Journal of Research on History of Medicine (Feb 2023)
A Historiographical Analysis of Al-Tibb al-Nabawī (Prophetic Medicine) Texts Based on the Goals of Their Compilation in the 5th to 8th Centuries AH
Abstract
Simultaneously with the compilation of the first hadith collections and the significant expansion of the production of works in various sciences in the 3rd century AH, the hadith collection of Al-Tibb al-Nabawī (Prophetic Medicine (PM)) was also compiled. The writing of this type of work continued in the following centuries. The current research aims to study and compare the historiography of these texts from the perspective of the purpose and motivation of their production, which lies in the content of the forewords and introductory chapters of those books. This study was conducted based on the thematic content analysis method in the oldest surviving and printed books in the field of PM from the 5th to 8th centuries AH.The results show that all the authors, except Ibn Qayyim, intended to make the mentality of their religious audience positive about the need to use the science of Medicine (both Greek and PM), presenting it as a religious matter. Damascene writers also had other motivations that were different from each other. Al-Maqdisi linked patience to illness, instead of suffering, with the elevation of one’s spiritual status. Davoud Mutatabib, however, introduced PM combined with Greek Medicine to approach God. In refuting his opinion, Ibn Qayyim emphasized that cognition and practicing PM is much more helpful than human and Greek medicine.
