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ISLAM IN CONNECTION WITH MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Dr. Amal Alami
MOROCCO

A study of Islam in connection with medicine may be justified by the fact that this religion with its teachings, rites and ordinances acquires a special significance from the medical point of view. The Holy Quran and the Muhammadan Sunna comprise a great deal of various, pure, scientific data that are compatible with our modern knowledge, especially of medicine.

If we take this discipline as our point of departure we will find that in its practice and various operations it presents the philosophers, moralists, and jurisprudents with issues for discussion. On the other hand, we find that medicine has been closely related to the Arab nation and Islam for more than five centuries.

Consequently, in dealing with "Islam in connection with Medicine and Biology" we find it necessary to compare in detail scientific data with religious data, the latter being taken from their two sources, namely the Quran and Sunna.

At the outset, the first chapter includes the concept of man in the Islamic thought contrasted with what we find in certain data of modern science about this concept. No attempt is made to delve deeply into the metaphysical divine secrets that tower in grace over the Muslims' spiritual and material life casting their lights of chastity and purity into the lives of the benefactors.

The first section of this thesis is devoted to a brief study of the relation between medicine and biology on the one hand and Islam on the other. It also includes the Islamic legal, framework within which some problems of medical practice can be solved. The other sections deal in greater detail with more useful and more interesting medical subjects. These are concerned with Islamic teachings about cleanliness, health, prevention, and nutrition. We shall also consider the teachings relevant to alcohol, drugs, and circumcision with a review of the medical values inherent in the Islamic rites: prayer and its medical effects; fasting as curative of certain diseases. Other topics deal with human propagation and embryonic formation as stated by the Quran; abortion, contraception, sterilization, artificial impregnation, genetics, eugenics and Islamic education concerning sexual relations.

In conclusion we shall look into the heritage of our Islamic medicine from the perspective of our medical history reviewing our glorious Arabic history with a view to establishing that the scientific thinking of Arab physicians was deeply rooted in Islam. Since the Middle Ages this thinking has made its mark on human civilization, which developed scientific theories derived from the Quran. I was induced to make this study by a strong desire to bring to life certain thoughts that have been lingering in my mind throughout my undergraduate study, pressing hard towards its final stage.

These thoughts are:

1. Islam is a religion of comprehensive principles. Its right view of man and the universe and the relation between them helps one to understand the whatness of man in terms of his psycho-physical and spiritual entity. It also helps to realize his equilibrium and harmony with his environmental and universal surroundings.
   
   
2. A religion such as Islam comprises several medical principles. Its teachings combine the sacred and ritual with the natural, the medical, the hygienic, the sexual, and the social. In other words, what is spiritual in Islam is in complete harmony with what is physical. Such a religion is apt to secure a balanced life for man whenever he is and wherever he is. It is apt to restore equilibrium to modern man. Truly, it is a religion of a nation of moderation with no excess or neglect; so the Holy Quran said:
   
   
   WE HAVE MADE YOU A NATION OF MODERATION.
   (Quran)
   
   
3. Islam's great concern under all circumstances is cleanliness and the good health both of the individual and the community. All its prohibitions are warranted by medical considerations. It prohibits only that which proves to be harmful to man's health (whether physical, mental or spiritual; whether individual or social).
   
   
4. No wonder that Islam, with its medical principles, which run parallel to its rites, has been guiding Muslims' thoughts and actions (especially in the medical field). The flourishing of science and of medicine in particular, in the Islamic civilization emanated from and was strengthened by religious thought.
   
   
5. A fresh study of the Arabic (medical) manuscripts is essential for two purposes: first, bridging a gap in medical history; secondly, listing the technical terms used by the leading Arab physicians (by examining the most important Arabic medical works) with a view to enrich the Arabic scientific dictionary. Arabicizing medical education will undoubtedly be a turning point in the rise of Arabic medicine.
   
