During the month of Ramadan, a Muslim does not eat or drink from daybreak, when a thread of light may be seen on the horizon, until sun has set. During the fasting period one should abstain from sensual pleasures. The principle of fasting is related to that of limitation or restraint. Without limitation, true knowledge is impossible, because it is when we come to the end or limit of a thing that its true nature becomes evident. Ramadan's marking the end to indulgence, or imposing a clear limit to it day after day for a month or for approximately 360 hours, offers an unmistakable spiritual lesson. It also constitutes for a purification and a kind of sacrifice, which, like the pruning the trees, leads to renewal and fresh strength. On the moral plane it brings a direct understanding of the suffering of the hungry. This limitation increases and strengthens one's will power and self-control, so that once can give up bad habits.
Fasting in Other Religions
Fasting is prescribed in almost all religions. The Jews and Christians also fast. Jewish law order a yearly fast on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Many Orthodox Jews require the bride and groom to fast on the day before their wedding. Many Christians fast during Lent, the period of 40 days that Jesus (Isa - Alayhis Salam) spent fasting in the wilderness.
The Buddhists and Hindus also fast. Some religious thinkers, such as Zoroastrian religious leaders are against fasting from food, claiming that abstaining from food has no moral value, when compared with "fasting from evil" with eyes, hands, tongue, or feet. In some religions, people fast during times of mourning. Sometimes, personal or political goals are sought through fasting. M.K. Gandhi of India used fasting both as a penance and as a means of political protest.
Why Should Muslims Fast?
An ascetic element in human life is necessity. No religion is possible without an element of self-denial and asceticism. In order to be able to enjoy the harvest of sensual Perception, one must retreat once in a whilefrom the abundant life of the senses. Thus a certain degree of restraint from the material makes the life of senses balanced and opens in the human soul for the spiritual life. One such restraint is fasting, obligatory upon Muslims during the month of Ramadan and at other times. During the fast, the abstention is directed toward the carnal soul, what the Quran calls "al-nafs al-ammarah." In fasting, the unruly trends of the carnal soul are steadily restrained and soothed through a planned compliance of these trends to the Divine Will. During the fast, the cravings of the carnal sould go unanswered, as the Muslim is reminded that his fast if for the pleasure of Allah
(Subhanahu wa Taala). It is, therefore, important for a Muslim to abstain, not only from food and drink, but also from every form of sensual cravings. During the duration of fasting, food and drink that were taken for granted for the rest of the year become ni'mah or gifts from heaven. The fasting becomes a shield of purity against the passions of the world. In fasting a Muslim chooses the side of Allah over this world of materialism. That is why Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam) loved fasting so frequently and he said al-faqr fakhri (spiritual poverty is my glory).
The Death of Passion Purifies the Human Soul
It is for this reason that the arrival of the blessed month of Ramadan is greeted with happiness. For in this month the doors of heaven are opened to the faithful and Divine Compassion plunges upon those who seek it. Those who complete the fast of Ramadan feel rejuvenated and are prepared to face another year with firmness to live and act according to the Divine Will.
Science Favors Fasting
What are the benefits of fasting? Scientists have studied the effects of fasting on the body and found that the intake of food increases the body’s metabolism. After fasting, metabolism can become as much as 22 percent lower than the normal rate. Research has also shown that after long periods of fasting, the body tends to adjust itself by lowering the rate of metabolism itself. After fasting, a person should gradually resume eating.
In some studies performed on fasting Muslims, it was observed that there was a slight loss of weight both in males and females. Their blood glucose levels increased significantly. Other parameters such as blood levels of cortisol, testosterone, sodium, potassium, urea, total cholesterol, HDL (high density lipoprotein), TG (triglycerides), and serum osmolatity did not show notable variations.
Another study performed about a decade ago in Iran showed that sporadic restraint from food and drink for about 17 hours a day for 30 days does not alter male reproductive hormones, HPTA (hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid-axis) or peripheral metabolism of thyroid hormones. Any changes noticed return to normal four weeks after fasting.
Dr. Jalila El Ati and her associates ("Increased fat oxidation during Ramadan fasting in healthy women: an adaptive mechanism for body-weight maintanence." Am. J. Clin. Nutri. August 1995), who investigated the possible effects of Ramadan fasting of anthropometric and metabolic variables in healthy Tunisian Muslim women, found that the total daily energy intake remained unchanged whereas the qualitative components of nutrients were markedly affected. Ramadan fasting influenced neither body weight or body composition. Results also indicate respiratory and energy expenditure during Ramadan. Fat oxidation was increased and carbohydrate oxidation was decreased during the light span of nycthemeron.
In non-Muslim countries such as the U.S. the physicians, particularly the family physicians and internists should be aware of changes of glucose and bilirubin during the month of Ramadan.
Fasting may enhance mucosa derived B lymphocyte cell responsiveness while having no effect on B cell responsiveness in both rheumatoid arthritis patients and healthy volunteers. In a study, after a three-day, water-only fast, 7 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 17 healthy volunteers received influenza virus vaccine either orally or by injection. When the blood samples were analyzed for B lymphocyte response a week later, it was found that Blymphocyte response was enhanced in the group receiving the vaccine orally in both arthritis patients and volunteers. The response to injected vaccine was unchanged in both groups.
Fasting helps Longevity
Studies on laboratory animals have shown that restriction of caloric intake increases longevity, slows the rate of functional decline, and reduces incidence of age-related disease in a variety of species. The mechanism of action of caloric restriction remains unknown; however, data suggest that cellular functions are altered in such a way that destructive by-products of metabolism are reduced, and defense or repair systems are enhanced by this nutritional manipulation. Animal and human studies suggest potential benefits of dietary modification, exercise, antioxidants, hormones, and deprenyl.
Fasting and Lactating Mothers
The effects of fasting and increased blood insulin and glucose on milk volume and composition were studies with glucose clamp methodology in exclusively and partially breast-feeding women (producing no more than 200 ml milk per day). There was no effect of milk volume, milk glucose concentration, and total fat content or lactose secretion rate. It is concluded that human milk production is isolated from the homeostatic mechanisms that regulate glucose metabolism in the rest of the body, in part because the lactose synthetase system has a Km for glucose lower than the concentration available in the Golgi compartment.
In a study which investigated the effects of a short-term fast (72 hours) on female reproductive hormone secretion and menstrual function, it was concluded that in spite of profound metabolic changes, a 72-hour fast during the follicular phase does not affect the menstrual cycle of normal cycling women.
Fasting and Healing
Studies are being conducted to treat serious illnesses like osteo rheumatoid arthritis or asthma utilizing fasting for a short duration of few days to medically supervised water only fasts of 30 days to help the body heal itself. It has been known that both children and animals refuse to eat when sick as a natural response. The severely sick have no appetite, but they take the food only at the urging of the family members. The severely sick feel no
hunger because food in severe sickness intervenes with natural response. The body is always trying to heal itself. When the patient is resting and consuming water only, the body heals itself and fasting acts as a facilitating process. One can get rid of coffee, cigarettes, salty or sugary foods, which are addictive, through fasting, as fasting can help clear the taste buds and healthful foods start to taste better again. However, insulin-dependent diabetics should not fast because of ketosis in patients with insulin-dependent diabetics, who cannot break down the ketones and use them as fuel. Healthy people use the ketones (byproducts of fat metabolism) to maintain energy. (To conserve the glycogen stores, glucose becomes restricted to the central nervous system, mainly the brain. Instead of taking the glucose from the brain, the body begins breaking down the fatty acids in adipose (fatty) tissue). People with non-insulin-dependent diabetes (the majority of people who have diabetes) can improve their health through fasting.
Fasting helps cardiovascular disease, arthritis, asthma, non-insulin-dependent diabetes, ulcers, and digestive disorders, lupus, skin problems (including cysts, tumors, and kidney stones). Even quitting smoking and obesity respond favorably to fasting.
Fasting during the month of Ramadan does not cause any adverse medical effects, on the other hand, it may have some beneficial effects on weight and lipid metabolism.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times
SUMMARY
Within a century after the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the Muslims not only conquered new lands, but also became scientific innovators with originality and productivity. They hit the source ball of knowledge over the fence to Europe. By the ninth century, Islamic medical practice had advanced from talisman and theology to hospitals with wards, doctors who had to pass tests, and the use of technical terminology. The then Baghdad General Hospital incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. The fountains cooled the air near the wards of those afflicted with fever; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night the pain of the restless was soothed by soft music and storytelling. The prince and pauper received identical attention; the destitute upon discharge received five gold pieces to sustain them during convalescence. While Paris and London were places of mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo and Cardboard had hospitals open to both male and female patients; staffed by attendants of both sexes. These medical centers contained libraries pharmacies, the system of interns, externs, and nurses. There were mobile clinics to reach the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. There were regulations to maintain quality control on drugs. Pharmacists became licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Legal measures were taken to prevent doctors from owning or holding stock. in a pharmacy. The extent to which Islamic medicine advanced in the fields of medical education, hospitals, bacteriology, medicine, anesthesia, surgery, pharmacy, ophthalmology, psychotherapy and psychosomatic diseases are presented briefly.
INTRODUCTION
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who is ranked number one by Michael Hart', a Jewish scholar, in his book The 100: The Most Influential Persons in History, was able to unite the Arab tribes who had been tom by revenge, rivalry, and internal fights, and produced a strong nation acquired and ruled simultaneously, the two known empires at that time, namely the Persian and Byzantine Empires. The Islamic Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean on the West to the borders of China on the East. Only 80 years after the death of their Prophet, the Muslims crossed to Europe to rule Spain for more than 700 years. The Muslims preserved the cultures of the conquered lands. However when the Islamic Empire became weak, most of the Islamic contributions in an and science were destroyed. The Mongols bunt Baghdad (1258 A.D.) out of barbarism, and the Spaniards demolished most of the Islamic heritage in Spain out of hatred.The Islamic Empire for more than 1000 years remained the most advanced and civilized nation in the world. This is because Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, developed in Muslims the respect for authority and discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The Muslims recognized excellence and hungering intellectually, were avid for the wisdom of the world of Galen, Hippocrates, Rufus of Ephesus, Oribasius, Discorides and Paul of Aegina. By the tenth century their zeal and enthusiasm for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical writings being translated into Arabic in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Arabic became the International Language of learning and diplomacy. The center of scientific knowledge and activity shifted eastward, and Baghdad emerged as the capital of the scientific world. The Muslims became scientific innovators with originality and productivity. Islamic medicine is one of the most famous and best known facets of lslamic civilization, and in which the Muslims most excelled. The Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. They hit the source ball of knowledge over the fence to Europe. In the words of Campbell' "The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forebears of the Europeans."The aim of this paper is to prove that the Islamic Medicine was 1000 years ahead of its times. The paper covers areas such as medical education, hospitals, bacteriology, medicine, anesthesia, surgery, opthalmology, pharmacy, and psychotherapy.
MEDICAL EDUCATION
In 636 A.D., the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, which originally meant beautiful garden, was conquered by the Muslims with its great university and hospital intact. Later the Islamic medical schools developed on the Jundi-Shapur pattern. Medical education was serious and systematic. Lectures and clinical sessions included in teaching were based on the apprentice system. The advice given by Ali ibnul-Abbas (Haly Abbas: -994 -A.D.) to medical students is as timely today as it was then'. "And of those things which were incumbent on the student of this art (medicine) are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses; pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their intimates, in company with the most astute professors of medicine, and inquire frequently as to the state of the patients and symptoms apparent in them, bearing in mind what he has read about these variations, and what they indicate of good or evil."Razi (Rhazes: 841-926 A.D.) advised the medical students while they were seeing a patient to bear in mind the classic symptoms of a disease as given in text books and compare them with what they found (6).The ablest physicians such as Razi (Al-Rhazes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna: 980-1037 A.D.) and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar: 116 A.D.) performed the duties of both hospital directors and deans of medical schools at the same time. They studied patients and prepared them for student presentation. Clinical reports of cases were written and preserved for teaching'. Registers were maintained.
Training in Basic Sciences
Only Jundi-Shapur or Baghdad had separate schools for studying basic sciences. Candidates for medical study received basic preparation from private tutors through private lectures and self study. In Baghdad anatomy was taught by dissecting the apes, skeletal studies, and didactics. Other medical schools taught anatomy through lectures and illustrations. Alchemy was once of the prerequisites for admission to medical school. The study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy rounded out the basic training. A number of hospitals maintained barbel gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.Once the basic training was completed the candidate was admitted as an apprentice to a hospital where, at the beginning, he was assigned in a large group to a young physician for indoctrination, preliminary lectures, and familiarization with library procedures and uses. During this preclinical period, most of the lectures were on pharmacology and toxicology and the use of antidotes.
Clinical training:
The next step was to give the student full clinical training. During this period students were assigned in small groups to famous physicians and experienced instructors, for ward rounds, discussions, lectures, and reviews. Early in this period therapeutics and pathology were taught. There was a strong emphasis on clinical instruction and some Muslim physicians contributed brilliant observations that have stood the test of time. As the students progressed in their studies they were exposed more and more to the subjects of diagnosis and judgment. Clinical observation and physical examination were stressed. Students (clinical clerks) were asked to examine a patient and make a diagnosis of the ailment. Only after an had failed would the professor make the diagnosis himself. While performing physical examination, the students were asked to examine and report six major factors: the patients' actions, excreta, the nature and location of pain, and swelling and effuvia of the body. Also noted was color and feel of the skin- whether hot, cool, moist, dry, flabby. Yellowness in the whites of the eye (jaundice) and whether or not the patient could bend his back (lung disease) was also considered important (8).
After a period of ward instructions, students, were assigned to outpatient areas. After examining the patients they reported their findings to the instructors. After discussion, treatment was decided on and prescribed. Patients who were too ill were admitted as inpatients. The keeping of records for every patient was the responsibility of the students.
Curriculum
There was a difference in the clinical curriculum of different medical schools in their courses; however the mainstay was usually internal medicine. Emphasis was placed on clarity and brevity in describing a disease and the separation of each entity. Until the time of Ibn Sina the description of meningitis was confused with acute infection accompanied by delirium. Ibn Sina described the symptoms of meningitis with such clarity and brevity that there is very little that can be added after I 000 yearS6. Surgery was also included in the curriculum. After completing courses, some students specialized under famous specialists. Some others specialized while in clinical training. According to Elgood9 many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins and hemorrhoids were required knowledge. Orthopedics was widely taught, and the use of plaster of Paris for casts after reduction of fractures was routinely shown to students. This method of treating fractures was rediscovered in the West in 1852. Although ophthalmology was practiced widely, it was not taught regularly in medical schools. Apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specializing in ophthalmology. Surgical treatment of cataract was very common. Obstetrics was left to midwives. Medical practitioners consulted among themselves and with specialists. Ibn Sina and Hazi both widely practiced and taught psychotherapy. After completing the training, the medical graduate was not ready to enter practice, until he passed the licensure examination. It is important to note that there existed a Scientific Association which had been formed in the hospital of Mayyafariqin to discuss the conditions and diseases of the patients.
Licensing of Physicians
In Baghdad in 931 A.D. Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient had died as the result of a physician's error. There upon he ordered his chief physician, Sinan-ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than 860 were examined in Baghdad alone. From that time on, licensing examinations were required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were set up under a government official called Muhtasib or inspector general . The Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control of drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. What the present Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is doing in America today was done in Islamic medicine I 000 years ago. The chief physician gave oral and practical examinations, and if the young physician was successful, the Muhtasib administered the Hippocratic oath and issued a license. After 1000 years licensing of physicians has been implemented in the West, particularly in America by the State Licensing Board in Medicine. For specialists we have American Board of Medical Specialities such as in Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, etc. European medical schools followed the pattern set by the Islamic medical schools and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina's Qanun (Cannon). According to Razi a physician had to satisfy two condition for selection: firs0y, he was to be fully conversant with the new and the old medical literature and secondly, he must have worked in a hospital as house physician.
HOSPITALS
The development of efficient hospitals was an outstanding contribution of Islamic medicine (7). 'ne hospitals served all citizens free without any regard to their color, religion, sex, age or social status. The hospitals were run by government and the directors of hospitals were physicians.Hospitals and separate wards for male patients and female patients. Each ward was furnished with a nursing staff and porters of the sex of the patients to be treated therein. Different diseases such as fever, wounds, infections, mania, eye conditions, cold diseases, diarrhea, and female disorders were allocated different wards. Convalescents had separate sections within them. Hospitals provided patients with unlimited water supply and with bathing facilities. Only qualified and licensed physicians were allowed by law to practice medicine. The hospitals were teaching hospitals educating medical students. They had housing for students and house-staff. They contained pharmacies dispensing free drugs to patients. Hospitals had their own conference room and expensive libraries containing the most up-to-date books. According to Haddad, the library of the Tulum Hospital which was founded in Cairo in 872 A.D. (I 100 years ago) had 100,000 books. Universities, cities and hospitals acquired large libraries (Mustansiriyya University in Baghdad contained 80,000 volumes; the library of Cordova 600,000 volumes; that of Cairo 2,000,000 and that of Tripoli 3,000,000 books), physicians had their own extensive personal book collections, at a time when printing was unknown and book editing was done by skilled and specialized scribes putting in long hours of manual labour.For the first time in history, these hospitals kept records of patients and their medical care.From the point of view of treatment the hospital was divided into an out- patient department and an inpatient department. The system of the in-patient department differed only slightly from that of today. At tile Tulun hospital, on admission the patients were given special apparel while their clothes, money, and valuables were stored until the time of their discharge. On discharge, each patient - received five gold pieces to support himself until he could return to work.The hospital and medical school at Damascus had elegant rooms and an extensive library. Healthy people are said to have feigned illness in order to enjoy its cuisine. There was a separate hospital in Damascus for lepers, while, in Europe, even six centuries later, condemned lepers were burned to death by royal decree.The Qayrawan Hospital (built in 830 A.D. in Tunisia) was characterized by spacious separate wards, waiting rooms for visitors and patients, and female nurses from Sudan, an event representing the first use of nursing in Arabic history. The hospital also provided facilities for performing prayers.The Al-Adudi hospital (built in 981 A.D. in Baghdad) was furnished with die best equipment and supplies known at the time. It had interns, residents, and 24 consultants attending its professional activities, An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organize regular visiting of prisons by medical officers (14). At a time when paris and London were places of mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova had hospitals which incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. It was chiefly in the humaneness of patient care, however, that the hospitals of Islam excelled. Near the wards of those afflicted with fever, fountains cooled the air; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night music and storytelling soothed the patients. The Bimaristans (hospitals) were of two types - the fixed and the mobile. The mobile hospitals were transported upon beasts of burden and were erected from time to time as required. The physicians in the mobile clinics were of the same standing as those who served the fixed hospitals. Similar moving hospitals accompanied the armies in the field. The field hospitals were well equipped with medicaments, instruments, tents and a staff of doctors, nurses, and orderlies. The traveling clinics served the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. These hospitals were also used by prisoners,and by the general public,particularly in times of epidemics.
