Abu al-Qasim
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Abu al-Qasim (936 - 1013), (Arabic: أبو القاسم) also known as Abul Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas al-Zahrawi known in the West as Abucalsis, is medieval Islam's most prominent scholar of medicine. His greatest contribution to history is Al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume collection of medical practice.
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Summary
Abu al-Qasim was born in a neighborhood of Cordova, Spain called Zahra. He was known among the Spanish-speakers of Moorish Spain (Andalusia) as "El Zahrawi". Few details remain regarding his life, aside from his published work, due to the destruction of Zahra during later Spanish-Moorish conflicts. His name first appears in the writings of Abu Muhammad bin Hazm (993-1064), who describes him as a great surgeon of Moorish Spain.
Al-Qasim was a doctor for Spanish King Al-Hakam-II (Western Umayyad Caliph al-Hakam II).
Al-Qasim's true legacy would be his medical treatise, Al-Tasrif. In the 14th century, French surgeon Guy de Chauliac quoted Al-Tasrif over 200 times. Pietro Argallata described Al-Qasim as "without doubt the chief of all surgeons". He is credited to be the first to describe ectopic pregnancy in 963, in those days a fatal affliction. Al-Qasim's influence continued for approximately five centuries, extending into the renaissance, evidenced by Al-Tasrif's frequent reference by French surgeon Jaques Delechamps.
Al-Tasrif
Al-Qasim's thirty-chapter medical treatise, Al-Tasrif covered a broad range of medical topics, including dentistry and childbirth. He also wrote of the importance of a positive doctor-patient relationship and wrote affectionately of his students, whom he referred to as "my children". Al-Tasrif was later translated into Latin by Gherard of Cremona in the 12th century, and illustrated. For perhaps five centuries during the European Middle Ages, it was the primary source for European medical knowledge, and served as a reference for doctors and surgeons.
Not always properly credited, Abu Al-Qasim's Al-Tasrif described both what would later became known as "Kocher's method" for treating a dislocated shoulder and "Walcher position" in obstetrics. Al-Tasrif described how to ligature blood vessels before Ambroise Paré, and was the first recorded book to document several dental devices and explain the hereditary nature of haemophilia.
Abu-Al-Qasim has been credited to be the first to describe ectopic pregnancy in 963, at that time a fatal affliction.
Advances in surgery
Al-Qasim was a surgeon and specialized in curing disease by cauterization. He also invented several devices used during surgery, for the purpose of:
- inspection of the interior of the urethra
- applying and removing foreign bodies from the throat
- inspection of the ear
External links
- http://www.ummah.org.uk/history/scholars/ZAHRAWI.html
- http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=223
- El Zahrawi (http://www.ummah.net/history/scholars/el_zahrawi/)