Medical Art in the World of Islam

The advent of Islam did not mean a break with ancient medical science. On the contrary, Greco-Roman medical knowledge was continued and expanded in the Islamic world through translations of the works of Hippocrates, Galen, and Dioskorides. The treatment continued to be based on the theory of the four body fluids and the properties of drugs such as heat, cold, drought and moisture.

The Islamic medical science also contributed new knowledge. Described by Al-Razi as the first difference between smallpox and measles, advanced hospitals (maristans) with specialist departments were set up for eye diseases, mental disorders, and infectious diseases, among others. These hospitals are counted among the most important medical innovations of the Middle Ages.