FIMA Year Book 2009 - Federation of Islamic Medical Associations

Muslim ContributionsThe rise of the Madrasah systemand the compartmentalisation ofknowledge.Some writers suggest that the‘Madrasah’(school) system was oneof the contributing factors for thedecline of sciences in Islam. TheMadrasah system flourished afterthe first Madrasah called MadrasahNizamiyyah was established inBaghdad by Nizam al-Mulk in 459Hijri (1067 C.E .) that favored thestudy of theology and law (29) . Thissystem unfortunately divided theinstitutions for the study of sciencesand theology. Medical sciences andother sciences were studied in variousplaces like medical schools or hospitals,observatories, libraries, academies andunder individual renowned scientistssupported by the rulers. Madaris (sing.Madrasah) meanwhile were developedby powerful and wealthy individualswho contributed their wealth to supportthem. The purpose of establishing theseMadaris was always religious and theywere the forerunners of the collegesystem in Western Universities (30) .However while Western universitiescombined colleges for theology, law,arts, science and medicine, Madarisonly concentrated on theology andlaw. Madrasas run by independentindividuals continued to exist withoutany interruption whereas other centersof study for sciences which weredependent on prosperity of the statedeteriorated and disappeared with thedecline of Islamic states. Madaris runby individuals ended up propagatinga particular individual’s paradigms ofeducation and Islam. This contributedto “secularisation of knowledge” and“Tunnel Vision Syndrome” of presentday Muslim societies.Geographical factors and naturaldisasters.Most of the then Islamic regionsconsisted of arid or semi-arid landswith only a small proportion ofscattered heavily inhabited areas.These inhabited areas were alsodependent on irrigation and because oflack of enough rainfall in these areas,it was not sufficient for agriculture.The only productive agricultural areaswere located along the great riversof Nile, the Euphrates and the Tigrisbut individuals were unable to takeadvantage of this water and centralgovernments were responsible fordeveloping the irrigation system. Withthe decline of central governments,irrigation works were neglected andagriculture was affected severely.Small agricultural lands became aridand economy and civilization of thewhole region were destroyed. Naturaldisasters are another important factorcontributing to the depopulationof Islamic regions especially Egypt,Syria and Iraq in the middle ages (31) .A famine caused by low levels of Nilein 968 C.E. resulted in death of about600,000 people. Between 1201-1202C.E. a famine was followed by plaguein Egypt and caused death of largenumber of people. The plague between1347-1349 C.E., known as Black Death,FIMA YearBook 2009110