From Alchemy to Psychiatry: A Glimpse into the Ethics and Mental Health Practices of Tenth-Century Muslim Physician Abū Bakr al-Rāzī.

Abstract

TheIslamic Renaissance saw a flourishing and advancement in philosophy, the natural sciences, the humanities, and many other academic disciplines. Though this era is often confined in the historical literature as ranging from the eighth through thirteenth centuries CE, recent research has considered expanding its timeline to the nineteenth century. The early stages of this period were known for the synthesis of previous traditions that later led to the creation of a new canon of knowledge; this new canon heavily influenced those living within the Islamic empire and also those in Europe. In the early years of the Islamic Renaissance, the physician and philosopher Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakarīyā al-Rāzī was a major figure whose works influenced the course of medicine. While he remains well-known to this day for his writings that later influenced the likes of Ibn Sīnā, many of his contributions to the world of psychiatry remain underappreciated. In revisiting the texts and life of al-Rāzī, what emerges is a portrait of a psychiatrist well ahead of his time and whose methodology brought tradition and innovation together as a means of providing the best care to his patients.