Al-Tibb: Healing Traditions In Islamic Medical Manuscripts

The search for knowledge has always been central to the Islamic worldview. Combined with the universal quest for good health, this has had a decisive effect on the development of medical literacy in the Islamic tradition. Cities such as Baghdad and Granada grew into nuclei of learning that preserved and promoted scientific knowledge. Out of this fertile landscape emerged some of the greatest thinkers and innovators in the history of mankind; their theories and formulas have influenced the world for centuries. The exhibition, Al-Tibb: Healing Traditions in Islamic Medical Manuscripts is a pioneering compilation of milestones along this path from the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia collection. Essays by curators and scholars supplement the selection of manuscripts and accompanying objects to provide a comprehensive approach. Anatomy and physiology, divination, pathology, pharmacy and veterinary science are brought together with Malay healing traditions and Prophetic medicine to give an unprecedented breadth to a field that is as fascinating as it is important.