College of Business Administration alis 2212: Arabic and Islamic Studies Section: 205



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College of Business Administration

ALIS 2212: Arabic and Islamic Studies

Section: 205

Ibn Sina’s Contributions to the World Science

Sarah Sultan – 201000073

Instructor: Dr. Hala Guta

Fall 2012

January 3rd, 2013

Introduction:

Islam and its relation to science has been such a controversial topic for hundreds of years. Ultimately, Islam is the religion of reason. On the other hand science is all about reason. That said, science and Islam are without a doubt directly tied together. From the Quran alone, there is a lot of scientific topics and evidence provided that is related to science. Not many people realize that the Quran has all the answers to life, and only recently people are opening up their minds and realizing that Islam has so much to offer to the vast world of science. Learning about the history of Muslim scientists is extremely critical. Learning about Muslim scientists, artists, and thinkers is really important because there are thousands of them that provided so much discoveries that we use nowadays. However, people don’t realize or have the knowledge that Muslim scientists provided these discoveries and innovations. That said, this report will speak in depth about the medical genius Ibn Sina. Throughout the semester I read about numerous Muslim scientists that have contributed so much to the world of science. Ibn Sina was an easy choice for me because his story was really interesting and I wanted to do more research on him. This assignment will thoroughly underline the main contributions that this great scientist discovered and achieved throughout his lifetime.



Ibn Sina’s Contribution to Science:

To start off, Ibn Sina was born in Uzbekistan in the year of 980. People usually know him by the name of Avincenna. His father was a very knowledgeable man, in fact people used to gather in his house to learn about various subjects and important topics. A lot of the time these men gathered in order to read the holy Quran. Ibn Sina was taught by his own father at home. His father was also the governor of a small village in Bukhara. The scholars that met at his father’s house were extremely shocked to see how intelligent Ibn Sina was. At a very young age he caught on very quickly. He was so smart that by the age of only 10 years old he had memorized the entire Quran. It was rare back then to have such a young boy memorize the holy Quran. He was a very quick learner. When he was only thirteen years old he started to read books related to medicine. He loved reading about it, and at that young age he knew that this is what he wanted to dedicate his whole life to. Then, when he was sixteen years old, he had enough knowledge about medicine that he started treating patients. It amazes me to know that someone at the age of only sixteen can have the confidence and capability to treat other people. He was such a brave young man. In regards to his education, it was stated that he mainly taught himself everything he knew about medicine, but he also was guided by a few of the greatest teachers in town. Not only did he study medicine he also studied metaphysics and philosophy.

Ibn Sina’s medical reputation was exquisite. The ruler at the time was Nuh Ibn Mansur. Ibn Sina was known across the country, and the Samanid ruler, shortly heard of him also. Ibn Sina’s job early on in his life was to treat injured men that were at war. When the ruler of Samanid heard about Ibn Sina during his illness he asked for him right away. Ibn Sina saved the ruler of Samanid’s life. To show his gratitude the Emir allowed Ibn Sina to have access to the Bukhara library. This library had hundreds of thousands of the best books. It was stated that Ibn Sina was so happy with the offer that he said that having the ability to access the library was even better than having a job. Which is really true, because back then people didn’t really have the access to resources such as books and newspapers and textbooks. It was really rare to have a really good education. And now he could expand his knowledge of medicine even further with all the books in the library. Ibn Sina spent almost every single day in that library and he still continued serving his patients.

He wrote over hundreds of books. Two of the most recognized and acknowledged books that he wrote that are still used as resources till this day are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine. This book was translated into so many languages and is known to be one of the best medical books in history. The Book of Healing is basically an encyclopedia that covers many things like music, philosophy, logic, astronomy, and geometry. The Canon of Medicine however focuses mainly on medicine alone. The book he wrote are references to both Muslim doctors and non-Muslim doctors. Many doctors around the world use his work in order to treat their patients.

As stated previously, he contributed so much for the field of medicine. Firstly, he recognized that there is a distinction between the two fields pharmacology and medicine. Also distinguished between anatomy and medicine. He described how the heart works. Ibn Sina discovered the causes of hemorrhage and bleeding. He also discovered sexually transmitted diseases. He identified that tuberculosis and phthisis are in fact contagious diseases. What was also very interesting is that he discovered how to treat hepatitis. In one of his books The Canon of Medicine, he mentioned that if there is an organ in the human body that needs to be physically cut off or amputated the medicine mandragora is needed for the individual in order for them to go to sleep. In the same book he also stated that cancerous tumors continually grow in size. And to treat it he stated that it must be stopped in the earlier stages. He also found a herb that could help treat the cancer which is called Hindiba.

Most of his medical contributions are known as “philosophy of science”. As stated previously, Ibn Sina was not only interested in the field of medicine but he was also very committed and loved the idea of philosophy. In face he provided a lot of contributions to the field of philosophy as well. In regards to the field of philosophy, he also contributed plenty. He wrote over 150 dissertations on philosophy. Within these treatises he included a lot of Islamic theologies as well as scientific interpretations from the Quran itself. He also developed a theory about temporal model syllogism. Another component to his philosophical contributions is that he brought logic to the world of mathematics. It was also stated that he wrote many criticisms about Aristotelian Logic. Finally, he also expanded the theory of hypothetical syllogism.



Conclusion:

Ibn Sina, is such an important intellectual individual when it comes to speaking of science in the Islamic world. Both Muslims and non-Muslims use his work till this day as a critical reference. His medical history is still present and used all over the world, but is mainly practiced and used in countries like India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He is the medical hero and will never be forgotten. Unfortunately only in the recent days people have realized and learned about his contributions. But I believe it is never too late. Muslims all over the world should be proud of what he has contributed to the world today and as a sign of respect be proud. This assignment really opened my eyes to realize that there is so much to learn about the history of Islamic scientists and thinkers. I was never really taught about many Muslim scientists in my high school years, but I am really glad to have learned about this medical genius in the paper. I believe that once people first understand the fact that there are so many Muslim thinkers, philosophers, and scientists that have achieved so much in their lives, and they created so many innovations that we don’t even know about, I think that people are going to have a lot more respect for the religion of Islam. Also I believe Ibn Sina amongst thousands of Muslim genius’s help the image of Islam look better. Because nowadays, people tend to link the religion of Islam to terrorism and war. However, if we were taught about this great individuals, people will realize that Islam has so much to offer in this world.



References:

Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina (Avicenna). (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2012, from History: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Avicenna.html

Ibn Sina. (n.d.). Retrieved December 29, 2012, from Shinging History: http://www.shininghistory.com/2009/09/ibn-sina-avicenna.html

The Achievements of IBN SINA in the Field of Science and His Contributions to Its Philosophy. (n.d.). Retrieved December 28, 2012, from i-epistemology: http://i-epistemology.net/science-a-technology/160-the-achievements-of-ibn-sina-in-the-field-of-science-and-his-contributions-to-its-philosophy-.html
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