Medicine in Islam and Islamic Medicine

The aim of this article is to examine the key developments that led to the formation of Islamic medicine. It addresses theoretical, practical, and institutional features and the ways in which these features were formed and developed in relation to both pre-Islamic and Islamic resources. The dilemma created by a pre-Islamic and Islamic dichotomy is also discussed. The issue discussed here is the turning of medical theories into dogma by Islamic medicine and thus freezing the spirit of inquiry and observation. This article points to the adoption of Greek medicine within the framework of the formation of Islam. Further explanations for such developments need to be found in the intellectual and social history of the Islamic East and the Latin West.