BACTERIOLOGY
Al-Razi was asked to choose a site for a new hospital when he came to Baghdad. First he deduced which was the most hygienic area by observing where the fresh pieces of meat he had hung in various parts of the city decomposed least quickly.Ibn Sina stated explicitly that the bodily secretion is contaminated by foul foreign earthly body before getting the infection. Ibn Khatima stated that man is surrounded by minute bodies which enter the human system and cause disease.In the middle of the fourteenth century "black death" was ravaging Europe and before which Christians stood helpless, considering it an act of God.At that time Ibn al Khatib of Granada composed a treatise in the defense of the theory of infection in the following way:To those who say, "How can we admit the possibility of infection while the religious law denies it?" We reply that the existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the afflicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is effected through garments, vessels and earrings.Al-Razi wrote the first medical description of smallpox and measles - two important infectious diseases. He described the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added. Ibn Sina suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis. He is said to have been the first to describe the preparation and properties of sulphuric acid and alcohol. His recommendation of wine as the best dressing for wounds was very popular in medieval practice. However Razi was the first to use silk sutures and alcohol for hemostatis. He was the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic.
ANESTHESIA
Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anesthetics. He recognized opium as the most powerful mukhadir (an intoxicant or drug). Less powerful anesthetics known were mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. The Arabs invented the soporific sponge which was the precursor of modem anesthesia. It was a sponge soaked with aromatics and narcotics and held to the patient's nostrils.The use of anesthesia was one of the reasons for the rise of surgery in the Islamic world to the level of an honourable speciality, while in Europe, surgery was belittled and practiced by barbers and quacks. The Council of Tours in 1163 A.D. declared Surgery is to be abandoned by the schools of medicine and by all decent physicians." Burton stated that "anesthetics have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and chloroform became the fashion in civilized West."
SURGERY
Al-Razi is attributed to be the first to use the seton in surgery and animal gut for sutures.Abu al-Qasim Khalaf Ibn Abbas Al-Zahrawi (930-1013 A.D.) known to the West as Abulcasis, Bucasis or Alzahravius is considered to be the most famous surgeon in Islamic medicine. In his book Al-Tasrif, he described hemophilia for the first time in medical history. The book contains the description and illustration of about 200 surgical instruments many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself. In it Zahrawi stresses the importance of the study of Anatomy as a fundamental prerequisite to surgery. He advocates the re implantation of a fallen tooth and the use of dental prosthesis carved from cow's bone, an improvement over the wooden dentures worn by the first President of America George Washington seven centuries later. Zahrawi appears to be the first surgeon in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of hemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, as a vaginal padding in fractures of the pubis and in dentistry. He introduced the method for the removal of kidney stones by cutting into the urinary bladder. He was the first to teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations. He described tracheotomy, distinguished between goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, is almost like modern surgery. In orthopedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher's method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patelectomy, 1,000 years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937.Ibn Sina's description of the surgical treatment of cancer holds true even today after 1,000 years. He says the excision must be wide and bold; all veins running to the tumor must be included in the amputation. Even if this is not sufficient, then the area affected should be cauterized.The surgeons of Islam practiced three types of surgery: vascular, general, and orthopedic, Ophthalmic surgery was a speciality which was quite distinct both from medicine and surgery. They freely opened the abdomen and drained the peritoneal cavity in the approved modern style. To an unnamed surgeon of Shiraz is attributed the first colostomy operation. Liver abscesses were treated by puncture and exploration.Surgeons all over the world practice today unknowingly several surgical procedures that Zahrawi introduced 1,000 years ago .
MEDICINE
The most brilliant contribution was made by Al-Razi who differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease. He is credited with many contributions, which include being the first to describe true distillation, glass retorts and luting, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulfate, iron sulphate, saltpeter, and borax in the treatment of disease . He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment." His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi. He described hay-fever or allergic rhinitis.Some of the Arab contributions include the discovery of itch mite of scabies (Ibn Zuhr), anthrax, ankylostoma and the guinea worm by Ibn Sina and sleeping sickness by Qalqashandy. They described abscess of the mediastinum. They understood tuberculosis and pericarditis.Al Ash'ath demonstrated gastric physiology by pouring water into the mouth of an anesthetized lion and showed the distensibility and movements of the stomach, preceding Beaumont by about 1,000 years" Abu Shal al- Masihi explained that the absorption of food takes place more through the intestines than the stomach. Ibn Zuhr introduced artificial feeding either by gastric tube or by nutrient enema. Using the stomach tube the Arab physicians performed gastric lavage in case of poisoning. Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to discover pulmonary circulation.Ibn Sina in his masterpiece Al-Quanun (Canon), containing over a million words, described complete studies of physiology, patlhology and hygiene. He specifically discoursed upon breast cancer, poisons, diseases of the skin, rabies, insomnia, childbirth and the use of obstetrical forceps, meningitis, amnesia, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis as a contagious disease, facial tics, phlebotomy, tumors, kidney diseases and geriatric care. He defined love as a mental disease.
OPHTHALMOLOGY
The doctors of Islam exhibited a high degree of proficiency and certainly were foremost in the treatment of eye diseases. Words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. In ophthalmology and optics lbn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) known to the West as Alhazen wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings. In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a surface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively proving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the objects as thought by the Greeks. He presents experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin Ali of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.
PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology took roots in Islam during the 9th century. Yuhanna bin Masawayh (777-857 A.D.) started scientific and systematic applications of therapeutics at the Abbasids capital. His students Hunayn bin Ishaq al-lbadi (809-874 A.D.) and his associates established solid foundations of Arabic medicine and therapeutics in the ninth century. In his book al-Masail Hunayn outlined methods for confirming the pharmacological effectiveness of drugs by experimenting with them on humans. He also explained the importance of prognosis and diagnosis of diseases for better and more effective treatment.Pharmacy became an independent and separate profession from medicine and alchemy. With the wild sprouting of apothecary shops, regulations became necessary and imposed to maintain quality control." The Arabian apothecary shops were regularly inspected by a syndic (Muhtasib) who threatened the merchants with humiliating corporal punishments if they adulterated drugs." As early as the days of al-Mamun and al-Mutasim pharmacists had to pass examinations to become licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Also by this decree, restrictive measures were legally placed upon doctors, preventing them from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy.Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art, and their techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became the essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nuxvomica, cubebs, aconite, ambergris and mercury. The important role of the Muslims in developing modern pharmacy and chemistry is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps. They invented flavorings extracts made of rose water, orange blossom water, orange and lemon peel, tragacanth and other attractive ingredients. Space does not permit me to list the contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics, made by Razi, Zahrawi, Biruni, Ibn Butlan, and Tamimi.
PYCHOTHERAPY
From freckle lotion to psychotherapy- such was the range of treatment practiced by the physicians of Islam. Though freckles continue to sprinkle the skin of 20th century man, in the realm of psychosomatic disorders both al-Razi and Ibn Sina achieved dramatic results, antedating Freud and Jung by a thousand years. When Razi was appointed physician-in-chief to the Baghdad Hospital, he made it the, first hospital to have a ward exclusively devoted to the mentally ill."Razi combined psychological methods and physiological explanations, and he used psychotherapy in a dynamic fashion, Razi was once called in to treat a famous caliph who had severe arthritis. He advised a hot bath, and while the caliph was bathing, Razi threatened him with a knife, proclaiming he was going to kill him. This deliberate provocation increased the natural caloric which thus gained sufficient strength to dissolve the already softened humours, as a result the caliph got up from is knees in the bath and ran after Razi. One woman who suffered from such severe cramps in her joints that she was unable to rise was cured by a physician who lifted her skirt, thus putting her to shame. "A flush of heat was produced within her which dissolved the rheumatic humour."The Arabs brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry. They were free from the demonological theories which swept over the Christian world and were therefore able to make clear cut clinical observations on the mentally ill.Najab ud din Muhammad'", a contemporary of Razi, left many excellent descriptions of various mental diseases. His carefully compiled observation on actual patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known." Najab described agitated depression, obsessional types of neurosis, Nafkhae Malikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania) .Ibn Sina recognized 'physiological psychology' in treating illnesses involving emotions. From the clinical perspective Ibn Sina developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings which has been viewed as anticipating the word association test of Jung. He is said to have treated a terribly ill patient by feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people. By noticing how the patient's pulse quickened when names were mentioned Ibn Sina deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose home Ibn Sina was able to locate by the digital examination. The man took Ibn Sina's advice , married the girl , and recovered from his illness.It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and insane, asylums were built by the Arabs also in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D. In addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands were brought daily to entertain the patients by providing singing and musical performances and comic performers as well.
CONCLUSION
1,000 years ago lslamic medicine was the most advanced in the world at that time. Even after ten centuries, the achievements of Islamic medicine look amazingly modern. 1,000 years ago the Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. Every student and professional from each country outside the Islamic Empire, aspired, yearned, a dreamed to go to the lslamic universities to learn, to work, to live and to lead a comfortable life in an affluent and most advanced and civilized society. Today, in this twentieth century, the United States of America has achieved such a position. The pendulum can swing back. Fortunately Allah has given a bounty to many Islamic countries - an income over 100 billion dollars per year. Hence Islamic countries have the opportunity and resources to make Islamic science and medicine number one in the world, once again.
REFERENCES
1. M.H. Hart "The 100: A Rankin of the Most Influential Persons in History.", Hart Publishing Co., New York, 1978.2. S.H.Nasr, "Science and Civilization in Islam." New American Library, Inc., New York, 1968, pp. 184-229.3 .A. Salam, IAEA Bulletin, 22(2), 81-83, (1980).4. D.Campbell, "Arabian Medicine", Vol. 1, Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. LTD., London, 1926.5. E.G.Browne,"Arabian Medicine",Cambridge University M.Sirajud- din and Sons, Publishers, Lahore, 1962, pp. 5-16.6. G. Podgomy, N. Carolina Med. J. 27, 197-208, (1966).7. A.S. Lyons, and R.J. Petruccelli, "Medicine - An Illustrated History", H.N. Abrams Inc., Publishers, New York, 1978, pp. 295-317.8. F.H. Garrison, "History of Medicine". 4th edition, W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1929, p. 134.9. G. Elgood. "A Medical History of Persia", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 195 1, pp. 278-301.10. H.N. Wasty, "Muslim Contribution to Medicine", M. Sirajuddin and Sons, Publishers, Lahore, 1962, pp. 5-16.11. S. Hamarneh, Sudhoffs Archiv fur Geschichte der medizin und der Naturwissenschaften, 48, 159-173.12. E. Abouleish, J. Islamic Med. Asso., lo(3, 4), 28-45, (1979).13. F.S. Haddad, Leb. Med. J. 26, 331-346, 1979).14. Y.A. Shahine, "The Arab Contribution to Medicine", Longman for the University of Essex, London, 1971, p. 10.15. B. Miller, Mankind, 6(8), 8-40, (1980).16. "Aspects of Muslim Civilization". Pakistan Branch of Oxford University Press, Lahore, 1961, pp. 53.17. T.E. Keys, K.G. Wakim, Mayo Clinic Proceedings of the Staff Meeting, 28, 423-437, (1953).18. M. Siddiqi, "Studies in Arabic and Persian Medical Literature", Calcutta Univcrsity, Calcutta, 1959, p. XX.19. L. Burton, "1001 Nights (Six Volumes)", 1886.20. P. Hitti, "The Arabs: A Short History", Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1943,P.143.21. A Castiglioni, "A History of Medicine", E. Krumbhaar (trans.), Alfred A.Knopf, New York, 1958, p. 268.22. C. Singer and A.A. Underwood, "A Short History of Medicine", 2nd edn. Oxford Univcrsity Press, New York, 1962, p. 76.23. A.A. Khairallah, Ann. Med. Hist. 34, 409-41524. Al-Oakbi, Hospital Med. Prac., Cairo, 1, 14-29, (1971).25. F. S. Haddad, "XXI International Congress of the History of Medicine" (Sienna 1968, Sep. 22) 1970, pp. 1600 -1607.26. G.A. Bender, "Great Moments in Medicine". Parke-Davis, Detroit, 1961, p. 68-74.27. G. Fisher, Ann. Anat, Surg., 6, 217-217, (1882).28. E.D. Whitehead and R.B. Bush, Invest, Urology, 5,
Within a century after the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) the Muslims not only conquered new lands, but also became scientific innovators with originality and productivity. They hit the source ball of knowledge over the fence to Europe. By the ninth century, Islamic medical practice had advanced from talisman and theology to hospitals with wards, doctors who had to pass tests, and the use of technical terminology. The then Baghdad General Hospital incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. The fountains cooled the air near the wards of those afflicted with fever; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night the pain of the restless was soothed by soft music and storytelling. The prince and pauper received identical attention; the destitute upon discharge received five gold pieces to sustain them during convalescence. While Paris and London were places of mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo and Cardboard had hospitals open to both male and female patients; staffed by attendants of both sexes. These medical centers contained libraries pharmacies, the system of interns, externs, and nurses. There were mobile clinics to reach the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. There were regulations to maintain quality control on drugs. Pharmacists became licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Legal measures were taken to prevent doctors from owning or holding stock. in a pharmacy. The extent to which Islamic medicine advanced in the fields of medical education, hospitals, bacteriology, medicine, anesthesia, surgery, pharmacy, ophthalmology, psychotherapy and psychosomatic diseases are presented briefly.
INTRODUCTION
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who is ranked number one by Michael Hart', a Jewish scholar, in his book The 100: The Most Influential Persons in History, was able to unite the Arab tribes who had been tom by revenge, rivalry, and internal fights, and produced a strong nation acquired and ruled simultaneously, the two known empires at that time, namely the Persian and Byzantine Empires. The Islamic Empire extended from the Atlantic Ocean on the West to the borders of China on the East. Only 80 years after the death of their Prophet, the Muslims crossed to Europe to rule Spain for more than 700 years. The Muslims preserved the cultures of the conquered lands. However when the Islamic Empire became weak, most of the Islamic contributions in an and science were destroyed. The Mongols bunt Baghdad (1258 A.D.) out of barbarism, and the Spaniards demolished most of the Islamic heritage in Spain out of hatred.The Islamic Empire for more than 1000 years remained the most advanced and civilized nation in the world. This is because Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, developed in Muslims the respect for authority and discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The Muslims recognized excellence and hungering intellectually, were avid for the wisdom of the world of Galen, Hippocrates, Rufus of Ephesus, Oribasius, Discorides and Paul of Aegina. By the tenth century their zeal and enthusiasm for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical writings being translated into Arabic in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Arabic became the International Language of learning and diplomacy. The center of scientific knowledge and activity shifted eastward, and Baghdad emerged as the capital of the scientific world. The Muslims became scientific innovators with originality and productivity. Islamic medicine is one of the most famous and best known facets of lslamic civilization, and in which the Muslims most excelled. The Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. They hit the source ball of knowledge over the fence to Europe. In the words of Campbell' "The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forebears of the Europeans."The aim of this paper is to prove that the Islamic Medicine was 1000 years ahead of its times. The paper covers areas such as medical education, hospitals, bacteriology, medicine, anesthesia, surgery, opthalmology, pharmacy, and psychotherapy.
MEDICAL EDUCATION
In 636 A.D., the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, which originally meant beautiful garden, was conquered by the Muslims with its great university and hospital intact. Later the Islamic medical schools developed on the Jundi-Shapur pattern. Medical education was serious and systematic. Lectures and clinical sessions included in teaching were based on the apprentice system. The advice given by Ali ibnul-Abbas (Haly Abbas: -994 -A.D.) to medical students is as timely today as it was then'. "And of those things which were incumbent on the student of this art (medicine) are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses; pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their intimates, in company with the most astute professors of medicine, and inquire frequently as to the state of the patients and symptoms apparent in them, bearing in mind what he has read about these variations, and what they indicate of good or evil."Razi (Rhazes: 841-926 A.D.) advised the medical students while they were seeing a patient to bear in mind the classic symptoms of a disease as given in text books and compare them with what they found (6).The ablest physicians such as Razi (Al-Rhazes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna: 980-1037 A.D.) and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar: 116 A.D.) performed the duties of both hospital directors and deans of medical schools at the same time. They studied patients and prepared them for student presentation. Clinical reports of cases were written and preserved for teaching'. Registers were maintained.
Training in Basic Sciences
Only Jundi-Shapur or Baghdad had separate schools for studying basic sciences. Candidates for medical study received basic preparation from private tutors through private lectures and self study. In Baghdad anatomy was taught by dissecting the apes, skeletal studies, and didactics. Other medical schools taught anatomy through lectures and illustrations. Alchemy was once of the prerequisites for admission to medical school. The study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy rounded out the basic training. A number of hospitals maintained barbel gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.Once the basic training was completed the candidate was admitted as an apprentice to a hospital where, at the beginning, he was assigned in a large group to a young physician for indoctrination, preliminary lectures, and familiarization with library procedures and uses. During this preclinical period, most of the lectures were on pharmacology and toxicology and the use of antidotes.
Clinical training:
The next step was to give the student full clinical training. During this period students were assigned in small groups to famous physicians and experienced instructors, for ward rounds, discussions, lectures, and reviews. Early in this period therapeutics and pathology were taught. There was a strong emphasis on clinical instruction and some Muslim physicians contributed brilliant observations that have stood the test of time. As the students progressed in their studies they were exposed more and more to the subjects of diagnosis and judgment. Clinical observation and physical examination were stressed. Students (clinical clerks) were asked to examine a patient and make a diagnosis of the ailment. Only after an had failed would the professor make the diagnosis himself. While performing physical examination, the students were asked to examine and report six major factors: the patients' actions, excreta, the nature and location of pain, and swelling and effuvia of the body. Also noted was color and feel of the skin- whether hot, cool, moist, dry, flabby. Yellowness in the whites of the eye (jaundice) and whether or not the patient could bend his back (lung disease) was also considered important (8).
After a period of ward instructions, students, were assigned to outpatient areas. After examining the patients they reported their findings to the instructors. After discussion, treatment was decided on and prescribed. Patients who were too ill were admitted as inpatients. The keeping of records for every patient was the responsibility of the students.
