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| Carly Fiorina, ex-CEO of Hewlett-Packard:
“And perhaps we can learn a lesson from his example: it was leadership based on meritocracy, not inheritance. It was leadership that harnessed the full capabilities of a very diverse population-that included Christianity, Islamic, and Jewish traditions. This kind of enlightened leadership - leadership that nurtured culture, sustainability, diversity and courage - led to 800 years of invention and prosperity.” |
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Islam and Medicine
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“During the crusades, Europe at last began to establish hospitals that were inspired by the Arabs of near East.... The first hospital in Paris, Les Quinze-vingt, was founded by Louis IX after his return from the crusade 1254-1260" Historian George Sarton [1]
Muslim contributions to the field of medicine and science largely go unnoticed in the western world, but as it happens, scientists and physicians living under Islamic rule from the seventh century onwards were making breathtaking advancements in their respected fields.
Islam has always given a high regard to the sacredness of human life. Allah  says in the Quran :
"... if anyone slays a human being, unless it be [in punishment] for murder or for spreading corruption on earth, it shall be as though he had slain all mankind; whereas, if anyone saves a life, it shall be as though he had saved the lives of all mankind." ( Quran chapter 5, verse 32)
In addition there are many narrations of The Prophet Muhammad  who was heard to have spoken of the healing powers of not only the Quran , but of everyday herbs and foods. In one such saying The Prophet said, “Allah has not created any illness without also creating its cure, except old age and death.”
Such teaching provided the Muslims with incentive and motivation to seek cures and to study the human anatomy in depth. So much so, that Islamic medicine was far ahead of its time, subsequently laying the foundations for medical practice in Europe and beyond.
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Under Islam hospitals were established and became centres of medical education. They introduced many of the concepts and structures that we see in modern hospitals today, such as separate wards for men and women, personal and institutional hygiene, medical records, and pharmacies.
Hospitals served all citizens free, without any regard to their colour, religion, sex, age or social status. At the Ibn Tulun Hospital in Cairo (established 872), on admission, the patients were given special apparel, and upon discharge, each patient received five gold pieces to support himself until he could return to work. [2] The hospitals were run by the government and the directors of hospitals were physicians. Hospitals were built in all major cities, such as the Qalawun Hospital in Cairo which could care for 8,000 patients. One could also access a dispensary, and research facility that led to advances, which included the discovery of the contagious nature of diseases, and research into optics and the mechanisms of the eye. One of the first ever psychiatric hospitals that cared for the mentally ill was built in Cairo. | |
| In Baghdad 931, the Khalifah (Caliph) Al-Muqtadir learned of a patient who had died as the result of a physician's error. He ordered his chief physician, Sinan ibn Thabit ibn Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than eight hundred and sixty were examined in Baghdad alone. From then on, licensing examinations were required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were established under a government official called Muhtasib or inspector general. The Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control of drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. | |
Muslim doctors were removing cataracts with hollow needles over one thousand years before Western physicians dared to attempt such a task. Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis) developed many surgical tools that were used for centuries throughout the world of Islam and in Europe.
Al-Zahrawi was a prominent surgeon in Islamic medicine and described haemophilia for the first time in medical history in his book Al-Tasrif. The book contains the description and illustration of about two hundred surgical instruments, many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself. He is considered the Father of Modern Surgery.
Ibn Al-Nafis, a 13th century Arab physician, described the human blood circulation and pulmonary circulation more than three hundred years before William Harvey (1628).
Al-Razi differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were otherwise thought to be one single disease. He identified alcohol and was the first to use it as a good antiseptic. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use opium for anaesthesia. The use of anaesthesia was one of the reasons for the rise of surgery in the Islamic world. |
| [1] George Sarton, "Introduction to the History of Science, Vol. I-IV," Carnegie Institute of Washington, Baltimore, 1927-31; Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1950-53.
[2] Tib al Arab Translation of Arabian Medicine by E.G. Brown by N.A. A. Wasti P.448
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| Categories: Islam Explained,
| Tags: medicine,
science,
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