Abdul Hamid was born on 21 July 1939 in Kampung Kemelong, Mukim Sik, Kedah.
Abdul Hamid was the first recipient of the Malaysian government scholarship to study at Al-Azhar University, Egypt, with four other students in the degree of Bachelor of Islamic Law in 1961.
Currently, BN / UMNO faces the wave of reforms led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked in 1998.
His vacancy was filled by religious figure, Brigadier Datuk Abdul Hamid Zainal Abidin who was appointed Senator.
Also present were Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid; Malaysia Islamic Development Department director-general Datuk Othman Mustapha and former PAS commissioner Datuk Dr Hasan Mohamed Ali.