Curriculum
There was a difference in the clinical curriculum of different medical schools in their courses; however the mainstay was usually internal medicine. Emphasis was placed on clarity and brevity in describing a disease and the separation of each entity. Until the time of Ibn Sina the description of meningitis was confused with acute infection accompanied by delirium. Ibn Sina described the symptoms of meningitis with such clarity and brevity that there is very little that can be added after I 000 yearS6. Surgery was also included in the curriculum. After completing courses, some students specialized under famous specialists. Some others specialized while in clinical training. According to Elgood9 many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins and hemorrhoids were required knowledge. Orthopedics was widely taught, and the use of plaster of Paris for casts after reduction of fractures was routinely shown to students. This method of treating fractures was rediscovered in the West in 1852. Although ophthalmology was practiced widely, it was not taught regularly in medical schools. Apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specializing in ophthalmology. Surgical treatment of cataract was very common. Obstetrics was left to midwives. Medical practitioners consulted among themselves and with specialists. Ibn Sina and Hazi both widely practiced and taught psychotherapy. After completing the training, the medical graduate was not ready to enter practice, until he passed the licensure examination. It is important to note that there existed a Scientific Association which had been formed in the hospital of Mayyafariqin to discuss the conditions and diseases of the patients.
Licensing of Physicians
In Baghdad in 931 A.D. Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient had died as the result of a physician's error. There upon he ordered his chief physician, Sinan-ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than 860 were examined in Baghdad alone. From that time on, licensing examinations were required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were set up under a government official called Muhtasib or inspector general . The Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control of drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. What the present Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is doing in America today was done in Islamic medicine I 000 years ago. The chief physician gave oral and practical examinations, and if the young physician was successful, the Muhtasib administered the Hippocratic oath and issued a license. After 1000 years licensing of physicians has been implemented in the West, particularly in America by the State Licensing Board in Medicine. For specialists we have American Board of Medical Specialities such as in Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, etc. European medical schools followed the pattern set by the Islamic medical schools and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina's Qanun (Cannon). According to Razi a physician had to satisfy two condition for selection: firs0y, he was to be fully conversant with the new and the old medical literature and secondly, he must have worked in a hospital as house physician.
HOSPITALS
The development of efficient hospitals was an outstanding contribution of Islamic medicine (7). 'ne hospitals served all citizens free without any regard to their color, religion, sex, age or social status. The hospitals were run by government and the directors of hospitals were physicians.Hospitals and separate wards for male patients and female patients. Each ward was furnished with a nursing staff and porters of the sex of the patients to be treated therein. Different diseases such as fever, wounds, infections, mania, eye conditions, cold diseases, diarrhea, and female disorders were allocated different wards. Convalescents had separate sections within them. Hospitals provided patients with unlimited water supply and with bathing facilities. Only qualified and licensed physicians were allowed by law to practice medicine. The hospitals were teaching hospitals educating medical students. They had housing for students and house-staff. They contained pharmacies dispensing free drugs to patients. Hospitals had their own conference room and expensive libraries containing the most up-to-date books. According to Haddad, the library of the Tulum Hospital which was founded in Cairo in 872 A.D. (I 100 years ago) had 100,000 books. Universities, cities and hospitals acquired large libraries (Mustansiriyya University in Baghdad contained 80,000 volumes; the library of Cordova 600,000 volumes; that of Cairo 2,000,000 and that of Tripoli 3,000,000 books), physicians had their own extensive personal book collections, at a time when printing was unknown and book editing was done by skilled and specialized scribes putting in long hours of manual labour.For the first time in history, these hospitals kept records of patients and their medical care.From the point of view of treatment the hospital was divided into an out- patient department and an inpatient department. The system of the in-patient department differed only slightly from that of today. At tile Tulun hospital, on admission the patients were given special apparel while their clothes, money, and valuables were stored until the time of their discharge. On discharge, each patient - received five gold pieces to support himself until he could return to work.The hospital and medical school at Damascus had elegant rooms and an extensive library. Healthy people are said to have feigned illness in order to enjoy its cuisine. There was a separate hospital in Damascus for lepers, while, in Europe, even six centuries later, condemned lepers were burned to death by royal decree.The Qayrawan Hospital (built in 830 A.D. in Tunisia) was characterized by spacious separate wards, waiting rooms for visitors and patients, and female nurses from Sudan, an event representing the first use of nursing in Arabic history. The hospital also provided facilities for performing prayers.The Al-Adudi hospital (built in 981 A.D. in Baghdad) was furnished with die best equipment and supplies known at the time. It had interns, residents, and 24 consultants attending its professional activities, An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organize regular visiting of prisons by medical officers (14). At a time when paris and London were places of mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova had hospitals which incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. It was chiefly in the humaneness of patient care, however, that the hospitals of Islam excelled. Near the wards of those afflicted with fever, fountains cooled the air; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night music and storytelling soothed the patients. The Bimaristans (hospitals) were of two types - the fixed and the mobile. The mobile hospitals were transported upon beasts of burden and were erected from time to time as required. The physicians in the mobile clinics were of the same standing as those who served the fixed hospitals. Similar moving hospitals accompanied the armies in the field. The field hospitals were well equipped with medicaments, instruments, tents and a staff of doctors, nurses, and orderlies. The traveling clinics served the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. These hospitals were also used by prisoners,and by the general public,particularly in times of epidemics.
BACTERIOLOGY
Al-Razi was asked to choose a site for a new hospital when he came to Baghdad. First he deduced which was the most hygienic area by observing where the fresh pieces of meat he had hung in various parts of the city decomposed least quickly.Ibn Sina stated explicitly that the bodily secretion is contaminated by foul foreign earthly body before getting the infection. Ibn Khatima stated that man is surrounded by minute bodies which enter the human system and cause disease.In the middle of the fourteenth century "black death" was ravaging Europe and before which Christians stood helpless, considering it an act of God.At that time Ibn al Khatib of Granada composed a treatise in the defense of the theory of infection in the following way:To those who say, "How can we admit the possibility of infection while the religious law denies it?" We reply that the existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the afflicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is effected through garments, vessels and earrings.Al-Razi wrote the first medical description of smallpox and measles - two important infectious diseases. He described the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added. Ibn Sina suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis. He is said to have been the first to describe the preparation and properties of sulphuric acid and alcohol. His recommendation of wine as the best dressing for wounds was very popular in medieval practice. However Razi was the first to use silk sutures and alcohol for hemostatis. He was the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic.
ANESTHESIA
Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anesthetics. He recognized opium as the most powerful mukhadir (an intoxicant or drug). Less powerful anesthetics known were mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. The Arabs invented the soporific sponge which was the precursor of modem anesthesia. It was a sponge soaked with aromatics and narcotics and held to the patient's nostrils.The use of anesthesia was one of the reasons for the rise of surgery in the Islamic world to the level of an honourable speciality, while in Europe, surgery was belittled and practiced by barbers and quacks. The Council of Tours in 1163 A.D. declared Surgery is to be abandoned by the schools of medicine and by all decent physicians." Burton stated that "anesthetics have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and chloroform became the fashion in civilized West."
SURGERY
Al-Razi is attributed to be the first to use the seton in surgery and animal gut for sutures.Abu al-Qasim Khalaf Ibn Abbas Al-Zahrawi (930-1013 A.D.) known to the West as Abulcasis, Bucasis or Alzahravius is considered to be the most famous surgeon in Islamic medicine. In his book Al-Tasrif, he described hemophilia for the first time in medical history. The book contains the description and illustration of about 200 surgical instruments many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself. In it Zahrawi stresses the importance of the study of Anatomy as a fundamental prerequisite to surgery. He advocates the re implantation of a fallen tooth and the use of dental prosthesis carved from cow's bone, an improvement over the wooden dentures worn by the first President of America George Washington seven centuries later. Zahrawi appears to be the first surgeon in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of hemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, as a vaginal padding in fractures of the pubis and in dentistry. He introduced the method for the removal of kidney stones by cutting into the urinary bladder. He was the first to teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations. He described tracheotomy, distinguished between goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, is almost like modern surgery. In orthopedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher's method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patelectomy, 1,000 years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937.Ibn Sina's description of the surgical treatment of cancer holds true even today after 1,000 years. He says the excision must be wide and bold; all veins running to the tumor must be included in the amputation. Even if this is not sufficient, then the area affected should be cauterized.The surgeons of Islam practiced three types of surgery: vascular, general, and orthopedic, Ophthalmic surgery was a speciality which was quite distinct both from medicine and surgery. They freely opened the abdomen and drained the peritoneal cavity in the approved modern style. To an unnamed surgeon of Shiraz is attributed the first colostomy operation. Liver abscesses were treated by puncture and exploration.Surgeons all over the world practice today unknowingly several surgical procedures that Zahrawi introduced 1,000 years ago .
MEDICINE
The most brilliant contribution was made by Al-Razi who differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease. He is credited with many contributions, which include being the first to describe true distillation, glass retorts and luting, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulfate, iron sulphate, saltpeter, and borax in the treatment of disease . He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment." His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi. He described hay-fever or allergic rhinitis.Some of the Arab contributions include the discovery of itch mite of scabies (Ibn Zuhr), anthrax, ankylostoma and the guinea worm by Ibn Sina and sleeping sickness by Qalqashandy. They described abscess of the mediastinum. They understood tuberculosis and pericarditis.Al Ash'ath demonstrated gastric physiology by pouring water into the mouth of an anesthetized lion and showed the distensibility and movements of the stomach, preceding Beaumont by about 1,000 years" Abu Shal al- Masihi explained that the absorption of food takes place more through the intestines than the stomach. Ibn Zuhr introduced artificial feeding either by gastric tube or by nutrient enema. Using the stomach tube the Arab physicians performed gastric lavage in case of poisoning. Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to discover pulmonary circulation.Ibn Sina in his masterpiece Al-Quanun (Canon), containing over a million words, described complete studies of physiology, patlhology and hygiene. He specifically discoursed upon breast cancer, poisons, diseases of the skin, rabies, insomnia, childbirth and the use of obstetrical forceps, meningitis, amnesia, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis as a contagious disease, facial tics, phlebotomy, tumors, kidney diseases and geriatric care. He defined love as a mental disease.
OPHTHALMOLOGY
The doctors of Islam exhibited a high degree of proficiency and certainly were foremost in the treatment of eye diseases. Words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. In ophthalmology and optics lbn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) known to the West as Alhazen wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings. In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a surface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively proving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the objects as thought by the Greeks. He presents experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin Ali of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.
PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology took roots in Islam during the 9th century. Yuhanna bin Masawayh (777-857 A.D.) started scientific and systematic applications of therapeutics at the Abbasids capital. His students Hunayn bin Ishaq al-lbadi (809-874 A.D.) and his associates established solid foundations of Arabic medicine and therapeutics in the ninth century. In his book al-Masail Hunayn outlined methods for confirming the pharmacological effectiveness of drugs by experimenting with them on humans. He also explained the importance of prognosis and diagnosis of diseases for better and more effective treatment.Pharmacy became an independent and separate profession from medicine and alchemy. With the wild sprouting of apothecary shops, regulations became necessary and imposed to maintain quality control." The Arabian apothecary shops were regularly inspected by a syndic (Muhtasib) who threatened the merchants with humiliating corporal punishments if they adulterated drugs." As early as the days of al-Mamun and al-Mutasim pharmacists had to pass examinations to become licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Also by this decree, restrictive measures were legally placed upon doctors, preventing them from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy.Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art, and their techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became the essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nuxvomica, cubebs, aconite, ambergris and mercury. The important role of the Muslims in developing modern pharmacy and chemistry is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps. They invented flavorings extracts made of rose water, orange blossom water, orange and lemon peel, tragacanth and other attractive ingredients. Space does not permit me to list the contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics, made by Razi, Zahrawi, Biruni, Ibn Butlan, and Tamimi.
PYCHOTHERAPY
From freckle lotion to psychotherapy- such was the range of treatment practiced by the physicians of Islam. Though freckles continue to sprinkle the skin of 20th century man, in the realm of psychosomatic disorders both al-Razi and Ibn Sina achieved dramatic results, antedating Freud and Jung by a thousand years. When Razi was appointed physician-in-chief to the Baghdad Hospital, he made it the, first hospital to have a ward exclusively devoted to the mentally ill."Razi combined psychological methods and physiological explanations, and he used psychotherapy in a dynamic fashion, Razi was once called in to treat a famous caliph who had severe arthritis. He advised a hot bath, and while the caliph was bathing, Razi threatened him with a knife, proclaiming he was going to kill him. This deliberate provocation increased the natural caloric which thus gained sufficient strength to dissolve the already softened humours, as a result the caliph got up from is knees in the bath and ran after Razi. One woman who suffered from such severe cramps in her joints that she was unable to rise was cured by a physician who lifted her skirt, thus putting her to shame. "A flush of heat was produced within her which dissolved the rheumatic humour."The Arabs brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry. They were free from the demonological theories which swept over the Christian world and were therefore able to make clear cut clinical observations on the mentally ill.Najab ud din Muhammad'", a contemporary of Razi, left many excellent descriptions of various mental diseases. His carefully compiled observation on actual patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known." Najab described agitated depression, obsessional types of neurosis, Nafkhae Malikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania) .Ibn Sina recognized 'physiological psychology' in treating illnesses involving emotions. From the clinical perspective Ibn Sina developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings which has been viewed as anticipating the word association test of Jung. He is said to have treated a terribly ill patient by feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people. By noticing how the patient's pulse quickened when names were mentioned Ibn Sina deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose home Ibn Sina was able to locate by the digital examination. The man took Ibn Sina's advice , married the girl , and recovered from his illness.It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and insane, asylums were built by the Arabs also in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D. In addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands were brought daily to entertain the patients by providing singing and musical performances and comic performers as well.
CONCLUSION
1,000 years ago lslamic medicine was the most advanced in the world at that time. Even after ten centuries, the achievements of Islamic medicine look amazingly modern. 1,000 years ago the Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. Every student and professional from each country outside the Islamic Empire, aspired, yearned, a dreamed to go to the lslamic universities to learn, to work, to live and to lead a comfortable life in an affluent and most advanced and civilized society. Today, in this twentieth century, the United States of America has achieved such a position. The pendulum can swing back. Fortunately Allah has given a bounty to many Islamic countries - an income over 100 billion dollars per year. Hence Islamic countries have the opportunity and resources to make Islamic science and medicine number one in the world, once again.
REFERENCES
1. M.H. Hart "The 100: A Rankin of the Most Influential Persons in History.", Hart Publishing Co., New York, 1978.2. S.H.Nasr, "Science and Civilization in Islam." New American Library, Inc., New York, 1968, pp. 184-229.3 .A. Salam, IAEA Bulletin, 22(2), 81-83, (1980).4. D.Campbell, "Arabian Medicine", Vol. 1, Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co. LTD., London, 1926.5. E.G.Browne,"Arabian Medicine",Cambridge University M.Sirajud- din and Sons, Publishers, Lahore, 1962, pp. 5-16.6. G. Podgomy, N. Carolina Med. J. 27, 197-208, (1966).7. A.S. Lyons, and R.J. Petruccelli, "Medicine - An Illustrated History", H.N. Abrams Inc., Publishers, New York, 1978, pp. 295-317.8. F.H. Garrison, "History of Medicine". 4th edition, W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1929, p. 134.9. G. Elgood. "A Medical History of Persia", Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 195 1, pp. 278-301.10. H.N. Wasty, "Muslim Contribution to Medicine", M. Sirajuddin and Sons, Publishers, Lahore, 1962, pp. 5-16.11. S. Hamarneh, Sudhoffs Archiv fur Geschichte der medizin und der Naturwissenschaften, 48, 159-173.12. E. Abouleish, J. Islamic Med. Asso., lo(3, 4), 28-45, (1979).13. F.S. Haddad, Leb. Med. J. 26, 331-346, 1979).14. Y.A. Shahine, "The Arab Contribution to Medicine", Longman for the University of Essex, London, 1971, p. 10.15. B. Miller, Mankind, 6(8), 8-40, (1980).16. "Aspects of Muslim Civilization". Pakistan Branch of Oxford University Press, Lahore, 1961, pp. 53.17. T.E. Keys, K.G. Wakim, Mayo Clinic Proceedings of the Staff Meeting, 28, 423-437, (1953).18. M. Siddiqi, "Studies in Arabic and Persian Medical Literature", Calcutta Univcrsity, Calcutta, 1959, p. XX.19. L. Burton, "1001 Nights (Six Volumes)", 1886.20. P. Hitti, "The Arabs: A Short History", Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1943,P.143.21. A Castiglioni, "A History of Medicine", E. Krumbhaar (trans.), Alfred A.Knopf, New York, 1958, p. 268.22. C. Singer and A.A. Underwood, "A Short History of Medicine", 2nd edn. Oxford Univcrsity Press, New York, 1962, p. 76.23. A.A. Khairallah, Ann. Med. Hist. 34, 409-41524. Al-Oakbi, Hospital Med. Prac., Cairo, 1, 14-29, (1971).25. F. S. Haddad, "XXI International Congress of the History of Medicine" (Sienna 1968, Sep. 22) 1970, pp. 1600 -1607.26. G.A. Bender, "Great Moments in Medicine". Parke-Davis, Detroit, 1961, p. 68-74.27. G. Fisher, Ann. Anat, Surg., 6, 217-217, (1882).28. E.D. Whitehead and R.B. Bush, Invest, Urology, 5,
Medicine and Medical Education in Islamic History
MEDICAL EDUCATION
In 636 A.D., the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, which originally meant beautiful garden, was conquered by the Muslims. Its great university and hospital were left intact. Later other Islamic medical schools were built according to the Jundi-Shapur pattern. Medical education was serious and systematic. Lectures and clinical sessions included in teaching were based on the apprentice system. The advice given by Ali ibnul-Abbas (Haly Abbas: - 994 A.D.) to medical students is as timely today as it was then2. "And of those things which were incumbent on the student of this art (medicine) are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses: pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their inmates, stay in company with the most astute professors of medicine, and inquire frequently as to the state of the patients and symptoms apparent in them, bearing in mind what he has read about these variations, and what they indicate of good or evil."
Razi (Razes: 841-926 A.D.) advised the medical students that while they examine a patient, they should bear in mind the classic symptoms of a disease as given in textbooks and compare them with what they found".
The ablest physicians such as Razi (Al-Razes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna: $80-1037 A.D.) and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar: 116 A.D.) worked both as the directors and the deans of medical schools. They studied patients and prepared them for student presentation. Clinical reports of cases were written and preserved for teaching," and regular registers were maintained.
Training in Basic Science
Only Jundi-Shapur or Baghdad had separate schools for studying basic sciences. Candidates for medical study received basic preparation from private tutors through private lectures and self study. in Baghdad anatomy was taught by dissecting the apes, observing skeletal studies, and studying didactics. Other medical schools taught anatomy through lectures and illustrations. Alchemy was one of the prerequisites for admission to a medical school. The study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy rounded off the basic training. A number of hospitals maintained herbal gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.
Upon completion of the basic training, a candidate was admitted as an apprentice to a hospital where, along with a large group, he was assigned to a young physician for indoctrination, preliminary lectures, and familiarization with library procedures and uses. During this preclinical period, most of the lectures were on pharmacology and toxicology and the use of antidotes.
