[1][2][3] Hassan was born in the outskirts of Burao in 1954 where he also completed his primary education.

In 1984, Hassan earned a Master‘s Degree in Community Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

[4] In 1986, Hassan joined the London branch of the Somali National Movement, where he served as chairperson of the executive committee.

At the end of the Somali Civil War, the Burao conference was held in April–May 1991, during which the SNM declared an independent Republic of Somaliland in the region that constituted the British Somaliland protectorate before independence.

Afterwards,he worked six years for the Italian NGO Comitato Collaborazione Medica as tuberculosis medical supervisor.