Islamic Medicine Revisited

There is considerable debate on the meaning of Islamic Medicine, and its relationship to other medical doctrines, especially Western medicine. Previous definitions of Islamic Medicine affirm that it is any practice of medicine which does not contradict the basic tenets of the Islamic doctrine. In this article the author suggests that Islamic Medicine should adhere to the theoretical and philosophical principles of the temperamental and humoral theories from the Qurí an and sunnah, and should be practiced in accordance with the concepts, values and procedures of Islamic Sharia law. The development of Islamic medicine in the context of Greek, Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine has lead to several common concepts, such as inner healing and internal harmony, the adoption of a holistic approach to healing, and the role of spiritual influence. However, there are significant differences between them, such as the nature of the worldview and the concept of creation. The role of the Prophet (SAW) as in “Tibb An-Nabawi”, plus that of the several early Islamic philosophers in the progress of Islamic medicine was immense, and led to the general adoption of the principles and practice of Islamic medicine in much of the civilised world, including Europe. These principles are to this day embodied in Tibb (medicine). This situation was transformed by the advent of Western medicine, beginning in the Renaissance but culminating around 100 years ago. This adopted the “Cartesian” model of the human body, the “germ theory of disease” and “the theory of specific aetiology” as major pillars of its philosophy. The holistic approach and the contribution of non-physical, particularly mental and spiritual, values were summarily discarded. Although Western medicine overlaps with Tibb in a number of ways, it differs substantially in both its worldview, and in important aspects of both diagnosis and treatment.