Abulqasim Al-Zahrawi (936-1013) and His Achievements in Medicine

By Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef, New Age Islam 4 November 2022 Main Points 1. Abdulqasim Al-Zahrawi is the tallest individual that Muslims have ever produced in the area of medicine. 2- Al-Zahrawi was a product of the extensive educational culture that was rife at one time in the Muslim world. 3- We must rebuild the comprehensive system if we are to reclaim the virtues of our former culture. ---------- This article's goal is not to promote "once-upon-a-time-we were-also-king" of mindset. Indeed, we must never to be arrogant about the past. Rather, this essay tries to showcase our ancestors' accomplishments, particularly in the fields of science and medicine, because if they could do it, why can't we? Compared to them, we have greater opportunities today. This task will need to be accepted by the younger generation. Instead of squandering lives on empty rhetoric about restoring the defunct caliphate, they ought to work to restore the intellectual climate that once belonged exclusively to Muslims. At the Al-Zahra palace located in the north, 6 miles away from the monumental Andalusian city of Cordova a child was born to Abbas, an expert in engraving. He was named by his friend, the royal physician Hakeem Essa, Khalaf bin Abbas, at home called Al-Zahrawi having been born at Al-Zahra. Although Abulqasim was his original nickname, it was later altered to Abulcasis or Albucasis in European circles. Khalaf Zahrawi had learned the arts and sciences that were popular at the time in Cordova. After that, he became interested in engraving till he became an adept at it, but soon grew tired with it and turned his attention to medicine. He then began studying under the royal physician Hakeem Essa and soon gained expertise in it as well. When Hakam Mustansir II was the caliph of Andalusia Essa, the royal physician was appointed the hospital director at Al-Zahra, and Khalaf became the consultant to the director. In those days, Muslims of Andalusia were facing the onslaught of northern Christian forces of the Castele state. They were on the retreating path, so when Al-Zahrawi died at the age of 77, he was unfortunate to witness the fall of Al-Zahra at the hands of the Christians two years before of his death. What Al-Zahrawi accomplished: 1-Al-Zahrawi as is said to have invented more than 200 instruments and tools for conducting surgery, and he used the best kind of them for that purpose. 2- He set principles of surgical operation in areas such as the patient's intestines, throat, brain, lungs, and stomach. 3- He explained how to conduct surgical operations of the eye and ears and adopted necessary arrangements for that. 4- He contrived an effective treatment for the joining of dislocated bones. 5- He advised that the wound caused by cancer must not be touched because it becomes more dangerous by doing so. 6- He prescribed doses of medicine and also started to write the name of the same on its back or on the bottle. 7- Al-Zahrawi arranged for the education and training of chemists and pharmacists so that they could not mix up the medicine. 8- He arranged for better food for the patients in his hospital so that they regain defensive strength in their bodies. 9- He provided for the daily changing of patients' bed sheets and clothing which is still in use in hospitals worldwide. 10- Al-Zahrawi used to give prescriptions and diagnose to the patient's relatives so that they also can help a patient avoid lapses in taking medicine. 11- It was also in use that the prescription contains a dietary description and necessary preventive measures. 12- For the mentally challenged, he provided attendants to look after them, to change their clothing daily, bathe them and bring them into fresh air, and a provision of singing and music for them as he believed to be beneficial for them. 13- The description of pregnancy outside the womb was also given for the first time by Al-Zahrawi, as he also diagnosed haemophilia to be a hereditary disease. 14- He also had the skill to treat the wound by burning. The methods of Al-Zahrawi first of all adopted in Europe, as Europeans translated his books into their different languages. Al-Zahrawi used financial resources from Waqf properties for the betterment of hospitals. Tasrif, a Medical Encyclopaedia: In his youth, Al-Zahrawi embarked on a project to write down a medical Encyclopaedia called Kitabut Tasrif. Comprising 30 monographs as it was a summary of thework being done in the medical world. Out of thirty, twenty-two of its chapters deal with pharmacology, while a detailed chapter was on surgery. S. Qasim Mahmood writes : "All the critical operations Abulqasim would conduct and what he would gather in terms of new discoveries during the process all that he briefly compiled in a book shape; his magnum opus Tasrif, which has been used in Europe for centuries to come. Its contents were cited as a reference by European surgeons”. The first Latin translation of Tasrif appeared in Vienna in 1417. After its many Latin translations came out from different European publishing centers, its best Latin edition with illustrated original Arabic text was published in 1541 from Bastille. Until the last decades of the nineteenth century, the book had been in use in Europe. Not only the European scholars rendered it in their respective languages, but some of them have written commentaries on it too. Here arises a million-dollar question: what was the environment that created such an outstanding and great scholar in medicine as Al-Zahrawi? My answer would be that the environment was where all the Muslim societies there permeated an inner current of knowledge. Scientific arts were called "Arab Sciences" as a symbol of pride. There