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 played an important role in medieval Islamic culture during a time known as the Golden Age of Islam, from the eighth to the fourteenth century. The care people received depended on their economic and social status, and patients had different expectations based on the treatments offered by doctors.

Islamic doctors and scholars created a large amount of medical literature. They built on earlier knowledge from places like Arabia, ancient Greek and Roman medicine, and ancient Indian traditions. Important works by ancient physicians like Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioscorides greatly influenced Middle Eastern medicine. During this time, scholars carefully studied and improved upon classical learning, making Arab science very advanced. Fields like ophthalmology were especially well-developed, with works by Ibn al-Haytham remaining important for many years.

Muslim scholars helped preserve and expand medical knowledge by accepting new ideas and keeping ancient texts. They added their own discoveries, especially in surgery and understanding the human body. Although some Western scholars think Islamic medicine did not add much beyond ancient Roman and Greek ideas, it was a mix of knowledge from Greece, Persia, Syria, India, and Byzantine traditions. This medical knowledge spread not only through Islamic lands but also to Europe, Asia, China, and the Far East.

History, origins and sources

Islamic medicine began by combining knowledge from many different cultures. It took ideas from ancient Greek, Roman, and Persian doctors, as well as from Indian traditions like Ayurveda. This mixing of ideas helped create new and better 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 translate and share medical knowledge from around the world. This period saw great progress in medicine, laying the groundwork for many ideas that are still used today.

Ṭibb an-Nabawī – Prophetic Medicine

Early Islamic society wanted to make sure that using medical knowledge from other cultures matched with their beliefs. Medicine was seen as a good act of faith. The Prophet Muhammad shared advice on staying healthy, and his views on health 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, quoting the Prophet’s saying that the stomach can be a place for illness.

Ibn Khaldun noted that some medicine came from Bedouin traditions and wasn’t linked to religion. The collection of traditions called Sahih al-Bukhari includes stories about Muhammad’s views on medicine. One story tells how two doctors treated someone with a method the Prophet didn’t like. 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, but sometimes also for other purposes.

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. But even in the 8th century, Jabir ibn Hayyan criticized Galen’s ideas, and later doctors like al-Majusi also questioned some of Galen’s thoughts.

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.

Meyerhof thought Indian medicine mostly influenced the plant-based part of Arabic medicine. Syrian doctors shared Greek knowledge, while Persian doctors likely first shared Indian medicine with Arabic doctors. Recent studies show Ayurvedic texts were translated into Persian from the 14th century onward.

Approach to medicine

Medicine in the medieval Islamic world was closely linked to growing plants. Fruits and vegetables were important for health, though people thought they had different powers than we understand today. Doctors used a system called the humoral theory to decide how 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, based not just on what was wrong but also on how they lived. 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

The great doctors and scientists from the Islamic Golden Age had a big effect on medicine for many centuries. Their ideas about medical ethics are still talked about today, especially in parts of the world where Islam is practiced. People still look up to them as good examples for doctors today, especially how they treated their patients.

Ali ibn Musa al-Rida was an important leader and 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 different parts of medicine and how taking care of your mind is important too. 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 a lot 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 very smart scientist who wrote many books about medicine. He cared a lot about treating each patient as an individual and making sure they had clean air and the right temperature in their rooms. He also believed in preventing sickness before it starts.

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

Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, was a very 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. It talks about many medical ideas, how to treat different diseases, and how to stay healthy.

_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

Important advances in understanding how the human body works were made by a Syrian doctor named Ibn al-Nafis. He discovered that blood flows from the right side of the heart to the left side through the lungs, not through invisible passages as earlier Greek doctors thought. This was an early description of how blood moves in the body.

Another scientist, Ibn al-Haytham from Iraq, studied how we see. He explained that our eyes work like optical instruments, helping us see by bending light. His ideas about vision were very new and were studied 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 learn enough about the history of medicine from the Islamic world. Special groups work to teach others about these important discoveries so they can help people today.