Clinical training
The next step was to give the student full clinical training. During this period students were assigned in small groups to famous physicians and experienced instructors, for ward rounds, discussions, lectures, and reviews. Early in this period therapeutics and pathology were taught. There was a strong emphasis on clinical instruction and some Muslim physicians contributed brilliant observations that have stood the test of time. As the students progressed in their studies they were exposed more and more to the subjects of diagnosis and judgment. Clinical observation and physical examination were stressed. Students (or clinical clerks) were asked to examine a patient and make a diagnosis of the ailment. Only after all else had failed would the professor make the diagnosis himself. While performing physical examination, the students were asked to examine and report six major factors: the patients' actions, excreta, the nature.and location of pain, and swelling and effluvia of the body. Also noted was color and feel of the skin-whether hot, cool, moist, dry, flabby. Yellowness in the whites of the eye (jaundice) and whether or not the patient could bend his back (lung disease) was also considered important.'
After a period of ward instructions, students were assigned to outpatient areas. After examining the patients, they reported their findings to the Instructors. After discussion, treatment was decided and prescribed. Patients who were too ill were admitted as inpatients. The maintenance of records for every patient was the responsibility of the students.
Curriculum
Different medical schools pursued different clinical curriculum and offered separate courses of studies, but the mainstay was usually internal medicine. Emphasis was placed on clarity and brevity in describing a disease and the separation of each eAtity. Until the time of Ibn Sina the description of meningitis was confused with acute infection accompanied by delirium. Ibn Sina described the symptoms of meningitis with such clarity and brevity that there is very little that can be added to it even after a thousand years(6). Surgery was also a part of the curriculum. After completing the prescribed course of studies, some students specialized under famous specialists, while others specialized during their clinical training. According to Elgood,6 knowledge of many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins, and hemorrhoids was essential. Orthopedics was widely taught, and the use of plaster of paris for casts after reduction of fractures was routinely shown to students. This method of treating fractures was rediscovered in the West in 1852. Although ophthalmology was practiced widely, it was not taught regularly in medical schools. Apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specializing in ophthalmology. Surgical treatment of cataract was very common. Obstetrics was left to midwives. Medical practioners consulted among themselves and with specialists Ibn Sina and Hazi both widely practiced and taught psychotherapy. After completing his medical training, every medical graduate was required to pass a licensing examination before starting his medical practice. It is important to note that there existed a Scientific Association which was formed in the hospital of Mayyafariqin to discuss the conditions and diseases of the patients.'
Licensing of Physicians
In Baghdad in 931 A.D., Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient had died as the result of a physician's error. Thereupon he ordered his chief physician, Sinan ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than 860 were examined in Baghdad alone. From that time on, licensing examinations required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were under a government Official called Muhtasib or inspector general. Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control for drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. The chief physician gave oral and practical examination, and if the young physician was successful, the Muhtasib administered the Hippocratic oath and Issued a license. After a thousand years, licensing Of physicians has been implemented in the West, particularly in America by the State Licensing Board Specialties such as in Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, etc. European medical schools followed the pattern set by the Islamic medical schools and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina's Qanun (Canon). According to Razi a physician had to satisfy two conditions for selection: firstly, he was to be fully conversant with the new and the old medical literature, and secondly, he must have worked in a hospital as house physician.
HOSPITALS
The development of efficient hospitals was an outstanding contribution of Islamic medicine (7). The hospitals served all citizens free and without any regard to their color, religion, sex, age or social status. The hospitals Were run by government and their directors were physicians.
Hospitals had separate wards for male and female patients and were staffed with nursing and other ancillary staff of the same sex.Diffrent diseases such as fever, wounds, infections, mania, eye conditions, cold diseases, diarrhea, and female disorder were allocated diffeient wards. Convalescence centers were divided into separate sections. Hospitals provided patients with unlimited water supply and bathing facilities. Only qualified and licensed physicians were allowed by law to practice medicine. The hospitals were teaching hospitals to educate and train medical students. They had housing for students and house-staff,g and contained pharmacies dispensing free drugs to patients. All hospitals had their conference rooms and expensive libranes containing the most up-to-date books. According to Haddad"'· the library of the Tulum Hospital which Was founded in Cairo in 872 A.D. (1100 years ago) bad 100,000 books. Universities, cities and hospitals acquired large libraries, physicians had their own extensive personal book collections, at a time when printing was unknown and book editing was done by skilled and specialized scribes putting in long hours of manual labor. Mustansiriyya University in Baghdad contained 80,000 volumes; the library of Cordova 600,000 volumes: that of Cairo 2,000,000 and that of Tripoli 3,000,000 books.
These hospitals kept records of all their patients and their medical care, something done for the first time in medical history.
For considerations of treatment, the hospital was divided into two main departments, out- patient and in-patient departments. The in-patient depart ment differed only slightly from any modern in-patient department. At the Tulum hospital, on admission the patients were given special apparel while their clothes, money, and valuables were stored away, and returned to them at the time of their discharge. On discharge, they also received five gold pieces each to tide them over until they could support themselves.
The hospital and medical school at Damascus had elegant rooms and an extensive library. Healthy people are said to have feigned illness in order to enjoy its cuisine. There was a separate hospital in Damascus for lepers, while, in Europe, even six centuries later, lepers were condemned and burned to death by royal decree.
The Qayrawan Hospital (built in 830 A.D. in Tunisia) was character ized by its spacious wards, waiting rooms for visitors and patients, and female nurses from Sudan, the first account of nursing in Arab history. The hospital also provided facilities for performing prayers.
The Al-Adudi hospital (built in 981 A.D. in Baghdad) was furnished with the latest equipment and supplies available at the time. It had interns, residents, and 24 consultants attending its professional activities. An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organize regular visiting of prisons by medical officers.''
At a time when Paris and London were mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova had hospitals which incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. It was chiefly in the humaneness of patient care that the Muslim hospitals excelled. Near the wards of those : afflicted with fever, fountains cooled the air; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night music and storytelling soothed the patients."
The Bimaristans (hospitals) were of two types - the fixed and the mobile. The mobile hospitals were transported upon beasts of burden and were erected from time to time as required. The physicians in the mobile were of the same standing as those who served the regular in the hospitals. Similar mobile hospitals accompanied the armies in the field. The field hospitals were well equipped with medicaments, instruments, tents and a staff of doctors, nurses, and orderlies. The travelling clinics served the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. These hospitals were also used by prisoners, and by the general public, particularly in times of epidemics.
BACTERIOLOGY
Al-Razi was asked to choose a site for a new hospital when he came to Baghdad. In order to choose the most hygienic area, he hung pieces of meat in different parts of the city and observed where they decomposed the least.
Ibn Sina stated explicitly that the bodily secretion is contaminated by foul earthly body before getting infected. Ibn Khatima stated that man Is surrounded by minute bodies whichenter the human system and cause disease.
In the middle of the fourteenth century when the "black plague" ravaged Europe and Christians stood helpless, considering it an act of God, Ibn al Khatib of Granada composed a treatise in the defense of the theory of infection in the following way.
To those who say, "How can we admit the possibility of infection while the religious law denies it?" we reply that the existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the aftlicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is affected through garments, vessels and earrings.
Al-Razi wrote the first medical description of smallpox and measles two important infectious diseases He described the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added.'" Ibn Sina suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis. He is said to have been the first to describe the preparation and properties of sulfuric acid and alcohol. His recommendation of wine as the best dressing for wounds was very popular in medieval practice.(8) However Razi was the first to use silk sutures and alcohol for hemostasis.l5 He was also the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic.(2)
ANESTHESIA
Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anesthetics.(l7) He recognized opium as the most powerful mukhadir (intoxicant or drug). Less powerful anesthetics known at the time were mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. The Arabs invented the soporific sponge which was the precursor of modern anesthesia. It was a sponge soaked with aromatics and narcotics and held to the patient's nostrils.(l7)
The use of anesthesia in Islam was one of the reasons why surgery rose to the level of an honorable profession, while in Europe, surgery was belittled and practiced by barbers and quacks. The Council of Tours in 1163 A.D. declared "Surgery is to be abandoned by the schools of medicine and by all decent physicians"(l2). Burton'" stated that "anesthetics have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and chloroform became the fashion in civilized West."
SURGERY
Al-Razi is the first to use the seton in surgery and animal gut for sutures. Abu alQasim Khalaf Ibn Abbas Al-Zahrawi (930-1013 A.D.), known to the west as Abulcasis, Bucasis or Alzahravius, is considered to be the most famous surgeon in Islamic medicine. In his book Al- Tasrif, he described hemophilia for the first time in medical history. The book contains the description and illustration of about 200 surgical instruments many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself" In it Zahrawi stresses the importance of the study of Anatomy as a fundamental prerequisite to surgery.(l2) He advocates the reimplantation of a fallen tooth and the use of dental prosthesis carved from cow's bone, a better alternative to the wooden dentures worn by the first President of America, George Washington seven centuries later.(l5) Zahrawi appears to be the first surgeon in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of hemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, as a vaginal padding in the tearing of the pubis and in dentistry. He introduced the method for the removal of kidney stones by cutting into the urinary bladder. He was the first to teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations. He described tracheotomy, distinguished between goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, sounds almost like modern surgery." In orthopedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher's method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patellectomy, thousand years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937.(13)
Ibn Sina's description of the surgical treatment of cancer holds true even today after 1,000 years. He says the excision must be wide and bold; all veins running to the tumor must be included in the amputation. Even if this is not sufficient, then the area affected should be cauterized.(9)
The Muslim surgeons performed three types of surgery: vascular, general, and orthopedic. Ophthalmic surgery was a specialty which was quite distinct both from medicine and surgery. They freely opened the abdomen and drained the peritoneal cavity in the approved modern style. To an unnamed surgeon of Shiraz is attributed the first colostomy operation. Liver abscesses were treated by puncture and exploration. Today surgeons all over the world practice and use several surgical procedures first introduced by Zahrawi a thousand years ago.(25)
MEDICINE
One of the most brilliant contribution to medicine was made by AlRazi who differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease.'" He is credited with many contributions: he was the first to describe true distillation, glass retorts and luting, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, saltpeter, and borax in the treatment of diseases." He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment." His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi.(28) He described hay-fever or allergic rhinitis.
Among other Arab contributions to medicine are included the discovery of itch mite of scabies (Ibn Zuhr), anthrax, ankylostoma and the guineaworm by Ibn Sina, and sleeping sickness by Qalqashandy.(l3) They described abscess of the mediastinum. They also understood tuberculosis and pericarditis.(7)
Al Ash'ath demonstrated gastric physiology by pouring water into the mouth of an anesthetized lion and showed the distensibility and movements of the stomach, preceding Beaumont by about a thousand years(l3). Abu Sahl al-Masihi explained that the absorption of food takes place more through the intestines than the stomach.(l0) Ibn Zuhr introduced artificial feeding either by gastric tube or by nutrient enema.(l3) Using the stomach tube, the Arab physicians performed gastric lavage in case of poisoning.(l0) Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to discover pulmonary circulation.
Ibn Sina in his masterpiece Al-Qanun (Canon), containing over a million words, described complete studies of physiology, pathology and hygiene. He specifically discoursed upon breast cancer, poisons, diseases of the skin, rabies, insomnia, childbirth and the use of obstetrical forceps, meningitis, amnesia, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis as a contagious dixax, facial ties, phlebotomy, tumors, kidney diseases and geriatric care. He defined love as a mental disease.
OPHTHALMOLOGY
The Arab physicians exhibited a high degree of proficiency and certainly were foremost in the treatment of eye diseases. Words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. In ophthalmology and optics Ibn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) known to the West as Alhazen wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings. In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a #urface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively qroving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the object as thought by the Greeks. He experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light, and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin All of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.
PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology took roots in Islam during the 9th century. Yuhanna bin Masawayh (777- 857 A.D.) started scientific and systematic applications of therapeutics in the Abbasid capital. His student Hunayn bin Ishaq al-Ibadi (809-874 A.D.) and his associates established solid foundations of Arabic medicine and therapeutics in the ninth century. In his book al-Masail Hunayn outlined methods for confirming the pharmacological effectiveness of drugs by experimenting \vith them on humans. He also explained the Importance of prognosis and diagnosis of diseases for better and more effective treatment.
Pharmacy became an independent and separate profession from medicine and alchemy.)" With the wild sprouting of apothecary shops, regulations became necessar~ and were imposed to maintain quality control.(ll) The Arabian apothecary shops were regularly inspected by a syndic (Muhtasib) who threatened the merehants with humiliating corporal punishments if they adulterated drugs." As early as the days of al-Mamun and alMutasim pharmacists had to pass examinations to become licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Also by this decree, restrictive measures were legally placed upon doctors, preventing them from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy.
Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art, and their techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became the essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nux vomlca, cubebs, aconite, ambergris and mercury.(g) The important role of the Muslims in developing modern pharmacy and chemistry is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps. They invented flavoring extracts made of rose water, orange blossom water, orange and lemon peel, tragacanth and otheraromatic ingredients. Space does not permit me to list the contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics, made by Razi, Zahrawi, Biruni, Ibn Butlan, and Tamimi.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
From freckle lotion to psychotherapy - such was the range of treatment practiced by the physicians ofIslam. Though freckles continue to sprinkle the skin of 20th century man, in the realm of psychosomatic disorders, both Al-Razi and Ibn Sina achieved dramatic results, antedating Freud and Jung by at least a thousand years.(l5) When Razi was appointed physician- inchief to the Baghdad Hospital, he devoted a ward exclusively for the mentally ill making it the first hospital ever to have such a ward."
Al-Razi combined psychological methods and physiological explanations, and he used psychotherapy in a dynamic fashion. Al-Razi was once called in to treat a famous caliph who had severe arthritis. He advised a hot bath, and while the caliph was bathing, Razi threatened him with a knife, saying he was going to kill him. This deliberate provocation increased the natural caloric, enhanced its strength, and consequently dissolved the already softened humors, so that the caliph stood up in the bath and ran after A1-Razi.
The Arabs brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry. They were free from the demonological theories which swept over the Christian world and were therefore able to make clearcut clinical observations about the mental diseases."
Najab ud din Muhammad," a contemporary of Al-Razi, has left many excellent descriptions of various mental diseases. His carefully compiled observations about the patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known.(39) Najab described agitated depression, obsessional types of neurosis, Nafkhae hrlalikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania).(40)
Ibn Sina recognized 'physiological psychology' in treating illnesses involving emotions. From the clinical perspective Ibn Sina developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings which has been viewed as predating the word association test of Jung. He is said to have treated a seriously ill patient by feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people. By noticing how the patient's pulse quickened when names were mentioned. Ibn Sina deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose home Ibn Sina was able to locate by the digital examination. The man took Ibn Sina's advice, married the girl, and recovered from his illness.
It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and mental asylums were also built by the Arabs in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D.40 I, addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands played daily to entertain the patients by singing, music, and other light-hearted performances.(l3)
In 636 A.D., the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, which originally meant beautiful garden, was conquered by the Muslims. Its great university and hospital were left intact. Later other Islamic medical schools were built according to the Jundi-Shapur pattern. Medical education was serious and systematic. Lectures and clinical sessions included in teaching were based on the apprentice system. The advice given by Ali ibnul-Abbas (Haly Abbas: - 994 A.D.) to medical students is as timely today as it was then2. "And of those things which were incumbent on the student of this art (medicine) are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses: pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their inmates, stay in company with the most astute professors of medicine, and inquire frequently as to the state of the patients and symptoms apparent in them, bearing in mind what he has read about these variations, and what they indicate of good or evil."
Razi (Razes: 841-926 A.D.) advised the medical students that while they examine a patient, they should bear in mind the classic symptoms of a disease as given in textbooks and compare them with what they found".
The ablest physicians such as Razi (Al-Razes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna: $80-1037 A.D.) and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar: 116 A.D.) worked both as the directors and the deans of medical schools. They studied patients and prepared them for student presentation. Clinical reports of cases were written and preserved for teaching," and regular registers were maintained.
Training in Basic Science
Only Jundi-Shapur or Baghdad had separate schools for studying basic sciences. Candidates for medical study received basic preparation from private tutors through private lectures and self study. in Baghdad anatomy was taught by dissecting the apes, observing skeletal studies, and studying didactics. Other medical schools taught anatomy through lectures and illustrations. Alchemy was one of the prerequisites for admission to a medical school. The study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy rounded off the basic training. A number of hospitals maintained herbal gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.
Upon completion of the basic training, a candidate was admitted as an apprentice to a hospital where, along with a large group, he was assigned to a young physician for indoctrination, preliminary lectures, and familiarization with library procedures and uses. During this preclinical period, most of the lectures were on pharmacology and toxicology and the use of antidotes.
Clinical training
The next step was to give the student full clinical training. During this period students were assigned in small groups to famous physicians and experienced instructors, for ward rounds, discussions, lectures, and reviews. Early in this period therapeutics and pathology were taught. There was a strong emphasis on clinical instruction and some Muslim physicians contributed brilliant observations that have stood the test of time. As the students progressed in their studies they were exposed more and more to the subjects of diagnosis and judgment. Clinical observation and physical examination were stressed. Students (or clinical clerks) were asked to examine a patient and make a diagnosis of the ailment. Only after all else had failed would the professor make the diagnosis himself. While performing physical examination, the students were asked to examine and report six major factors: the patients' actions, excreta, the nature.and location of pain, and swelling and effluvia of the body. Also noted was color and feel of the skin-whether hot, cool, moist, dry, flabby. Yellowness in the whites of the eye (jaundice) and whether or not the patient could bend his back (lung disease) was also considered important.'
After a period of ward instructions, students were assigned to outpatient areas. After examining the patients, they reported their findings to the Instructors. After discussion, treatment was decided and prescribed. Patients who were too ill were admitted as inpatients. The maintenance of records for every patient was the responsibility of the students.
Curriculum
Different medical schools pursued different clinical curriculum and offered separate courses of studies, but the mainstay was usually internal medicine. Emphasis was placed on clarity and brevity in describing a disease and the separation of each eAtity. Until the time of Ibn Sina the description of meningitis was confused with acute infection accompanied by delirium. Ibn Sina described the symptoms of meningitis with such clarity and brevity that there is very little that can be added to it even after a thousand years(6). Surgery was also a part of the curriculum. After completing the prescribed course of studies, some students specialized under famous specialists, while others specialized during their clinical training. According to Elgood,6 knowledge of many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins, and hemorrhoids was essential. Orthopedics was widely taught, and the use of plaster of paris for casts after reduction of fractures was routinely shown to students. This method of treating fractures was rediscovered in the West in 1852. Although ophthalmology was practiced widely, it was not taught regularly in medical schools. Apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specializing in ophthalmology. Surgical treatment of cataract was very common. Obstetrics was left to midwives. Medical practioners consulted among themselves and with specialists Ibn Sina and Hazi both widely practiced and taught psychotherapy. After completing his medical training, every medical graduate was required to pass a licensing examination before starting his medical practice. It is important to note that there existed a Scientific Association which was formed in the hospital of Mayyafariqin to discuss the conditions and diseases of the patients.'
