Medicine in the medieval Islamic world

In the history of medicine, "Islamic medicine" is the science of medicine that grew in the Middle East and was usually written in Arabic, the common language of that time. This kind of medicine took ideas from older cultures and made them better. It used knowledge from classical antiquity, like the work of Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides.

Folio from an Arabic manuscript of Dioscorides, De materia medica, 1229

During a time called the post-classical era, medicine in the Middle East was the most advanced in the world. Doctors there mixed ideas from Modern Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, and Persian medicine, as well as from ancient India’s Ayurveda. They also made many new discoveries.

Two very important doctors were Abu Bakr al-Razi and Ibn Sina. Their big books became the basis for teaching medicine, not just in the Islamic world but also in Europe later on. Other great doctors included Al-Zahrawi, who is often called the father of surgery, and Ibn al-Nafis, who was the first to explain how blood moves in the lungs. These doctors helped make medicine a part of learning about nature, just like studying plants or stars. Their work stayed important for many years and still interests doctors today.

Overview

Medicine was very important in medieval Islamic culture during a time called the Golden Age of Islam, from the eighth to the fourteenth century. The care people got depended on their money and social status, and patients had different hopes for the treatments doctors could give.

Islamic doctors and scholars wrote many books about medicine. They learned from older knowledge from places like Arabia, ancient Greek and Roman medicine, and ancient Indian traditions. Important books by ancient doctors like Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides had a big effect on medicine in the Middle East. During this time, scholars studied and improved old learning, making Arab science very advanced. Areas like ophthalmology were especially strong, with books by Ibn al-Haytham staying important for years.

Muslim scholars helped keep and grow medical knowledge by welcoming new ideas and saving old books. They made their own discoveries, especially in surgery and how the human body works. Even though some Western scholars think Islamic medicine did not add much beyond old Roman and Greek ideas, it was a mix of knowledge from Greece, Persia, Syria, India, and Byzantine traditions. This medical knowledge traveled not just through Islamic lands but also to Europe, Asia, China, and the Far East.

History, origins and sources

Islamic medicine began by mixing ideas from many cultures. It took knowledge from ancient Greek, Roman, and Persian doctors, as well as from Indian traditions like Ayurveda. This helped create new ways to understand health and treat sickness.

During this time, many important books were translated into Arabic. These books included works by famous ancient doctors like Hippocrates and Galen. Places like the House of Wisdom in Baghdad became centers for learning, where scholars worked to share medical knowledge from around the world. This time saw big progress in medicine, and many ideas are still used today.

Ṭibb an-Nabawī – Prophetic Medicine

Early Islamic society wanted to make sure medical knowledge matched with their beliefs. Medicine was seen as a good act of faith. The Prophet Muhammad shared advice on staying healthy, and his views were collected into a book called Ṭibb an-Nabī ("The Medicine of the Prophet"). Scholars like Ibn Khaldun talked about how health comes from good nutrition and habits.

Ibn Khaldun noted that some medicine came from Bedouin traditions. The collection of traditions called Sahih al-Bukhari includes stories about Muhammad’s views on medicine. There are also stories about early Muslim leaders taking care of their teeth.

Physicians during the early years of Islam

16th century manuscript of the Al-Tibb al-Nabawi (Treatise on Prophetic Medicine) created for Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent

Arabian doctors learned from doctors in the regions they conquered. When the capital moved to Damascus, Syrian doctors helped share ancient medical knowledge. Two Christian doctors, Ibn Aṯāl and Abu l-Ḥakam, worked for early Muslim leaders. Their skills were used to help people.

Medicine during the Islamic Period

From about 650 to 1500, Islamic medicine became very important. It built on older traditions but also made its own advances. This period’s discoveries helped shape both European and modern medicine.

7th–9th century: The adoption of earlier traditions

Early Islamic doctors learned from many sources. One doctor from Iraq worked at a school in Alexandria before joining a leader’s court. The Academy of Gondishapur stayed active and shared knowledge.

In 825, a leader named Al-Ma'mun started the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. There, scholars translated many ancient works into Arabic, including books by Galen and Hippocrates.

Early Islamic medicine mostly came from Greek sources, translated into Arabic. Persian influences were smaller, mostly in plant-based medicine.