   
6. The physician in his professional practice and the biologist in his research work will inevitably be confronted by moral and religious problems that could at times be intractable. For instance, there is the problem of death and there are other problems concerning the artificial means of embryonic formation and the creation of man and his generation. Therefore, I deemed it necessary in this study to outline the religious framework within which solutions to these problems may be sought.
   
   
7. The fact that both the doctor and his patient share the same culture is psychologically effective in treatment. So, it seems of great benefit that a physician who practices in a Muslim community should be fully acquainted with the relevant Islamic Shari'a. It will make his treatment more effective and equip him with the necessary guidelines for grappling with certain social, moral and religious problems that often test his medical ethics.
   
   That is why we hope to see relevant Islamic teachings incorporated into medical education (at least in our Muslim countries). We also hope that medical ethics will be based on these teachings.
   
   I do not claim to have covered all aspects of the subject. I have dealt, if only in brief, with a variety of aspects in the hope that this study will stimulate medical graduates in the Islamic countries to dig deeper in tackling these subjects and add greater detail to what is briefly mentioned here using more logical and more convincing scientific evidence.

MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY IN CONNECTION WITH ISLAM

A Ph.D. Dissertation

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

CHAPTER ONE

Section 1: Sources of Islamic legislation and their relation to Islam.

• The Quran and Medicine.
• The Sunnah and Medicine.
• Jurisprudent laws and Medicine.

Section 2: Man's concept of medicine from an Islamic point of view contrasted with modern scientific concepts (modern criticism of neo-Darwinism based on mathematical evidence by George Sally in his book published in French "Chance and Certainty". Establishing that life originates from mud through a scientific laboratory study recently conducted in the U.S.

CHAPTER TWO

Hygienics and Preventive Medicine in Islam

(Four Sections)

Section 3: Generalities about hygienics and preventive medicine in Islam.

Section 4: Circumcision between medicine and Islam.

Section 5: Nutrition in Islam.

Section 6: Alcohols, narcotics, and their harmful effect on health.

CHAPTER THREE

Islamic Rites and Their Medical Effects

Section 7: Prayer and its therapeutic effect in psychological and chronic physical cases like cancer and paralysis.

Section 8: The medical effects of fasting.

CHAPTER FOUR

Section 9: Embryology and the Quran.

Section 10: Genetics and Eugenics in Islam.

Section 11: The social, legal, medical and religious aspects of abortion.

Section 12: The Islamic attitude towards birth control.

• Birth control and family planning.
• Sterilization.
• Artificial impregnation and test tube babies.

Section 13: Sexual education in Islam.

CHAPTER FIVE

Section 14: Some medical aspects in Arabic civilization arising immediately from Islamic thought. (A review of the major turning points in the history of Islamic Medicine.

Conclusion: In French and Arabic.

References: About 200 references in Arabic and Foreign Languages.

PART THREE

CONTRIBUTIONS OF MOSLEM SCHOLARS
TO ANATOMY AND SURGERY

PART THREE: Contributions of Moslem Scholars
to Anatomy and Surgery

CHAPTER ONE

(Papers Presented)

1. REPORT ON THE FIRST SESSION. Editors.
2. OPENING REMARKS. Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghoneim.
3. THE MEANING OF ANATOMY IN THE ARABIC LANGUAGE AND MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY.
4. TRACING ISLAMIC INFLUENCES IN AN ILLUSTRATED ANATOMICAL MANUAL. Prof. Ynez Viole O'Neill.
5. IBN SINA'S VIEWPOINT OF HUMAN ANATOMY. (A BRIEF PRECIS AND COMMENT). Dr. Jurnalisuddin.
6. THE ANATOMY OF THE EYE: IBN AL-HAITHAM AND GALENIC TRADITION. Dr. Mrs G.A. Russell.
7. PAEDIATRIC SURGERY IN ARABIC AND MUSLIM LITERATURE. Dr. Mahmoud Al-Haj Kasim.
8. THE TREATMENT OF WAR WOUNDS BY ISLAMIC SURGEONS. Dr. Francisco Guerra.
9. GENERAL DISCUSSION.