2. For many centuries after
the fall of the Roman
Empire, the Arabic
world was the centre of
scientific and medical
knowledge. Texts from
Greece and Rome
were translated into
Arabic and studied by
Islamic scholars.
3. SURGERY
The development and growth of hospitals in
ancient Islamic society expanded the medical
practice to what is currently known as surgery.
Surgical procedures were known to physicians
during the medieval period because of earlier
texts that included descriptions of the
procedures. Translation from pre-Islamic
medical publishings was a fundamental
building block for physicians and surgeons in
order to expand the practice. Surgery was
uncommonly practiced by physicians and other
medical affiliates due to a very low success
rate, even though earlier records provided
favorable outcomes to certain
operations. There were many different types of
procedures performed in ancient Islam,
especially in the area of ophthalmology.
4. The major contribution of the
Islamic Age to the history
of medicine was the
establishment of hospitals,
paid for by the charitable
donations known as Zakat
tax. These hospitals, as well as providing
care to the sick on site, sent physicians
and midwives into the poorer, rural
areas, and also provided a place for
physicians and other staff to study and
research.
These hospitals varied in role, some
aimed at serving the general
population, with others providing
specific services, such as the care of
lepers, the disabled and the infirm.
5. AVICENNA
Ibn Sina (Avicenna) is one of the
foremost philosophers in the
Medieval Hellenistic Islamic tradition
that also includes al-Farabi and Ibn
Rushd His philosophical theory is a
comprehensive, detailed and
rationalistic account of the nature of
God and Being, in which he finds a
systematic place for the corporeal
world, spirit, insight, and the
varieties of logical thought including
dialectic, rhetoric and poetry.
6. Ibn Sina wrote many books on a
wide range of topics
including philosophy,
mathematics and astronomy.
He is perhaps most famous
for his "Laws of Medicine"
which contained sections on
the formulation of
medicines, diagnosis of
disorders, general medicine
and detailed therapies. It
was translated into Latin and
influenced the development
of medicine for several
centuries.