The History of Medicine
Islam

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Islamic or Muslim medicine developed from 800 AD (anno Domini or after the birth of Christ). The Islamic Civilisation stretched from Iberia and North Africa to the Indus Valley, and from Southern Arabia to the Caspian Sea. It bordered on other civilisations like Egypt, Persian and the Byzantine Empire.

Map A: A map indicating the location of the above-mentioned locations.
Source: http://gujaratonline.com/pics/indus.gif

Map B: The Byzantine Empire
Source: www.crystalinks.com/ byzantine.html

Before the birth of Islam the Arabic people didn’t have much medical knowledge. They were nomadic and only had a few towns around oases like Mecca and Medina. They made medicines from plants, animal bones, spices and incense.

Map C: Mecca and Medina.
Source: http://adventure.hut.ru/land/saudi_arabia/map.gif

According to Muslim or Islamic historians the prophet Mohammed was born on 20 April 571 AD in Arabia. His teachings are the basis for the religion of Islam and his name means, “highly praised”. An Egyptian Pharaoh once sent Mohammed a neighbourly gift during the early days of the Islam, including a doctor, but Mohammed sent the doctor back. He felt that his people had no need for doctors because they only ate when they were hungry, and never too much. He felt overeating was the main cause of illness

Islam spread outwards from Arabia and Muslims conquered many neighbouring countries. They also included books and manuscripts with the treasures they brought home from their wars. At the end of their campaigns they focussed on translating these documents from Greek, Persian and Indian into Arabic. In this way they learned a great deal about medicine.

Muslim medicine did not only focus on treatment as we know it, but also dealt with Al-tibb or Prophetic Medicine. This type of medical treatment did not use surgery. As they invaded neighbours the Muslims also spread their medical practices. They hired Greek philosophers to translate Egyptian books on medicine into Arabic and started to build hospitals. The first Muslim hospital was built in Baghdad, and the first hospital for lepers was built in Damascus. It didn’t take long for every Muslim city to have a hospital. The hospitals had pharmacies, libraries, and lecture rooms for medical students, different sections for men and women and facilities for patients who just wanted to see a doctor. They were not much different from hospitals today. Public health was also an important issue and medical officers visited prisons regularly to make sure that inmates were healthy.

Picture A: Rhazes, the famous Muslim doctor.
Source: www.levity.com/alchemy/ islam09.html

Picture B: Ibn Nafis, the Muslim doctor who discovered human circulation.
Source: http://www.islamonline.net/English/Science/2002/08/images/pic06-a.jpg

Picture C: William Harvey.
Source: www.williamharvey.co.uk/ research.htm

One of the most important Muslim doctors was Rhazes or Al-Razi, from Iran. He researched women’s diseases, established midwifery, wrote about genetic diseases that can be inherited and described smallpox and measles for the first time. Another Muslim doctor, Ibn Sina also wrote a book that became a standard reference for medicine in the West for 700 years. The book is called “The Canons of Medicine” and describes diseases and symptoms, medicines and notes on hygiene. Sina discovered that tuberculosis or TB is contagious and was the first person to note the signs and complications of diabetes. Ibn Nafis made the most important discovery in Muslim medicine. He described the way that blood flows through the human body, a discovery that William Harvey, a British doctor took credit for in 1628.

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Outcomes: The learner is able to use information from sources to answer questions about Islam medicine, and to communicate knowledge and understanding of the topic by writing a paragraph.

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