Ibn Sina : The Father Of Medicine

Ibn Sina (Avicenna) (370-428 H)

Abu `Ali Husain b. `Abdullah Ibn Sina, Balkhi, better known as Avicenna in the West, was the greatest of all medieval Muslim physicians. Also known as Al-Shaykh Al-Ra’as, and celebrated in the Western world as ‘the father of modern medicine,’ his is the most illustrious name in Arabic medical history after al-Razi. While Al-Razi was more of a physician than Ibn Sina, Ibn Sina was more of a philosopher. The author of 450 books on a variety of subjects including Philosophy and Medicine, Ibn Sina had a direct impact on the intellectual rebirth of Europe. George Sarton considers him to be the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places and times. He was one in the famed quartet of Mu`tazilite scholars, others being Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi and Ibn Rushd. Of the first three, it is said that the harmonization of Greek philosophy with Islam begun by al-Kindi, an Arab, was continued by al-Farabi, a Turk, and completed in the East by Ibn-Sina, a Persian.

Ibn Sina was about five years old, when his family moved to Bukhara, where his father was appointed as a governor of Kharmayathnah, a village in the suburbs. His father, whose home was a meeting place for the local scholars, diligently educated him at Bukhara. While certainly acquainted with Isma`ili tenets, Ibn Sina however refused to adopt them. A precocious child with an extraordinary intelligence and memory, and who overtook his teachers at the age of fourteen, he had memorized the Qur'an and a great deal of Arabic poetry by the age of ten. He also studied Arabic literature and sciences including Islamic law, astronomy, medicine, logic and philosophy by the age of eighteen. Learning arithmetic from a greengrocer, he then began to learn more from a wandering scholar who gained a livelihood by curing the sick and teaching the young. In times of mental agitation over metaphysical problems and over the works of Aristotle, in particular, Ibn Sina left his books, performed the ritual ablution (Wudu), prayed at the Mosque, and continued in prayer till light broke into his heart.

Turning to medicine at 16, not only did he learn theoretical medicine, but also discovered new methods of treatment. A perfect physician by age 18, he is reported to have said: ‘Medicine is not a hard and difficult science like Mathematics and Metaphysics, and so I soon made great progress. I became an excellent doctor and began to treat patients, using approved remedies.’ His first appointment was that of physician to the Samanid Amir Nuh b. Mansur when he contracted a dangerous illness (in 997 CE). Ibn Sina cured him and was allowed to use the royal library of the Samanids as a reward for this service.

After his father’s death, Ibn Sina left Bukhara for Jurjaniyah and offered his services to the Khawarzmian dynasty. In this court, he wrote Kitab al-Tadaruk li-Anwa` al-Khata’ fi’l-Tadbir and Qiyam al-’Ard fi Wasat al-Sama’ on mathematics and astronomy respectively. Meanwhile, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, envious of the brilliance of the Khawarazim court demanded Avicenna’s attendance in his own royal court which boasted of men of the caliber of Firdawsi, the father of the Persian language. However, Avicenna chose to escape to Gurgan and then to Jurjan. Joined here by his lifetime companion, Juzjani, he wrote Kitab-al-Mukhtasar al-Awsat, Kitab al-Mabda’ w’al-Ma’ad, and Al-Arsad al-Kulliyyah, along with chapters which later formed parts of Al-Najat and Al-Qanun.

Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb:

Ibn Sina’s Canon was used in the Universities of Europe for full 500 years as a text book.

Considered the most famous single book in the history of medicine, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (The Canon of Medicine) consists of five parts. Translated into Latin a number of times, and once in Naples in 1491 CE into Hebrew, it was considered the most important medical source both in the West for 500 years (i.e., until the beginning of the 11/ 17th century) and continues to be the primary source of Islamic medicine wherever it is practiced to this day. The Canon of Medicine set the standards for Medicine in Europe for centuries and was used in Universities as a text book for full 500 years. While classifying and describing diseases, and outlining their assumed causes, hygiene, simple and complex medicines, and functions of body parts are also covered. It asserts that tuberculosis is contagious: a fact later disputed by Europeans, but which subsequently proved to be true. It also describes the symptoms and complications of diabetes. An Arabic edition of the Canon appeared in Rome in 1593 CE but the Latin version alone had about 30 editions, founded on the original translation by Gerard of Cremona. The book, a partial translation of which was made into English recently, distinguishes Mediastinitis from Pleurisy and recognizes the contagious nature of Phthisis and the spreading of disease by water and soil. It gives a scientific diagnosis of Ankylostomiasis and attributes it to an intestinal worm. Its materia medica considers some 760 drugs. In the words of Dr. Ostler it has remained “a medical bible for a longer period than any other work.” Ibn Sina’s other medical works translated into Latin are the Medicamenta Cordialia, Canticum de Medicina, and the Tractatus de Syrupo Acetoso.

Medicine

Determining the causes of health and diseases,Ibn Sina believed that the human body cannot be restored to health unless the causes of both health and disease are determined. He stated that Medicine (Tibb) is the science by which we learn the various states of the human body when in health and when not in health, and the means by which health is likely to be lost, and when lost, is likely to be restored. In other words, medicine is the science whereby health is conserved and an art whereby it is restored after being lost.

credit : islamicencyclopedia.org