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Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol. 14 No. 02 April’15

Editorial

In memory of Prof. Ghulam Muazzam: Legendary Medical Scholar of Bangladesh 
Muazzam N1, Al-Mahmood AK2

Corresponds to: Prof Naima Muazzam, Member, Editorial Board, Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, Ibn 
Sina	Trust,	Ibn	Sina	Medical	College	Bhaban	1/1-B,	Kallyanpur,	Dhaka-1216.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v14i2.18261 
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.14(2) 2015 p.117-118

On Behalf of ‘Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science’ 
and	its	publisher	‘Ibn	Sina	Trust’	we	deeply	express	con-
dolence on the death of its Founder Editor-in-Chief and 
the senior most Pathologist of the country Prof. Muham-
mad	Ghulam	Muazzam.	Prof.	Muazzam	was	one	of	the	
greatest medical scholars and scientist born in this sub-
continent.	He	was	born	in	Birgaon	under	Brahmanbaria	
district	in	1927	and	passed	away	on	22nd	January	2015	
in	Dhaka.
Prof.	Dr.	Muhammad	Ghulam	Muazzam	was	a	brilliant	
and	 extremely	 meritorious	 student.	 He	 received	 merit	
scholarships throughout his educational career- from 
Upper	 Primary	 Examination	 (1936)	 up	 to	 post	 gradu-
ate	studies.	He	passed	his	Matriculation	Examination	in	
1943	in	the	1st	Division	with	distinctions	in	two	sub-
jects	under	Calcutta	University.	The	jurisdiction	of	Cal-
cutta	University	was	entire	Bengal	(present	Bangladesh,	
West-Bengal	and	Assam).		He	passed	his	I.Sc	in	1st	Di-
vision	 with	 distinction	 from	 Calcutta	 Islamia	 College	
under	 Calcutta	 University	 and	 was	 placed	 4th	 among	
Muslim	students	according	to	merit.	Following	I.Sc,	he	
went	to	study	medicine	at	Calcutta	Medical	College.	He	
completed his M.B.S.S at the esteemed Calcutta Medi-
cal	 College	 where	 he	 entered	 on	 the	 basis	 of	 general	
merit category amongst all the students (1st ten students 
used	to	get	admission	on	merit	basis).	During	his	days	
in	Calcutta	Medical	College	he	showed	his	brilliance.	
He	stood	first	in	the	university	in	Medical	Jurisprudence	
and received University Gold Medal (Roy Debendranth 

Raibahadur)	in	Medical	Jurisprudence.	He	was	awarded	
a Gold Medal for his outstanding result in the 4th year of 
MBBS	Exam.	He	stood	first	in	the	Test	examination	of	
the	Final	MBBS	Part	1B.	He	completed	MBBS	in	1950	
with	distinction.
Career:	 He	 started	 his	 career	 as	 a	 demonstrator	 (Lec-
ture)	of	pathology	in	Dhaka	Medical	College	in	the	year	
1951.	Later	he	was	awarded	Central	Govt.	Scholarship	
for higher studies in the UK, There he obtained high-
est	degree	(MRCPath)	in	pathology.	On	his	return	from	
UK	in	1959	he	joined	in	the	Department	of	Pathology	in	
Dhaka	Medical	College.	He	worked	as	professor	of	Pa-
thology	in	Rajshahi	Medical	College.	After	his	Nuffield	
Fllowship	he	joined	as	founder	professor	of	Microbiol-
ogy	in	IPGMR	in	1968.	Later	on	he	served	as	principal	
of	Sylhet	and	Rangpur	Medical	College.	He	also	worked	
as	Director	of	BMDC	in	1974-75.	For	sometime	worked	
as professor of Pathology in Al-Fateh University of Lib-
ya.	He	was	a	selected	expert	in	the	field	of	Pathology	&	
Microbiology	by	Commonwealth	in	the	panel	of	experts	
of	 Commonwealth	 Fund	 for	 Technical	 Co-operation	
(CFTC)	and	in	that	capacity	worked	in	Bahamas	for	the	
period of 1977-79 and Ghana University for the period 
of	1988-91.
From	the	early	days	of	his	career	he	showed	his	commit-
ment	in	medical	research	and	innovation.	He	published	
numerous	 articles	 in	 internationally	 reputed	 journals	
between	1959	and	60’s1-5.	Prof.	Muazzam	wrote	many	
books	on	scientific	aspects	of	Islam	and	Holy	Quran..	He	

