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Background material by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. for Year 1 Semester 1 Medical PPSD session on 13th August 2008
CONFUSION BETWEEN MUSLIM AND ISLAMIC
The concept of Islamic medicine has been understood to mean different things by different people at different times. The greatest confusion has been semantic with many dire practical manifestations. ‘Islamic’ and ‘Muslim’ Medicine have been confused. The terms ‘Islamic’ and ‘Muslim’ are used interchangeably as if they mean the same. Traditional medicine practiced by Muslim communities at some epochs in history or in our times has erroneously been called Islamic medicine. ‘Islamic’ refers to values, ideals, guiding principles, and application of the Qur’an and Sunnah. ‘Muslim’ refers to people who self-identify as Muslims as well as their activities and institutions. They may not fully follow all the teachings of Islam. Thus Islamic Medicine (the ideal) is not the same as Muslim medicine (the actual historical or contemporary traditional medicine in Muslim societies). Islam is objective and universal. Islamic Medicine would therefore be the true and objective medicine that all people would accept irrespective of their geographical location, cultural or religious background. The continuing confusion in the minds of many Muslim physicians about what constitutes Islamic Medicine calls for this fresh attempt at definition and conceptualization of Islamic Medicine.
ISLAMIC MEDICINE AS PARADIGMS, METHODOLOGY, & VALUES
The following definition of Islamic Medicine is proposed after consideration and rejection of the alternatives described above. Islamic Medicine is defined as medicine whose basic paradigms, concepts, values, and procedures conform to or to do not contradict the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is not specific medical procedures or therapeutic agents used in a particular place or a particular time. Islamic Medicine is universal, all-embracing, flexible, and allows for growth and development of various methods of investigating and treating diseases within the frame-work described above.
This definition calls for basic transformation of current medical systems. Islamic Medicine thus becomes the result of an Islamic critique and reformulation of the basic paradigms, research methodology, teaching, and practice of medicine. The end-result of the process will not be a medical system for Muslims only but for the whole humanity because it is instilling universal and objective values into the practice of medicine.
The above-mentioned understanding of Islamic medicine is gradually changing the practice of medicine. Islamic hospitals and clinics are being established in many Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Faculties of medicine are starting to teach curricula with an Islamic input. There is increasing research inspired by a value-based perspective of medicine.