Many people often assume that since modern medicine comes from the West, it has no connection with religion, primarily because Western societies are not deeply religious. On the contrary, it can be said that the contributions of the two major world religions are among the foundational elements of modern healthcare. Since time immemorial, specifically around ten thousand years ago, medical practice was known in the world, in countries like Egypt, Persia, China, and India. However, the treatments at that time were based on roots, herbs, and some local practices. Later, modern science emerged from Western countries
The medicine of this era originated in Greece around 2000 years before the birth of Prophet Jesus (PBUH) (2000 BC), through a man named Hippocrates, who had no specific religion. He dedicated himself to studying the human body, its interior and exterior, and the medicines each body part primarily needed. He wrote down his thoughts and taught them, and his students further enhanced their understanding. Thus, the knowledge of the human body grew until a major university was established in that country, which taught medicine and became a center for scholarly pursuit from all over Europe.
When Islam entered the Western regions through Al-Andalus (Spain) around 650 years after the birth of Prophet Jesus (PBUH), it encountered this medical knowledge but did not destroy it. Instead, some Muslims of that era diligently enrolled in schools teaching medicine, learned it, and added their own knowledge and understanding to that of the Europeans. Even today, some of their additional contributions remain in the curriculum. One irritating practice of contemporary Westerners is concealing the Islamic identities of these individuals, giving them English names instead, as if to claim them as their own.
Here are a few of such renowned early Muslim pioneers who created things still in use today. Their original names, their Westernized names, and their eras are provided:
Muhammad bin Zakariyya Al-Razi: Rhazes (865-925 AD): Whose portrait is on this history. He was from Persia (modern-day Iran) and contributed advancements to healthcare that remain unmatched to this day. This is because, not just once or twice, he consistently provided paradigm-shifting information and convincing evidence in medicine. For example, he was the first to distinguish between smallpox (which causes a rash, and whose description was already seen previously) and measles, both caused by a viral infection. He also invented many medical instruments.
He wrote over one hundred books on medicine. The most famous among them is 'Al-Hawi' (The Comprehensive Book), which is a compendium of medical information concerning medications and how they work in our bodies.
In an incident where he was approached by a man selling an eye medicine, who brought him the medicine to apply to his eye, he asked him to explain how the eye works, but the man couldn't. Therefore, Al-Razi declared the medicine fake. This serves as our earliest example of strict caution when buying medicines from ignorant people.
Ali Ibn Abbas: Haly Abbas (920-994 AD): He was also from Persia and is renowned in the world of medicine. He contributed by writing books in Arabic, which were particularly detailed regarding the brain and its diseases, and contained information on scientific research methodology akin to the modern approach.
Abul Qasim Al-Zahrawi: Abulcasis (936- 1013 AD): An Arab who was born in Spain. He excelled as the first modern surgeon in the Muslim world because he invented tools for examining various parts of the human body; he created over two hundred, from which modern ones are derived. He was also the first to demonstrate to the world that twins could be delivered via Caesarean section, based on the numerous surgeries he performed in this area.
He became the physician of the Muslim Caliph in Al-Andalus, namely Caliph Al-Hakam, and wrote many books on surgery, the methodologies of which can still be found in modern textbooks. For further details, one can research "Kitab al-Tasrif" (The Method of Medicine).
Abu Ali Ibn Sina: Avicenna (980-1037): He was also from Persia, possessing a brilliant intellect and profound thinking. He memorized the Quran by the age of ten only, then became a physician by around sixteen. He provided free medical care to the sick in his city and became the chief physician to the city's Caliph.
Later, he migrated westward, and during his journey, he compiled volumes on healthcare and medical practice, and also taught students. This collection, called "The Canon of Medicine" (Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb), was used for a long time in Western universities of that era as a teaching textbook.
There are also others like Ishak Al-Ruhawi from Turkey, who was the first to elaborate on medical ethics; meaning, exercising caution and strictness in medical practice and the judgment that should be passed on negligent and errant physicians in his book 'Adab al-Tabib' (Practical Ethics of the Physician). He was also the first to explain that for every new thing discovered in medical science, some experts in the field must conduct deep research to verify or refute the new finding.
Then there are many others, like the teachers of those we have listed, who were not as famous as their students. For example, Al-Razi's teacher, Abu Hassan Al-Tabari, who was prominent in the field of pediatrics.
There are also others like Abu Alhassan Ibn Al-Nafis, the Syrian physician, whom the Europeans either do not know or know but refuse to acknowledge. He was the one who first described how blood circulates in our bodies, long before the European William Harvey, whom they claim first described this. And so many others of their kind.