Muslim First Report

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The Middle Ages were for Europe, a time of intellectual stagnation, however, the generalization of this period does not hold true when looking at Arab lands. Intellectual institutions were flourishing, healthcare systems were implemented, and rulers were more interested than ever before in the patronage of Islamic arts and sciences. During the Middle Ages Muslim scholars and scientists made many advancements in the medical field that were later transferred and adopted into to European society. Islamic medicine owes much of its foundation to that of the ancient Greeks. Hellenistic thinkers such as Euclids, Hippocrates, and most importantly, Galen, were the foundation for much of Islamic medical thought. During the 8th century CE, only a handful of Greek works had been translated, however, within a century later all of Galen’s works had been painstakingly transformed into Arabic tongue.1 As Galen’s work spread throughout the Dar al-Islam, his theories on topics such as humors, metabolism, digestion, and blood flow permeated through the doctrines of Islamic medicine. The influence of Hippocrates can also be seen in Islamic medicine, through the well-known Hippocratic Oath, that was a required pledge of all Islamic physicians. Although Hippocrates was a key figure in the development of Islamic medicine, his complete set of writings were never fully translated into Arabic.2 With the translation of Greek works, Islamic scientists and physicians were then ready to expand the original ideas and critic previous Greek writings based on their own experiences.3 In Abu Bakr ar-Razi’s later work, he criticized parts of Galen’s writings in his book, Doubts Against Galen.4 1

Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), xi. Ullman, 11, 15. 3 Paul Lunde, “Science: The Islamic Legacy” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Aramco Publishing, 2006), 5. 4 Azim A. Nanji, editor, The Muslim Almanac (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996), 202. 2

2 “The Arabic speaking intelligentsias of Baghdad were of course aware, through their contacts with Greek speaking Muslims and Christians, of the great achievements of classical scientists.”5 In 431 CE, Nestorian Christians faced persecution for their religious beliefs and found a new home in Persia. With them came great knowledge of Greek astronomy and medicine, both of which began to shape the Dar al-Islam. According to some scholars, “there was therefore, no complete rupture between the late classical and the Muslim world, as far as the scientific tradition was concerned.”6 The Umayyad Caliphate, which lasted from approximately 661-750 CE saw the very first translations of Greek scientific writings into Arabic, however, it was not until this caliphate was overthrown by the Abassid Caliphate that rapid developments in Islamic medicine truly occurred. Under the Abassids, the Bayt al-Hikmah, or Royal Library, was created in Baghdad and became a center for Islamic medical studies.7 During the late Abassid Caliphate, and of course after the caliphate’s overthrow of power Muslim medicine survived under the patronage of rivaling princes and institutions of learning, “which flourished even with the disintegration of the unitary empire and the establishment of local dynasties and principalities8. Advances in surgical procedure and licensing of physicians are just a few of the indicators of progress, which occurred during this time. Another contributing factor for the advancement of Islamic medicine was the process of papermaking, which had derived from the East. This invention was noticed by the Arabs in 751 CE and instantly created a medium for the spread of Islamic medical research and knowledge.9 5

Lunde, 3. Lunde,4, 5. 7 Muhammad Salim Khan, Islamic Medicine (Boston: Routledge and Keagan Paul, 1986), 11, 14. 8 Nanji, 197, 198. 9 Paul Lunde, “Science in Al-Andalus” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Armaco Publishing, 2006), 21. 6

3 There has been a debate among scholars as to whether the term Arabic medicine, or Islamic medicine is the best title for the advancement of medicine in Arabspeaking countries during the Islamic “Golden Age,” which lasted roughly from the middle of the 6th century CE up until the beginning of the 14th century CE.10 While it is true that many physicians of the time, such as ar-Razi and Ibn Sina were in fact Persians, and not Arabs, their following of the Islamic faith is what identifies this advancement of medicine as an Islamic achievement.11 Islamic physicians realized their moral responsibility, and their duty to God in their profession. They followed the Hadiths and the Koran in their practices. The Koran states that ‘“when I am ill, it is He who cures me,’” thus physicians understood and believed their work to be truly the work of God.12 Though many of these physicians were not Arabic by birth, they did however, “live within the sphere of Islamic culture and have helped in a most enduring way to shape this [Islamic] culture and to give it its particular stamp.”13 A very instrumental figure in the transmission of Greek medical thought into the Islamic World was Hunayn Ibn Ishaq. He was born the son of an apothecary in 808 CE, who sent him to Baghdad, determined that he would study medicine.14 He translated Galen and Hippocrates into Arabic under the patronage of various caliphs and elites. His work shaped the Arabic language into a scientific language by introducing “analyticalsyntactical constructions, which made Arabic into an instrument capable of expressing

