Remembering Emirati philanthropist Mohammed Obaidullah who treated over 1 million patients
- Last updated: June 16, 2026 | 16:07
Mohammed Ibrahim Hamad Bin Obaidullah, may Allah have mercy on him, who was born in the old city of Ras Al Khaimah in 1935 and passed away in Dubai on June 23, 2025, represents a remarkable phenomenon in charitable work at the level of the UAE and the region.
He was so in light of his contribution to the treatment of more than one million patients in the country over the past three decades, at a rate of 200,000 patients annually.
His achievement was made possible through the hospitals and integrated health facilities he built and the highly advanced medical devices and equipment he provided over more than 3 decades.
By this, he was a special case in supporting the health sector in particular, adopting and launching integrated humanitarian medical projects and completing them at his own expense, thereby contributing greatly to helping patients be offered the necessary medical treatment and their needs be met.
A vision of goodness
The great benefactor summarized his vision of doing good by saying: “My happiness is when I see joy in the eyes of the needy after their need has been met.”
The portfolio of healthcare projects, built under the slogan ‘Patients First’ and played a pivotal role in treating and saving lives, included a general hospital and a specialized geriatric hospital—the first of its kind in the region. They also included a specialized dialysis centre, the first of its kind in Ras Al Khaimah, which was inaugurated in 2017, and a mosque within Obaidullah Hospital.
A humanitarian biography
Mohammed Obaidullah was a pioneer of charitable and humanitarian work in the health sector. He was an Emirati who launched major and high-quality humanitarian initiatives and left behind a rich history of charitable and benevolent work that spanned nearly half a century.
Large numbers of people benefited from his charitable and humanitarian initiatives, and these projects will continue to serve patients for many years to come, thus cementing his position among the pioneers of charitable work in the UAE and the region.
‘Abu Abdul Aziz’, who was educated at the old Al Ahmadiya School in Dubai, chose the health sector for charitable work with the aim of bringing about a qualitative shift in it, based on a special vision that prioritized preserving health, promoting public safety and protecting people’s lives as the most deserving of support and charitable work.
Despite the priority he gave to people’s health and safety, he did not stop at that point, but extended to help the poor and needy and build mosques in several places, while treating and supporting low-income patients remained his primary motivation in strengthening and building the health sector.
Ongoing charity
The Ibrahim Bin Hamad Obaidullah Hospital, located in the Al Nakheel area of Ras Al Khaimah, is the largest project that Mohammed Obaidullah carried out in memory of his father and named it after him.
The hospital began receiving patients on October 6, 2001, as a replacement for the Saif Bin Ghobash Hospital, featuring a modern, spacious and fully equipped building that met the latest medical and engineering standards at the time.
The project was born after he had searched for something for Allah to reward his his father, who passed away in 1995, he said, adding that he decided that the hospital was the most appropriate option as an ongoing charity for its direct role in saving the lives of patients and easing their pains.
In memory of his mother
In 2009, Obaidullah initiated the construction of a hospital dedicated entirely to the treatment of the elderly and age-related illnesses, as a charitable endowment in memory of his mother, may Allah have mercy on her, who was alive when it opened. This specialized hospital, the first of its kind in the country and the region, was entirely dedicated to the treatment of the elderly.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Obaidullah’s initiative to build a specialized dialysis unit within the Obaidullah Hospital campus played a key role in serving, treating, and alleviating the suffering of kidney patients and supporting the health sector. The unit included 45 beds, making it the first of its kind in the emirate, as kidney patients used to receive treatment in a small section within an old building.
A surgical unit
The late philanthropist made a significant and effective contribution to supporting Hamdan Bin Rashid Cancer Hospital in Dubai. At the beginning of 2025, he donated funds for a facial and hand surgery unit to be to established and equipped in Dubai.
The construction of 20 fully equipped rooms for heart patients in Ras Al Khaimah following a visit to his sick aunt in 1999 was the first of Obaidullah’s humanitarian initiatives and unique charitable projects in the health sector.
In 1965, Mohammed Obaidullah became a member of the Trucial Coast Development Council, which operated in the sixties and seventies of the last century and included an elite group of Emiratis.
At the beginning of his work in the business and investment sector in his early youth, Obaidullah allocated a portion of his profits to charitable and benevolent works, secretly and publicly and contributed to sending a number of Emirati students to study at universities in developed countries. This was based on his belief in the role of science and knowledge in building the nation, development, progress, and sustainability.
He was also a board member of Beit Al Khair Society and one of its founders. His focus was on doing good in the health sector because according to him providing treatment and medical services to patients was extremely important and sensitive and was connected to people’s lives and safety.
Prestigious awards
Mohammed Obaidullah was awarded prestigious and well-deserved prizes in recognition of his remarkable contributions and the good he did for patients and those in need.
These included the State Appreciation Award in 2012, UAE Pioneers Award in 2017, Sharjah Award for Voluntary Work in 2003 and Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Award for Medical Sciences in 2008.
He was also honored by His Highness Sheikh Humaid Bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ajman, in 2009.
Philanthropic activities until the end of his life
Obaidullah’s journey of philanthropic activities continued until the last days of his life and culminated with an initiative that carried a lot of kindness to patients and formed a quantum leap at the level of health services in Dubai.
In 2025 and while on his sickbed before passing away in the same year, Obaidullah donated a modern mobile CT scanner, the first device of its kind in the Middle East, to Rashid Hospital, where he was receiving treatment.