Tuan Haji Muhammad Said bin Penghulu Muhammad Taib, or better known as Haji Muhammad Yan was born in 1877 at Anak Bukit I Alor Setar, Kedah. He received his early education at Pondok Mat Tamim Religious School in Anak Bukit. He then went on to study at Hamidiah Religious School at Limbong Kapal in Alor Setar. He later went to Mecca for a few years to further his religious education. Upon his return to Kedah, he married Che Dun, a niece of Wan Sulaiman bin Wan Sidek who was then the Sheikhul Islam of Kedah.

He moved to Titi Bakung, Yan where he opened religious classes in his own home. He taught many religious subjects, such as Tauhid, Fikah, Tasawuf, Hadis and the Koran to his adult students. His students came from the surrounding villages.

Haji Muhammad Said was appointed Kadi of several districts in Kedah such as Kuala Nerang, Kuala Muda and Yan. He however, finally resigned his post as Kadi. After his third marriage, Haji Muhammad Said decided to permanently reside in Titi Bakung, where he continued with his religious classes. It was at that particular time that he began to show interest in learning traditional medicine. He took notes on the various kinds of disease and medicines and began to help cure some diseases. He had become not only a religious teacher, but also a traditional medicine man.

He began to be well known as a religious teacher as well as a reputable traditional doctor who could cure all kinds of illness. He used to make makjun, oils for such problems as partial paralysis and fatigue and medicines from herbs and the roots of trees. He wrote all this in a book in his own handwriting. In this book he wrote down all guidelines on the cure for many illness and diseases. Thousands of medicines were noted in it. Haji Muhammad Said began to be known as "Tabib (doctor) Muhammad Said" as he had produced all sorts of medicines for various types of illness and his medicine bottles were printed with the following words: "Made by Tabib Haji Muhammad Said Yan".

Haji Muhammad Said was also the person responsible for publishing the first Malay newspaper in Kedah Darul Aman. It was called "NUN" and was first circulated on February 23, 1926 or 11 Shaaban 1344 Hijra. Haji Muhammad Said both acted as the Jawi paper's editor as well as its publisher. The paper, which consisted of only 10 pages, was circulated at the earlier part as well as in the midst of each month of the Muslim calendar. Besides local news, the paper also carried a series of articles on religious questions, general knowledge, history, and traditional literature especially on oral storytelling and poetry. "NUN", unfortunately ceased to be published in the month of November 1932.

Besides working as a teacher in his religious classes and a traditional doctor of 'bomoh', Haji Muhammad Said also wrote a series of short articles to help him in his work of spreading Islam. These articles, which were printed in the form of small books, and written in the Jawi script were made up of between 18 to 32 pages each. Among its titles were, "On Being Thankful", "Rules and Proper Behaviour when Fasting" and "What Will Happen If We Don't Pray?"

The contents of these articles were mostly geared towards persuading Muslim men and women to perform all of God's commands and to leave whatever God forbids. These articles were printed and circulated from 1951 to 1958. At the back of these small books were printed the series of articles already in circulation, such as "A Treasury of Discussions on the Name and essence of God", "The rules of Bardah", "The Use of Selusuh Oil to Help Ease Women during Childbirth", "General Chants", "The Lucky Cat", "Talkin reading in Malay", "The Essence of Secrets", "A Flyer on Hisbiscus" and "Why Aren't You Praying?" All of these articles were available and on sale throughout Peninsula Malaysia (then known as the Malay Peninsula).

On the first or second page of these small books could be found a note by Haji Abdullah Fahim, the Mufti of Penang who was also the Headmaster of Dairatul Ma'arif Al-Wohtaniah Religious School of Seberang Prai, confirming the legality and the authority of its religious content, thus making it a suitable read for the Muslim public. This means that Haji Muhammad Said would send all his articles to Haji Abdullah Fahim to confirm its content before sending them to the printers.

Haji Muhammad Said died in 1962 in Titi Bakung at the age of 85. He was buried in Yan, Kedah.