Islamic physicians in history

Chief physician to the Caliph

During Islam's golden age (850- 1250 CE) medicine was the foremost Islamic science. Islamic physicians changed the face of medicine.

The Koran forbade autopsies and human dissection, thus limiting advances in the knowledge of human anatomy. Accumulating knowledge depended on surgical experience, serendipitous discoveries of decaying human corpses and skeletons and work with animals.

But research into and development of pharmaceuticals was an area of remarkable growth. Extensive botanical data appeared in books cataloguing plant species and their uses. Islamic scientists founded the first medieval school of pharmacy and developed the first apothecary shops.

Less than a hundred years after the death of Muhammad (PBUH), a system of public hospitals and asylums was begun, and Muslim advances in medical hygiene and disinfectants made surviving surgery a real proposition. They developed a number of drugs, including anaesthetics derived from hashish.

One of the greatest names in medieval medicine is that of Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariya' al-Razi, who revolutionised the treatment of smallpox and measles, as well as making medicine's first connection between bacteria and infection. He also introduced the use of animal gut and silk as surgical sutures as well as surgical disinfectants.

Razi was a prolific writer, producing 184 books and articles, in several fields of science. According to historian Ibn an-Nadim, Razi distinguished himself as the best physician of his time who had fully absorbed Greek medical learning.

He travelled in many lands and rendered service to many princes and rulers. As a medical educator, he attracted many students of all levels. He was said to be compassionate, kind, upright and devoted to the service of his patients whether rich or poor. Razi was born in the Iranian City of Rayy in 865 (251 H) and died in the same town about 925 (312 H).

A physician learned in philosophy as well as music and alchemy, he served at the Samanid Court in Central Asia and headed hospitals in Rayy and Baghdad. The Razi Institute near Tehran, Iran, was named after him. Razi Day (Pharmacy Day) is commemorated in Iran every year on 27 August. Al-Razi first studied music which was his main interest in his early life. He was a skilful player on the lute.

He then studied philosophy and later medicine. He became the court physician of Samanid Prince Abu Saleh al-Mansur, the ruler of Khorosan. Then he moved to Baghdad where he became the chief physician of the Baghdad Hospital and the court physician of the Caliph.

The most sought after of all his compositions was The Comprehensive Book on Medicine (Kitab al-Hawi fi altibb) – a large private notebook or commonplace book into which he placed extracts from earlier authors regarding diseases and therapy and also recorded clinical cases of his own experience. The material comprising the Hawi is arranged under headings of different diseases, with separate sections on pharmacological topics.

He published several books which were translated into Latin, French, Italian, Hebrew and Greek. One, which was particularly influential in Europe, is Al-Mansuri (Liber Al- Mansofis) which he dedicated to his patron Prince al- Mansur. It was composed of 10 treatises and included all aspects of health and disease. He defined medicine as "the art concerned in preserving healthy bodies, in combating disease and in restoring health to the sick". He thus showed the three aspects of medicine namely, public health, preventive medicine, and treatment of specific diseases. He listed seven principles for the preservation of health:

1. Moderation and balance in motion and rest.

2. Moderation in eating and drinking.

3. Elimination of super fluities.

4. Improvement and regulation of dwelling places.

5. Avoidance of excessive evil happenings before they become uncontrol lable.

6. Maintenance of harmony in ambitions and resolutions.

7. Acquisition of reticence through possession of good habits including exercise.

He also published another book called Al-Murshid. In it, he emphasised the important lines of therapy that we mentioned earlier. He described the different types of fever including continuous, relapsing and hectic.

He stated that fever can be a symptom of a disease or a disease in itself. He introduced mercury as a therapeutic drug for the first time in history, which was later adopted in Europe. A special feature of his medical system was that he greatly favoured cure through correct and regulated food. This was combined with his emphasis on the influence of psychological factors on health.

He also tried proposed remedies first on animals in order to evaluate in their effects and side effects. He was also an expert surgeon and was the first to use opium for anaesthesia. He stressed the continued medical education of the physicians. He advised them to record their own observations.

He encouraged them to meet with other physicians to discuss medical problems. He recommended that the physicians should try solving these problems rather than depending on others for finding solutions. Another book written by Al-Razi was named Al-Hawi, which means the complete text. It was composed of 22 volumes.

It was one of the main text books in the medical school in Paris, especially its 9th volume on pharmacology. He wrote a treatise on measles and smallpox called de Peste (or) de Pestilentia which was translated to Latin in 1565.

It is considered a masterpiece in clinical medicine. It describes the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added. He was a prolific author, who has left monumental treatises on numerous subjects, including chemistry, mathematics and philosophy. He has more than 200 outstanding scientific contributions to his credit, of which about half deal with medicine. About 40 of his manuscripts are still extant in the museums and libraries of Iran, Paris, Britain, Rampur, and Bankipur.

Information courtesy Dr Sharif Kaf Al-Ghazal www.islam-usa.com/im3.html