Abstract
This paper is a study of fragments contained into the religious questions (VII-X) of pest treatise, entitled in Arabic 'Tahsil gharad al-qasid fi-tafsil al-marad al-wafid' (succeeding in clarify pest disease), which was written in the 14th century by the well-known Spanish physician Ibn Khatima (d.circa1369), being referred to the Black Death, the terrible pandemic that devastated Asia, Africa and Europe at that time. The article includes an introduction about the author and his literary and scientific significance, as well as a section containing a few fragments of the religious questions (VII-X), translated to English from the Arabic manuscript no.1785 from the Library of El Escorial and concerning to some doctrinal aspects of the Hadith, the dogmatic law of Medieval Islam and the Islamic thought in the Middle Ages.
Highlights
Abu Dja‘far Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Khatima Al-Ansari (c.1324-c.1369), known as Ibn Khatima, is one of the most important intellectuals of the Medieval Moorish Spain [1]. He wrote works in different fields, such as literature, history and medicine [2], and his major work in medicine is titled "Tahsil gharad al-qasid fi-tafsil al-marad al-wafid" [3] and is collected in three Arabic manuscripts: a) no.1785from the Library of El Escorial in Spain, the most complete of them all; b) no.6369 from Deutsche Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, in Germany, which is very close to El Escorial manuscript but more fragmented than it; and c) no.CCLXVIII from National Library of Madrid, in Spain, which is a literal copy of El Escorial manuscript [4]
The remaining four (Questions VII-X) [6], which are the subject of this article, are of religious nature and deal about what Islam says about the epidemics having in account the tradition of Hadiths [7][8] and the Islamic canon law [9][10], and taking into consideration the Muslim jurisprudence [11][12], and the Medieval Islamic thought [13]
Among the most considered and prestigious collections of Hadiths are those of Al-Bukhari [16][17] and Muslim [18][19], both entitled Sahih, which are quoted by Ibn Khatima in this part of the Tahsil and are included in the translated fragments below
Summary
Abu Dja‘far Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Khatima Al-Ansari (c.1324-c.1369), known as Ibn Khatima, is one of the most important intellectuals of the Medieval Moorish Spain [1]. It indicates palliative therapy guidelines to patients, including recipes of high dietetic and pharmacological value [14] In these pages Ibn Khatima anticipates the way to scientific discoveries of 19th and 20th centuries in relation to the disease transmission theory and the contagion as well as the need for isolation in case of infection [15], etc, and he approaches to the types of plagues that modern science establishes in diseases classification, i.e., bubonic pest, pneumonic pest and septicemic pest. Among the most considered and prestigious collections of Hadiths are those of Al-Bukhari [16][17] and Muslim [18][19], both entitled Sahih, which are quoted by Ibn Khatima in this part of the Tahsil and are included in the translated fragments below In these pages of the work, Ibn Khatima gathers the ancient theories of the divine punishment considering catastrophes caused by the epidemics that humanity had historically been suffering as a way of atonement for sins committed. As Tahsil texts make it clear, Prophet Muhammad warned dont go to a land attacked by the plague in order to avoid contagion, but, if someone is caught inside an area affected by the epidemic, he should not leave running away from the disease, since this condition is caused by Gods will and, we must accept the Divine Decree and withstand the misfortune as a testimony of martyrdom
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call