The Byzantine embassy of John the Grammarian in 829 to Al-Ma'mun (depicted left) from Theophilos (depicted right)

Many important ancient medical books were translated into Arabic during this time. Hunayn ibn Ishaq was a key translator who worked on books by Hippocrates and Galen. Envoys were sent to get more texts from the Byzantine emperor. This helped make sure many ancient ideas were preserved and shared.

Ancient Greek and Roman texts

Hunayn ibn Ishaq led a team that translated many ancient medical books. These included works by Hippocrates, Galen, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and others. Many of these translations were made from the original Greek texts.

Late Hellenistic texts

Works by doctors like Oribasius and Philagrius were known and used by Islamic doctors. John the Grammarian wrote commentaries on medical texts. Other doctors like Gessius of Petra and Palladios were also studied. Rhazes, a famous Islamic doctor, cited the Roman doctor Alexander of Tralles.

One of the first books translated from Greek into Syrian, and then Arabic, was the medical book Kunnāš by Ahron. Later, Hunayn ibn Ishaq made an even better translation.

Paul of Aegina, a doctor from Alexandria, was an important source for early Islamic doctors. His work linked late Hellenistic and early Islamic medicine.

Scholars discuss medicine, from a medieval Islamic manuscript

Arabic translations of Hippocrates

Early Islamic doctors knew about Hippocrates and his many followers. Translations of his works existed before Hunayn ibn Ishaq began his work. Al-Yaʾqūbī made a list of Hippocrates’ works in 872. Al-Kindi wrote a book about Hippocrates’ medicine, and Hunayn translated Galen’s comments on Hippocrates. Rhazes used Hippocrates’ ideas a lot in his own medical system.

Arabic translations of Galen

Galen was a very famous ancient doctor. Some of his original works are lost, but we know about them because they were translated into Arabic. Jabir ibn Hayyan often cited Galen’s books. By 872 AD, Ya'qubi mentioned some of Galen’s works. Hunayn ibn Ishaq made new translations because he thought older ones weren’t good enough.

Hunayn ibn Ishaq and Tabit ben-Qurra were important for translating and explaining Galen’s work. They tried to make a clear medical system from his writings.

Syrian and Persian medical literature

Galen (Arabic: جالينوس, romanized: Jalinus) in Kitâb al-Diryâq, 1225–1250, Syria. Vienna AF 10, Syria. Vienna AF 10

Syrian texts

During the 10th century, Ibn Wahshiyya collected medical writings from the Nabataeans. Sergius of Reshaina, a Syrian scholar, translated works by Hippocrates and Galen. Hunayn ibn Ishāq translated these works into Arabic. Another Syrian writer’s work also influenced Arabic doctors.

The earliest known translation from Syrian was the Kunnāš by Ahron, translated into Arabic by Māsarĝawai al-Basrĩ in the 7th century. Syrian doctors were important at the Academy of Gondishapur and worked for Abbasid leaders.

Persian texts

The Academy of Gondishapur helped share Persian medical knowledge. It connected Greek and Indian medical traditions. Doctors trained there likely helped bring Persian medicine to early Islamic doctors. Māsarĝawai’s book Abdāl al-adwiya mentions medicines from Greek, Indian, and Persian sources.

Al-Tabari used few Persian medical terms but included many Persian names for drugs and plants in his book Firdaus al-Hikma. Rhazes also used only a little Persian and mentioned just two Persian books.

Indian medical literature

Indian scientific works were translated during the time of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur. Under Harun al-Rashid, translations of Indian medicine and pharmacology began. Ibn al-Nadim mentions three translators of Indian works. Yūhannā ibn Māsawaiyh used an Indian textbook in his writing on eye diseases.

Al-Tabari spent the last 36 chapters of his Firdaus al-Hikmah describing Indian medicine. He cited Sushruta, Charaka, and the Ashtanga Hridaya, an important Ayurveda book translated between 773 and 808 by Ibn-Dhan. Rhazes cited Sushruta and Charaka in his works, along with other Indian authors.

Approach to medicine

Medicine in the medieval Islamic world was closely linked to plants. Fruits and vegetables were important for health, and people believed they had special powers. Doctors used a system called the humoral theory to help people. This meant they looked at things like a person’s daily routine, where they lived, and what they ate. Because of this, each person got advice that was special to them. Treatments were chosen based on whether a person was seen as having hot, cold, sad, or angry qualities.