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ghulam Muazzam
MB	(Cal),	FRCPath	(Eng)

Ist July 1927- 22nd January 2015

1. Prof Naima Muazzam, Member, Editorial Board, Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science.
2. Prof. Abu Kholdun Al-Mahmood, Executive Editor, Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science.



118

In memory of Prof. Ghulam Muazzam: Legendary Medical Scholar of Bangladesh

was	possibly	the	first	scientist	to	carry	on	research	on	the	
effects	of	Ramadan	fasting	on	health.	He	hypothesized	
that	Ramadan	fasting	has	beneficial	effect	on	health.	He	
published his observation on Ramadan Fasting on health 
in	international	and	regional	journals1,3,6-8,	which	ulti-
mately	promote	much	research	on	this	field.	Many	sci-
entists	took	this	fasting	habit	of	Muslim	community	in	
their holy month to study different metabolic events in 
feed-fast states.
He	 was	 one	 of	 the	 founder	 faculty	 members	 of	 the	
then IPGMR and pioneered many medical research 
there2,4-5,	9-13.	Professor	Muazzam	was	instrumental	
in the establishment of the Microbiology department in 
IPGMR.
He	retired	from	the	government	service	in	1982	and	en-
gaged himself to establish laboratory services of the Ibn 
Sina	Trust	which	has	become	a	pioneer	private	medical	
diagnostic lab in Bangladesh. Through his relentless ef-
forts he raised the lab to an international standard labora-
tory. 
In the year 1994 ‘Ibn Sina Trust’ started publication of 
‘Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science’, Prof. Muaz-

zam	 acted	 as	 founder	 Editor-in-Chief	 of	 this	 journal.	
During	 it’s	 early	 years	 of	 publication	 the	 journal	 re-
ceived	many	contributions	from	him14-21.	He	led	from	
the	fore	front	until	the	last	day	of	his	life	for	the	journal	
to	maintain	quality	and	achieve	international	affiliation.	
It	is	worth	mentioning	that	Prof	Muazzam	was	editor	of	
East	Pakistan	Medical	Journal	and	first	editor	of	Medical	
Bulletin of IPGMR.
Professor	Muazzam	was	also	involved	with	many	social	
and	philanthropic	activities.	He	was	life	member	of	NA-
TAB Bangladesh, Society of Pathologists, Bangladesh. 
He	was	past	treasurer	of	Pak	Medical	Association	(East	
Zone).	He	was	past	president	of	Society	of	Pathologists,	
Bangladesh.	He	was	the	past	general	secretary	of	Calcut-
ta Medical College Ex-student Association, Bangladesh. 
He	was	honored	with	‘Ibn	Sina	Gold	Medal’	by	the	the	
Ibn Sina Trust in 2002 for his contribution in medical 
science in the country. 
He	was	an	ever	smiling,	guiding	and	patronizing	person	
to all level of his colleagues. With his priceless contribu-
tions	he	will	remain	as	everlasting	icon	of	medical	sci-
ence in Bangladesh.

References:
1.Muazzam	MG,	Khaleque	KA.	Effects	of	fasting	in	ramadhan.	
J	Trop	Med	Hyg.	1959;Dec;62:292-94.	PMID:14424866	

2.Khaleque	KA,	Muazzam	MG,	Chowdhury	RI.Examination	of	
sputum	for	eosinophils.	J	Trop	Med	Hyg.	1960	Dec;63:291-2.	
PMID:13755590 

3.Khaleque	KA,	Muazzam	MG,	Ispahani	P.	Further	observations	
on	the	effects	of	fasting	in	Ramadhan.	J	Trop	Med	Hyg.	1960	
Oct;63:241-3.PMID:13755591		

