Islamic Medicine History and Current Practice - International Society ...

THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF AL-RAZI (RHAZES) IN THE HISTORYOF PHARMACY DURING THE MIDDLE AGESSharif Kaf AL-GHAZALcient quantity of coriander water and used as eyedrops. Al-Razi followed the same method in his bookBur as-Sa’ah, in which he prescribed remedies to cureailments in one hour, or at least in a short time, so thatthe patient did not need frequently to call on his doctorand to pay larger fee.In his other book on diets, their uses and disadvantages,Mnafi’al-Aghthiyyah, al-Razi followed a patternthat had been introduced earlier by Galen. In it, al-Raziattempted to correct several errors made by Galen andto introduce new data missed by the latter. IbnMasawayh was another physician who wrote on thesame topic. According to al-Razi, Ibn Masawayh didmore harm than good in his exposition of the subject.These misgivings challenged al-Razi to undertake thewriting of a comprehensive study, Mnafi’ al-Aghthiyyah which is of great interest not only to pharmacyand medicine but to the history of the culinaryart as well. Emphasizing specific matters and generalregulations for healthy living, al-Razi discussedbreads, waters, dairy products, fruits, vegetables,spices, meats, and fishes. He explained in detail theirkinds, methods of preparation, physical properties, andtherapeutic modes of action, and pointed out whenthey were useful and when not. He described the disadvantagesof frequent consumption of wines leadingto alcoholism, ‘which often causes many serious diseasesas epilepsy, paralysis, senile tremor in older people,cirrhosis, hepatitis, mental disorders, visionarydistortions, obesity, debility, and impotence.While al-Razi paid much attention to curing thebody’s ills, he did not ignore cures for infirmities ofthe soul. The proof of his concern for psychotherapyseems quite evident. On completing his medicalencyclopaedia, al-Mansuri, on the diagnoses andtreatment of body diseases, he filled in the gap bywriting a counterpart at- Tibb ar-Ruhani on the medicineof the soul. His concern for, and penetrationinto, human nature, its complexities, and the directionsleading into it, confirm his appreciation of theimportance of psychotherapy and psychology as twoimportant parts of the healing art.In his famous al-Mansuri, however, al-Razidevoted four out of the book’s total of ten treatises, todiets and drugs, medicated cosmetics, toxicology andantidotes, amelioration of laxatives, and compoundedremedies, all of which are of pharmaceutical interest.JISHIM 2003, 2Al-Razi’s last and largest medical encyclopaedia ishis al-Hawi fit-Tibb, which embraces all areas ofmedical knowledge of the time. It included sectionsrelated to ‘pharmacy in the healing art’, materialsarranged in alphabetical order, compounded drugs,pharmaceutical dosage forms and toxicology. It alsoincluded numerous medical recipes and tested prescriptionsthat influenced ‘medical therapy’ in Islamand in the West during the Middle Ages. In his use ofmineral drugs as external and internal remedies,including vitriols, copper, mercuric and arsenic salts,sal ammoniac, gold scoria, chalk, clay (as in the terrasigillata and Armenian clay), coral, pearl, tar, andbitumen, al-Razi, encouraged and pioneeredchemotherapy in Islamic medicine.Although he recommended poppies and opium internallyas somniferous agents and to quiet coughing, andexternally to relieve eye and wound pains, he warnedagainst their deadly effects (two drams are fatal).ConclusionThe development of professional pharmacy, as aseparate entity from medicine, started in Islam underthe patronage of the early’ Abbasiyyah caliphs inBaghdad. This first clear-cut separation of the two professions,and the recognition of the independent, academicallyoriented status of professional pharmacymaterialized in the Abbasiyyah capital (Baghdad) andAl Razi was one of the few pharmacists who addedvery valuable contributions to medicine and pharmacywhile most of Europe was still living in the dark ages !REFERENCES1. Aftab M: How Islam Influenced Science. Islamic Herald.March 1995.2. Hadzovic S: Pharmacy and the great contribution of Arab-Islamic science to its development. Med Arh. 1997;51(1-2):47-503. Irfan H: Hikmat (Unani Medicine). Published in Islam onlinewebsite on 29/06/20024. University of Florida Society for the History of Medicinepresents: The History of Medicine Lecture Series. Websitehttp://www.medinfo.ufl.edu/other/histmed/5. In Abi Osaiba’a: Oyon Al-Anba’a Fi Tabaqat Al Ateba’a.Dar al Hayat - Beirut 1965. (in Arabic).6. Eskander AZ: Analysis study about Al-Razi. England.7. Al-Ghazal SK: Islamic Medicine OnLine.http://www.islamicmedicine.org/11