Horticulture

Plants were widely used in medicine during this time. Most plants had both good and bad effects, and doctors knew when it was best to use them.

Physicians and scientists

Great doctors and scientists from the Islamic Golden Age changed medicine for many years. Their ideas about good doctor behavior are still discussed today, especially in places where Islam is practiced. People still admire them for how they cared for their patients.

Ali ibn Musa al-Rida was an important leader who wrote a book called "Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah" about staying healthy and healing sicknesses. He used ideas from something called humoral medicine.

A manuscript of Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah by Ali al-Ridha

Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari wrote the first big book about medicine in Arabic. His book talked about many parts of medicine and how caring for your mind is important. He also talked about old ideas from places like India.

Al-Tamimi, the physician was known for making special mixtures to help with poisons. He learned about plants and minerals from older Greek writers and added his own ideas.

'Ali ibn al-'Abbas al-Majusi, also called Haly Abbas, wrote a very important book called The Royal Book. It was used to teach surgery in schools all over Europe. He was one of the first to describe how blood moves through very tiny tubes in our bodies.

Ibn Butlan's Tacuinum sanitatis, 2nd half of 15th century, Rhineland

Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, also known as Rhazes, was a smart scientist who wrote many books about medicine. He cared about treating each patient well and making sure they had clean air and the right temperature in their rooms. He also believed in stopping sickness before it starts.

Al-Razi wrote several important books. One is called kitab-al Hawi fi al-tibb (al-Hawi), meaning "The Comprehensive book of medicine." This book collected all his medical notes and observations. It talks about many diseases and how to treat them. Another book is al-Kitab al-Mansuri, which has ten sections covering different parts of medicine. He also wrote about diseases like smallpox and measles.

Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, was an important doctor from the tenth and eleventh centuries. He wrote two big books: al-Canon fi al Tibb (The Canon of Medicine) and The Book of Healing. His Canon of Medicine became very famous and was used in medical schools for many years.

_Ibn Buṭlān wrote a book called Taqwim al-Sihhah which talked about staying healthy through good habits like eating right and exercising.

Jewish doctors also worked together with Muslim doctors during this time. They studied and helped each other, and some even worked for kings and leaders. They wrote important books and shared their knowledge with the world.

Medical contributions

Human anatomy and physiology

Mansur ibn Ilyas: Anatomy of the human body (تشريح بدن انسان, Tashrīḥ-i badan-i insān), c. 1450, U.S. National Library of Medicine

A Syrian doctor named Ibn al-Nafis made important discoveries about how the human body works. He found that blood flows from the right side of the heart to the left side through the lungs. This was a new way to understand how blood moves in the body.

Another scientist, Ibn al-Haytham from Iraq, studied how we see. He explained that our eyes work like tools that bend light to help us see. His ideas about vision were new and people studied them for many years.

Modern Islamic Medicine

Inscribed pestle and mortar for grinding drugs. Khrusan, late 12th or early 13th century.

Today, many people do not know enough about the history of medicine from the Islamic world. Special groups work to share these important discoveries so they can help people today.

Drugs

Doctors in the medieval Islamic world used plants to help treat sicknesses. They used plants like poppy and hemp, which came from places like India. These plants could help with pain, fevers, and other problems, but they needed to be used carefully.

Surgery

The growth of hospitals helped doctors learn about surgery. They got ideas from older books and translations. Surgery was not very common because it did not always work well, but doctors did many operations, especially for eye problems.

Doctors used methods like bloodletting and cauterization to treat sicknesses. Cauterization meant burning the skin to stop bleeding and prevent infection with a hot metal rod. Bloodletting involved taking blood out of the body to balance what they thought were harmful substances. They used special tools, like heated cups, to draw blood from the skin.

Surgery was also used for eye diseases such as trachoma and cataracts. For trachoma, they did a surgery called peritomy to remove tissue causing problems. For cataracts, they used a method called couching, where they pushed the cloudy part of the eye to the side through a small cut. They cleaned the eye with salt water and bandaged it with cotton wool soaked in oil of roses and egg whites.