Licensing of Physicians
In Baghdad in 931 A.D., Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient had died as the result of a physician's error. Thereupon he ordered his chief physician, Sinan ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than 860 were examined in Baghdad alone. From that time on, licensing examinations required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were under a government Official called Muhtasib or inspector general. Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control for drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. The chief physician gave oral and practical examination, and if the young physician was successful, the Muhtasib administered the Hippocratic oath and Issued a license. After a thousand years, licensing Of physicians has been implemented in the West, particularly in America by the State Licensing Board Specialties such as in Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, etc. European medical schools followed the pattern set by the Islamic medical schools and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina's Qanun (Canon). According to Razi a physician had to satisfy two conditions for selection: firstly, he was to be fully conversant with the new and the old medical literature, and secondly, he must have worked in a hospital as house physician.
HOSPITALS
The development of efficient hospitals was an outstanding contribution of Islamic medicine (7). The hospitals served all citizens free and without any regard to their color, religion, sex, age or social status. The hospitals Were run by government and their directors were physicians.
Hospitals had separate wards for male and female patients and were staffed with nursing and other ancillary staff of the same sex.Diffrent diseases such as fever, wounds, infections, mania, eye conditions, cold diseases, diarrhea, and female disorder were allocated diffeient wards. Convalescence centers were divided into separate sections. Hospitals provided patients with unlimited water supply and bathing facilities. Only qualified and licensed physicians were allowed by law to practice medicine. The hospitals were teaching hospitals to educate and train medical students. They had housing for students and house-staff,g and contained pharmacies dispensing free drugs to patients. All hospitals had their conference rooms and expensive libranes containing the most up-to-date books. According to Haddad"'· the library of the Tulum Hospital which Was founded in Cairo in 872 A.D. (1100 years ago) bad 100,000 books. Universities, cities and hospitals acquired large libraries, physicians had their own extensive personal book collections, at a time when printing was unknown and book editing was done by skilled and specialized scribes putting in long hours of manual labor. Mustansiriyya University in Baghdad contained 80,000 volumes; the library of Cordova 600,000 volumes: that of Cairo 2,000,000 and that of Tripoli 3,000,000 books.
These hospitals kept records of all their patients and their medical care, something done for the first time in medical history.
For considerations of treatment, the hospital was divided into two main departments, out- patient and in-patient departments. The in-patient depart ment differed only slightly from any modern in-patient department. At the Tulum hospital, on admission the patients were given special apparel while their clothes, money, and valuables were stored away, and returned to them at the time of their discharge. On discharge, they also received five gold pieces each to tide them over until they could support themselves.
The hospital and medical school at Damascus had elegant rooms and an extensive library. Healthy people are said to have feigned illness in order to enjoy its cuisine. There was a separate hospital in Damascus for lepers, while, in Europe, even six centuries later, lepers were condemned and burned to death by royal decree.
The Qayrawan Hospital (built in 830 A.D. in Tunisia) was character ized by its spacious wards, waiting rooms for visitors and patients, and female nurses from Sudan, the first account of nursing in Arab history. The hospital also provided facilities for performing prayers.
The Al-Adudi hospital (built in 981 A.D. in Baghdad) was furnished with the latest equipment and supplies available at the time. It had interns, residents, and 24 consultants attending its professional activities. An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organize regular visiting of prisons by medical officers.''
At a time when Paris and London were mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova had hospitals which incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. It was chiefly in the humaneness of patient care that the Muslim hospitals excelled. Near the wards of those : afflicted with fever, fountains cooled the air; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night music and storytelling soothed the patients."
The Bimaristans (hospitals) were of two types - the fixed and the mobile. The mobile hospitals were transported upon beasts of burden and were erected from time to time as required. The physicians in the mobile were of the same standing as those who served the regular in the hospitals. Similar mobile hospitals accompanied the armies in the field. The field hospitals were well equipped with medicaments, instruments, tents and a staff of doctors, nurses, and orderlies. The travelling clinics served the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. These hospitals were also used by prisoners, and by the general public, particularly in times of epidemics.
BACTERIOLOGY
Al-Razi was asked to choose a site for a new hospital when he came to Baghdad. In order to choose the most hygienic area, he hung pieces of meat in different parts of the city and observed where they decomposed the least.
Ibn Sina stated explicitly that the bodily secretion is contaminated by foul earthly body before getting infected. Ibn Khatima stated that man Is surrounded by minute bodies whichenter the human system and cause disease.
In the middle of the fourteenth century when the "black plague" ravaged Europe and Christians stood helpless, considering it an act of God, Ibn al Khatib of Granada composed a treatise in the defense of the theory of infection in the following way.
To those who say, "How can we admit the possibility of infection while the religious law denies it?" we reply that the existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the aftlicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is affected through garments, vessels and earrings.
Al-Razi wrote the first medical description of smallpox and measles two important infectious diseases He described the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added.'" Ibn Sina suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis. He is said to have been the first to describe the preparation and properties of sulfuric acid and alcohol. His recommendation of wine as the best dressing for wounds was very popular in medieval practice.(8) However Razi was the first to use silk sutures and alcohol for hemostasis.l5 He was also the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic.(2)
ANESTHESIA
Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anesthetics.(l7) He recognized opium as the most powerful mukhadir (intoxicant or drug). Less powerful anesthetics known at the time were mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. The Arabs invented the soporific sponge which was the precursor of modern anesthesia. It was a sponge soaked with aromatics and narcotics and held to the patient's nostrils.(l7)
The use of anesthesia in Islam was one of the reasons why surgery rose to the level of an honorable profession, while in Europe, surgery was belittled and practiced by barbers and quacks. The Council of Tours in 1163 A.D. declared "Surgery is to be abandoned by the schools of medicine and by all decent physicians"(l2). Burton'" stated that "anesthetics have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and chloroform became the fashion in civilized West."
SURGERY
Al-Razi is the first to use the seton in surgery and animal gut for sutures. Abu alQasim Khalaf Ibn Abbas Al-Zahrawi (930-1013 A.D.), known to the west as Abulcasis, Bucasis or Alzahravius, is considered to be the most famous surgeon in Islamic medicine. In his book Al- Tasrif, he described hemophilia for the first time in medical history. The book contains the description and illustration of about 200 surgical instruments many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself" In it Zahrawi stresses the importance of the study of Anatomy as a fundamental prerequisite to surgery.(l2) He advocates the reimplantation of a fallen tooth and the use of dental prosthesis carved from cow's bone, a better alternative to the wooden dentures worn by the first President of America, George Washington seven centuries later.(l5) Zahrawi appears to be the first surgeon in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of hemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, as a vaginal padding in the tearing of the pubis and in dentistry. He introduced the method for the removal of kidney stones by cutting into the urinary bladder. He was the first to teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations. He described tracheotomy, distinguished between goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, sounds almost like modern surgery." In orthopedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher's method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patellectomy, thousand years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937.(13)
Ibn Sina's description of the surgical treatment of cancer holds true even today after 1,000 years. He says the excision must be wide and bold; all veins running to the tumor must be included in the amputation. Even if this is not sufficient, then the area affected should be cauterized.(9)
The Muslim surgeons performed three types of surgery: vascular, general, and orthopedic. Ophthalmic surgery was a specialty which was quite distinct both from medicine and surgery. They freely opened the abdomen and drained the peritoneal cavity in the approved modern style. To an unnamed surgeon of Shiraz is attributed the first colostomy operation. Liver abscesses were treated by puncture and exploration. Today surgeons all over the world practice and use several surgical procedures first introduced by Zahrawi a thousand years ago.(25)
MEDICINE
One of the most brilliant contribution to medicine was made by AlRazi who differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease.'" He is credited with many contributions: he was the first to describe true distillation, glass retorts and luting, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, saltpeter, and borax in the treatment of diseases." He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment." His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi.(28) He described hay-fever or allergic rhinitis.
Among other Arab contributions to medicine are included the discovery of itch mite of scabies (Ibn Zuhr), anthrax, ankylostoma and the guineaworm by Ibn Sina, and sleeping sickness by Qalqashandy.(l3) They described abscess of the mediastinum. They also understood tuberculosis and pericarditis.(7)
Al Ash'ath demonstrated gastric physiology by pouring water into the mouth of an anesthetized lion and showed the distensibility and movements of the stomach, preceding Beaumont by about a thousand years(l3). Abu Sahl al-Masihi explained that the absorption of food takes place more through the intestines than the stomach.(l0) Ibn Zuhr introduced artificial feeding either by gastric tube or by nutrient enema.(l3) Using the stomach tube, the Arab physicians performed gastric lavage in case of poisoning.(l0) Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to discover pulmonary circulation.
Ibn Sina in his masterpiece Al-Qanun (Canon), containing over a million words, described complete studies of physiology, pathology and hygiene. He specifically discoursed upon breast cancer, poisons, diseases of the skin, rabies, insomnia, childbirth and the use of obstetrical forceps, meningitis, amnesia, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis as a contagious dixax, facial ties, phlebotomy, tumors, kidney diseases and geriatric care. He defined love as a mental disease.
OPHTHALMOLOGY
The Arab physicians exhibited a high degree of proficiency and certainly were foremost in the treatment of eye diseases. Words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. In ophthalmology and optics Ibn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) known to the West as Alhazen wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings. In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a #urface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively qroving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the object as thought by the Greeks. He experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light, and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin All of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.
PHARMACOLOGY
Pharmacology took roots in Islam during the 9th century. Yuhanna bin Masawayh (777- 857 A.D.) started scientific and systematic applications of therapeutics in the Abbasid capital. His student Hunayn bin Ishaq al-Ibadi (809-874 A.D.) and his associates established solid foundations of Arabic medicine and therapeutics in the ninth century. In his book al-Masail Hunayn outlined methods for confirming the pharmacological effectiveness of drugs by experimenting \vith them on humans. He also explained the Importance of prognosis and diagnosis of diseases for better and more effective treatment.
Pharmacy became an independent and separate profession from medicine and alchemy.)" With the wild sprouting of apothecary shops, regulations became necessar~ and were imposed to maintain quality control.(ll) The Arabian apothecary shops were regularly inspected by a syndic (Muhtasib) who threatened the merehants with humiliating corporal punishments if they adulterated drugs." As early as the days of al-Mamun and alMutasim pharmacists had to pass examinations to become licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Also by this decree, restrictive measures were legally placed upon doctors, preventing them from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy.
Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art, and their techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became the essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nux vomlca, cubebs, aconite, ambergris and mercury.(g) The important role of the Muslims in developing modern pharmacy and chemistry is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps. They invented flavoring extracts made of rose water, orange blossom water, orange and lemon peel, tragacanth and otheraromatic ingredients. Space does not permit me to list the contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics, made by Razi, Zahrawi, Biruni, Ibn Butlan, and Tamimi.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
From freckle lotion to psychotherapy - such was the range of treatment practiced by the physicians ofIslam. Though freckles continue to sprinkle the skin of 20th century man, in the realm of psychosomatic disorders, both Al-Razi and Ibn Sina achieved dramatic results, antedating Freud and Jung by at least a thousand years.(l5) When Razi was appointed physician- inchief to the Baghdad Hospital, he devoted a ward exclusively for the mentally ill making it the first hospital ever to have such a ward."
Al-Razi combined psychological methods and physiological explanations, and he used psychotherapy in a dynamic fashion. Al-Razi was once called in to treat a famous caliph who had severe arthritis. He advised a hot bath, and while the caliph was bathing, Razi threatened him with a knife, saying he was going to kill him. This deliberate provocation increased the natural caloric, enhanced its strength, and consequently dissolved the already softened humors, so that the caliph stood up in the bath and ran after A1-Razi.
The Arabs brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry. They were free from the demonological theories which swept over the Christian world and were therefore able to make clearcut clinical observations about the mental diseases."
Najab ud din Muhammad," a contemporary of Al-Razi, has left many excellent descriptions of various mental diseases. His carefully compiled observations about the patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known.(39) Najab described agitated depression, obsessional types of neurosis, Nafkhae hrlalikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania).(40)
Ibn Sina recognized 'physiological psychology' in treating illnesses involving emotions. From the clinical perspective Ibn Sina developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings which has been viewed as predating the word association test of Jung. He is said to have treated a seriously ill patient by feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people. By noticing how the patient's pulse quickened when names were mentioned. Ibn Sina deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose home Ibn Sina was able to locate by the digital examination. The man took Ibn Sina's advice, married the girl, and recovered from his illness.
It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and mental asylums were also built by the Arabs in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D.40 I, addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands played daily to entertain the patients by singing, music, and other light-hearted performances.(l3)
IS HIJAB COMPULSORY?
One of the verses in the Quran protects a woman's fundamental rights. Verse 59 of Surah A1Ahzaab reads: "O Prophet! T'ell thy wives and daughters and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when outside) : so that they should be known (as such) and not molested".
According to the Quran, the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garmcnt when going out of their homes is that they may be recognised as "Believing" women and differentiated from streetwalkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their homes, but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unsavoury attention.
Older Muslim women who are past the prospect of marriage are not required to wear "the outer garment". "Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not wanton display of their beauty; but it is best for them to be modest; and Allah is One Who sees and knows all things". (24:60).
The Quran does not suggest that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Quran is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices.
Morality of the self and cleaniness of conscience are far better than the morality of the purdah. No goodness can comc from pretence. Imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. How can Muslim men meet non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but not acccord the same respectful trcatmcnt to Muslim women?
To wear the Hijaab is certainly NOT an Islamic obligatory on women. It is an innovation (Bid'ah) of men suffering from a piety complex who are so weak spiritually that they just cannot trust themselves!
Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or 11 th century (A.C.). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars to help their brothers and husbands, and they defended their castles and bastions.
It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies.
For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively, but that they choose to. In lran, Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador, but in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, MODEST dress is.
According to the Quran, the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garmcnt when going out of their homes is that they may be recognised as "Believing" women and differentiated from streetwalkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their homes, but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unsavoury attention.
Older Muslim women who are past the prospect of marriage are not required to wear "the outer garment". "Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not wanton display of their beauty; but it is best for them to be modest; and Allah is One Who sees and knows all things". (24:60).
The Quran does not suggest that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Quran is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices.
Morality of the self and cleaniness of conscience are far better than the morality of the purdah. No goodness can comc from pretence. Imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. How can Muslim men meet non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but not acccord the same respectful trcatmcnt to Muslim women?
To wear the Hijaab is certainly NOT an Islamic obligatory on women. It is an innovation (Bid'ah) of men suffering from a piety complex who are so weak spiritually that they just cannot trust themselves!
Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or 11 th century (A.C.). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars to help their brothers and husbands, and they defended their castles and bastions.
It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies.
For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively, but that they choose to. In lran, Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador, but in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, MODEST dress is.
Qur'an and Science
INTRODUCTION
Mankind is at the threshold of the 21st century in terms of the common era. This age is rightly called the information age with computers, electronic mail and business and commerce and the Internet with WEB pages. To many thinkers religion is alien to science. Science simply means a specialized branch of knowledge. In Arabic it is called 'Ilm. A scientist in Arabic is called an 'Alim. The west is wrong in separating Science from Religion. The great universal Muslim scientists about thousand years ago were at the forefront of knowledge particularly in the sciences and technology without ever giving up their religion. In fact Islam in general and the Qur'an in particular inspired the Muslim scientists to seek and advance knowledge. Hence they achieved all these without any conflict with religion. Today many western educated Muslims follow the western path of separation of religion from science. On the other hand those Muslims trained in Islamic theology have refrained from modern sciences.
By moving away from the reading and in depth study of the Qur'an Muslims have lost the golden opportunity of many a scientific discovery and advancement of knowledge. By moving away from their Scriptures the Western people made many scientific discoveries and inventions. This is because of the suppression and obscurantism practiced by the Church against the scientists and intellectuals in the past. Even the scriptures themselves were a hurdle to the cause of seeking the truth through observation and experimentation as lucidly pointed by Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his most popular book " The Bible, Qur'an and Science."
Science is not a divine revelation but it provides a means for the welfare of man and to better understanding the creation of Allah(SWT), the natural phenomena and their purpose. In simplest terms science means knowledge and Islam exhorts its followers to relentlessly pursue knowledge. The Noble Qur'an, Allah (SWT) ordained His servants to pray to Him thus:
" O Lord! Increase me in knowledge." (20: 114)
It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) peace be upon him to have once said," Learning comprises treasure houses whose keys are queries." Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged the spirit of investigation and analysis of facts. One of the most inspiring Ayath (verses) in the Qur'an is the following:
" And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect." (45: 13)
To reflect is really the scientific spirit, which leads to understanding and discoveries about Allah's (SWT) creation and natural phenomena. Allah (SWT) guides the efforts of the scientists to meaningful purposes.The more one investigates the more one knows about Allah (SWT) and His design of the universe. The emphasis is on thinking which leads the way to the cherishing care of Allah to establish all things in nature to service for the benefit of mankind. Allah (SWT) has given us the faculties and the intellectual genius for this purpose. The Muslim should never regard the study of natural sciences as forbidden territory or "haram". According to the Muslim traditions he who seeks knowledge is blessed, but the seeker who also attains success is twice blessed. The Muslim intellectuals have proved this in the past and they already set the trend.
