Ibn al-Nafis

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Muslim scholar


Name: Ala al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qurashi al-Dimashqi
Title: Ibn al-Nafis
Birth: 1213 CE
Death: 17 December 1288 CE
11 Dhu al-Qi'dah 687 AH
Ethnicity: Arab
Region: Syria and Egypt
Maddhab: Shafi`i
School tradition: Sunni Islam, Nafisian physiology
Main interests: Medicine, Anatomy, Pathology, Physiology, Surgery, Ophthalmology, Islamic Studies, Fiqh, Sharia, Qur'an, Science of Hadith, Kalam, Philosophy, Astronomy, Cosmology, Eschatology, Futurology, Geography, Geology, Grammar, Linguistics, History, Literature, Logic, Psychology, Science, Science Fiction, Sociology
Notable ideas: Father of circulatory physiology. Founder of Nafisian systems of anatomy, physiology, psychology and pulsology which replaced Avicennian and Galenic doctrines. Discovered circulatory system, pulmonary circulation, coronary circulation, capillary circulation, metabolism, etc. Discredited Avicennian and Galenic theories on humorism, pulse, bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals, esophagus, stomach, etc. Wrote the first science fiction novel, which was also the first theological novel and one of the first philosophical novels. Introduced a more logical classification for the science of hadith.
Works: Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, The Comprehensive Book on Medicine, Theologus Autodidactus, A Short Account of the Methodology of Hadith, Commentary on Compound Drugs, The Polished Book on Experimental Ophthalmology, The Choice of Foodstuffs, Synopsis of Medicine, An Essay on Organs, Reference Book for Physicians, The Summary of Law, Road to Eloquence, The Segments, The Little Papers
Influences: Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Muhammad, al-Shafi`i, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, al-Kindi, al-Razi, Abulcasis, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, Ibn Zuhr, Ibn Tufail
Influenced: Abu Hayyan Al Gharnati, Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī, Ibn Qadi Shuhba, Umarī, al-Safadī, al-Dhahabi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Khaldun, Andrea Alpago, Michael Servetus, Realdo Colombo, William Harvey

Ala al-Din Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn Abi-Hazm al-Qurashi al-Dimashqi (Arabic: علاء الدين أبو الحسن عليّ بن أبي حزم القرشي الدمشقي‎) (1213 CE – 1288 CE / 687 AH), commonly known as Ibn al-Nafis (Arabic: ابن النفيس‎), was an Arab Muslim polymath—a physician, anatomist, physiologist, surgeon, ophthalmologist, Hafiz, Hadith scholar, Shafi`i jurist and lawyer, Sunni theologian, Islamic philosopher, logician, novelist, psychologist, sociologist, scientist, science fiction writer, astronomer, cosmologist, futurist, geologist, grammarian, linguist and historian—who was born in Damascus, Syria, and worked in Cairo, Egypt.

Ibn al-Nafis is most famous for being the first physician to describe the pulmonary circulation,[1] and the capillary[2] and coronary circulations,[3][4] which form the basis of the circulatory system, for which he is considered the father of circulatory physiology[5] and "the greatest physiologist of the Middle Ages."[6] He was also an early proponent of experimental medicine, postmortem autopsy, and human dissection,[7][8] first described the concept of metabolism,[9] and developed his own new Nafisian[10] systems of anatomy, physiology, psychology and pulsology to replace the Avicennian and Galenic doctrines, while discrediting many of their erroneous theories on the four humours, pulsation,[11] bones, muscles, intestines, sensory organs, bilious canals, esophagus, stomach, and the anatomy of almost every other part of the human body.[12] Ibn al-Nafis also drew diagrams to illustrate different body parts in his new physiological system.[13]

Besides his medical contributions, he wrote works on the Islamic religious disciplines, notably A Short Account of the Methodology of Hadith, which introduces a more rational and logical classification for the science of hadith.[14] He also wrote works on fictional Arabic literature, notably the Arabic theological novel Theologus Autodidactus, a novel which features a feral child, desert island, early science fiction elements, and a coming of age plot, through which he expressed many of his religious, philosophical and scientific themes on a wide variety of subjects.[9] Both of these works were mainly an attempt by Ibn al-Nafis at reconciling reason with revelation, both by highlighting the rationality of Islamic beliefs and by promoting the use of reason in the science of hadith.[15]

Overview

Biography

He was born in 1213 in Damascus, Syria. He attended the Medical College Hospital (Bimaristan al-Noori) in Damascus. Besides medicine, Ibn al-Nafis was also learned in many other subjects, including Arabic literature, Fiqh (jurisprudence), Kalam (theology) and early Islamic philosophy. He became an expert on the Shafi`i school of jurisprudence and an expert physician.

In 1236, Ibn al-Nafis moved to Cairo, Egypt. He worked at the Al-Nassri Hospital, and subsequently at the Al-Mansouri Hospital, where he became the "Chief of Physicians".[16] In 1242, by which time he was about 29 years old, he published his most famous work, the Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon, which contained many new anatomical discoveries, most importantly the pulmonary and coronary circulations. Soon afterwards, he begun work on The Comprehensive Book on Medicine, for which he had already published 43 volumes by 641 AH (1243-1244 CE), by which time he was about 31 years old. Over the next several decades, he would write down notes for 300 volumes, though he was only able to publish 80 volumes before he died.[17] Nevertheless, even in its incomplete state, The Comprehensive Book on Medicine was the largest encyclopedia up until that time, and still remains one of the largest medical encyclopedias to date. For this book he was rewarded with lots of money and became one of the richest people alive.

Ibn al-Nafis grew up in a time of political turmoil in Syria and Egypt, during the Crusades and Mongol invasions. After the sack of Baghdad in 1258, Syria was soon temporarily occupied by the Mongol Empire in 1259, who were then subsequently repelled by the Egyptian Sultan Baibars at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. Like other traditionalist Muslims in his time, Ibn al-Nafis believed that these invasions may have been a divine punishment from God against Muslims deviating from the Sunnah.[18] The sack of Baghdad in 1258, which saw the loss and destruction of many important books, was followed by intense scientific activity across Damascus and Cairo, as many Muslim scholars, especially Ibn al-Nafis, wrote huge encyclopedias in an attempt to preserve the scientific legacy of the Islamic world.[19]

Between 1260-1277, he became the personal physician of Sultan Baibars.[16] Ibn al-Nafis died on 17 December 1288 CE (11 Dhu al-Qi'dah 687 AH), and posthumously donated his house, library and clinic to the Mansuriya Hospital.[16]

Religious background

Ibn al-Nafis was an orthodox Sunni Muslim and a scholar of the Shafi`i school of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Sharia (Islamic law). He wrote a number of works on philosophy, and was particularly interested in reconciling reason with revelation and blurring the line between the two. Unlike some of his contemporaries and predecessors, he made no distinction between philosophy and theology. Ibn al-Nafis adhered to the teachings of the Qur'an and accepted the authority of the hadiths, but required each hadith to be rationally acceptable.[20]