Before modern ways to numb pain, doctors tried to stop infections by cleaning patients and using herbs and liquids like wine and vinegar. They also used substances like opium to help with pain, but it is not clear if they used these as anesthetics.

Medical ethics

Doctors like al-Razi talked about how important it is to be kind and honest. Along with Avicenna and Ibn al-Nafis, they were among the first to think deeply about what good doctors should do. Al-Razi wrote a book about being a good person and a good doctor. He believed doctors should know a lot about medicine and also be good examples.

The oldest book we have on this topic is by Ishaq ibn 'Ali al-Ruhawi. He said that telling the truth is very important for doctors. He called doctors "guardians of souls and bodies" and said they should behave well and think carefully about their work. His book had twenty chapters about ideas for being a good doctor.

Hospitals

Main article: Bimaristan

Medical education

In medieval Islamic cultures, people learned medicine in many ways before schools existed. Often, students learned from family or by working with experienced doctors. Some famous doctors, like those from the Bukhtīshū family, worked for leaders in Baghdad for nearly 300 years.

Hospitals became important places for teaching medicine. Students learned by working with doctors in these hospitals. Teachers also gave lessons in public places such as mosques and palaces. One well-known teacher, Al-Dakhwār, held many lessons in Damascus and later helped start a school focused only on medicine in 1231. This school continued to teach students until at least 1417.

Hospitals, called Bimaristans, were advanced and open to everyone, providing care without charge. They had separate areas for men and women and different rooms for various illnesses.

Pharmacy

Pharmacy started as a special job in the early ninth century because of Muslim scholars. They learned about medicines from places like Mesopotamia. Ideas from India and faraway lands came through trade routes. Persians used Greek ideas to help shape Islamic pharmacy. In those days, many things like drugs, foods, drinks, beauty products, and perfumes were used to help heal people. Many medicines came from plants found across Asia.

Great thinkers helped organize these medicines. The Greek doctor Hippocrates said that sickness happened when the body’s balance of cold, hot, dry, and moist was off, and the right diet could fix this balance. A book by Sabur Ibn Sahl, called Aqrabadhin al-Kabir, was one of the first books about pharmacy. He was inspired by the work of Dioscorides. Another doctor, Ibn Juljul, sorted medicines from India and faraway lands. These scholars made a system to identify medicines based on what they could do for health. Sabur also wrote other important books, and many doctors liked them. Pharmacy grew by building on ideas from earlier cultures.

pharmacy

Al-Biruni

Sasanian Empire

Women and medicine

During medieval times, doctors used ideas from old Greek writings to help women with their health. These writings focused on women's bodies and health problems related to women's reproduction and organs.

People back then had many old beliefs about women's health. They thought a woman's womb could move inside her body if it wasn't fixed in place by pregnancy. This idea led to many strange ideas about health problems. Some religious writings gave advice on diets to help women stay healthy and have babies. They also talked about the risks of childbirth. Doctors sometimes used prayers and special words to help very sick women.

Doctors also thought about how to help women who couldn't have babies. They tried many ways to help, like using special foods or drinks. Even though having babies was very important, doctors also helped women find safe ways to plan their families.

Role of Christians

In the medieval Islamic world, Christians helped improve medicine. The city of Gundeshapur, started in 271 by the king Shapur I, became an important place for learning about medicine. Many of its people were Syriacs, and most were Christians. Under Khosrau I, Greek Nestorian Christian scholars came to Gundeshapur after their school in Edessa closed. They created the first medical training center, with a school, hospital, library, and more.

During the Abbasid empire, which began in 750 A.D., Christians from the Byzantine empire worked with Islamic rulers. They helped change important Greek medical books into Arabic. This sharing of ideas made medicine better in the Islamic world. One well-known translator was Hunnayn b. Ishaq, a Nestorian Christian who spoke many languages and helped translate the works of the Greek doctor Galen. His work made it easier to translate scientific books for many years.

Legacy

The medieval Islamic world was open to new ideas, which helped it make big steps in medicine. They added to old medical knowledge and improved health science and hospitals. This let doctors do more complex treatments, like eye care, and write down their findings for others to learn from.

Two important doctors, Al-Razi and Ibn Sina, wrote books that shaped medical learning. Women also made marks in medicine, with some becoming doctors, surgeons, and helpers for new mothers.