The Development of Arab Medical Sciences (1/2)

The health care practices of the medieval Arab-Islamic community over a large area and nine centuries were not uniform. The everyday practices and the public health of the Arab-Islamic world were affected by many factors: fasting laws and dietary regulations during the holy month of Ramadan, hygiene and burying the dead by Muslims as well as by non-Muslims, the climatic conditions of the vast area, the living conditions of nomadic, rural, and urban communities, the amount of travel undertaken for commerce, or for pilgrimage, the maintenance of a slave class and slave trade, the injuries and diseases attendant upon army camps and battles, and the incidence of plague and endemic diseases.

As mentioned above, the Abbasids moved the Islamic capital to Baghdad by the tenth century. The city became the center of scientific knowledge and research activity and emerged as the capital of the scientific and cultural world. In addition to Baghdad, Seville, Toledo, Granada, and other cities established themselves as centers for medical sciences, which were strongly supported and promoted by Abbasid Caliphs. The eagerness of the Arabs for learning resulted in the translation of substantial amounts of Greek, Persian, and Indian medical texts into Arabic. In parallel, Arabs established and promoted their own medical sciences in theories and practices that became highly influential in Western science and teaching. During the Arab-Islamic Golden Age, collaborative works of physicians and scientists from different nations and ethnic groups raised the dignity and caliber of the medical profession. Disease was seen by Arab and Muslim physicians as a problem that can be challenged. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was credited with many statements on health care problems and their treatments. For instance, “The one who sent down the disease sent down the remedy.” and “For every disease, God has given a cure.” He was also credited with articulating several specific medical treatments, including the use of honey, olive oil, figs, and cupping. But most importantly, whereas other societies usually feared the sick and afflicted, at best isolating them and at worst leaving them somewhere to die, the Prophet had a very compassionate and forgiving view of the sick.

As a result, health care services rose in esteem from that of a menial calling to the rank of a learned profession, which became known as Greco-Arab and Islamic medicine. This medicine had advanced from ephemeral talisman and theology to real hospital wards, mandatory examination for doctors, and the use of technical terminology. Baghdad and Cairo had hospitals that were open to both male and female patients, staffed by attendants of both sexes. These hospitals contained libraries, pharmacies, intern systems, externs, and nurses. There were mobile clinics to reach the disabled, the disadvantaged, and those in distant areas, regulations were imposed by  the  health  authorities  to  maintain  quality  control  on  drugs, medical  ethics was introduced, and pharmacy became separated from medicine and a licensed profession.

Baghdad and Cordoba became the main centers for Arab development of herbal medicines. Al-Zahrawi (Albucasis, tenth century) of Cordoba wrote The Book of Simples, an important source for European herbal medicine. The Andalusian botanist Abu al-Abbas al-Nabati introduced the use of experimental scientific methods in the thirteenth century. He also introduced empirical techniques in the testing, description, and identification of numerous materia medica. Al-Nabati separated unverified reports from those supported by actual tests and observations. This allowed the study of materia medica to evolve into the science of pharmacy. Later on, Ibn al-Baitar, who lived in Damascus, published The Book on Drinks and Foods, a collection of different drinks and foods. It is considered as one of the most prestigious books in the medieval pharmacopeia in which the drugs are classified in alphabetical order. Other pharmacopoeia books include that written by Abu-Rayhan Biruni in the eleventh century and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar) in the twelfth century. Daoud al-Antaki used different herbs for treating patients and published a book on medicinal herbs summarizing the knowledge of his predecessors. Al-Antaki in the sixteenth century described in his book 57 plants that were used as a source for simple drugs, or frequently as one ingredient in complex herbal-based preparations. He described the plant and the way it was used by physicians. For instance, birthwort, carob, castor oil plant, common fennel, common myrtle, Persian cyclamen, saffron, serapias, sycamore fig, and Syrian bryony. Furthermore, Al-Antaki mentioned foreign plants that were brought to the area for their medicinal properties, such as cornelian cherry, purging croton, and gardenia. He also described pharmacological uses of typical agricultural crops, such as caraway, carrot, wild coriander, pear, quince, sugar cane, and walnut. The traditional and medicinal uses of many of these plants are described.

The development of medicine and pharmacy in the Arab-Islamic world laid the foundations for the development of modern Western medicine and pharmacy. Arabs contributed many insights of their own to the development of medicine while acknowledging the knowledge they received from other civilizations. It is important to mention that they translated classical medical texts not only from Greek, but also from Persian, Indian, and Chinese sources. This synthesis resulted in a richer and universal medical system, based on scientific rules and experimentation. Al Tabbari (838–870), Al-Razi (Rhazes, 864–930), Al-Zahrawi (Albucasis, 936–1013), Al- Biruni (973–1050), Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980–1037), Ibn al-Haitham (960–1040), Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288), Ibn Khaldun (1332–1395) (Figure 1.2), Ibn al-Baitar (1197–1248), and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar, 1091–1161) are regarded as among the great medical authorities of the medieval world and as physicians whose textbooks were used in European universities up to the sixteenth century. They made accurate diagnoses of plague, diphtheria, diabetes, gout, cancer, leprosy, rabies, and epilepsy. Avicenna’s and Rhazes’s works on infectious diseases led to the introduction of quarantine as a means of limiting the spread of these diseases. Other physicians laid down the principles of clinical investigation, drug trials, and animal tests, and uncovered the secret of sight. They mastered operations for hernia and cataract, filled teeth with gold leaf, and prescribed spectacles for defective eyesight. And they passed on rules of health, diet, and hygiene that are still largely valid today. Physicians of different languages and religions cooperated in building a medical organization whose outlines are still visible in current medical practices. While, as mentioned above, medieval Arab-Islamic medicine laid the foundation of modern medicine, some of the currently practiced therapies may seem irrelevant to the modern world. These include magical procedures and folkloric practices of local tradition.

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