This work was undertaken to prove there is no conflict between science and Islam and many chapters in this book have been based on the Qur'anic inspirations the author derived from reading different Ayath (Verses). Even at the dawn of the 21st century of the CE, the Muslims can derive inspiration from the in depth study of the Qur'an and make new scientific discoveries and push forward the frontiers of knowledge. Many of the Chapters in the book were published as articles in many Muslim magazines and intellectual journals throughout the world. At the urging of many of my friends and Muslim scholars I have collected them in these two volumes titled " The Qur'an and Science." I humbly believe that the younger generation of Muslims will get inspiration from the revelations in the Qur'an and do investigate and contribute to the bank of knowledge. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF QUR'AN AND SCIENCE
Chapter 1. The Honey BeeChapter 2. Qur’an and Science: The Origin of LifeChapter 3. Science and Sunnah: The Genetic CodeChapter 4. Qur’an and Science: All Things in PairChapter 5. Jinn- A Scientific Analysis ChapterChapter 6. Qur'an and ScienceChapter 7. Mysticism and Quantum Physics: Their Relevance to IslamChapter 8. Qur’an and Science on Swine FleshChapter 9. Extension of Halal Concepts to the Personal Habits of MuslimsChapter 10. Coronary Heart DiseaseChapter 11. ObscurantismChapter 12. Beneficial Effects of LightningChapter 13. The Grand Unification Theory (GUT): Its Prediction in Al-Qur’anChapter 14. Cosmology: Man Finds Today What Qur’an Said 1,400 Years AgoChapter 15. The Qur’anic Foundations of the Anthropic PrincipleChapter 16. Hoopoe: A Bird of Elegance and IntelligenceChapter 17. Islamic Medicine: 1,000 Years Ahead of Its TimesChapter 18. Calamities: Scientific ExplanationsChapter 19. The Concept of God: A Scientific AnalysisChapter 20. Notes on the Education of the Muslim ChildrenChapter 21. The Thinking ProcessChapter 22. Qur’an and Science: WaterChapter 23. The Nature of Soul: Islamic and Scientific ViewsChapter 24. Learning to Respect Allah’s Laws of Nature: HurricanesChapter 25. Islamic Science: Past, Present and the FutureChapter 26. Alcohol: Prohibited to Muslims, Jews and ChristiansChapter 27. Smoking is Unlawful in IslamChapter 28. The Pleasures of LearningChapter 29. The Muslim Belief in AngelsChapter 30. The Alphabets of Success From the Noble Qur’anChapter 31. Qur’an and Science: PollutionChapter 32. Qur’an and Science: Six Days of CreationChapter 33. Islam and the Second Law of ThermodynamicsChapter 34. The Qur’an and Modern Science: Breast Feeding.Chapter 35. Why Surah 29 is titled “ Spider” in the Noble Qur’an
Mankind is at the threshold of the 21st century in terms of the common era. This age is rightly called the information age with computers, electronic mail and business and commerce and the Internet with WEB pages. To many thinkers religion is alien to science. Science simply means a specialized branch of knowledge. In Arabic it is called 'Ilm. A scientist in Arabic is called an 'Alim. The west is wrong in separating Science from Religion. The great universal Muslim scientists about thousand years ago were at the forefront of knowledge particularly in the sciences and technology without ever giving up their religion. In fact Islam in general and the Qur'an in particular inspired the Muslim scientists to seek and advance knowledge. Hence they achieved all these without any conflict with religion. Today many western educated Muslims follow the western path of separation of religion from science. On the other hand those Muslims trained in Islamic theology have refrained from modern sciences.
By moving away from the reading and in depth study of the Qur'an Muslims have lost the golden opportunity of many a scientific discovery and advancement of knowledge. By moving away from their Scriptures the Western people made many scientific discoveries and inventions. This is because of the suppression and obscurantism practiced by the Church against the scientists and intellectuals in the past. Even the scriptures themselves were a hurdle to the cause of seeking the truth through observation and experimentation as lucidly pointed by Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his most popular book " The Bible, Qur'an and Science."
Science is not a divine revelation but it provides a means for the welfare of man and to better understanding the creation of Allah(SWT), the natural phenomena and their purpose. In simplest terms science means knowledge and Islam exhorts its followers to relentlessly pursue knowledge. The Noble Qur'an, Allah (SWT) ordained His servants to pray to Him thus:
" O Lord! Increase me in knowledge." (20: 114)
It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) peace be upon him to have once said," Learning comprises treasure houses whose keys are queries." Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged the spirit of investigation and analysis of facts. One of the most inspiring Ayath (verses) in the Qur'an is the following:
" And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect." (45: 13)
To reflect is really the scientific spirit, which leads to understanding and discoveries about Allah's (SWT) creation and natural phenomena. Allah (SWT) guides the efforts of the scientists to meaningful purposes.The more one investigates the more one knows about Allah (SWT) and His design of the universe. The emphasis is on thinking which leads the way to the cherishing care of Allah to establish all things in nature to service for the benefit of mankind. Allah (SWT) has given us the faculties and the intellectual genius for this purpose. The Muslim should never regard the study of natural sciences as forbidden territory or "haram". According to the Muslim traditions he who seeks knowledge is blessed, but the seeker who also attains success is twice blessed. The Muslim intellectuals have proved this in the past and they already set the trend.
This work was undertaken to prove there is no conflict between science and Islam and many chapters in this book have been based on the Qur'anic inspirations the author derived from reading different Ayath (Verses). Even at the dawn of the 21st century of the CE, the Muslims can derive inspiration from the in depth study of the Qur'an and make new scientific discoveries and push forward the frontiers of knowledge. Many of the Chapters in the book were published as articles in many Muslim magazines and intellectual journals throughout the world. At the urging of many of my friends and Muslim scholars I have collected them in these two volumes titled " The Qur'an and Science." I humbly believe that the younger generation of Muslims will get inspiration from the revelations in the Qur'an and do investigate and contribute to the bank of knowledge. TABLE OF CONTENTS OF QUR'AN AND SCIENCE
Chapter 1. The Honey BeeChapter 2. Qur’an and Science: The Origin of LifeChapter 3. Science and Sunnah: The Genetic CodeChapter 4. Qur’an and Science: All Things in PairChapter 5. Jinn- A Scientific Analysis ChapterChapter 6. Qur'an and ScienceChapter 7. Mysticism and Quantum Physics: Their Relevance to IslamChapter 8. Qur’an and Science on Swine FleshChapter 9. Extension of Halal Concepts to the Personal Habits of MuslimsChapter 10. Coronary Heart DiseaseChapter 11. ObscurantismChapter 12. Beneficial Effects of LightningChapter 13. The Grand Unification Theory (GUT): Its Prediction in Al-Qur’anChapter 14. Cosmology: Man Finds Today What Qur’an Said 1,400 Years AgoChapter 15. The Qur’anic Foundations of the Anthropic PrincipleChapter 16. Hoopoe: A Bird of Elegance and IntelligenceChapter 17. Islamic Medicine: 1,000 Years Ahead of Its TimesChapter 18. Calamities: Scientific ExplanationsChapter 19. The Concept of God: A Scientific AnalysisChapter 20. Notes on the Education of the Muslim ChildrenChapter 21. The Thinking ProcessChapter 22. Qur’an and Science: WaterChapter 23. The Nature of Soul: Islamic and Scientific ViewsChapter 24. Learning to Respect Allah’s Laws of Nature: HurricanesChapter 25. Islamic Science: Past, Present and the FutureChapter 26. Alcohol: Prohibited to Muslims, Jews and ChristiansChapter 27. Smoking is Unlawful in IslamChapter 28. The Pleasures of LearningChapter 29. The Muslim Belief in AngelsChapter 30. The Alphabets of Success From the Noble Qur’anChapter 31. Qur’an and Science: PollutionChapter 32. Qur’an and Science: Six Days of CreationChapter 33. Islam and the Second Law of ThermodynamicsChapter 34. The Qur’an and Modern Science: Breast Feeding.Chapter 35. Why Surah 29 is titled “ Spider” in the Noble Qur’an
The Pleasures of Learning
The rise of Muslims to the zenith of civilization in a period of four decades was based on Al-lslam's emphasis on learning. This is obvious when one takes a look at the Qur'an and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (s) which are filled with references to learning, education, observation, and the use of reason. The very first verse of the Qur'an revealed to the Prophet of Al Islam on the night of 27th of Ramadan in 611 AD reads:
"Read: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not."
(Quran, 96:1-5)
"And they shall say had we but listened or used reason, we would not be among the inmates of the burning fire."
(Quran, 67:10)
"Are those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge alike? Only the men of understanding are mindful. "
(Quran, 39:9)
And the Qur'an exhorts the Muslims to do scientific research:.
"And whoso bringeth the truth and believeth therein such are the dutiful."
(Quran, 39:33)
Every Muslim man's and every Muslim woman's prayer should be:
"My Lord! Enrich me with knowledge.."
(Quran, 20:114)
The pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason, based on sense observation is made obligatory on every Muslim, man and woman.
The following traditions of the Prophet (s) supplement the foregoing teachings of the Qur'an in the following way:
Seek knowledge "even though it be in China."
"The acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, whether male or female."
"The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."
"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."
"God has revealed to me, 'Whoever walks in the pursuit of knowledge I facilitate for him the way to heaven.'
"The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."
"Scholars should endeavor to spread knowledge and provide education to people who have been deprived of it. For, where knowledge is hidden it disappears."
Some one asked the Prophet (SAS): "Who is the biggest scholar?" He replied: "He who is constantly trying to learn from others, for a scholar is ever hungry for more knowledge."
"Seek for knowledge and. wisdom, or whatever the 'vessel from which it flows, you will never be the loser."
"Thinking deep for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."
"Worship, without knowledge, has no goodness in it and knowledge without understanding has no goodness in it. And the recitation of the Qur'an, which is riot thoughtful has no goodness in it."
"To listen to the words of the learned and to instill unto others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises."
"Acquire knowledge: it enables its possessor to distinguish right from the wrong, it lights the way to heaven; it is Our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless- it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an Ornament among friends and an armor against enemies."
The Islamic Empire for more than 1,000 years remained the most advanced and civilized nation in the world. .This is because Al-Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, developed in Muslims the respect for authority, discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah drove many Muslims to their accomplishments in science and medicine.
By the tenth century their zeal and enthusiasms for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical and scientific writings being translated into Arabic in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Arabic became the international language of learning and diplomacy. The center of scientific knowledge and activity shifted eastward, and Baghdad emerged as the capitol of the scientific world. The Muslims became scientific innovators with originality and productivity.
For example Islamic medicine is one of the most famous and best known facets of Islamic civilization, and in which the Muslims most excelled. The Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. Some of the best and most eloquent praises of science ever written came from the pens of Muslim scientists who considered their work to be acts of worship. The same motives led to the establishment of Al-Azhar (800 AD) the first university in the world. They hit the "source ball of knowledge" over the fence to Europe. In the words of Campbell, "The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forebearers of the Europeans."
One of the secrets of success in any profession is to be the most learned or best-informed person in his/her own profession. Learning is a pleasure. It is not, then one should cultivate the enjoyment associated with learning. Although the pleasure of learning is universal, there are many dull incurious people in the world. There are several reasons for this. Some people are made dull by bad teaching, isolation and following a routine life-style. For some people it is the pressure of hard work and poverty. For those who are rich, their ephemeral and trivial delights come in the way of the pleasures of learning. The human mind can survive not only poverty but also even wealth with luck, determination and guidance. For example I come from a poor family and due to poor teaching I lost interest in learning mathematics. As a result I scored only 39% in mathematics (35% required for a pass) in S. S. L. C. (Secondary School Leaving Certificate, India) in the Intermediate Science examination I scored 50% in mathematics. When I entered the Bachelor of Science degree class, I realized there is no way I can escape from mathematics and I resolved to conquer mathematics. With determination I found pleasure in learning mathematics by myself. The pleasure was akin to one derives in falling love with his/her beloved girl/boy friend or would be wife/husband. This pleasure changed my whole life. I started to score 100% in mathematics in all the class tests and mid-term examinations. In the final B.Sc. examination I scored more than 70% in mathematics.
Take the example of Archimedes. When he discovered the principle of specific gravity by observing his own displacement of water in a bath tub, he leaped out with great joy, and shouted, "Eureka, Eureka!" ("I have found it. I have found it!"). He was overwhelmed with joy and ran naked. All children possess the same instinct which prompted his outburst, and the rapture of its Gratification.
Learning is a natural pleasure. This pleasure is inborn and instinctive. The pleasure of learning is one of the essential pleasures of the human race. Without learning, survival itself is threatened. It is said that the propagation of the human race might be endangered if the knowledge of sex through seeing, reading or hearing is withheld from everyone.
The process of learning starts right after birth. It is true that babies who can barely talk investigate problems with all the zeal and excitement of explorers, make discoveries with the passion and absorption of dedicated scientists. At the end of each successful investigation, one can see on the tiny face an expression of innocent and pure heartfelt pleasure. The process of physical growth stops when a boy or girl reaches puberty, that is with the on set of menarche in the girls and with the change in the voice and growth of moustache and beard in boys. After puberty it is impossible to increase the height both in boys and girls. It is only possible to increase their widths by fattening. On the other hand the mental faculties grow from birth until death. At some point in our lifetime, the physical body becomes sick or ill and gradually dies; even the emotions become duller. But the mind continues to live, and even grows more lively and active, enjoys itself more, works and plays with more expansion and delight. I have seen grand parents obtaining B. A., M. A and Ph. D. degrees at the ages of 70, 80 or 90. There are many examples in the history of Art, Music and Science, of both men and women who significantly contributed and lead mentally productive lives at their ripe old ages. My own grandmother at 90 has vivid memories and narrates events, which occurred 70 or 80 years ago in her young age, very clearly. Learning extends our lives into new dimensions. It is cumulative. Instead of diminishing in time, like health and strength, its dividends go on increasing, provided one continues to learn throughout life and integrate the thoughts and make learning harmonious. One should make it a point to learn at least one new information each day. Now one can learn even during sleep. This is accomplished with headphones attached to the ears and repeats playing of phonographs or taped cassettes. This method of sleep-learning is found most useful in linguistics- to learn new languages.
The pleasure of learning is not confined to learning from textbooks, which are too often tedious. But it does include learning from book magazines (periodicals), newspapers, and movies. T. V., radio and traveler when you stand in a big library infront of thousands of books do not think they are lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. Each has its own voice, which is as inaudible as the radiobroadcast waves falling directly on t ears. Just as one switches on the radio to hear. So does one just need to open a book to hear the voice far distant in time and space? One can hear the voice speaking, mind to mind, and heart to heart. Reading of books gives you two different delights. One is the pleasure of understanding the unknown and the unexpected. The other pleasure is of deepening one's knowledge of a specified field.
Apart from books, learning means keeping the mind open and active to receive all kinds of experience. The Mahabharatha says " Learn from the Environment and absorb the good things." As pointed out earlier there is great emphasis on learning and seeking knowledge in Islam. The Prophet Mohammed ordered Muslims to be active in their search for learning, crossing oceans and continents if necessary. " Seek knowledge even in China" he said. Learning also means learning to practice one' s own professional skills-that of a surgeon, musician or craftsman. Otherwise one can at least develop the ability l appreciate an art. Crafts and hobbies lead you into fresh fields of enjoyment and give you relaxation and activity without tension. You should know that tension is the prime cause of heart attacks, ulcers, hypertension, and most of the human diseases. Travel is an important part of the pleasures of learning. There are many examples of best-informed people who never read books and newspapers, but acquired excellent knowledge through travelling. One should travel with an open mind, all alert eye and a wish to understand other people and other places.
Everybody knows ''Knowledge is Power" but now I can say "Knowledge is Wealth". For the more learned you are, the more money you can earn. It is fitting here to tell you the story of Diogenes, the great Greek philosopher who lived during the time of Alexander the Great. Diogenes was a very learned man and he shunned both power and wealth. Hence he was called a cynic. He was known to have wandered searching for an honest man carrying a lantern during day and night. He gave up everything he possessed, except a coconut shell for drinking water. One day he saw a man drinking water forming a cup with his hand. After seeing this Diogenes threw away his last possession the coconut shell. The name of Diogenes spread throughout Greece. Alexander the Great heard about Diogenes and one day decided to see him. Mounted on horseback, Alexander the Great went to Diogenes who was sitting on the ground. Alexander said ' Oh Diogenes, I have heard a great deal about you and your life. I am very much impressed by your life and it is my earnest desire to help you in whatever way I can. Please let me know your desires so that I can fulfil them". To which Diogenes replied "Your Excellency my only request is that you get aside and allow the sun's rays to fall on my body." Alexander the Great was deeply moved by Diogenes's reply and said "If I were not Alexander the Great. I would be Diogenes." Now the point I want to make here is that Diogenes never went to Alexander the Great, but that Alexander the Great came to Diogenes for he was such a learned philosopher.
There are many people in this world who have played themselves to death, or eaten and drunk themselves to death. Nobody ever died because of thinking or learning. People who avoid learning, or abandon it, find no joy in life, find that life is drained dry. No learner has ever run short of subjects to explore. The pleasures of learning lead to happiness. One can live longest and best and most rewardingly by attaining and preserving the happiness of learning. Learning is everyone's birthright. Everyone - young or old, rich or poor, male or female, has access to learning. Exercise your birthright. Remember what you have learned cannot be stolen by others.
"Read: In the name of thy Lord who created man from a clot. Read: And thy Lord is the Most Generous Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew not."
(Quran, 96:1-5)
"And they shall say had we but listened or used reason, we would not be among the inmates of the burning fire."
(Quran, 67:10)
"Are those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge alike? Only the men of understanding are mindful. "
(Quran, 39:9)
And the Qur'an exhorts the Muslims to do scientific research:.
"And whoso bringeth the truth and believeth therein such are the dutiful."
(Quran, 39:33)
Every Muslim man's and every Muslim woman's prayer should be:
"My Lord! Enrich me with knowledge.."
(Quran, 20:114)
The pursuit of knowledge and the use of reason, based on sense observation is made obligatory on every Muslim, man and woman.
The following traditions of the Prophet (s) supplement the foregoing teachings of the Qur'an in the following way:
Seek knowledge "even though it be in China."
"The acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, whether male or female."
"The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."
"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."
"God has revealed to me, 'Whoever walks in the pursuit of knowledge I facilitate for him the way to heaven.'
"The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."
"Scholars should endeavor to spread knowledge and provide education to people who have been deprived of it. For, where knowledge is hidden it disappears."
Some one asked the Prophet (SAS): "Who is the biggest scholar?" He replied: "He who is constantly trying to learn from others, for a scholar is ever hungry for more knowledge."
"Seek for knowledge and. wisdom, or whatever the 'vessel from which it flows, you will never be the loser."
"Thinking deep for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."
"Worship, without knowledge, has no goodness in it and knowledge without understanding has no goodness in it. And the recitation of the Qur'an, which is riot thoughtful has no goodness in it."
"To listen to the words of the learned and to instill unto others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises."
"Acquire knowledge: it enables its possessor to distinguish right from the wrong, it lights the way to heaven; it is Our friend in the desert, our society in solitude, our companion when friendless- it guides us to happiness; it sustains us in misery; it is an Ornament among friends and an armor against enemies."
The Islamic Empire for more than 1,000 years remained the most advanced and civilized nation in the world. .This is because Al-Islam stressed the importance and respect of learning, forbade destruction, developed in Muslims the respect for authority, discipline, and tolerance for other religions. The teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah drove many Muslims to their accomplishments in science and medicine.
By the tenth century their zeal and enthusiasms for learning resulted in all essential Greek medical and scientific writings being translated into Arabic in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad. Arabic became the international language of learning and diplomacy. The center of scientific knowledge and activity shifted eastward, and Baghdad emerged as the capitol of the scientific world. The Muslims became scientific innovators with originality and productivity.
