remained deeply connected to Hyderabad, returning often and eventually retiring there in 2007 after a career spanning more than five decades.
He leaves behind his wife, Bader Babu Khan, daughter of the late Khan Bahadur Abdul Kareem Babu Khan, and their four children. With them, he leaves thousands of patients across two nations who knew him as “Doctor Saheb”, a man who listened first, treated second, and never let status alter his duty of care.
Dr Sanai’s story is a reminder that trust, once earned at the highest level, is built in the smallest moments: a steady hand, an unhurried diagnosis, a promise kept.
May his soul rest in peace, amen!
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Syed Athar Hasnain Rizvi is a senior journalist. He was associated with the National Herald in New Delhi and the Saudi Gazette in Jeddah. He can be contacted at: sahrizvi35@yahoo.com
