CONTRIBUTIONS OF MUSLIMS AND ISLAM IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE

Abstract

Muslims have played very important role in the field of medical science. They began experiments and observations from the first century of Hijra. Islam created great enthusiasm for scientific activities. After extensive translation from Greek, Sanskrit and some other ancient languages into Arabic, Islamic physicians had at their disposal nearly all the valuable medical works, like Hippocratic and Galenic writings. Islamic physicians were immensely influenced by them, and largely depended on their studies as they considered them medical authorities. One of the important physicians in Islam was Avicenna (980-1037) the king of medicine. He had a great influence in the West and the East and was regarded as a medical authority until the era of medical studies. It was used as textbook in the West and East. Another Muslim physician in Islam who had great influence on later Ottoman physicians was Ibn al Nafis. In the 14th century Mansoor bin Muhammad composed a monograph on anatomy called" Illustrated Anatomy " By the eighth century, most of Europe was deep in the dark ages, with only the Byzantine Empire preserving a few fragments of the ancient knowledge. Islamic Caliphate provided a stable environment for Islamic Scholars, who were sponsored by the ruling class. Most Islamic scholars were free to undertake pure research. As with the Ancient Greeks, the Islamic observations on life were closely tied to philosophy and theology. There are so many Muslim scholars who contributed a lot in the field of medical Science and will be discussed in my research paper