---
title: "History of medicine"
chunk: 7/17
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicine"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:00:03.179404+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Islamic medicine grew significantly when the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE) overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate in 750 CE. This change in dynasty served as a turning point towards scientific and medical developments. A large contributor to this was that, under Abbasid rule, much of the Greek legacy was transmitted into Arabic which by then, was the main language of Islamic peoples. Many Islamic physicians were heavily influenced by the works of Greek scholars of Alexandria and Egypt and were able to expand on those texts to produce new medical knowledge. This period of time is known as the Islamic Golden Age where there was development and flourishment of technology, commerce and sciences, including medicine. The creation of the first Islamic Hospital in 805 CE by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid in Baghdad was a significant development. This hospital provided educational opportunities for Islamic physicians.

Muslims were influenced by ancient Indian, Persian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine medical practices, and helped them to develop it further. Galen & Hippocrates were pre-eminent authorities. The translation of 129 of Galen's works into Arabic by the Nestorian Christian Hunayn ibn Ishaq and his assistants, and in particular Galen's insistence on a rational systematic approach to medicine, set the template for Islamic medicine, which spread throughout the Arab Empire. Its most famous physicians included the Persian polymaths Abu Bakr al-Razi and Avicenna, who wrote more than 40 works on health, medicine, and well-being. Taking leads from Greece and Rome, Islamic scholars kept medicine moving forward. Persian polymath Avicenna has been called the "father of medicine" and wrote The Canon of Medicine which became a standard medical text in medieval European universities, considered one of the most famous books in the history of medicine. The Canon of Medicine presents an overview of medicine in the medieval Islamic world, which had been influenced by earlier traditions including Greco-Roman medicine, Al-Rāzi was one of the first to question the Greek theory of humorism, which nevertheless remained influential in medieval Western and Islamic medicine. Some volumes of al-Rāzi's work Al-Mansuri, namely "On Surgery" and "A General Book on Therapy", became part of the medical curriculum in European universities. He has been described as a doctor's doctor, the father of pediatrics, and a pioneer of ophthalmology.
In addition to contributions to understanding human anatomy, Islamic physicians played a role in the development of the modern hospital system. During the Safavid Empire (16th–18th centuries) in Iran and the Mughal Empire (16th–19th centuries) in India, Muslim scholars transformed the institution of the hospital, creating an environment in which developing medical knowledge could be passed among students and teachers from a range of cultures. There were two main schools of thought with patient care. These included humoral physiology from the Persians and Ayurvedic practice. After these theories were translated from Sanskrit to Persian and vice-versa, hospitals could have a mix of culture and techniques. Hospitals became increasingly common as wealthy patrons commonly founded them. Many features still in use today, such as emphasis on hygiene, a staff dedicated to the care of patients, and separation of individual patients were developed in Islamic hospitals before they came into practice in Europe. The patient care aspect of hospitals in Europe had then not taken effect. European hospitals were places of religion rather than science. As was the case with much of the scientific work done by Islamic scholars, many of these novel developments in medical practice were transmitted to European cultures, after they had long been used throughout the Islamic world. Although Islamic scientists were responsible for discovering much of the knowledge that allows the hospital system to function safely today, European scholars who built on this work still receive the majority of the credit.
Before the development of scientific medical practices in the Islamic empires, medical care was mainly performed by religious figures such as priests. Without an understanding of how infectious diseases worked and why sickness spread from person to person, these early attempts at caring for the ill and injured often did harm. With the development of new and safer practices by scholars and physicians in hospitals of the Islamic world, ideas vital for the effective care of patients were developed, learned, and transmitted. Hospitals developed concepts and structures, still used today: separate wards for male and female patients, pharmacies, medical record-keeping, and personal and institutional sanitation and hygiene. Much of this knowledge was recorded and passed on through Islamic medical texts, many of which were carried to Europe and translated for the use of European medical workers. The Tasrif, written by surgeon Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi, was translated into Latin; it became one of the most important medical texts in European universities during the Middle Ages and contained useful information on surgical techniques and spread of bacterial infection.
The hospital was a typical institution included in most Muslim cities, and although they were often physically attached to religious institutions, they were not themselves places of religious practice. Islamic hospitals, along with observatories used for astronomical science, were some of the most important points of exchange for the spread of scientific knowledge.

=== Europe ===