Music Therapy in Medicine of Islamic Civilisation

Ibn Sina’s (Avicenna) denotes that one of the most effective methods in medical treatment is listening to music, which clearly illustrates the position of music therapy in medical treatment. This chapter discusses four matters: (i) the concept of music therapy as medical treatment, (ii) the function of music therapy as a method of complementary treatment aimed more towards calming and relieving pain, but not as a total cure for the patient, (iii) the hospitals that applied music therapy as treatment, and (iv) the process of applying music therapy in the medical tradition of the Islamic civilisation. Music here includes instrumental music, the sound of singing, adhan (call to prayer), Quranic recitation, as well as sounds of nature, such as of birds singing and of water from a fountain pool. Among the hospitals that applied such therapy was Bimarastan Fez in Morroco, Bimarastan al-Mansuri at Cairo, Egypt, Bimarastan al-Arghuni at Allepo, Syria, Bimarastan Nur al-Din at Damascus City, and Suleymaniye Sifahanesi.