Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

Abu Bakr Razi
Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Zakariya Razi, better known as Galen of the Arabs, is regarded as the greatest clinician ever born among the Muslims. He was born, most probably, in 261/865 at Rayy near modern Tehran. The name of the teacher under whose supervision Razi received education is obscure, but he is said to be a pupil of the great physician, Hunain b. Ishaq. He had studied a great mass of medical literature and had full command over Greek, Syria, Arabic, Persian and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. Razi had the unique privilege of having studied under a physician who had expert in knowledge of Ayurvedic and other systems then prevalent in the Middle East. Razi made full use of all the systems according to the need of the time and did not stick to just one medical system. It is for this reason that he is considered to be less conservative than his predecessors. Razi commenced his career as a physician in a hospital in his native town, but later he moved to Baghdad, where he was appointed as Ra’is al-Atibba’ (Chief Medical Officer) in Bimaristani-Adadi.
Baghdad was then the capital of the Abbasid Empire and was famous for its well-equipped hospitals, which attracted pupils
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and patients from all parts of the Empire. His stay at Baghdad afforded Razi an, opportunity to treat patients of different temperaments suffering from various diseases, at Bimaristan-i Adadi, Razi gained first-hand knowledge of some rare and complicated diseases which were uncommon in Iraq and Iran. He recorded his experiences and produced more than two hundred books and pamphlets, mostly on medicine. Razi stands aloof among the great Muslim physicians like Ibn Jazzer, Ala-ud-din Abu al-Hasan Ali b. Hazim, Abu’l Mansur Sa’id, Abu Al-Tannukhi, Sinan b. Thabit, Muhad’hdhab-ud-din, Qazi Abdul-Latif Baghdadi, Abu’l- Qasim Zuhravi. Sharif Khan and Ajmal the Great.
Razi has left a great impression of his knowledge and experience on his contemporaries as well as on posterity. He had, undoubtedly, more knowledge of his profession than any of his predecessors. Born in Galen and in Socrate’s time, Razi would have made them admit their mistakes. By nature he was inclined towards research. He solved many problem left unsolved by his predecessors. He also wrote a number of tracts criticizing and contradicting some hypotheses then prevailing. It is said that Razi could diagnose the disease of a person without feeling his pulse. He had perfect knowledge of complicated diseases and could cure them by simple methods. Here are a few examples of Razi’s ijtihad in the treatment of patients.
Nizami Arudi Samarqandi informs us that Amir Mansur b. Nuh. b. Nasr developed a chronic disease and could not move about. He invited Razi to his court and asked him to cure his disease. Razi recommended a number of prescriptions one after the other but all in vain One day Razi took him to a bath, where he poured hike-warm water on his body and gave him a cup of sherbet to drink. After some time Razi started abusing the Amir on his face instigating him to rise on his feet and jump upon him. The Amir was infuriated and Razi had to slip away from the bath and fled to Merv, from where he wrote a letter to the Amir apologizing for his misbehaviour Razi did not merely rel> on his knowledge of medicine in certain cases he even exercised ijtihad. The way he cured the Amir is the finest example of his psychological approach to complicated cases.
Razi was the first among the Muslim physicians to give accurate picture of a patient suffering from smallpox or measles. Razi has discussed the symptoms of smallpox very elaborately, saying : ”The outbreak of smallpox is preceded by continuous fever.

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ache in the back, itch in the nose and shivering during sleep. The main symptoms of its presence are : back-ache with fever, stinging pain in the whole body, congestion of the face, sometimes shrinkage, violent redness of cheeks and eyes, a sense of pressure in the body, creeping of flesh, pain in the throat and breast accompanied by difficulty of respiration and coughing, dryness of the mouth, thick salivation, hoarseness of the voice, headache and pressure in the head, excitement, anxi-ety, nausea and unrest. Excitement, nausea and unrest are more pronounced in measles than in smallpox, whilst aching in the back is more server in smallpox than in measles.” Even to day there is no smallpox, whilst aching in the back is more server in smallpox than in measles.”
Even to day there is no remedy for the pustules left by smallpox except plastic surgery, but Razi has given sound and detailed advice to physicians for the treatment of the pustules. This was indeed his great achievement. His treatise on smallpox and measles was translated into Latin and later into various other languages, including English. This has been published in Europe some forty times between 1498 and 1866. This is clearly an indication of its popularity in the West during the Middle Ages.
Al-Havi is, no doubt, not only the greatest work of Razi, but it is also the greatest book ever written on medicine in the Orient. This book is spread over more than twent\ volumes. It was translated into Latin b> a Sicilian Jew physician, Faraj b Salim under the patronage of Charles I of Anjou in 1279 A.D. Al-Havi has been published a number of times in Europe during the Middle Ages. This book has left a great impression on European medicine. Even the Qanun of Abu Ali Sina could not eclipse it1? popularity in Medieval Europe. It seems that its ophthalmic section was very much popular among Muslim and non-Muslim physicians during the eleventh and twelfth centuries.3
In his, al-Havi, Razi first quotes all the Greek, Syrian, Arabic, Persian and Indian authorities on each disease and at the end gives his own opinion as well as his experience. The author of the Chahar Maqalah tells us that, unless one had studied al-Havi, one could not be regarded a.s a skillful physician. Razi has discussed diabetes in one of his books called the Kitab-i-Sukar. He has also written a treatise in which he has given the method of extraction of
M Saieem’, Muslim Science and Civili/ation, P. 15
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stone from kidney and bladder. It was indeed a great achievement of Razi, especially in da’~ when the science of surgery was yet underdeveloped. Razi has also written a book in which he has given details of various bones of human body. In this book he has given guidelines for bone-setters. He has also written a treatise in which he has discussed leprosy in detail giving important instructions to the lepers.
Jabir b. Hayyan is known as ”Father of Alchemy,” but it has been unanimously accepted that Razi has surpassed him in this field. Max Meyerhof writes that Jabir and other Arab alchemists divide mineral substances into bodies (gold, silver, etc.), souls (sulphur, arsenic, etc.). and spirits (mercury and sal-ammoniac). Razi classifies alchemical substances as vegetables, animals, minerals, a conception which comes from him into modern speech. In this way Razi excels Jabir in his exact classification of substances, and in his clear description of chemical processes and apparatus, which is always devoid of mystical elements.