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

Husain F. NAGAMIAISLAMIC MEDICINE HISTORY AND CURRENT PRACTICEand analytical Islamic Medicine. Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406 AD) a well known medieval Muslim jurist, historian,statesman in his ‘Muqaddimah’ states:‘The Bedouins in their culture, have a kind of medicinewhich they base primarily on experience restrictedto a few patients only, and which they have inheritedfrom their tribal leaders and old women. In somecases it is correct, but it is not founded on naturallaws, nor is it tested against (scientific accounts) naturalconstitution (of peoples). Now the Arabs had agreat deal of this type of Medicine before the advent ofIslam and there were among them well known doctorslike al-Harith ibn Kalada and others. Their Medicinethat has been transmitted in the Islamic religiousworks (as opposed to those works which were consideredscientific works) belong to this genre. It is definitelyno part of divine revelation (to the Prophet:Mohammed) but was something customarily practicedby the Arabs. This type of Medicine thus is included inhis biographies, just as are other multitudinous of mattersof sociological importance like the natural life andcustoms of the Arabs, but forms no part of religion ofIslam to be practiced in the same way.’DefinitionIslamic Medicine in its true context, can thus bedefined as a body of knowledge of Medicine that wasinherited by the Muslims in the early phase of IslamicHistory (40-247 AH/661 -861 AD) from mostlyGreek sources, but to which became added medicalknowledge from, Persia, Syria, India and Byzantine.This knowledge was not only to become translatedinto Arabic, the literary and scientific lingua franca ofthe time, but was to be expounded, assimilated,exhaustively added to and subsequently codified, and‘islamicized’. The Physicians of the times bothMuslim and non-Muslim were then to add to this,their own observations and experimentation and convertit into a flourishing and practical science, thushelping in not only in curing the ailments of themasses, but increasing their standards of health. Theeffects of its domineering influence extending notonly in the vast stretches of the Islamic lands, but alsoin all adjoining nations including Europe, Asia,China, and the Far East. The span was measurablenot only for few centuries, but also perhaps for anentire millennium, 610 to 1610 AD. During whichtime, Europe and rest of the extant civilized nationsof the world were in grips of the ‘dark ages’. It alsoto set the standards of hygiene, and preventativemedicine and thus was responsible for the improvementof the general health of the masses. It was tohold sway until decadence finally set in, concomitantwith the political decline of the Islamic nation. Withthe advent of Renaissance in Europe, at the beginningof the 17 th century AD, it was finally challenged bythe new and emerging science of modern medicine,which was to finally replace it in most of the countries,including the countries of its birth!Historical BackgroundIn order to understand the period in which Islamicmedicine was born, one has to understand the salientevents in the advent of Islam and a few events justpreceding the Islamic era. Arabia which was a largearea covered mostly by an arid desert that wasroamed by nomadic tribes of Bedouins. Certain communitieshad been established where the trade routesintersected and water was available. Mecca wasalong the Yaman-Damascus trade route. It was considereda holy city and a sanctuary. The Kaaba orhouse of worship was replete with idols of differentgods each representing a tribe or community. TheseBedouins had their own tribal moral or ethical codesof conduct and idolatry was in practice. Blood feudswere common and attacking caravans along traderoutes was a way of life. Sacrifices were often offeredto appease the gods and burying of live female childrenwas common practice. Family feuds were commonand settling scores in order to uphold tribalhonor led to frequent bloody encounters in whichmany people were killed. Women and children weretreated as ‘chattels’ or private possessions andbecame the property of the winner. This era of Arabiais frequently referred by Muslims as ‘Jahilliya’ orage of ignorance. Islam was not only to bring dramaticchanges in the religious practices of these warringnomadic tribes but also unite them into an unprecedentedsocial and cultural nation that very quicklywas to develop into a strong political entity, with itsown system of administration, justice, and militarypower, all under one leadership. The first leader ofthe Islamic State was no doubt the Prophet of Islam,20 JISHIM 2003, 2