Medicine & Pharmacy

Medicine in the Islamic World

In Islamic medicine, the philosophy of ‘premium non nocera’ (first don’t harm) was a well-kept notion, as it reflected the primary teachings of their religion.

The Islamic Golden Age, spanning the 8^th to the 15^thCenturies, saw many great advances in science, as Islamic scholars gathered knowledge from across the known world and added their own findings.

In the early seventh century, Muslims collected and translated the medical knowledge of the Greeks, Persians, Indians, and Byzantines. Soon enough, Muslim physicians began to add to the knowledge, and expanded it through experience, exploration, and practice.

During the ninth through thirteenth centuries, many physicians contributed to the flourishing of the medicine fields. People like Al-Razi were pioneers in medicine. It was their books and teachings that were used for medical study in Europe for centuries.

Al-Razi is particularly famous in medicine because he established a hospital in Baghdad in the ninth century, which included a special ward for mental illness. He also specialised in spiritual medicine, healing and caring for the whole patient.

As early as the tenth century, Muslim physicians and doctors were treating eye diseases, and even performing simple surgeries.

It was a fundamental belief by Muslim physicians that the physical body should never be the only interest of the physician. It is the Ruh, or soul, that gives the body its true essence. Therefore it was essential for a Muslim physician to be aware of the diseases of the heart and soul.

Around the fourteenth century, a new type of medical writing emerged. The authors of these works were religious scholars, and not physicians. They wanted to preserve the knowledge compiled by the Muslims over the years and keep it from fading away. Moral values, love, patience, and kindness were prescribed as the best remedies for the inner self, and prayer was practiced for maintaining connection with God.

“Whenever it is possible to use a gentle remedy, do not use something powerful instead.” As-Suyuti wrote, when advising a physician.

By the beginning of the seventeenth century, Islamic medicine was challenged by the spreading science of modern medicine, which eventually replaced the core of the health care systems in most Islamic countries.