For example Islamic medicine is one of the most famous and best known facets of Islamic civilization, and in which the Muslims most excelled. The Muslims were the great torchbearers of international scientific research. Some of the best and most eloquent praises of science ever written came from the pens of Muslim scientists who considered their work to be acts of worship. The same motives led to the establishment of Al-Azhar (800 AD) the first university in the world. They hit the "source ball of knowledge" over the fence to Europe. In the words of Campbell, "The European medical system is Arabian not only in origin but also in its structure. The Arabs are the intellectual forebearers of the Europeans."
One of the secrets of success in any profession is to be the most learned or best-informed person in his/her own profession. Learning is a pleasure. It is not, then one should cultivate the enjoyment associated with learning. Although the pleasure of learning is universal, there are many dull incurious people in the world. There are several reasons for this. Some people are made dull by bad teaching, isolation and following a routine life-style. For some people it is the pressure of hard work and poverty. For those who are rich, their ephemeral and trivial delights come in the way of the pleasures of learning. The human mind can survive not only poverty but also even wealth with luck, determination and guidance. For example I come from a poor family and due to poor teaching I lost interest in learning mathematics. As a result I scored only 39% in mathematics (35% required for a pass) in S. S. L. C. (Secondary School Leaving Certificate, India) in the Intermediate Science examination I scored 50% in mathematics. When I entered the Bachelor of Science degree class, I realized there is no way I can escape from mathematics and I resolved to conquer mathematics. With determination I found pleasure in learning mathematics by myself. The pleasure was akin to one derives in falling love with his/her beloved girl/boy friend or would be wife/husband. This pleasure changed my whole life. I started to score 100% in mathematics in all the class tests and mid-term examinations. In the final B.Sc. examination I scored more than 70% in mathematics.
Take the example of Archimedes. When he discovered the principle of specific gravity by observing his own displacement of water in a bath tub, he leaped out with great joy, and shouted, "Eureka, Eureka!" ("I have found it. I have found it!"). He was overwhelmed with joy and ran naked. All children possess the same instinct which prompted his outburst, and the rapture of its Gratification.
Learning is a natural pleasure. This pleasure is inborn and instinctive. The pleasure of learning is one of the essential pleasures of the human race. Without learning, survival itself is threatened. It is said that the propagation of the human race might be endangered if the knowledge of sex through seeing, reading or hearing is withheld from everyone.
The process of learning starts right after birth. It is true that babies who can barely talk investigate problems with all the zeal and excitement of explorers, make discoveries with the passion and absorption of dedicated scientists. At the end of each successful investigation, one can see on the tiny face an expression of innocent and pure heartfelt pleasure. The process of physical growth stops when a boy or girl reaches puberty, that is with the on set of menarche in the girls and with the change in the voice and growth of moustache and beard in boys. After puberty it is impossible to increase the height both in boys and girls. It is only possible to increase their widths by fattening. On the other hand the mental faculties grow from birth until death. At some point in our lifetime, the physical body becomes sick or ill and gradually dies; even the emotions become duller. But the mind continues to live, and even grows more lively and active, enjoys itself more, works and plays with more expansion and delight. I have seen grand parents obtaining B. A., M. A and Ph. D. degrees at the ages of 70, 80 or 90. There are many examples in the history of Art, Music and Science, of both men and women who significantly contributed and lead mentally productive lives at their ripe old ages. My own grandmother at 90 has vivid memories and narrates events, which occurred 70 or 80 years ago in her young age, very clearly. Learning extends our lives into new dimensions. It is cumulative. Instead of diminishing in time, like health and strength, its dividends go on increasing, provided one continues to learn throughout life and integrate the thoughts and make learning harmonious. One should make it a point to learn at least one new information each day. Now one can learn even during sleep. This is accomplished with headphones attached to the ears and repeats playing of phonographs or taped cassettes. This method of sleep-learning is found most useful in linguistics- to learn new languages.
The pleasure of learning is not confined to learning from textbooks, which are too often tedious. But it does include learning from book magazines (periodicals), newspapers, and movies. T. V., radio and traveler when you stand in a big library infront of thousands of books do not think they are lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. Each has its own voice, which is as inaudible as the radiobroadcast waves falling directly on t ears. Just as one switches on the radio to hear. So does one just need to open a book to hear the voice far distant in time and space? One can hear the voice speaking, mind to mind, and heart to heart. Reading of books gives you two different delights. One is the pleasure of understanding the unknown and the unexpected. The other pleasure is of deepening one's knowledge of a specified field.
Apart from books, learning means keeping the mind open and active to receive all kinds of experience. The Mahabharatha says " Learn from the Environment and absorb the good things." As pointed out earlier there is great emphasis on learning and seeking knowledge in Islam. The Prophet Mohammed ordered Muslims to be active in their search for learning, crossing oceans and continents if necessary. " Seek knowledge even in China" he said. Learning also means learning to practice one' s own professional skills-that of a surgeon, musician or craftsman. Otherwise one can at least develop the ability l appreciate an art. Crafts and hobbies lead you into fresh fields of enjoyment and give you relaxation and activity without tension. You should know that tension is the prime cause of heart attacks, ulcers, hypertension, and most of the human diseases. Travel is an important part of the pleasures of learning. There are many examples of best-informed people who never read books and newspapers, but acquired excellent knowledge through travelling. One should travel with an open mind, all alert eye and a wish to understand other people and other places.
Everybody knows ''Knowledge is Power" but now I can say "Knowledge is Wealth". For the more learned you are, the more money you can earn. It is fitting here to tell you the story of Diogenes, the great Greek philosopher who lived during the time of Alexander the Great. Diogenes was a very learned man and he shunned both power and wealth. Hence he was called a cynic. He was known to have wandered searching for an honest man carrying a lantern during day and night. He gave up everything he possessed, except a coconut shell for drinking water. One day he saw a man drinking water forming a cup with his hand. After seeing this Diogenes threw away his last possession the coconut shell. The name of Diogenes spread throughout Greece. Alexander the Great heard about Diogenes and one day decided to see him. Mounted on horseback, Alexander the Great went to Diogenes who was sitting on the ground. Alexander said ' Oh Diogenes, I have heard a great deal about you and your life. I am very much impressed by your life and it is my earnest desire to help you in whatever way I can. Please let me know your desires so that I can fulfil them". To which Diogenes replied "Your Excellency my only request is that you get aside and allow the sun's rays to fall on my body." Alexander the Great was deeply moved by Diogenes's reply and said "If I were not Alexander the Great. I would be Diogenes." Now the point I want to make here is that Diogenes never went to Alexander the Great, but that Alexander the Great came to Diogenes for he was such a learned philosopher.
There are many people in this world who have played themselves to death, or eaten and drunk themselves to death. Nobody ever died because of thinking or learning. People who avoid learning, or abandon it, find no joy in life, find that life is drained dry. No learner has ever run short of subjects to explore. The pleasures of learning lead to happiness. One can live longest and best and most rewardingly by attaining and preserving the happiness of learning. Learning is everyone's birthright. Everyone - young or old, rich or poor, male or female, has access to learning. Exercise your birthright. Remember what you have learned cannot be stolen by others.
X International Islamic Free University
The Muslims rose to the zenith of civilization in a period of four decades. This astonishing feat was based on Al-Islam's emphasis on learning. For more than 1,000 years the Islamic Civilization remained the most advanced and progressive in the world. This is because Al-Islam stressed the importance of and held great respect for learning, forbade destruction, developed discipline and respect for authority, and stressed tolerance for other religions. The Muslims recognized excellence and hungered intellectually. The teachings of Qur'an and Sunnah drove many Muslims to their accomplishments in all disciplines of knowledge.
Muslim Ummah Today
The present status of Muslim Ummah is of great concern to all Muslim intellectuals. No one can deny that the Muslim Ummah occupies a position, which is at the lowest rung of the ladder in the world. The share of Muslims in Nobel Prizes and the Olympic Games is close to none. Muslims' contributions to literature- both general and scientific- is marginal at best. It is very sad to see the dismal status of Muslims in the present world. Muslims have been economically exploited and politically subjugated. Economically, Muslims are poor; in education they are backward; and in science and technology they are marginal. The average literacy rate is around 35-38 per cent and in rural areas in Muslim countries, the illiteracy rate among Muslim women is 93 to 97 percent. This is contradictory to the message of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (s).
What should be done
It appears that even 50 years after securing independence from colonial powers, Muslim countries are entrapped in internal squabble and corruption. Politicians are giving more attention to enriching their personal pockets and attaining political power than the welfare and well being of the masses. It is the dream of the Islamic Research Foundation and the concerned Muslims all over the world to work for the intellectual growth of the Muslim Ummah. The best solution to all the problems facing the Muslim Ummah is education. With education, problems of poverty, ill health, low standard of living, etc., can be solved. Hence I propose the establishment of an X International Islamic free University in the United States. Why United States? Because U.S. is the only super power with cutting edge science and technology including in the areas of medicine, genetics, computers (Information Technology) and Robotics, Space sciences and Military machinery. What is that X as a Prefix in the title of the University? The X will be replaced by the name of the donor or anyone who will fund the entire costs of establishing the University. A sum of one billion US dollars are needed to establish a humble university to impart state of the art knowledge to select students coming here from the Muslim world. Out of one billion dollars, one-half or 500 million dollars will be deposited in an Endowment Fund and the dividends from which will be used to meet the day to day operational expenses of the University such as salaries of very high quality faculty, boarding and lodging for the students, tuition fees, etc. And the other half of one billion will be spent on the infrastructure-buildings, libraries, Mosque, laboratories, computers, etc.,
Free University
The concept of Free University has not been floated so far. In the Free university there is no tuition fee and laboratory fee. And there is no charge for health insurance and medications. In addition the students will be given free boarding and lodging. Furthermore the selected students will be provided with airline tickets from the place of their origin to the place of the Free University. A suitable stipend will be paid to each student to meet his or her living expenses. In return the Free University exacts a very high standard of student caliber equal to or better than those required by the Ivy League colleges in USA. SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), GRE, MCAT, LCAT, etc. scores will be considered for admission. Admission is open to both male and female students. The Free University will award Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees. The Free University will have schools of Natural Sciences, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Engineering and Technology, Computers and Robotics, and others that deem necessary. There will be a School of Islamic studies. Islamic behavior will be strictly enforced on every student. Any student who scores less than a 'B' grade in the final examination of any subject will be expelled from the University. No warning will be given, nor any leniency is shown. This is the price the student pays for not pursuing the studies seriously when everything is provided free of cost.
Action Plan
I am taking this opportunity to invite the readers who may be located in the world and who have experience in running a University or those who have experience and acumen in business, finance, administration, strategic planning and execution, fund raising, highlevel contacts and interneting, education, etc. to contact me. An X International Islamic free University Advisory Council will be formed with the intention of making the Dream come True.
I am keeping my mind open to any and all suggestions from the readers.
Sayings of the Prophet (s)
"Acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, whether male or female."
"The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."
"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."
"The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."
"To listen to the words of the learned and to instill unto others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises."
"Thinking deep for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."
"Scholars should endeavour to speak knowledge and provide education to people who have been deprived of it. For where knowledge is hidden it disappears."
Muslim Ummah Today
The present status of Muslim Ummah is of great concern to all Muslim intellectuals. No one can deny that the Muslim Ummah occupies a position, which is at the lowest rung of the ladder in the world. The share of Muslims in Nobel Prizes and the Olympic Games is close to none. Muslims' contributions to literature- both general and scientific- is marginal at best. It is very sad to see the dismal status of Muslims in the present world. Muslims have been economically exploited and politically subjugated. Economically, Muslims are poor; in education they are backward; and in science and technology they are marginal. The average literacy rate is around 35-38 per cent and in rural areas in Muslim countries, the illiteracy rate among Muslim women is 93 to 97 percent. This is contradictory to the message of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (s).
What should be done
It appears that even 50 years after securing independence from colonial powers, Muslim countries are entrapped in internal squabble and corruption. Politicians are giving more attention to enriching their personal pockets and attaining political power than the welfare and well being of the masses. It is the dream of the Islamic Research Foundation and the concerned Muslims all over the world to work for the intellectual growth of the Muslim Ummah. The best solution to all the problems facing the Muslim Ummah is education. With education, problems of poverty, ill health, low standard of living, etc., can be solved. Hence I propose the establishment of an X International Islamic free University in the United States. Why United States? Because U.S. is the only super power with cutting edge science and technology including in the areas of medicine, genetics, computers (Information Technology) and Robotics, Space sciences and Military machinery. What is that X as a Prefix in the title of the University? The X will be replaced by the name of the donor or anyone who will fund the entire costs of establishing the University. A sum of one billion US dollars are needed to establish a humble university to impart state of the art knowledge to select students coming here from the Muslim world. Out of one billion dollars, one-half or 500 million dollars will be deposited in an Endowment Fund and the dividends from which will be used to meet the day to day operational expenses of the University such as salaries of very high quality faculty, boarding and lodging for the students, tuition fees, etc. And the other half of one billion will be spent on the infrastructure-buildings, libraries, Mosque, laboratories, computers, etc.,
Free University
The concept of Free University has not been floated so far. In the Free university there is no tuition fee and laboratory fee. And there is no charge for health insurance and medications. In addition the students will be given free boarding and lodging. Furthermore the selected students will be provided with airline tickets from the place of their origin to the place of the Free University. A suitable stipend will be paid to each student to meet his or her living expenses. In return the Free University exacts a very high standard of student caliber equal to or better than those required by the Ivy League colleges in USA. SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), GRE, MCAT, LCAT, etc. scores will be considered for admission. Admission is open to both male and female students. The Free University will award Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate degrees. The Free University will have schools of Natural Sciences, Humanities, Law, Medicine, Engineering and Technology, Computers and Robotics, and others that deem necessary. There will be a School of Islamic studies. Islamic behavior will be strictly enforced on every student. Any student who scores less than a 'B' grade in the final examination of any subject will be expelled from the University. No warning will be given, nor any leniency is shown. This is the price the student pays for not pursuing the studies seriously when everything is provided free of cost.
Action Plan
I am taking this opportunity to invite the readers who may be located in the world and who have experience in running a University or those who have experience and acumen in business, finance, administration, strategic planning and execution, fund raising, highlevel contacts and interneting, education, etc. to contact me. An X International Islamic free University Advisory Council will be formed with the intention of making the Dream come True.
I am keeping my mind open to any and all suggestions from the readers.
Sayings of the Prophet (s)
"Acquisition of knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim, whether male or female."
"The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."
"Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave."
"The best form of worship is the pursuit of knowledge."
"To listen to the words of the learned and to instill unto others the lessons of science is better than religious exercises."
"Thinking deep for one hour (with sincerity) is better than 70 years of (mechanical) worship."
"Scholars should endeavour to speak knowledge and provide education to people who have been deprived of it. For where knowledge is hidden it disappears."
The Islamic Revolution
The Tawheed, which Muhammad (s) propagated, was distinct from all other ideas because it was based on two principles:
Tawheed Rububiyyah, which means that Allah, is One, without any partners or associates.
Tawheed 'Ulluhiyyah, which means that Allah must be worshipped alone in everything, and total slavery must be to Allah alone in everything ranging from the spiritual to the political.
It was this call for Tawheed, which provoked the anger of the Makkan political authority because they realized that Muhammad (s) posed a threat to their societal setup with this call. The response of Ja'afar ibn Abi Talib (r) also illustrates this understanding which the Makkan authorities feared:
"He summoned us to worship the One True God and to reject the stones and idols we and our fathers had been worshipping in addition to Allah. He ordered us to be trustful in speech, to fulfill all the duties that were entrusted to us, to care for our relatives, to be kind to our neighbors, to refrain from unlawful food and consumption of blood. He forbade us to engage in lewdness and lying, the devouring of the money of the orphan and the defamation of married women. He commanded us to worship the One God and to assign no partners unto Him, to pray, to pay the purifying tax and to fast. We deemed him truthful and we believed him, and we accepted the Message he brought from Allah."
This understanding of the spiritual-political nature of the Message of Islam can also be found in many verses of the Qur'an.
Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. Why did it take thousands of years for man to land on the moon?
Non-Muslims ask, "If Islam had never come into existence, would there have been anything seriously lacking in world history?" The answer is yes.
Polytheism and superstition looked upon things and creatures as deities, and encouraged their worship. Before the advent of Islam, polytheism dominated the entire world. Man considered the moon, the sun other planets, wind, river, snake, cow, fire, mountain, etc. as deities. These natural objects inspired man to bow before it rather than try to conquer it. Holding the moon to be sacred was a major obstacle to even thinking of conquering it. The supremacy of polytheism was brought to an end by the Islamic revolution, which replaced it with monotheism, making it the dominant creed of the times. What is revolution?
Revolution is defined as a sudden, radical or complete change; especially the overthrow or renunciation of one ruler or government and substitution of another by the governed. To change fundamentally or completely. To turn over in the mind: reflect upon: ponder.
In the Muslim world this revolution was brought about through the influence of religion. The western world began its revolution by separating the secular sciences from religion culminating in the landing of man on the moon. Modern science is a part of the Islamic revolution. Because of the polytheistic view natural sciences had become forbidden territory and natural phenomena were given sanctity. The Islamic revolution of monotheism opened the doors of research and investigation by displacing nature from its sacred pedestal. Modern science is wholly the gift of the Islamic revolution-directly in its initial stages, and indirectly in its later stages. Modern scientific revolution was set in motion by Islam, which was sent by the Almighty for the guidance of all mankind for all eternity. Henri Pirenne author of "History of Western Europe" says, "Islam changed the face of the globe. The traditional order of history was overthrown." Islam is complete truth. All-pervasiveness of superstition served as a hurdle to all kinds of human development. The kings or rulers exploited the masses through polytheism and superstition. The kings represented God on earth. Some kings like Nimrod, Pharaoh claimed as gods.
Dr. George Sarton, a former Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, stated in his book, "The Life of Science" that the foundations of science were laid for us by the Mesopotamian civilization (present day Iraq) whose scholars and scientists were their priests. The second development of science came through the Greeks. The Third Stage of development, however, is to be credited to the meteoric rise of Islam. For nearly four hundred years Islam led the scientific world as from one end of Islam to the other, from Spain to India, the great body of past knowledge was exchanged between her scholars and the torch carried forward with the new discoveries. Scholars of Christendom from about the eleventh century were mainly occupied for over two hundred years in translating from Arabic into Latin. Thus Islam paved the way for the Renaissance, which in turn led to science's fourth great development in the modern world.
It was God's decree that Prophet Muhammad (s) to be a da'i (missionary) as well as a mahi (eradicator).
The Qur'an says:
"We have revealed to you this book so that, by the will of their Lord, you may lead men from darkness to light.
(Quran, 14: 1)
The Nile Goddess
In Egypt, it was an ancient and pagan custom that sometime in July a virgin decorated with bridal clothes was thrown in the Nile river as an offering to propitiate (or to do something to get favors) the Goddess of the river Nile. After the advent of Christianity, the Egyptians became Christians, however they continued to follow the ancient custom of sacrificing a virgin to the Goddess of river Nile.