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Richard C. Martin, editor, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004), 445. 11 Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), xi. 12 Abul Fadl Mohsin Ebrahim, Organ Transplantation, Euthanasia, Cloning, and Animal Experimentation (Kano, Nigeria: The Islamic Foundation, 2001) 17. 13 Ullman, xi. 14 Paul Lunde, “Science in the Golden Age” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Armaco Publishing, 2006), 10, 11.

4 complicated and abstract ideas.”15 He did not merely translate the works of others, but he was the author of many medical sources as well. He is said to have completed at least twenty-nine of his own medical writings. In his text, Kitab al-Mudkhal fi t-Tibb, Ibn Ishaq explains the fundamental of Islamic Medicine and its problems. One of the greatest classical Islamic physicians, Abu-Bakr Muhammad ibnZakariyya’ar-Razi, was born in 865 CE to the city of Rayy, what is now Tehran. He, like many of the physicians of the time, were accomplished in many areas of study. He was instrumental in the development of Islamic society’s first hospitals, and was the director for the both the hospital of Rayy and Baghdad.16 During his life he is wrote no less than 184 works, many of which were devoted to medical studies.17 He used animal experimentation to introduce the idea of mercury compounds as a purgative. After his death his pupils compiled and published twenty-three volumes of ar-Razi’s writings, which is known as the Kitab al-Hawi. He probably never meant for them to be published, for they were mostly material notes of his own observations during experiments, however they proved useful for many future physicians.18 His most famous work is notably shorter than much of his other writings, and is called de Pestilentia, which examined smallpox, chicken pox, and measles. This work was a very valuable source in dealing with these contagious diseases in both the Middle East and Europe.19 Ar-Razi has undoubtedly achieved great works for the advancement of Islamic medicine, however, his uniqueness can be attributed to his “open advocacy of experiment and observation.”20 15

Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), 8. Ullman, 43. 17 Lunde, 11. 18 Ullman, 43. 19 Richard C. Martin, editor, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004), 446. 20 Paul Lunde, “Science in the Golden Age” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Armaco Publishing, 2006), 11. 16

5 Abu-l-Qasim Jhalaf ibn-al- ‘Abbas az-Zahrawi lived from approximately 9301013 CE and was known for his work in the advancement of surgery as a field of Islamic medicine.21 He became a physician in Cordoba under the patronage of Caliph ar-Rahman III. During this time he wrote an extensive medical encyclopedia consisting of thirty treatises. Al-Zahrawi’s most important contributions to Islamic Medicine, however, were due to his expertise as a surgeon. His extensive knowledge of the human body and of surgical skills is apparent in his text, Kitab al-Tasrif orThe Book of Concessions, which served as an illustrated surgical guide for centuries to come.22 “As a result surgery, which up till now had been left to cuppers and barbers, was thanks to Abu ‘l Qasim al-Zahrawi, completely integrated into scientific medicine.”23 Working in the medical field in the same period of al-Zahrawi was arguably the greatest physician of classical Islamic medicine. Abu-‘Ali al-Husayn ibn-‘Abd-Allah ibnSina, is known today as the “‘prince of physicians,’” for the very fact that he shaped the face of both Muslim and European medicine.24 In the year 980 CE Ibn Sina was born in the city of Bukara, however, he spent much time traveling through Persia, until finally settling in Jurjan. According to his own biography, he began practicing medicine as a physician at age sixteen.25 His contributions to Islamic medicine are plenty, however he is most famous for his extremely well read Qanun fi al-Tibb or Cannon of Medicine. This five volume work is based off of the ideas of Greek thinkers, Galen and Hippocrates, although Ibn Sina rarely quotes them directly. He did not develop any necessarily new ideas, nor did he include any personal experiences with patients. It is interesting to note, 21

Martin, 447. Muhammad Salim Khan, Islamic Medicine (Boston: Routledge and Keagan Paul, 1986), 14. 23 Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), 44. 24 Khan, 14. 25 Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), 45. 22