4.Islam	 N,	 Muazzam	 MG,	 Khaleque	 KA.	 Idiopathic	
tropical	 eosinophilia.	 J	 Lancet.	 1960	 Aug;80:389-96.	
PMID:14405939   

5.Muazzam	MG,	Khaleque	KA,	Ibrahim	M.Hepatic	ascariasis.	J	
Trop	Med	Hyg.	1960	Apr;63:95-7.	PMID:14424865		

6.	 Khaleque	 KA,	 Muazzam	 MG,	 Chowdhury	 RI.	 Stress	 in	
Ramadhan	 fasting.	 J	 Trop	 Med	 Hyg.	 1961	 Nov;64:277-9.	
PMID:14455514   

7. MG Muazzam. Ramadan Fasting and Medical Science. 
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science	Vol.1(1)	1994	pp.38.	
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v1i1.7851  

8.	 MG	 Muazzam.	 Effects	 of	 Ramadan	 Fasting	 on	 Health.	
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science	.	1997;	4(3):	12-25.	
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v4i3.8231

9.	 Khaleque	 KA,	 Muazam	 MG,	 Chowdhury	 RI.	 Anthrax	
in	 East	 Pakistan.	 J	 Trop	 Med	 Hyg.	 1961	 Jan;64:18-9.	
PMID:13755589			

10. Islam N, Asiruddin M, Muazzam MG.Aneurysm of the 
splenic	 artery	 (with	 a	 case	 report).	 Br	 J	 Clin	 Pract.	 1961	
Jun;15:527-31.	PMID:13718040	

11.	Khaleque	KA,	Muazzam	MG,	Ispahani	P.	A	simple	method	
for	the	use	of	water	melon	seed	preparation	in	the	estimation	of	
blood	urea.	J	Clin	Pathol.	1964	Jan;17:97-8.PMID:14100015 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jcp.17.1.97  
12. Muazzam MG, Sneddon M. Sensitivity of baby hamster 
kidney	(BHK	21-C	13)	cells	to	enteric	viruses.	Brief	report.	
Arch	Gesamte	Virusforsch.	1970;30(4):405-7.	PMID:4318626

13. Alam SA, Muazzam MG. Dermatophytes in Bangladesh. 
J	 Trop	 Med	 Hyg.	 1974	 Nov;77(11):267-9.	 PMID:	
4463252		

14. Microscopic Findings of Stool Analysis of 4000 Adults in 
Bangladesh. MG Muazzam.Bangladesh Journal of Medical 
Science.	1(4)	1994	pp.15-19		

15.An Unusual Case: Intestinal Polyposis Coli. MG Muazzam.
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science.	1(4)	1994	pp.37-39.	

16.Autopsy	 Findings	 of	 15,823	 Natural	 Deaths	 in	 Accra,	
Ghana. MG Muazzam, Y Tette, R Gyasi. Bangladesh 
Journal	 of	 Medical	 Science.	 1(1)	 1994	 pp.12-21.	 DOI:	 
http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v1i1.7847  

17.Congenital Anomaly: Closed Prepuce. MG Muazzam. 
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science	Vol.1(1)	1994	pp.39.	
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v1i1.7852  

18.Stool	Analysis	of	3000	Children	in	Bangladesh.	N	Muazzam,	
MG Muazzam. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science 
Vol.1(1)	1994	pp.28-34.	DOI:	http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.
v1i1.7849  

19.History	of	Medicine	–	1.The	Editor.	Bangladesh	Journal	of	
Medical	Science	Vol.1(1)	1994	pp.35-37.	DOI:	http://dx.doi.
org/10.3329/bjms.v1i1.7850  

20.Male Infertility in Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. MG Muazzam. 
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science.	1994;	1	(3)	 (DOI:	
http://dx.doi.org/10.3329.bjms.v1i3.17910

21. Investigation of Infertility - Semen Analysis. MG Muazzam. 
Bangladesh	Journal	of	Medical	Science	.	1996;	3(1):	32-35.	
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v3i1.8225