Drugs

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

Surgery

The growth of hospitals in ancient Islamic society helped doctors develop what we now call surgery. They learned about surgical procedures from older books and translations. Even though surgery was not very common because it often didn’t work well, doctors performed many types of operations, especially for eye problems.

Doctors used techniques like bloodletting and cauterization to treat illnesses. Cauterization involved burning the skin to stop bleeding and prevent infection by using a heated metal rod. Bloodletting, where blood was removed from the body, was done to balance what they believed were harmful substances in the body. They used special tools and methods, like heated cups, to draw blood from the skin.

Surgery was also used to treat eye diseases such as trachoma and cataracts. For trachoma, they performed a surgery called peritomy to remove tissue that was 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 afterward with salt water and bandaged it with cotton wool soaked in oil of roses and egg whites.

Before modern anesthesia, doctors tried to prevent infection by cleaning patients and using herbs and certain liquids like wine and vinegar. They also used substances like opium to help with pain, though it’s unclear if they fully used these as anesthetics.

Medical ethics

Doctors like al-Razi talked about how important it is to be kind and honest in medicine. Along with Avicenna and Ibn al-Nafis, they may have been the first to think deeply about what good doctors should do. Al-Razi wrote a book called "Kitab al-tibb al-ruhani" or "Book on Spiritual Physick" about being a good person as well as a good doctor. He believed doctors should not only know a lot about medicine but also be good examples for others.

The oldest book we have on this topic is by Ishaq ibn 'Ali al-Ruhawi, called Adab al-Tabib. It was based on ideas from old Greek doctors like Hippocrates and Galen. Al-Ruhawi 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 different ideas related to being a good doctor.

Hospitals

Main article: Bimaristan

Medical education

In medieval Islamic cultures, there were many ways to learn medicine before formal 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 began as its own special job in the early ninth century thanks to Muslim scholars. They learned about medicines from places like Mesopotamia, where many ideas were shared. Influences from India and faraway lands came through trade routes. Persians kept Greek ideas that helped shape Islamic pharmacy. In those times, everything applied to the body—like drugs, foods, drinks, beauty products, and perfumes—was used for its healing powers. 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 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 even though they weren’t rules from the government, 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 often used ideas from old Greek writings called Hippocratic treatises to help women with their health. These writings talked a lot about women's bodies, especially about health problems related to women's reproduction and organs.

People back then had many old beliefs about women's health. They thought that 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 from that time gave advice on diets to help women stay healthy and have babies. They also talked about how important it was for women to have healthy sexual activity, but they also respected the big risks of childbirth. Women who died giving birth were sometimes seen as very brave. Doctors also used prayers and special words to help women who were very sick.

Doctors also thought about how to help women who couldn't have babies. They had different ideas about why this happened and tried many ways to help, like using special foods or drinks. Some doctors believed that a woman needed to feel pleasure to help her body make a baby, while others thought only a man's seed was important. They even had ways to stop a pregnancy from happening, using plants and other natural things, long before modern medicines were invented. Even though having babies was very important, doctors also helped women find ways to plan their families safely.

Role of Christians

In the medieval Islamic world, Christians played an important role in advancing medicine. The city of Gundeshapur, founded in 271 by the Sassanid king Shapur I, became a key center for medical learning. Many of its people were Syriacs, most of whom were Christians. Under Khosrau I, Greek Nestorian Christian scholars came to Gundeshapur after their school in Edessa closed. They started the first medical training center, which included a school, hospital, library, and more.

During the Abbasid empire beginning in 750 A.D., Christians from the Byzantine empire worked together with Islamic rulers. They helped translate important Greek medical books into Arabic. This sharing of knowledge helped make medicine stronger in the Islamic world. One famous translator was Hunnayn b. Ishaq, a Nestorian Christian who knew many languages and helped translate the works of the Greek doctor Galen. His work set a good way 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.