6 that while Arabic was usually the language used for intellectual as well as religious writings, Ibn Sina originally wrote his works in his native language of Perian, and they were later translated into Arabic.26 His Qanun provided a base of knowledge for physicians, which was used in Europe and the Middle East until the 16th century.27 Perhaps the most influential achievement of Islamic medicine was the creation of the hospital as an institution of medical care. The idea for these hospitals was based on the idea of a broad healthcare program developed by Walid B. Abdal-Malik at the beginning of the 8th century CE. The first actual hospital was built during the Abassid Caliphate by Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad in 745 CE.28 This hospital or bimaristan, became the “cradle of the Baghdad school of medicine.”29 The institution and the establishment of hospitals spread throughout Islamic societies. Caliphs would oversee the building, and each hospital was open to the general public regardless of religion, sex, or ethnicity. Medical staff, physicians, and patient care were funded through endowments and charitable acts.30 The hospital also served as a place of intellectual learning with physicians from all over the Arab world coming to give lectures on their studies. Adudi Hospital in Baghdad, which was built in 982 CE, employed twenty-four physicians and surgical specialists. A traveler who visited the hospital explained “‘it was as large as a castle and had its own water supply from the Tigris River.’”31 The large hospital in Cordoba also had running water, as well as separate wards for different types

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Richard C. Martin, editor, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004), 447. 27 Ullman, 46 28 Azim A. Nanji, editor, The Muslim Almanac (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996), 201. 29 Muhammad Salim Khan, Islamic Medicine (Boston: Routledge and Keagan Paul, 1986), 14. 30 Nanji, 202. 31 Azim A. Nanji, editor, The Muslim Almanac (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996), 202.

7 of illnesses. Each of these facilities were open twenty-four hours a day and were forbidden to turn any patient away without adequate medical treatment.32 Those on Arab soil were not the only individuals to profit from the Islamic advancement of medicine in the Middle Ages. Europeans would soon acquire great knowledge from their neighbors to the East. Due to various political, cultural, and economic factors, Europe’s intellectual activity and exploration during the Middle Ages had reached an incredible low. Ancient manuscripts and sources of intellectual thought had been lost in the chaos. In contrast, during the Middle Ages Islamic medicine had been flourishing. Through the translation of Arabic, the transfer of knowledge occurred to the West occurred. By the 10th century CE, scientific works were being translated from Arabic to Latin.33 The transfer of Islamic medical thought was transfused throughout both Spain and Sicily, however many scholars note that “the Iberian Peninsula was the real home of the scientific revival in the West.”34 There were enormous institutions of translation in both Toledo and Catalonia. Because of the nature of its practicality and utility, the subject of medicine was a very popular subject for translation in each of these schools. During the second half of the 11th century CE a man from modern-day Tunisia contributed greatly to the spread of medical thought. Constantine the African translated many Arabic copies of Greek work, enhancing the base of European medical knowledge. This man supposedly traveled to Italy as a merchant, there he was converted to

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Paul Lunde, “Science in the AL-Adalus” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Armaco Publishing, 2006), 23. 33 Paul Lunde, “The Bodleian Remembers” in Science: The Islamic Legacy (Washington D.C.: Armaco Publishing, 2006), 30. 34 Franco Cardini. Europe and Islam (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2001), 90.

8 Christianity and joined a monastery. He spent the reminder of his life rebuilding European libraries through his translations of Arabic works.35 Many Islamic physician’s works were translated and read alongside the writings of Greek thinkers. Ibn Sina, for example was considered second to only that of Galen and Hippocrates themselves. His Qanun was copied no less than thirty-six times and was used in European universities up until the 16th century CE.36 In Europe, with “the subsequent major scientific advancements that came with Claude Bernard’s theory of the internal milieu, van Leewnhoek’s discovery of the microscope, and other advances quickly pushed medicine to a secular, empirical basis and the importance of the contributions of the Arabic texts was largely forgotten.”37 Though, for various reasons the influence of Islamic scientific studies has been largely forgotten, the advances of Muslim medicine did in fact give way to these European developments, and essentially allowed for intellectual exploration to occur in the West.

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Manfred Ullman, Islamic Medicine (George Square, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1978), 53. Ullman, 46. 37 Richard C. Martin, editor, Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004), 447. 36