During the time Hadrat Omar (r), Egypt came under the Muslim rule and Amar bin Al-Aas was appointed Governor of Egypt. The Egyptian elders waited on the Governor in July, and wanted his permission for continuing the old custom of throwing a virgin in the river to seek the pleasure and favors of the Nile Goddess.
The Governor said that such a practice was offensive and revolting to Islam and hence he disallowed such practice in an Islamic State. He further argued that Islam knew of no Goddess of the Nile and the question of any expiation did not arise. Islam knew of only One God-Allah and Allah did not stand in need of any propitiation.
After listening to this argument the Egyptian elders were not satisfied. They warned the Governor Amr bin Al-Aas that unless the sacrifice was made, the Nile River would not rise in flood and the entire countryside would get dry. Governor Amr was however, unyielding and inflexible that floods or no floods human sacrifice could not be permitted. The Egyptian leaders returned home in a gloomily mood.
The month of July came and passed away. No sacrifice was offered, and there was also no rise in the level of the river Nile. The month of August came and still the river did not rise. The Egyptians were trembling at what would happen if the river did not rise. The month of August passed away and still there was no flood in the river. The Egyptian leaders grieved and said, " That is all due to Islam. The Muslims have brought this fate on us."
The month of August was gone and September came, and still there was no sign of any rise in the level of the river Nile. The Egyptians lost hope and most of them were thinking of migrating elsewhere. That made Amar bin al-Aas worried. He reported the facts of the case to Hadrat Umar (ra) and wanted his instructions. Hadrat Umar approved of the action of Amr in not permitting the human sacrifice. Along with the letter, Hadrat Umar (ra) sent a card on which it was written:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From the slave of Allah, Umar the Commander of the faithful to the Nile of Egypt.
"Everything in the Universe is subject to the will of Allah. The rise in your level is subject to the will of Allah, and we pray to Allah (SWT) to command you to rise in level."
Hadrat Umar asked Amr that the card should be thrown in the middle of the river. On the eve of the Feast of the Christian Day of the Cross, Amr had the Christians assemble on the river bank and after reciting some verses from the Noble Qur'an and taking the name of Allah, he threw the card of Hadrat Umar in the middle of the river. Then the Muslims assembled on the riverbank lifted their hands in prayers seeking the blessings of Allah, in making the river rise in level. The card of Hadrat Umar floated on the surface of the Nile for some distance and then it disappeared.
The next morning the river rose to its full flood height. Verily Allah had commanded the river to flow, and that was the end of the evil custom of sacrificing a virgin to secure a rise in the level of the river. That was the vindication of Islam. Many Egyptians now came to believe that Islam was a blessing and a true religion. They hastened to the Muslim camp and were converted to Islam.
Islamic Revolution
Before the time of the Prophet of Islam, the ancient civilizations such as Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Persian- all were polytheistic (shirk) in their beliefs. That is they worshipped natural phenomena such as the earth (Goddess Gaiga now in the west), rivers, mountains, sun, moon or stars. Only Islam was able to displace them from the pedestal of worship and created the intellectual frame of mind, which is known as the scientific revolution.
The polytheists believed the river to possess divine attributes. They believed the goddess of river caused the water to move and made it useful or harmful. In Islam the river is a creation of Allah and not a creator and it was a servant of Allah and not the Lord. Thus the Muslims found ways and means to exploit the rivers on a large scale. The history books tell us that there is no precedent in any nation to the large-scale irrigation system developed by the Spanish Muslims. The Spanish Muslims developed agriculture and created Departments of agriculture science and irrigation in the universities. They studied trees and carried out research on the properties of soil. The infertile lands were converted into orchards and lush green fields, in today's terms -a green revolution. Before this people treated rivers, springs and sea as gods. But the Muslims brought the green revolution because of their monotheistic thinking.
Polytheism (shirk) was prevalent until the 7th century. It was replaced with monotheism (Tawhid) by the Islamic Revolution. This in turn opened the doors of research and investigation by abolishing the practice of worshipping the natural phenomena. Modern industrial progress owes its existence to the Arab Muslims due to their creed of monotheism, which instilled them a mental and practical revolution. Islam changed the thinking of the Muslims and contributed to the modern scientific revolution. Historians acknowledge that Islam changed the face of the globe. Polytheism and superstition blocked the progress and advancement of human development. Islam encouraged the investigation of nature and destroyed the sanctity of nature.
Islam also destroyed the concept of intermediaries between God and man, such as the Kings and priests who claimed as God's representatives on earth or even the incarnations of God on earth. Polytheism (shirk) curbed freedom of thought. Polytheism and superstition were the major obstacles to all kinds of progress. Superstitious beliefs were an obstruction in the pat of free enquiry. The search for new truths and discovery of nature's secrets remained forbidden areas for them for centuries. Before the Islamic revolution, the world had been swept by superstitious beliefs and idolatry. The revolution based on monotheism of Islam put an almost complete end to polytheism (shirk) The Greeks excelled in the fields of art and philosophy. Their contribution to the field of science (except Archimedes' hydrostatics) was actually quite negligible. Plato's teacher, Socrates (may be construed as a Haneef) never worshipped the pagan gods which were worshipped by the Athenians in Greece and instilled free enquiry among the youth of Athens and for that he was forced to drink hemlock as a punishment in 399 BC. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier in 212 BC failing to recognize him. The atmosphere for scientific progress did not exist in ancient Greece. Similarly, the mighty Roman Empire never produced a single scientist.
In Islam with its foundation of monotheism created an atmosphere and environment which stimulated scientific research that lead to the conquest of natural phenomena. The modern age which is the age of science and industry, of freedom and equality is the direct consequence of the Islamic revolution rooted in the Qur'an.
From the sixth century to the 10th century Europe was in dark ages while the Islamic civilization attained the pinnacles of science and technology. After the crusades the Europeans came in contact with the Islamic civilization. They went to Muslim universities in Spain, Sicily, Cairo, and Baghdad. They translated the Arabic works into Latin for over two hundred years. The European Renaissance started in the 15th century and culminated in the emergence of the modern industrial civilization. Islamic revolution is responsible for the emancipation of the human thought.
During the Abbasid era, paper was being manufactured on a large scale and so books could be produced without the dearth of paper. There were more than 400,000 books in the library of Cordova (Spain) in the tenth century, whereas in Europe at that time, the library of Canterbury- the top of the list of the Christian libraries- contained only 1800 books in the 13 the century.
In many countries scholars were born with creative minds who could think independently of the their fellow citizens. But due to the unfavorable atmosphere and hostile environment of times, their efforts could be brought to fruition. Their knowledge withered away before they could flower. On the other hand Islamic revolution produced favorable atmosphere, it unleashed a mighty flood of knowledge which had been kept pent up for thousands of years by the dam of polytheism (shirk) and superstition. For progress of Science and Technology an atmosphere of free investigation is essential. One may be surprised to know that even today there are some people and societies who believe that the earth is flat. Even today the Hindus with MD and Ph.D. degrees worship the Sun as god and believe that the lunar and solar eclipses are caused when the snakes Rahu and Ketu swallow them. One thousand years ago Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni explained how the solar and lunar eclipses are caused by the shadows of moon and earth falling on the sun and moon respectively. The Hindus believe in 320 million gods and goddesses. Even if one spends one minute in reciting the name of a god, the whole life is not enough to recite the names of 320 million gods and goddesses.
Tawheed Rububiyyah, which means that Allah, is One, without any partners or associates.
Tawheed 'Ulluhiyyah, which means that Allah must be worshipped alone in everything, and total slavery must be to Allah alone in everything ranging from the spiritual to the political.
It was this call for Tawheed, which provoked the anger of the Makkan political authority because they realized that Muhammad (s) posed a threat to their societal setup with this call. The response of Ja'afar ibn Abi Talib (r) also illustrates this understanding which the Makkan authorities feared:
"He summoned us to worship the One True God and to reject the stones and idols we and our fathers had been worshipping in addition to Allah. He ordered us to be trustful in speech, to fulfill all the duties that were entrusted to us, to care for our relatives, to be kind to our neighbors, to refrain from unlawful food and consumption of blood. He forbade us to engage in lewdness and lying, the devouring of the money of the orphan and the defamation of married women. He commanded us to worship the One God and to assign no partners unto Him, to pray, to pay the purifying tax and to fast. We deemed him truthful and we believed him, and we accepted the Message he brought from Allah."
This understanding of the spiritual-political nature of the Message of Islam can also be found in many verses of the Qur'an.
Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. Why did it take thousands of years for man to land on the moon?
Non-Muslims ask, "If Islam had never come into existence, would there have been anything seriously lacking in world history?" The answer is yes.
Polytheism and superstition looked upon things and creatures as deities, and encouraged their worship. Before the advent of Islam, polytheism dominated the entire world. Man considered the moon, the sun other planets, wind, river, snake, cow, fire, mountain, etc. as deities. These natural objects inspired man to bow before it rather than try to conquer it. Holding the moon to be sacred was a major obstacle to even thinking of conquering it. The supremacy of polytheism was brought to an end by the Islamic revolution, which replaced it with monotheism, making it the dominant creed of the times. What is revolution?
Revolution is defined as a sudden, radical or complete change; especially the overthrow or renunciation of one ruler or government and substitution of another by the governed. To change fundamentally or completely. To turn over in the mind: reflect upon: ponder.
In the Muslim world this revolution was brought about through the influence of religion. The western world began its revolution by separating the secular sciences from religion culminating in the landing of man on the moon. Modern science is a part of the Islamic revolution. Because of the polytheistic view natural sciences had become forbidden territory and natural phenomena were given sanctity. The Islamic revolution of monotheism opened the doors of research and investigation by displacing nature from its sacred pedestal. Modern science is wholly the gift of the Islamic revolution-directly in its initial stages, and indirectly in its later stages. Modern scientific revolution was set in motion by Islam, which was sent by the Almighty for the guidance of all mankind for all eternity. Henri Pirenne author of "History of Western Europe" says, "Islam changed the face of the globe. The traditional order of history was overthrown." Islam is complete truth. All-pervasiveness of superstition served as a hurdle to all kinds of human development. The kings or rulers exploited the masses through polytheism and superstition. The kings represented God on earth. Some kings like Nimrod, Pharaoh claimed as gods.
Dr. George Sarton, a former Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, stated in his book, "The Life of Science" that the foundations of science were laid for us by the Mesopotamian civilization (present day Iraq) whose scholars and scientists were their priests. The second development of science came through the Greeks. The Third Stage of development, however, is to be credited to the meteoric rise of Islam. For nearly four hundred years Islam led the scientific world as from one end of Islam to the other, from Spain to India, the great body of past knowledge was exchanged between her scholars and the torch carried forward with the new discoveries. Scholars of Christendom from about the eleventh century were mainly occupied for over two hundred years in translating from Arabic into Latin. Thus Islam paved the way for the Renaissance, which in turn led to science's fourth great development in the modern world.
It was God's decree that Prophet Muhammad (s) to be a da'i (missionary) as well as a mahi (eradicator).
The Qur'an says:
"We have revealed to you this book so that, by the will of their Lord, you may lead men from darkness to light.
(Quran, 14: 1)
The Nile Goddess
In Egypt, it was an ancient and pagan custom that sometime in July a virgin decorated with bridal clothes was thrown in the Nile river as an offering to propitiate (or to do something to get favors) the Goddess of the river Nile. After the advent of Christianity, the Egyptians became Christians, however they continued to follow the ancient custom of sacrificing a virgin to the Goddess of river Nile.
During the time Hadrat Omar (r), Egypt came under the Muslim rule and Amar bin Al-Aas was appointed Governor of Egypt. The Egyptian elders waited on the Governor in July, and wanted his permission for continuing the old custom of throwing a virgin in the river to seek the pleasure and favors of the Nile Goddess.
The Governor said that such a practice was offensive and revolting to Islam and hence he disallowed such practice in an Islamic State. He further argued that Islam knew of no Goddess of the Nile and the question of any expiation did not arise. Islam knew of only One God-Allah and Allah did not stand in need of any propitiation.
After listening to this argument the Egyptian elders were not satisfied. They warned the Governor Amr bin Al-Aas that unless the sacrifice was made, the Nile River would not rise in flood and the entire countryside would get dry. Governor Amr was however, unyielding and inflexible that floods or no floods human sacrifice could not be permitted. The Egyptian leaders returned home in a gloomily mood.
The month of July came and passed away. No sacrifice was offered, and there was also no rise in the level of the river Nile. The month of August came and still the river did not rise. The Egyptians were trembling at what would happen if the river did not rise. The month of August passed away and still there was no flood in the river. The Egyptian leaders grieved and said, " That is all due to Islam. The Muslims have brought this fate on us."
The month of August was gone and September came, and still there was no sign of any rise in the level of the river Nile. The Egyptians lost hope and most of them were thinking of migrating elsewhere. That made Amar bin al-Aas worried. He reported the facts of the case to Hadrat Umar (ra) and wanted his instructions. Hadrat Umar approved of the action of Amr in not permitting the human sacrifice. Along with the letter, Hadrat Umar (ra) sent a card on which it was written:
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From the slave of Allah, Umar the Commander of the faithful to the Nile of Egypt.
"Everything in the Universe is subject to the will of Allah. The rise in your level is subject to the will of Allah, and we pray to Allah (SWT) to command you to rise in level."
Hadrat Umar asked Amr that the card should be thrown in the middle of the river. On the eve of the Feast of the Christian Day of the Cross, Amr had the Christians assemble on the river bank and after reciting some verses from the Noble Qur'an and taking the name of Allah, he threw the card of Hadrat Umar in the middle of the river. Then the Muslims assembled on the riverbank lifted their hands in prayers seeking the blessings of Allah, in making the river rise in level. The card of Hadrat Umar floated on the surface of the Nile for some distance and then it disappeared.
The next morning the river rose to its full flood height. Verily Allah had commanded the river to flow, and that was the end of the evil custom of sacrificing a virgin to secure a rise in the level of the river. That was the vindication of Islam. Many Egyptians now came to believe that Islam was a blessing and a true religion. They hastened to the Muslim camp and were converted to Islam.
Islamic Revolution
Before the time of the Prophet of Islam, the ancient civilizations such as Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Persian- all were polytheistic (shirk) in their beliefs. That is they worshipped natural phenomena such as the earth (Goddess Gaiga now in the west), rivers, mountains, sun, moon or stars. Only Islam was able to displace them from the pedestal of worship and created the intellectual frame of mind, which is known as the scientific revolution.
The polytheists believed the river to possess divine attributes. They believed the goddess of river caused the water to move and made it useful or harmful. In Islam the river is a creation of Allah and not a creator and it was a servant of Allah and not the Lord. Thus the Muslims found ways and means to exploit the rivers on a large scale. The history books tell us that there is no precedent in any nation to the large-scale irrigation system developed by the Spanish Muslims. The Spanish Muslims developed agriculture and created Departments of agriculture science and irrigation in the universities. They studied trees and carried out research on the properties of soil. The infertile lands were converted into orchards and lush green fields, in today's terms -a green revolution. Before this people treated rivers, springs and sea as gods. But the Muslims brought the green revolution because of their monotheistic thinking.
Polytheism (shirk) was prevalent until the 7th century. It was replaced with monotheism (Tawhid) by the Islamic Revolution. This in turn opened the doors of research and investigation by abolishing the practice of worshipping the natural phenomena. Modern industrial progress owes its existence to the Arab Muslims due to their creed of monotheism, which instilled them a mental and practical revolution. Islam changed the thinking of the Muslims and contributed to the modern scientific revolution. Historians acknowledge that Islam changed the face of the globe. Polytheism and superstition blocked the progress and advancement of human development. Islam encouraged the investigation of nature and destroyed the sanctity of nature.
Islam also destroyed the concept of intermediaries between God and man, such as the Kings and priests who claimed as God's representatives on earth or even the incarnations of God on earth. Polytheism (shirk) curbed freedom of thought. Polytheism and superstition were the major obstacles to all kinds of progress. Superstitious beliefs were an obstruction in the pat of free enquiry. The search for new truths and discovery of nature's secrets remained forbidden areas for them for centuries. Before the Islamic revolution, the world had been swept by superstitious beliefs and idolatry. The revolution based on monotheism of Islam put an almost complete end to polytheism (shirk) The Greeks excelled in the fields of art and philosophy. Their contribution to the field of science (except Archimedes' hydrostatics) was actually quite negligible. Plato's teacher, Socrates (may be construed as a Haneef) never worshipped the pagan gods which were worshipped by the Athenians in Greece and instilled free enquiry among the youth of Athens and for that he was forced to drink hemlock as a punishment in 399 BC. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier in 212 BC failing to recognize him. The atmosphere for scientific progress did not exist in ancient Greece. Similarly, the mighty Roman Empire never produced a single scientist.
In Islam with its foundation of monotheism created an atmosphere and environment which stimulated scientific research that lead to the conquest of natural phenomena. The modern age which is the age of science and industry, of freedom and equality is the direct consequence of the Islamic revolution rooted in the Qur'an.
From the sixth century to the 10th century Europe was in dark ages while the Islamic civilization attained the pinnacles of science and technology. After the crusades the Europeans came in contact with the Islamic civilization. They went to Muslim universities in Spain, Sicily, Cairo, and Baghdad. They translated the Arabic works into Latin for over two hundred years. The European Renaissance started in the 15th century and culminated in the emergence of the modern industrial civilization. Islamic revolution is responsible for the emancipation of the human thought.
During the Abbasid era, paper was being manufactured on a large scale and so books could be produced without the dearth of paper. There were more than 400,000 books in the library of Cordova (Spain) in the tenth century, whereas in Europe at that time, the library of Canterbury- the top of the list of the Christian libraries- contained only 1800 books in the 13 the century.
In many countries scholars were born with creative minds who could think independently of the their fellow citizens. But due to the unfavorable atmosphere and hostile environment of times, their efforts could be brought to fruition. Their knowledge withered away before they could flower. On the other hand Islamic revolution produced favorable atmosphere, it unleashed a mighty flood of knowledge which had been kept pent up for thousands of years by the dam of polytheism (shirk) and superstition. For progress of Science and Technology an atmosphere of free investigation is essential. One may be surprised to know that even today there are some people and societies who believe that the earth is flat. Even today the Hindus with MD and Ph.D. degrees worship the Sun as god and believe that the lunar and solar eclipses are caused when the snakes Rahu and Ketu swallow them. One thousand years ago Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni explained how the solar and lunar eclipses are caused by the shadows of moon and earth falling on the sun and moon respectively. The Hindus believe in 320 million gods and goddesses. Even if one spends one minute in reciting the name of a god, the whole life is not enough to recite the names of 320 million gods and goddesses.
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