was an adage in Europe then: "Who does not learn Arabic could not learn anything". Kings, Knights, and princes from Europe would feel proud as they had learned in the seminaries of Cordova, Toledo, Grenada, etc. For, the Muslim mind in the very first century of their political and cultural dominance created a scientific revolution based on the deductive methodology of acquiring knowledge in place of the inductive methodology of the Greeks. So a new Muslim mind emerged, which created an Arab renaissance in the Muslim world and led to great discoverers like those made by Gaber, Alhazen, Ibn Sina, Alkindi and Razes et al. At that time the universe was to Muslims an open book of nature; they were obliged by Quran repeatedly to ponder upon the universe and explore the vast horizons and look into the signs of the souls. By igniting this passion, zeal, and thirst for knowledge, it wasn't long before they adopted the practise of research, analysis, and discovery. Their motivation for developing empirical methods was to harness and utilise natural forces for the benefit of whole mankind. All this led them to make this universe and its things a subject of search and research, quest and discovery, and not the subject of worship and bow down in awe; thus, scientific research was a religious need for them. In the very beginning of Islamic history, astronomy became a pressing need for Muslims. Because it was impossible to fix a schedule and draw a prayer time table for five times a day in diverse locations around the world without a solid understanding of geography and geometry. Additionally, the Quran mentions proficiency in mapping “due to the movements of the sun and moon to inform people that this refers to years and their calculation”. (Surah Yunus: 5) like charting a prayer table, fixing the direction of Kaaba, and charting out a Lunar Calender for the month of Ramazan were the aspects that attracted Muslim attention and led them to explore the universe. Debates on these matters among Muslim scholars and theologians went on until Al-Biruni came with his تحديد الاماكن (Determining of places), and his say was a decisive one in this regard. Thus, Al-Khwarizmi also sought to fulfil a religious obligation when he penned his well-known book, “Aljabr Walmuqabla”. As in its introduction he desired to have quickly performed some geometric evaluation in the computation for allocating the inheritance, in mapping the earth, digging up the rivers, and other similar tasks. And his efforts would be highly regarded in the hereafter. Furthermore, those who brought forth such a new world of information, open mindedness had a comprehensive knowledge of the material world along with their erudition in traditional sciences. For instance, Ibn Nafees (1286), who made a number of novel findings about blood circulation and critiqued Al-Qanun Fittib, Ibn Sina's key work was one of the cornerstones of Shafiet legal theory. A Shia scholar Qutbuddin Shirazi, a disciple of Tusi, was associated with the observatory of Maragheh. He was also a compiler of several excellent works in theology like Sharhussunah, Futhul Mannan fi Tafseeril Quran. If Nizamuddin Neshapuri wrote on Almagest, he too wrote Gharaibul Quran in Quranic science. Moreover, who was Ibn Shatir? The man who was first to talk about the governing system of the universe was a time setter in the principal mosque of Damascus. Ibn Rushd, or Averroes, a commonly known name in the world of philosophy, who writing a rejoinder of Tahafatul Falasipha (Incoherence of Philosophers) by Al-Ghazali gave a new life to philosophy; who was he? A great jurist as well as a judge in Seville and Granada. That was the cultural environment and a comprehensive civilization that created Al-Zahrawi and other geniuses and made him what he was. Those were times when there was no dichotomy between religion and mundane knowledge, and the pure material secular sciences were also treated as a religious need. Although Abulqasim Al-Zahrawi, who lived in the lost paradise of Andalusia and produced his masterpiece Kitabut Tasrif (كتاب التصريف), passed away thousands of years ago. The book had a tremendous, immediate impact on the medical community in Europe. The book, according to renowned Turk historian Fuat Sezgin, contained numerous important surgical difficulties and problems that he is rightfully credited with solving today. Sezgin accentuated his point by using a few illustrations. For instance Ambrosius Pare's discovery of how to stop bleeding from large veins, the Walcher’s position in obstetrics, which is credited to a German doctor, or Fredric Trendelenburg's Trendelenburg operation techniques are just a few examples of techniques and medical devices that are credited to Western physicians but according to Sezgin, all these ways and methods were found in the book of Al-Zahrawi. Therefore, if we wish to advance civilizationally once more, we must have the same all-encompassing culture built on both secular and religious sciences. The distinction between religious and secular must be eliminated. Additionally, we need a seminary and school educational structure that translates a grasp of the sacred and secular as well. Furthermore, blending the finest of the past and most useful of the present shouldn't merely be a religious slogan used to deceive the Muslim populace, as it has been for the previous 200 years. --------- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Dr. Mohammad Ghitreef is a Research Associate with the Centre for Promotion of Educational and Cultural Advancement of Muslims of India, AMU Aligarh. --------- URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-personalities/abulqasim-al-zahrawi-achievements-medicine/d/128337 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism